Take a Chance on Me(94)

Shane shrugged. “Yeah, well, I saw a little red when I, um”—he cleared his throat—“heard what was going on in here. She’s my baby sister. I’ve raised her since she was fifteen, and you don’t have the best past when it comes to women. Although you have been fairly monk-like for a while.”

Mitch stared at the folder, curiosity getting the better of him as he wondered what information it contained. “Your point?”

“I love her too and want her to be happy. I’ve been worried as hell about her. She was lost. Drifting along but not really living. I assume she told you about the accident?”

Mitch nodded.

Shane’s expression flickered, then cleared. “She never got over the guilt, no matter how many therapists I dragged her to. No matter how many times we talked to her, she couldn’t get it into her head that we didn’t blame her. Over time, she just became more and more compliant.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mitch said, because he understood Maddie. “But she’s better now.”

Because of him. Them. The way they were together.

“I can see that.” Shane smiled. “She used to be quite a little troublemaker. It drove my dad crazy, even though he loved her like mad. It was good to see some of her old spark.”

Mitch took another long swallow of liquor, waiting for the slow burn down his throat to hit his stomach before he spoke. “I don’t want her to be anything other than what she is.”

Shane leaned back in the chair and laced his fingers over his stomach. “I don’t think she ever really loved Steve.”

“Of course she didn’t,” Mitch interjected, compelled to make sure the record was straight. “The guy was all wrong for her.”

Shane nodded sharply. “I’ll deny it, but the day we opened the vestibule and found her gone, I silently cheered her on. That’s why I let her be. She needed freedom, a chance to breathe away from all the pressure. I’ve known where she was almost from the beginning.”

It wasn’t a surprise. Guys like Shane didn’t leave things to chance.

“When she finally called, she seemed like the old Maddie. The one I thought I’d buried along with my dad.” Shane picked up the bottle of scotch and poured another healthy dose into Mitch’s nearly empty glass before taking a long gulp from the bottle. “I figure you have something to do with that.”

Mitch’s throat constricted, already regretting sending her away.

“So here’s the deal,” Shane continued, opening the file. “My friend has methods of uncovering information, and he was able to find some things to help your father, and by default, you. He wasn’t able to find much on the embezzlement case, which basically confirms what you already know and what Maddie and your friend Charlie told us. Without Thomas Cromwell and whatever he took down with him in that plane crash, the evidence against you was circumstantial at best. Not enough to convict, but enough to taint your reputation and put you out of the Chicago power set.”

Mitch nodded, not at all surprised. Like Shane, he’d known people, too.

“Your father’s blackmailer is a different story.” Shane flipped through a couple of pages before coming to the picture. “She’s quite a looker.”

Mitch studied the photo. The woman with her raven-black hair was impossibly beautiful. “If you can overlook her tendency for blackmail.”

Shane chuckled. “We can’t all be perfect. Does she look familiar?”

“No.” Mitch picked up the photo and examined her brilliant blue eyes and snow-white ruby lips, but there was nothing familiar about the set of her face or expression. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“She didn’t get her good looks from her father.”

Mitch blinked. “What?”

“Your good friend Thomas had a long-term mistress in Greece. Rachel Brown, a.k.a. Kassandra Apostolis, is their daughter. Logan couldn’t find any link to you tampering with evidence.” Shane smirked. “Your MIT guy did a good job. If Logan can’t uncover it, no one can. Even if she has a paper trail of your father’s deal, there’s no way to tie it back to you.”

Relief swept through him, so powerful it would have knocked him over if he hadn’t been sitting. Something inside him eased.

Sam’s words came rushing back to him: Stop trying to control everything.

In that second, Mitch finally understood what he meant and gave up the fight. He stopped pretending that he didn’t care; stopped pretending that he was fine.

Maddie had been right, and he’d sent her away.

“Kassandra has a boyfriend,” Shane said, snapping Mitch back to the subject at hand. “He was staying in the same hotel. He filled a prescription for Ambien a couple of days before the trip.”

“How is this possible? My father’s handlers would have uncovered this all by now.”

“She had excellent fakes. She picked a common name. It’s harder to wade through all the red tape when you’re stuck using proper channels. All eyes are on the senator. He has no choice but to be careful. Logan doesn’t have those restrictions. Not saying it will amount to anything, but it’s enough to go on. Enough to cast suspicion and send the press digging into her background. But at the end of the day, you won’t end up disbarred. I’ll have Logan keep digging. He’s only been at it for a week.”