“Then we’ll have something else to toast to at Payton’s engagement party that Saturday night, besides the completion of your kitchen.”
“My kitchen?”
“Yep. Got the call. Your cabinets should arrive Wednesday and with a couple of guys I use for my freelancing, we should have them up within a day.”
Which should make her excited and thrilled. Only…all she could think about was that Dominic’s work would be done and there’d be no more reason to see him.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to smile. “And what about you? Now that the surgery is done and your dad looks to be on the road to good health, are you ready to make a decision?”
He took a drink and set his glass down. “I already did.” He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and held it in front of him. “You all were right, of course. About him just wanting what was best for me. And it helped that Cruz was already talking to my dad when I arrived, showing him a new business plan he’d drawn up for what he envisions for Sorensen Construction. My own plan for going out on my own seemed to be something Dad already had accepted. In fact, he actually asked me why I took so long.”
He laughed, and he sounded so happy, as if the weight of the world was off his shoulders, she joined him.
“Here.” He held his cell phone out to her. “I want you to see something.”
She took the phone in her hands and stared down. On the screen was a gray backdrop and a black-and-white photo with the facade on an old house. The words “Sorensen Restoration” in bold letters crossed the top.
“You did it? You actually created a webpage?” It was beautiful, too, as she touched the screen and was brought to a portfolio of some older homes and the work he’d already done.
“Not only created it, but registered the LLC yesterday. And here’s the kicker. I’ve already had someone give me a call and received two more email inquiries.”
Her smile was wide and genuine as she looked at him, beyond impressed. “Wow. I can’t believe how much you’ve done in such a short time.” Without me, she wanted to add. But that would be silly. She’d shut him out, not the other way around. “I’m not surprised, though. I’m so happy for you, Dominic. You’re going to do it. You’re ready to start working on making your dream come true.”
He looked at her, and she felt as if he was going to say something, and her heart thumped loudly, almost deafening in her ears.
But he only smiled a little wryly and winked again. “I’m trying.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kate made it to the office in record time, considering traffic was sparse and the parking garage was practically empty. The office was quiet, too, without the usual bustle from the staff. Even the phones were strangely quiet. One of the reasons she usually loved coming in on holidays. Although now…she was starting to understand the allure of being at home.
If there was a certain someone to spend time with.
By eleven, she was busy typing her draft and barely noticed when one of the legal assistants dropped the mail off at Trish’s desk. After another half hour, she finally stood to stretch her legs and took a look at the mail that arrived. It was hard to miss the padded white FedEx envelope on top of the pile. Taking it to her desk, she dumped it out, already confident in what it contained before she even saw it.
The video surveillance from the Radisson.
She slid the disc into her computer and waited the long minute it took for the computer to recognize the software. Then it was starting. A long narrow hall, the picture a little grainy. A date was time-stamped in the corner. Same date as the day Ms. Herrera claimed Mark McKenna assaulted her in his room.
It took a good fifteen minutes of her forwarding through scenes of an empty hall before she finally spotted Mark arriving at his room. Alone. She exhaled a small sigh. She skipped forward again until she saw a woman with dark hair approach the door and go in. It was Ms. Herrera.
It was another six minutes on the video before the door was suddenly wrenched open and Ms. Herrera rushed out. Even in the short time she was in the frame, it was hard to miss the way her shirt hung open, the look of terror on her face before she raced down the hall.
A wave of nausea swept through Kate. She’d had her suspicions and doubts before, but now there was no denying what she knew was true. He’d done it, the bastard. And if his assault hadn’t been bad enough, he’d made sure to take not only the woman’s dignity but her income and then her job. She stopped the video.
Now she had to face another realization. Because now that she had seen what was on the video, there was no doubt in her mind that the first copy hadn’t mysteriously gone missing. Someone had deliberately hidden it.
It would be easy to lay the blame on Nicole, a woman who Kate had little doubt would stoop low enough to hide evidence if it meant getting ahead. But there were two things wrong with that theory. Nicole had nothing to gain by hiding it, as it was Kate’s neck—or promotion, rather—on the line and, in fact, hiding this might actually benefit Kate. The other problem was that Nicole didn’t have access to her mail.
She knew only one person, other than Trish, who was screening any mail coming in on the McKenna matter.
Tim.
It wasn’t difficult to see why he would try and suppress it. One look at the footage and their defense would be blown out of the water. Mark had lied about what happened, and it wouldn’t be a stretch for anyone to believe everything else that Ava Herrera claimed had happened also.
She pressed her fingers to her head again as the pounding pain increased. If she brought this footage to light, she’d not only sink this case, but she’d sink her chances at partnership.
But what choice did she really have? Could she sit on the evidence, as Tim seemed content to do? Wrestle with her conscience and code of ethics later?