a lot, who doesn’t? With sex came…” She waved her hands to indicate the house. A house that was spacious and well-appointed. “When he was arrested, he told me he’d bought this place, gave me the codes and banking information. I never expected him to get out of prison—I knew he had done many crimes. I helped myself to some of his money, bought my club—it is my club, not Jimmy’s—and it is doing very well. He doesn’t need to know that I don’t need him, it’s better this way.”
Sly woman.
“I don’t know why he doesn’t respond. He said he would send a message when he was leaving. He is very particular about these things.”
Kane asked, “Do you know who helped him escape? He had to have someone funding him, unless he had a stockpile of money that wasn’t seized by the U.S. government.”
“All his money is here, with me. And it is small compared to what he had before. But I don’t need much.”
“So you don’t know who helped him?
“Oh, yes, of course I do. Jimmy, he likes to talk, but he can’t tell his daughter anything. She has no, what do you say, control. He only has me. He says he loves me, but he said he loved me when he still had a wife. It’s the way he is. Last year he was approached by someone who works for a very important man, a senator.”
“A United States senator?” Jack said.
“Sí. He asked for a favor, Jimmy says yes, asks for a favor back. An advance, I believe. Money to help him get revenge.” She looked at Kane. “You killed his son.”
Kane tensed next to Jack. “I did,” he said.
“Thank you. Tobias was evil and stupid. I was fearful. I made sure I was never alone with him, the way he looked at me…” She shivered. “He hurt a lot of people.”
Jack went back to the senator comment. “Do you know the senator’s name?”
“No, I’m sorry. Jimmy only called him the senator. But his employee, the man who met with Jimmy in prison, his name is Colton. I never was told his last name.”
“Colton Thayer?” Jack asked.
“I do not know. He only called him Colton. He said he was, umm, a geek. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but I assume unflattering.”
Jack turned to Kane. “This is confirmation that Paxton is behind this.” Megan had told him of Lucy’s theory, but they had no evidence. “But how in the hell is Colton Thayer working for him?”
“Colton was Sean’s best friend for years,” Kane said. “The question is, why would Colton work for Paxton against Sean?”
Jack didn’t like what he was thinking. “Sean infiltrated Colton’s hacker group. The FBI investigation when he went undercover in New York.”
“Why the hell aren’t both Thayer and Paxton in prison?”
“Paxton cut a deal, and Thayer—I don’t know.”
“We have to tell Rick,” Kane said. “Even if he knows, we have to make sure he understands the seriousness of this situation. Friendships like Sean and Colton’s are once in a lifetime—like falling in love. And when someone is betrayed, it can turn dark, real fast.”
“Umm, Mr. Rogan? Mr. Kincaid?”
They turned to Portia.
“I have Colton’s numbers. Would you like them?”
Chapter Fifty
HOUSTON, TEXAS
Lucy was losing her patience.
The information Kane and Jack got from Hunt’s mistress was invaluable, but it didn’t tell them where Jonathan Paxton was right now. Rick Stockton was working on getting a warrant to trace Colton Thayer’s cell phones—Portia had three numbers for him. Lucy wanted to bypass all the rules because she feared for Sean’s life.
At the same time, she didn’t want to break the rules in a criminal investigation where Thayer and Paxton might walk free on a technicality.
Lucy didn’t want to believe everything Dillon had said last night, but after two hours of restless sleep, she woke knowing he was right. Jonathan had a twisted belief that she was his daughter—or should be his daughter. Jack reminded her that Jonathan had called her his daughter when she and Sean were missing in New York. He’d called her Monique to her face on more than one occasion. She’d cut him out of her life three years ago … what had that done to him? Did it twist him further? Allow him to create a fantasy world?
He was a brilliant man on many levels. Smart, shrewd, educated. He’d been a powerful senator and politician. He had men and women at his beck and call, available to do his bidding. To take the