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Nadine had a sudden urge to tell Kate what she was doing. The others often brainstormed with one another about their cases. But unfortunately, she couldn’t allow herself that luxury.
“Only four more weeks,” she said encouragingly. “Then you’ll be on mat leave with your beautiful baby.”
“I can’t wait.” Besides being smart, coolheaded and ambitious, Kate also had a huge maternal streak and Nadine doubted if this would be her and Jay’s only child.
She was mildly envious of the other woman’s happiness. In her mind Kate had it all: a terrific husband, a great career and soon a baby, as well. Nadine wanted all those things, too, but she wanted to earn them, not have them handed to her on a silver platter by her parents.
Her mother didn’t understand. She thought Nadine should be happy to work as an administrator for the family’s charitable foundation and date the suitable young men introduced to her by her parents.
Both her mother and her father were still cool to the fact that she was working at Fox & Fisher, but Nadine hoped that eventually they would accept that this was her chosen path. Maybe, at some point, they would actually be proud of her.
As soon as Kate was in her office, Nadine returned to her Internet search. She had to follow a winding trail to locate a phone number for June’s sister in Boston, but eventually she was successful. No sooner had she punched the numbers into her cell phone than Nathan appeared.
Quickly Nadine shut her phone, then slid her papers under a stack of files.
“Hey, Nathan. Where’s Lindsay?” They usually came to work together.
“I talked her into sleeping late. She had a bad night.”
He didn’t need to say more. Nadine nodded sympathetically. While Lindsay was strong, brave and capable, she and her sister, Meg, had been orphaned very young. The scars from their parents’ violent deaths had left a mark on each of the girls.
For Lindsay, her personal demons included nightmares and insomnia—though from what Nadine had heard, both were becoming less frequent. But moments of high emotion could bring on a relapse.
“Is it the wedding?” Nadine speculated.
“I think so. I wonder if we should have just eloped like she said she wanted.”
“It’s still an option.”
“Yeah. But I don’t want her to feel cheated ten years from now. You know—that she didn’t have the full deal on her wedding day.”
Nadine smiled. Nathan couldn’t help being himself. Any job worth doing, was worth doing well, in his opinion. And obviously that included weddings. “I’m sure your wedding will be perfect.”
“As long as we end up as husband and wife, that will be perfect enough for me. From now on, I swear, I’m going to agree with everything Lindsay wants.”
He hung up his coat, then went to pour himself a coffee. “I’m sorry we had to rush our conversation yesterday. Lindsay and I were talking last night. You’re very important to this office. You know that, right?”
“That’s good to hear. But—”
“You’re ready for more. Right. We get that. And you will get more. But gradually. When Kate has her baby, we’ll talk again. Maybe there will be a few cases of hers that you can take over.”
There were still too many maybes in his proposition for Nadine’s taste. But she smiled and thanked him anyway. Soon Nathan, Lindsay and Kate were going to realize that she was a lot more capable than they thought.
TWO DAYS LATER, NADINE HAD a problem. Finally she had some concrete results to share with Patrick, and she needed to arrange a meeting. But it couldn’t be at the office. She couldn’t count on one of the partners not walking in on her.
She pondered her options for a while, then sent him a text message, suggesting they go for coffee in Chelsea at the end of the workday. If she closed up the office at five and took a cab rather than the subway, she ought to be able to make it by six.
She’d just hit the send button, when Lindsay came out of her office. “Want to cut out early today? Nathan’s planning on working late, so he can lock up the place. Meg and I are going to shop for my wedding dress and shoes. When we’re done, we’ll go out for dinner.”
Oh, heck. That sounded like fun. Nadine checked her silent phone and wondered if Patrick would respond soon. “I’d love to, but…”
Lindsay had noticed her glance at her phone. “Family plans?”
Nadine swallowed. She hadn’t counted on needing to lie quite this often. She really didn’t like it. Fortunately her phone chimed at just that moment and she held up a hand for Lindsay to wait.
She scanned the short message from Patrick: Six is good for me.
Patrick’s speedy reply gave her a rush of excitement. She was looking forward to seeing him, and it wasn’t just about the case. A lot of guys looked great in a tux, but he had looked really, really great. Not that it mattered. Only…she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
She pressed a hand to her chest. She had to stop this. She was almost positive that professional investigators did not think about their clients this way.
She realized Lindsay had been watching her. Now, the astute investigator smiled wickedly. “No, it’s not family. It’s a hot date, isn’t it? Go ahead and say yes, Nadine. We can go for dinner anytime.”
“But, your gown and shoes…” Picking out a spectacular wedding outfit was the one thing that Lindsay seemed to be excited about and Nadine was honored to be invited along.
