Intercepted by Love: Part Five: A Football Romance (The Quarterback's Heart Book 5) Read online

  “No. I’m fine.” Andie extracted an envelope from her purse. “It sucks not being able to concentrate, but I have Declan’s hair in this envelope. We can send in for another paternity test.”

  “I’m not following this at all.” Her mother resumed burping Bret. “What does Declan’s hair have to do with Cade’s baby? I thought I proved to you that Cade is Bret’s father.”

  “Where did you get the DNA samples?”

  Mom’s mouth widened, and she shook a finger at Andie. “It’s not hard to get Cade’s DNA. We live in his house. You only have to hunt around.”

  Andie’s face heated, remembering the used condoms. “How can you be sure it was Cade’s?”

  Mom tilted her chin up. “I dug in Cade’s hamper and found a jersey with some blood. Who knew football players got so bloody?”

  “It’s a contact sport, Mom.” Andie shook the envelope with Declan’s hairs. “Remember when Cade punched Declan in the jaw? Some of Declan’s blood could have splattered on his clothes too.”

  “It’s a long shot.” Her mother handed Bret to her. “Besides, this sweet darling looks nothing like Declan. What’s more important is who’s going to take care of him when we leave?”

  Andie cuddled the baby. “I don’t think we can leave, at least not yet.”

  “Not my circus. Not my monkeys.” Mom flapped her hands. “Your father needs us back home. Instead of pulling hairs from Declan’s head, you should have told Roxanne she needs to step up and take care of her baby. She might as well move back in because someone has to feed the dog, too.”

  “I did give Roxanne the four-one-one.” Andie snapped her fingers. “But there’s another suspect. The dog walker. Have you seen her? She could have planted the heroin. Doesn’t she have a key?”

  “True.” Her mother wiped her face. “She never talks much. Just comes in and out like a shadow.”

  “What’s her name? Next time she comes by, why don’t you ask her to sit and chat? Have some tea or coffee. You’re good at that,” Andie reminded her mother of her nosy talents. “This is important. Someone’s framing Cade.”

  “Maybe, but it’s not your job to figure out who.” Her mother raised her voice. “I’ll concede he’s probably not hurting his mother. But considering what I’ve seen so far, including all the stuff you don’t remember, I’m not sure I can give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “What other stuff that I don’t remember?” Andie narrowed her eyes. A memory of her mother’s disapproval flitted through her mind. “You’ve been hinting about me doing dastardly things with Cade. Spit it out.”

  “The doctor said you’re supposed to remember things on your own.” Mother reached for the baby. “He’s asleep. Let’s put him in his bassinet.”

  “There, there, little one. You’re so precious.” Andie kept ahold of Bret and rubbed his tiny little back. His sweet powdery baby scent was so adorable, just like Cade. Oh goodness, did this mean Bret was Cade’s son?

  Her heart thumping with worry about what her mother knew that she didn’t, Andie walked to the bedroom and tucked Bret into his bassinet.

  Mother followed, wringing her hands. “Cade isn’t exactly a boy scout. The wisest thing for you is to do as he says. Go home and forget about him.”

  “Sorry. I can’t do that.” Andie jogged up the spiral staircase to the room she shared with her mother. Even if Cade hadn’t told her the entire truth, he was still her friend and a loyal one at that.

  Andie found her tablet and woke it up. “You’re going to show me everything you’ve been hinting at.”

  “Leave it alone.” Her mother pressed her arm. “The doctor said …”

  “Forget the doctor. I have to prove Cade’s innocent, so I have to know everything there is to know about him. The good, the bad, and the ugly.” She swiped her tablet and selected the web browser.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Mother dragged suitcases from the closet. “I’m going to start packing. I’m sorry you’ll have to see what Cade did to your reputation. It won’t be easy going back home and facing everyone.”

  Geez Louise. She made it sound as if Andie had been an axe murderer. Sheesh. Andie shut out her mother’s voice and typed her name and Cade’s into the search engine.

  Half an hour later, she wished she hadn’t looked. Cade had a reputation for being a womanizer with party girls on each arm. He’d also involved Andie in a bizarre scene where she had supposedly given him oral sex in a cemetery while watching an outdoor movie screening of Pet Sematary. The images were grainy and murky, but it was definitely her, or someone who looked like her, who was bent over Cade’s lap.

