Page 49 of Subtracting the Heart

Cade took his drink, drawing a long pull from the straw. It was delicious. “So, Fiona, what do you want? The last time I saw you, you were racing out of my old apartment. I lost track of you and then I never heard anything about Clary Radcliffe’s case.”

Fiona glanced at Ford with a cocked eyebrow. “I’ll explain the other bullshit to him. You stick to the facts, Abigail.” There was a surprising bite in his voice.

“Fine!” The woman reached into her purse and pulled out a midsize leather folio, opening it and showing it to Cade and Jax. Inside was a shiny badge with a number on it, along with an impressive looking seal. Next to the badge was a window compartment displaying the credentials identifying the woman as Abigail Mellon, Senior Special Agent with the FBI.

Cade took the leather folio to examine it, shock settling into the pit of his stomach. There was her picture along with a badge number that corresponded to the shiny piece of metal on the other side of the folio.

He handed it off to Jax, who examined it and tossed it back to her, rattling her. “So, you’re the bitch who was supposed to marry our Branford?”

That was news to Cade. He looked at her, hoping Jax was wrong.

“That was a lifetime and several plastic surgeries ago, okay? Yes, our parents thought we would marry and become the next up-and-coming power couple in New York, but that wasn’t ever in the cards, was it, Mr. Delacroix? You came along and swept Bran off his feet, didn’t you? I didn’t have the right parts to sweep him off his feet.” Her tone was a bit snappy for Cade’s tastes.

“Fiona… Abigail, what does this have to do with me? I’d just met Jax and Ford when I started working for Triad, and you couldn’t have known where I’d move, right?” Cade wasn’t exactly sure what was happening.

“No, I didn’t, Kincade. Bellamy Radcliffe came to our offices in New York after she left Clary. She had a forensic accounting firm combing Clary’s books, and they found a hidden account under an alias. It was in the Cayman Islands, a haven for crooks, and they won’t honor our requests for information or subpoenas. Bellamy faked Clary’s signature for us so we could get the history of the account, and we discovered the bribes he’d paid over the years. It gave us the basis for expanding our investigation, but we needed the insider information regarding who benefitted from those bribes. That was why I took the job at Triad in the first place.”

She adjusted her position in the chair and took a sip of wine before continuing. “When you came in for an interview, I tried to talk Clary out of hiring you. You were a nice young guy who didn’t need to get caught up in the bullshit about to hit the fan, but Radcliffe said it was a favor for his ex-wife to keep her off his back about his alimony payments. He said your motherand the former Mrs. Radcliffe were good friends, and he had a relationship with your father, Hudson Hayes, whose name I’d seen on the wire-transfer log for monies going in and out of the Cayman account.” That caught Cade’s attention.

“Okay. Go on.” He encouraged her to continue.

“At first, I thought you were a plant by Hudson to learn proprietary information, which was why I dogged you over everything regarding your employment. When I figured out it was an unfortunate coincidence, I pulled the plug on the operation and had Clary Radcliffe arrested to keep you from further involvement.”

“Why?” Cade didn’t know her from a stump.

The woman shrugged. “You were too sweet a guy to be collateral damage, so we moved forward with the raid and got you out of harm’s way.”

Cade continued to sip his exotic cocktail. When he sucked air, he turned to Ford and cocked an eyebrow. Ford winked and picked up the phone, calling downstairs.

Cade returned his attention to the woman and considered what she’d said. Finally, he had a salient question. “My mother won’t get in any trouble over this, will she? Hudson’s been arrested for bigamy, but he’s out on bail. It only carries a—”

“I know,” the woman interrupted. “It’s a class four felony and only carries a one-to-three-year bid with a fine. Trust me, Cade, your father is going away for much longer than three years. He was invested in a criminal conspiracy with Clarence Radcliffe, and between your mother and Bellamy, we have enough evidence to lock the two men up for a very long time.” To Cade, Fiona looked confident. He wasn’t so sure.

“What about Cheryl? She thought she was marrying a man who’d been divorced years ago. She had no idea what a louse my father would turn out to be. She won’t be charged, will she?”

Cheryl was Ashton’s mother and had proven herself to be a good and decent—albeit horribly naïve—person. In Cade’s opinion, she didn’t deserve any backlash from the shit his father had perpetrated on her… and the whole family.

“No. That’s a civil matter to be worked out between your mother and Cheryl Glover, so you’ll need to speak with them regarding the disposition of funds, but your father’s going to prison for a long time.” That was reassuring news to Cade.

“Another issue relates to the Chicago Outreach Shelters, Kenneth Shaw, founder. What do you know about working for the organization?” Fiona/Abigail asked.

That part of his life seemed like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a few months. It remained a thorn in Cade’s side.

“He was arrested for breaking into Clark Street Shelter to recover the belongings of displaced residents after it was closed. Can you do anything about that shit?” Ford snapped at the woman, finally breaking his silence.

She turned to look at Ford, a sneer evident on her face. “You’re still a prick, aren’t you?”

Ford looked ready to jump from his chair as the knock came at the door. Jax reached to flip the handle, opening it to find Cleveland with a smile on his swollen lips, along with a puffy eye.

“What happened?” Cade invited the large man in and took the tray from him that held another large piña colada and a plastic cup with a lid for Ford. Jax was still drinking his beer from the ice bucket.

Cleveland chuckled. “I just got engaged. You need anything else, call down.” With that, he left the three men with mouths hanging open. The woman scoffed.

Once Cleve closed the door, Jax turned back to her. “Well, can you? Cade was only trying to get the clothes and food outta that joint so the kids had their own belongings and the food didn’t go to waste. We had five young men at our home whohad been displaced and wrongly accused of prostitution. All we were trying—all Cade was trying to do was make things better for those boys.” Jax’s passionate argument on Cade’s behalf made him love the Cajun more.

They watched the woman pull out her phone and type in something. As she scrolled through it again after it pinged, she nodded, before she glanced up.

“Two of those guys were agents of ours. The other three were real sex workers, but we all agreed it was awful, what happened that night. I’ll get the charges dismissed as soon as possible, Cade. You were trying to be kind to those boys, and the locals were a bit zealous about arresting you. I’ll get it sorted out and have it stricken from your record,” Fiona/Abigail said.

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