“Don’t worry. I already know which dress I want. I’m just showing Meg so she’ll think I’ve asked for her opinion.”
“What about Kate?”
“Poor thing is too tired. She has a meeting in half an hour and then she’s going straight home to put her feet up.” Lindsay sighed. “Face it, we could have timed this wedding better. As it stands, Kate’s baby is going to be only a few weeks old when we tie the knot.”
“You didn’t know Kate was pregnant when you set the date,” Nadine reminded her. “And at least the office is slow between Christmas and New Year’s, so your timing is good from that perspective.”
“True enough.”
Guilt tugged at Nadine again. Earlier Lindsay had mentioned she’d like help finding the right shoes. “Are you sure you won’t need me tonight?”
“Definitely. Go out and have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As soon as Lindsay had left on her shopping trip, Nadine replied to Patrick’s text: Six is good. Meet at A Subway entrance at 14th Street.
Less than a minute later, she received his reply: Got it. See you there.
Nadine swallowed. This was it. No backing out now.
CHAPTER FOUR
NADINE LEFT THE OFFICE promptly at five o’clock, anxious to be on time for her clandestine meeting with Patrick O’Neil. As she hurried down the stairs, briefcase in hand, she felt sophisticated and mysterious. After over a year of working at Fox & Fisher, she was finally an “operative” with her own “case.” She felt like the main character in one of the detective stories she loved so much, and she was even dressed for the part with her classic trench coat and oversize sunglasses.
She’d chosen to meet in Chelsea for several reasons. First, the subway stop was only two blocks from the apartment where June Stone had lived with her son. She thought Patrick might be interested in walking by the place, and if he wasn’t, she would do it alone once their meeting was over.
More important, she was reasonably certain that she wouldn’t run into anyone she knew in Chelsea. None of the partners at Fox & Fisher lived or were working in the area. Nor was she likely to encounter one of her family members, or friends of her parents, any of whom would give her away in an instant.
When she dashed into a cab, it was raining lightly. By the time she emerged at the meeting spot, the rain had turned into miserable November snow. Nadine stamped her feet to keep warm and hoped Patrick wouldn’t be late. She was wearing a wool dress and leggings under her coat, a hat and leather gloves, yet the damp chill seemed to seep through all of it.
At precisely six o’clock he showed up. She spotted him from a block away. He was wearing a dark coat with the top buttons undone, no scarf or hat, yet he didn’t look the least bit cold. Watching him approach, she was struck again by his rugged good looks and the athletic grace of his body. Probably thanks to lots of sun and wind, he looked all of his thirty-six years. His age had been on his bio in the book.
But there was no gray in his hair and certainly he had more energy than anyone she’d ever met.
He shook her hand when he reached her. His blue eyes fixed on her steadily. “It’s nice to see you again. I wasn’t expecting results so quickly.”
He was a little nervous, she realized. Good. Maybe he wouldn’t notice that she was, too. “We’re only a few blocks from June Stone’s old apartment. I wondered if you’d like to take a look before we have our coffee.”
“Yes. I didn’t think it was coincidence that you’d suggested we meet here.”
They set out heading west and Patrick was the first to speak. “I looked for you the other night. Later, after the speeches.”
“I’m sorry. I would have enjoyed hearing your talk, I’m sure. But I had to leave before dinner was served.”
He glanced at her, clearly intrigued. “I don’t suppose you can give me any details about the case?”
“I’m afraid not. We’re very strict about confidentiality at Fox & Fisher.”
“Which is a good thing.” He touched her elbow as they crossed the street. She found the gentlemanly gesture rather sweet, and unexpected, from a man she suspected cared little for most social graces.
But then, he’d seemed very comfortable in his tux the other night.
“Do you attend a lot of charity balls?” she asked.
“I try not to. In fact, after the other night, I called my publicist and said that was the last one. The people who go to these things mean well, I’m sure. But they’re so caught up in the cycle of consume, consume, consume. They listen to my talk and don’t even recognize that their lifestyle is part of the problem.”
Having struggled with the same issues for most of her life, Nadine had to agree with him. Her mother put pressure on her to attend these functions, but each one seemed to require more effort than the last.
“Well, this is it.” She stopped in front of a three-story apartment building. Counting out the units, she pointed to the window near the corner. “I think that was where June and Stephen lived.”
Patrick stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at the window for a long time. The curtains were drawn, but the interior lights were on and every now and then a shadow flickered as someone walked by.
“My son grew up here,” he said, his voice hoarse. He glanced around the block, taking in the convenience store across the street and a coffee shop on the corner. Both were probably places June Stone—and Stephen—had spent a lot of time in.