  Andie swallowed bile as she scrolled through the blogs speculating about her as the small town librarian way out of her league with the professional football player. She searched for the time they met back in Itasca and found the viral videos of his dog having sex with her dog right in the middle of the university where she worked. A picture of someone who was supposedly her boss, Margo, was displayed prominently alongside an article about Cade defacing library materials, and another video showed Roxanne announcing to the world how Cade had gotten her pregnant.

  Roxanne had sounded so confident, like she had nailed Cade to a tree. Could it be that Bret really was Cade’s after all? And everything that happened afterward was a lie? Maybe Dick really was covering up for Cade. Maybe Declan had nothing to do with Bret and Roxanne.

  Urgh. Andie’s head ached, and her brain felt like burning snakes were wiggling inside. She rested on the bed and groaned. “You’re right, Mom. I shouldn’t have looked. I’m feeling nauseous and sick.”

  “Now you know why we have to leave?” Her mother quickly and efficiently folded their clothes and arranged them in the suitcase. “You’re still suffering from your concussion. All of this is too much. You need to rest to allow your brain to heal. Besides, you don’t need this scandal with Cade. It gets worse and worse the deeper you dig.”

  A heavy cloud sagged over Andie’s shoulders. Every muscle and bone in her body ached with weariness. She’d been running herself ragged the past few days. In fact, she hadn’t even been out of the hospital for a week.

  Thoughts and images jumbled in her mind, and she couldn’t sort through any of it. It was one mess of spaghetti with bits of onion and mushroom scattered between. Perhaps her mother was right. She needed to recover from her brain injury. She needed to remember who she was and why she was here in Los Angeles. She needed a clear picture before she could help Cade.

  “I can’t do this anymore.” Andie sat at the table and rubbed her eyes. “I’m so tired, and I can’t believe I did those things they’re gossiping about. I can’t believe that was me.”

  Even worse. Why hadn’t Cade told her? She’d never given anyone head before and this public display was sure to have ruined her career prospects. Had she been drunk? Had he taken advantage of her? Or was she already in love even before her accident?

  “The blowback from that incident is over, although people in our town might still be talking about it. What’s done is done. I told you not to look.” Andie’s mother gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You had your Hollyweird adventure, now it’s time to go home.”

  Andie spied the ruby red slippers necklace on her night table. “I miss Dad. I really do.”

  * * *

  Cade’s head ached after spending the night in a noisy and smelly jail cell. Even worse, the other inmates hadn’t let him sleep, and each new one who came in ribbed him about losing the Super Bowl as soon as the others made it known that he was the LA Flash quarterback who’d screwed up.

  However, nothing about his situation was bad compared to the pain and anguish he must have put Andie through. Telling her they were through, asking her to leave and go home was a desperate move to save her from his problems. She was too pure for him. Too caring and lovable, everything wonderful, with a loving family to go back to. He couldn’t drag her down his drain of dysfunction and ruin her life.

  The hurt on
Andie’s face when he’d told her to go away sliced through his heart. He’d had to turn away and not look back, knowing she was watching as the squad car drove away. This was the end. No more dreams and fantasies of having a normal life with Andie. Guys like him didn’t get to destroy other people’s lives, especially a woman as trusting and loving as Andie.

  Hopefully, she and her mother had gotten in touch with Roxanne to take care of Bret and were on their way to the airport. This mess wasn’t theirs to clean up.

  The lock clicked and the door to the cell opened. A prison guard said, “Prescott, you have a visitor.”

  Great. About time.

  He’d used his single phone call to ask his agent, Rob Cash, to hire him a lawyer. This entire scene smelt like trumped up charges, and any decent lawyer should be able to get him out easily. He’d also asked Rob to hire a security guard to watch the rehab and protect his mother, because while Cade was stuck in jail, the real killer would have more opportunity to attack.

  The guard led Cade through a series of locked doors and unlocked the door to the visitation room. Ronaldo Silver sat there, smirking and looking supremely confident. What was he doing here and who had called him?

  “You have fifteen minutes,” the guard said, leaving Cade shackled. “I’m right outside, so don’t try anything funny.”

  Cade adjusted his chains and sat, picking up the phone receiver. “Wow, news travels fast. What are you doing here?”

  “Getting you a lawyer.” Ronaldo lifted an eyebrow and leaned forward. “I don’t trust the one Rob Cash hired.”

