Every Breath You Take Read online

  Kate bit her lip as she dialed information for the phone number of Intercorp. Leaning forward, she jotted it on a pad, then she handed the phone to Gray. “I’ll talk to him, but you’ll need to get him to take my call first.”

  He nodded, dialed the number, and shot her a quizzical look.

  “The last time I saw Mitchell,” Kate explained in answer to his unspoken question, “Meredith was with him and she heard the things he accused me of being. When she walked away, she looked at me as if I’d just become invisible. Believe me, she told her husband all about it, and Matt Farrell won’t want to give me the time of day.”

  “I’ll get him to take your call. There’s one more thing,” he added after he asked Intercorp’s operator to connect him to Matt Farrell’s office. “Wyatt is going to want some form of proof that Danny is his before he forks over ten million dollars. I have Wyatt’s DNA on record, and we’ll have Danny’s DNA in a few hours. If you will guarantee me that there is no way Danny is anyone else’s child, I’ll vouch for a DNA match now, on this phone call. If it turns out you’re wrong, I’ll retract my statement before Wyatt hands over the money and tell him there was a mistake.”

  “There’s no mistake!”

  He nodded, then spoke into the phone. “This is Gray Elliott,” he told Matt Farrell’s secretary. “Is Matt in? This is an emergency.”

  Kate unconsciously held her breath while the seconds ticked by, and she thought of Danny out there somewhere with strangers.

  “Matt,” Gray said suddenly into the phone. “I’m with Kate Donovan. Her little boy was kidnapped this morning. You’ll hear an amber alert any minute now if you turn on a radio or television set. Kate needs to talk to you. Before she does that, I want you to know that the DNA evidence will back up what she’s going to tell you. Here’s Kate—” he finished.

  Kate stood up as she took the phone from him. “Mr. Farrell,” she said formally and firmly, “Mitchell Wyatt is Danny’s father.” Kate paused, waiting for some reaction, and when there was none, she forged ahead. “The kidnappers are demanding ten million dollars by nine o’clock tonight. I can’t even come close to paying that much money.” Again Kate paused, and again there was no reaction, so she drew an unsteady breath and said shakily, “Would you please ask Mitchell to call me? I’ll give you my phone number. Tell him … tell him I’ll sign over the restaurant to him in return, and I’ll find some way to pay him back the rest.” Tears constricted her throat, and Kate grasped the telephone harder. “Please, you have to find Mitchell and tell him. Danny isn’t even two yet and he’s out there somewhere with—” She broke off, swallowed, and got herself under control. “Tell Mitchell that Gray Elliott will show him proof that Danny’s DNA matches the DNA in Mitchell’s file at the state’s attorney’s office. Here’s my phone number at the restaurant. Danny and I live in an apartment above it,” Kate added quickly so that Matt Farrell wouldn’t think she was working as usual while her son was missing.

  Finally, the silent man on the other end of the phone spoke. “I will call him,” he said, “and I’ll give him your message.”

  “Thank you,” Kate said weakly. She’d started to take the phone from her ear when he added, “I’m very sorry about your son.”

  That snapped Kate from pleading to ire. “Danny isn’t just my son; he is also Mitchell’s son.”

  “I’ll remind Mitchell of that,” he said to her surprise.

  Chapter Forty-five

  CLAIRE DILLARD FINISHED READING THE CONFIDENTIALITY agreement that she was required to sign before she could work for Mitchell Wyatt, and added her signature. She passed it across the desk to his personal assistant, who slid it into a folder containing the rest of the employment documents Claire had been filling out since reporting that morning to the Manhattan high-rise for her first day of work. “What’s next?” Claire asked.

  “That’s all there is,” Sophie Putnam replied with a warm smile, and closed the file. “You’re now an official member of the crew. Welcome aboard,” she said as she reached across her desk and held out her hand. Claire shook it, returning her smile.

  They were both in their late thirties and happily married, with pleasant, professional attitudes, dark hair, and an obvious preference for well-tailored business suits and trendy shoes. “I think we’re going to get on very well together,” Sophie said, putting Claire’s thoughts into words. She settled back into her chair, glanced at her watch, and nodded toward a closed door on her right. “Mr. Wyatt’s conference should be over any minute now. In the meantime, do you have any questions or concerns about being Mr. Wyatt’s secretary that I haven’t addressed?”

  “I do have one concern,” Claire admitted half seriously. “How long does it take before you stop noticing how incredibly handsome he is?”

  Sophie laughed at her candor. “When you realize he does not play around with his employees, ever, you’ll relax and forget his looks—in two or three years,” she joked.

  “Does he have a lot of girlfriends?”

  Since Claire would be involved in facets of his personal life, such as arranging for theater tickets, making dinner reservations, and dealing with everything pertaining to his penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side, Sophie felt that question was well within reason. In a carefully noncommittal tone, she replied, “The lady du jour is Kira Dunhill.”

  Claire’s eyes widened at the mention of the acclaimed Hollywood actress who was costarring on Broadway with Leigh Valente in a new play scheduled to open that night. “What’s Kira Dunhill really like?”

  “She’s a little on the haughty side, but she’s so gorgeous and so talented, who can blame her?”

  “Was that a tactful way of saying she’s a conceited snob?”

  “Was I that obvious?”

  “No,” Claire said with a quick, emphatic shake of her head. “I made an educated guess, based on the fact that she’s not only a movie star, but also from a wealthy, privileged background.”

  “She’s only been up here twice,” Sophie replied as she picked up Claire’s folder and slipped it into her desk drawer. “The first time was a month and a half ago, right after they started going out, and when Mr. Wyatt introduced me to her, she barely bothered to give me a nod. The second time was last week, when she dropped by on the pretense of wanting to give him a book she’d bought for him, even though she knew he wasn’t going to be in the office that day. She hung around for a half hour, chatting with me and pretending she wanted us to be best girlfriends.”

  “What did she really want?”

  “Information about Mr. Wyatt—any little tidbits she could get about his friends, his business, his likes and dislikes, his background, his family, and the other women who’ve been involved with him. When she first started talking, she acted as if they’re practically engaged, but based on the kind of questions she asked, I think Mr. Wyatt must be keeping their relationship on a very superficial level, at least at this point. I’m telling you this as a warning, because she may try the same thing on you as soon as she realizes you’re his new secretary. Oh, one more thing before we change the subject. You asked whether he has a lot of girlfriends, and I gave you a flippant answer about Kira Dunhill being the ‘lady du jour.’ The actual answer to your question is that he works a lot harder than he plays.”

  “What, specifically, does Mr. Wyatt do?”

  “I’m sorry,” Sophie said, startled. “I automatically assumed you knew, since your former boss had several meetings with him recently.”

  “I was one of the few people who knew Mr. Kenworth wanted to sell the company, and I knew his meetings with Mr. Wyatt were related to that, but he was very secretive about the meetings themselves. They always took place after everyone had gone home, and although Mr. Kenworth had me stay until the meetings were over, the only thing I did was bring files into the conference room occasionally and arrange for their dinners. I have no specific idea what Mr. Kenworth wanted Mr. Wyatt to do for him. I only know I was thrilled—and amazed—when you p