Page 187 of Perfect Pitch

So has Charlie. “Is it Cassidy? Alison? Your kids?”

Keene waits for me, not saying a word. “Charlie. We have a problem.”

“Oh?”

I press my hands together and snarl, “Austyn Kensington.”

Silence drops over the room like a lead blanket.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” I ask gently, despite the swirl of rage wanting to take over.

“Does he know?” Charlie asks.

“I just found out myself a half hour ago. I don’t know what Mitch knows. I do know he’s heading in your direction.” I meet Keene’s eyes and fling the file at him. “Keene’s reading in now.”

I feel for my best friend, business partner, and brother-in-law. The first image will immediately jerk him back to a place he never should be forced to go. Keene asks, “Charlie, how could you not tell your own nephew? You son of a bitch.”

“Keene,” Charlie tries to placate him, but I’m having none of it.

“You knew there’s no way we’d let her movements be so traceable,” I snarl.

“She was going to go, regardless if I went with her or not. That’s why I looped you in, Caleb,” Charlie reminds me.

“It was different,” I shout. “You didn’t give me all the intel. We’d have surrounded her with a goddamn strike force.”

“And that’s the last thing she would have wanted.”

“Mitch has every right to shoot you with your own gun,” Keene interjects.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Charlie’s roar is agonized, breathing labored.

I scrub my hands up and over my face. “What’s really happening in North Carolina, Charlie?”

Charlie explains how Austyn’s been in therapy over the loss of her child. “She’s being released in the next couple of days.”

“What’s her physical sit rep?” Keene asks.

“Strong. Since she’s stayed in the hospital, she’s also been treated by a physical therapist and treated to muscle therapy.”

“She can still play?” I wonder.

“According to her doctors,” he confirms.

“I want all of her medical records, and I mean everything, sent to my computer within the hour,” I order.

Charlie’s breath expels. “You’ve got it.”

There’s silence along the line before Keene growls, “I don’t know where to cast blame for this FUBAR.”

Charlie murmurs, “Mitch is going to feel responsible.”

Keene bites out, “Mitch is responsible.”

“Is it a crime to fall in love, Keene?” Charlie accuses.

Keene swings his head away. He can’t refute Charlie’s words.

I jump in. “When are you coming back?”

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