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“How has he stayed out of trouble, then?” Cassie asked.
“Not sure. He seems like a sneaky bastard, for one. He knows how to make the law work for him. And when he can’t, he finds someone to be his patsy.” Jason paused for more questions, but when neither Harris nor Cassie spoke up, he continued. “That’s not why I’m calling, though.”
“You have other news?” Harris asked.
“Cassie told you about Rose Sherman’s house?”
“She did. Did you find out who did it?”
“No. They didn’t leave anything behind, and the police have no leads, as far as I’m aware.”
“As far as you’re aware?” Harris shot Jason a questioning look through the phone. “You have an insider?”
“Oh, um.” Jason cleared his throat. “Not exactly. But I have friends who know people.”
“Right. Best we leave it at that.”
“Yeah. Anyway.” He cleared his throat again. “Turns out Rose booked a flight to Chicago, of all places.”
Harris and Cassie looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Cassie leaned closer to the phone. “You’re sure? Why would she be heading here?”
“I did some digging, and it turns out her husband has a cousin living in Chicago. His name is Robert Sherman. He’s an investment broker. Has a wife and a kid in elementary school.”
“Is he connected with Aguilar?” Harris asked.
“I don’t think so. At least, not that I could find. But the investment banking—”
“Is definitely worth some digging.”
“I’ll keep looking.” There was a hint of pride in Jason’s voice, like he wanted nothing more than to help them on their quest to get answers about all of this. “If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”
“And the cousin’s address?” Harris asked.
“Sending it now.”
Cassie hung up and waited for the address to come through. She put it into her phone’s GPS, then looked back up at Harris. “It’s back north. In Evanston. It’s gonna take at least an hour to get there.”
“Then we shouldn’t waste any time.” Harris checked her mirrors, making sure the coast was clear. She cranked the wheel to the left, cutting across the road and straightening up the car until they were facing the opposite direction. “If she landed this morning, we might be ahead of whoever’s chasing her.”
Cassie looked down at the folder in her lap. It felt like it was burning a hole through her legs, though that was more metaphorical than literal this time. She wondered if the shadow had followed them. Was it sitting in the backseat, waiting to see where they would go next? She resisted the urge to turn around and look.
Cassie looked back down at the file in her lap. “So much trouble to get this.”
“Would be a shame to not see what the big deal is.”
Cassie bit her lip, caught between knowing they needed to take the next step and still feeling as though they were playing a dangerous game. Every cell in her body was screaming that it was a bad idea. It was easier to ignore it. “Here goes.” She flipped the folder open and scanned the first page. “Looks like insurance claims?”
Harris tried to keep her eyes on the road and the folder at the same time. “What kind of insurance claims?” She swerved, and two different cars honked their horns.
“You focus on getting us to Robert Sherman’s house alive,” Cassie said. She jabbed a finger at the folder. “I’ll try to figure out what’s going on here.”
They made it to Evanston in record time. Cassie’s head was swimming with names and numbers and timelines, but she wasn’t sure she knew any more than she did an hour ago.
All thoughts of the folder left her mind when they pulled into Robert Sherman’s driveway.
“No car in the driveway,” Harris said.
Cassie leaned forward to get a better look at the house. It was a beautiful ranch with blue siding and manicured gardens covered in snow. The roof had sharp peaks, smart for the winter. It wasn’t a flashy house by any means, but out here it was worth a pretty penny.
