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Isaiah crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. “You’re not the only one good at picking up when someone is lying. I’ve known you long enough to tell when you’re full of shit. And when you’ve fallen hard. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see the day, but it’s here.”
Harley didn’t want to talk about this right now. Not with Isaiah or anyone else. He didn’t know how he felt about Jade, not really. He cared about her. He wanted her badly. He couldn’t wait to be back at her side to sweep her into his arms and kiss her again. But that wasn’t love. That was just... He didn’t know what the hell it was, but he certainly didn’t need his best friend telling him how he felt.
“So where’s the lucky lady?” Isaiah asked. “I was hoping she might be here with you.”
“She’s with my mother.”
Isaiah’s eyebrows went up. “She’s met your mother?”
“We dated in high school,” Harley snapped. “Of course Jade has met my mother. Besides, I had to take her somewhere when the house was broken into. Mom’s house is the safest place I know of in town.”
“That’s the truth. The Fort Knox of South Carolina.” Isaiah looked around the house. “So what’s going on with this case, man? I thought it was a baby switcheroo. How’d we get to home invasion and threats?” He gestured toward the spray paint on the living room wall.
Harley followed his gaze and shook his head. He wished he knew. The house was still in shambles after the break-in. He had forced Jade out the door with a suitcase that night and hadn’t let her come back. He wouldn’t until it was safe. He just wasn’t sure when that was going to be. He thought perhaps once the security system was in. Or once the case was solved. Now he wasn’t so sure. He felt uneasy when Jade was out of his sight.
But maybe that had more to do with Isaiah’s insinuations about love than actual fear for her safety. No matter what, he would feel better when the wacko who broke in was behind bars. He hoped.
“This isn’t just a case of a lazy nurse mixing up infants,” Harley stated. “This was deliberate. When you called with the information about the Steele family, I was more confident of that fact than ever. Someone deliberately targeted the Steeles’ baby. But I don’t know why. Nothing ever came of it, best I can tell. Jade’s parents went home from the hospital with the daughter they thought was theirs and continued on with their life. There’s no damn point to the whole thing. And this...” He lifted his arms to gesture at the mess around them. “There’s no reason for this, either. Someone is trying to intimidate her into dropping the case. They’ve made that clear. But I can’t understand what finding out the truth would hurt.”
“Unless finding out the truth could uncover the person behind the swap. It’s been thirty years, but that doesn’t mean they want the cops showing up on their doorstep.”
“Maybe. Or maybe the Steele family knows the truth and is desperate to keep it quiet.”
“Why?” Isaiah asked. “If they knew they had their own daughter taken from them, why wouldn’t they want to know the truth about what happened?”
Harley shrugged. “You said they had politicians and other important people in the family. People like that are different from the rest of us. Maybe they want to avoid scandal at any cost, even if it means raising someone else’s child. Or even threatening Jade to keep the story quiet.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I know,” Harley agreed. He didn’t want to think the Steele family was behind the threats, but they certainly weren’t cooperating, either. “But I can’t explain why else they would ignore my calls. I’ve phoned both Patricia and Trevor Steele at their home and at his office. I always get housekeepers and assistants who take a message an
d then no one returns my calls. I have told them who I am and pressed upon them the importance of my call, but have had no response. It seems like they don’t want to know the truth.”
“What about their daughter, Morgan? Surely she has a vested interest in finding out what happened and meeting her real family.”
“I thought the same thing. And when you got me her work information, I called there too and they told me she was out of town on business.”
“What about that link I sent you to the charity gig?”
“Yes. That’s our saving grace. She’s obviously come to Charleston for the event. The Steeles have appearances to keep up, and that means the whole gang will gather tomorrow night at the family compound for their annual charity ball. They hold this fund-raiser and then send teams out with their tools to build housing for the less fortunate.”
“They don’t sound like arrogant assholes.”
They didn’t. And that bothered Harley more than anything else. It was hard for him to understand why people who did so much for charity would be so heartless about their own child. It was possible they didn’t realize what he was calling about, but he had mentioned Morgan and the hospital. How could they not at least return his call to see what he wanted? To just blow him off seemed out of character, given the facade they presented to the world.
“Are you going to this charity thing, then?”
“Yep. I’ve got my tuxedo pressed and ready to go. I intend to start up a conversation with Morgan and hopefully get to the bottom of this whole situation.”
Isaiah didn’t look convinced by his plan. “You’re a monster of a man, dude. You’ve got money, sure, but you don’t look like them. You’re going to stand out among all those rich, stuffy people. No one is going to think you’re a guest. At best, they’ll think you’re undercover security. You’re way too conspicuous.”
“That’s why I’m taking a date.”
“You’re not taking Jade, are you?” Isaiah asked, a wary expression in his eyes.
“She insisted, and she was right. She said the same thing you did. I need a date to fit in or I won’t make it past the front door, ticket or not.”
“A date, yes. But Jade? There’s a lot of personal crap involved there. You don’t think that taking her is a bad idea? This is potentially her family she’s meeting for the first time. You’re there to get information. She’s there to see the life she’s missed out on. What if your objectives are at cross-purposes? She could panic and blow your cover. She could say or do something to get you thrown out before you can do what you went to accomplish. If it comes down to Jade or the job, what will you choose?”
