Page 124 of Untouchable

“Hey,” he said, picking up on the second ring. “I thought you’d be asleep.”

“I woke up early. Why aren’t you in bed?” She fell naturally into the light banter that was characteristic of her interactions with Jack, but her hands were shaking as the nerves coursed through her. He’d found something. Something she needed to know.

“One of my guys woke me up an hour ago. They have no respect for my beauty sleep.”

He was obviously expecting her to respond with teasing, as she normally would have, but she couldn’t muster it. “Did your guy find something out?”

“Yeah,” Jack said, his tone changing to the professional one he used for work. “We uncovered an email trail. It was deleted from the server, but my computer guy somehow dug it up. I don’t know how the hell he does it, but he’s good.”

“What email trail?” Her voice was a little wobbly, but she was speaking softly so she hoped he wouldn’t notice it.

“Between Vinnie DiMauro and his uncle, Roman DiMauro. The big boss in Baltimore back then.”

Kelly knew all about Roman. He’d been one of her mother’s primary targets after her dad’s death.

Jack continued, “It looks bad. Whatever happened, Vinnie and Roman were definitely involved.”

“What about Caleb?” She felt like her whole existence was poised on the edge of a cliff, and she was either going to fall backward onto the ground with a bump or fall forward into an endless void.

“He could be too, but he’s nowhere in the email trail. We still need more information.”

Kelly took a long, shuddering breath and sank down onto the bathroom floor, huddling up and trying to process this news. There was still a chance that Caleb might be innocent.

She wished she didn’t want it so much.

After a minute passed without her saying anything, Jack asked slowly, “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She was close to tears, but that was probably just the aftermath of the emotional night she’d had.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jack said, sounding a little hesitant. “We don’t have any real proof at this point, and even if he didn’t do this, you know he’s still not a good guy.”

“I know he’s not a good guy.”

“There’s no happy, rainbow-filled wedding for the two of you at the end of this.”

“I know that.” She stiffened her shoulders, Jack’s wry words actually helping her pull herself together. “I’m not a fool.”

“Of course not. But shit happens, and sometimes we’re not as smart as we should be. You’ve put yourself in a bad situation here, and I’d like to see you get out of it in one piece if possible.”

“I get it. I want that too. So what needs to happen now? You said I might be able to?—”

“Did you find out where they store the paper corporate records?”

“Yeah. There’s a storage area in the basement of the main headquarters, I guess. Caleb said that’s where they keep their old files. He was complaining about email, and I used that to ask him about paperwork. He says they only keep important stuff, and it’s all in fireproof cabinets underground.” She’d found out that information—like so much else she’d needed to know, by manipulating conversations to go the way she needed them to. She hated doing that to Caleb now, but she didn’t know enough yet to give up. “Why? What do you need?”

“There’s nothing in any electronic records we can access, so we need to check the paper records.”

“They’re not going to keep written proof of murder in the storage room.”

“You never know. But that’s not what I’m expecting to find. I want to get the personnel records and see if there’s anything else on Vinnie and Marshall in there.”

“They evidently keep the storage area locked, but Caleb’s assistant has a master key fob in her desk. I saw her take it out when I stopped by last week. I might be able to?—”

“No, no. My guys can do it. It’s too dangerous for you to try to get in there yourself.”

“But it’s dangerous for your guys too.”

“Yeah, but they’re professionals, and you’re not. Just give me a week or two, and we’ll figure out a way to get in there.”