“Want to try that place?” he asked, pointing at the coffee shop. It was on the corner of Ninth Street. Rafaella’s was printed in white letters on a black awning over the window.
“Sure.” She started in that direction, then stopped. Patrick was still gazing at the third-floor window.
“I suppose June thought she was doing me a favor by raising our son alone. But she should have told me.”
JUNE’S DEATH WAS HAVING a profound effect on Patrick. She wasn’t the first of his contemporaries to pass away. That would have been Jed, who’d died in an avalanche, a day after Patrick had skied the same terrain. Jed’s passing had been hard, but finding out about June was even harder.
She had been his first love. And now, he was just discovering, the mother of his child.
June had been a straightforward person, intelligent and practical. At eighteen, she’d been cute, but it wasn’t really her looks that had drawn him so much as her outgoing personality and her love of sports. She’d played volleyball and basketball and he’d liked the fact that she could shoot a basket just as well as he could.
He’d preferred the solitary sports. Back in school it had been track and field. As an adult he’d taken up cycling, kayaking, mountain climbing…The list went on and on.
When they’d broken up, the summer after graduation, he’d been sad, but not for long. He’d worked at a bike shop until he had enough cash for a trip to Europe. He’d always had a yearning to travel.
Meanwhile June had gone on to college, as she’d always planned, only now he knew that her first year would not have gone as planned, because she’d been pregnant. He’d had time to do some calculating and he figured the baby would have been born in March, at the latest.
Three months after she sent him a Christmas card saying everything was fine.
Another shadow passed by the window in the apartment. It seemed sad, somehow, that a new family had moved in, playing out their passions and dramas and dreams in the very rooms where June and Stephen had once lived.
Patrick glanced away. Nadine had removed her sunglasses—it was growing dark now—and was waiting for him patiently, though she was probably cold. Now that the sun was gone, the air was cooling rapidly.
“Thanks for waiting,” he said, moving toward her.
“No problem. It must be quite a shock. Not only finding out you had a son. But he’s eighteen years old.”
“Yes. I cared about June, she was a good person and I don’t want to blame her. But if she’d given me a chance, I would have liked to be a part of his life.”
“Maybe the two of you would have gotten married.”
Somehow he couldn’t picture that. “Maybe.”
They were at the café now, and he held the door open for Nadine. Inside, the room was welcoming, furnished with sofas and upholstered chairs, the windows draped in soft fabrics and the lighting warm and intimate. It felt a bit like walking into someone’s home.
They were directed to a table for two next to a redbrick wall. Patrick helped Nadine off with her trench coat, then removed his leather jacket and hung both on a nearby coatrack.
He didn’t normally pay much attention to the clothing people wore, but he did notice that Nadine’s dress clung nicely to her petite figure. When she removed her hat, he saw that her thick, dark hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. In his line of work, he saw women in practical ponytails all the time—but this one looked more elegant than sporty. The style showed off her delicate ears and earrings long enough to swing with each movement of her head.
He was reminded of how perfectly lovely she’d looked at the gala ball the other night. To the manner born, and all that stuff. He supposed being able to fit in with your surroundings was a useful talent when you were in her line of work.
He forced himself to wait until they’d both ordered coffee to ask, “So tell me what you’ve found out.”
She cleared her throat. “I’ve contacted June’s sister in Boston.”
The obituary had mentioned Diane—whom he remembered vaguely.
“I tried to call Diane, too,” he said. “But her number wasn’t listed.”
Nadine nodded, setting her earrings in motion again. “She still goes by Stone, though she is married. I hoped they might own a home and I was lucky. By checking the Boston property tax listings online I was able to find their address. From that, I figured out the most likely school for their children to attend.”
That was clever. “But how did identifying the school help?”
“The school has a Web site. In one of the monthly newsletters, Diane was listed as pizza mom.”
“Pizza mom. What in the world is that?”
“It sounds like a school fundraiser. The kids send in orders for a special pizza lunch once a month. At any rate, Diane was the volunteer organizer and her phone number was printed right next to her name.”
Pretty ingenious legwork, Patrick thought, relieved to have this solid evidence that she knew what she was doing. “So you called her. Did you tell her I’d hired you to find Stephen?”
“Not exactly. I told her my name and that I lived in Manhattan. I said I had just heard that her sister had passed away and I was trying to find Stephen.”
“You didn’t mention me?”
“At this point I thought it would be good to say as little as possible. Diane made it very easy for me, actually. She didn’t ask many questions at all. She’s probably fielded a lot of calls since her sister passed away, so she just assumed I must be a friend.”
He edged forward on his seat. “Did she tell you about Stephen? Is he living with her now? He’s only eighteen.”