  What made Ronaldo think Cade could trust him? Wasn’t he in cahoots with Dick on the baby passing deal?

  “In that case, I’m taking the public defender,” Cade replied. “I know I’m innocent.”

  “No way. That’s suicide,” Ronaldo said. “Whoever’s framing you is clever and determined.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “Because I’m your friend.”

  “Didn’t look that way with you siccing Declan on Andie.” Cade all but growled.

  Ronaldo thumbed his lip and shook his head. “Declan has history with her. As soon as he found out Andie was involved with the show, he wanted in. Besides, I was watching out for you. If she really was still hung up on Declan, then it’s better to find out now.”

  “True, but what about the King David show?” Cade could see the logic of Declan, but not the entire farce of a show.

  “What about it? It got Andie out to LA, and I got to have some fun with the creative types. Besides, I’m still trying to line up funding. After my aunt beat me up, she asked for a copy of the script. We might make a go of it anyway.”

  Ronaldo was nothing, if not optimistic, always with a big scheme going on—delusions of grandeur.

  Cade waved his hand. “Whatever. I just don’t want Andie to get hurt.”

  “You need to get out of jail first.” Ronaldo crossed his arms. “Talk to the attorney. He’s really good. Owen Williams. He looks like one of those bumbling nerds, kind of pudgy and confused, but all the while, he’s getting information and solving your case.”

  “Sure.” Cade shrugged and hunched his shoulders. What did he have to lose? It wasn’t as if Rob had gotten back to him with the lawyer yet. “Do you really think Andie has talent?”

  “Do you?” Ronaldo tapped the tabletop. “That’s all that’s important, isn’t it?”

  “She’s the most incredible woman in the world. Talented, warm, caring, and more than I deserve.”

  “That’s good, but what does that have to do with getting you out of jail?”

  Cade rubbed both sides of his face and sighed. “Nothing. I sent her away. Told her to go home.”

  “Why? The entire King David show was designed for her. If my aunt decides to fund me, I’ll still need her.” Ronaldo also had a one-track mind. Didn’t he realize how much Andie had lost by coming out to California? She’d lost touch with her father who was paralyzed by a stroke, had her reputation ruined by that indecent photo, and now, she’d lost her memory because of a car accident. He should never have enticed Andie to Hollywood with the King David deal.

  “I love her,” Cade muttered, finding it hard to breathe past the lump in his throat. “I can’t let her ruin her life for me.”

  “Oh, that’s all well and noble. I should knight you right now, Sir Cade O’Chump.” Ronaldo huffed. “I’m betting she’s not leaving.”

  “She has to. I broke up with her.” Cade’s stomach ground like pebbles caught in a food processor.

  “You what? Oh, that’s rich. Just too rich. You find true love and you tell her to go away.”

  “For her own good. Besides, her mother showed her a paternity report saying I’m Bret’s father.”

  “Are you?” Ronaldo raised his eyebrows.

  “Impossible. I only slept with Roxanne on New Year’s Eve, and Bret was conceived last November.”

  “Maybe you forgot. I mean, you always had more than one woman. Maybe Roxanne was mixed in a threesome and you didn’t notice.”

  “I always used protection.”

  “Sure, sure, that’s what they all say.” Ronaldo chuckled. “The thing is, you don’t realize when you slip up, because if you did, you would have remembered to bag your boner.”

  “Look, I didn’t slip up.” At least not with Roxanne. She was his agent’s sister and off-limits. At least until New Year’s Eve when a combination of champagne goggles and Roxanne’s full court press convinced him to give it a whirl.

  Ronaldo tapped on the plastic. “Bud, or should I call you BD for Baby Daddy, I see you’re worried.”

  “No. Not at all.” He hadn’t slept with any party girls since he’d met Andie, so he was in the clear. “No need to worry. I stopped partying after the Super Bowl disaster. So, who’s this lawyer?”

  “Owen Williams, criminal defense. He’s a good ol’ boy. Prosecutors never see him coming. He looks like a bumbling fool, but he’s sharper than a prick on the tip of the Space Needle.”

  “Enough.” Cade fisted his eyes. “Just get me out of here.”

  “Sure thing, BD.” Ronaldo glanced at his watch. “Got a meeting. Later, dude.”

  “Later.” Ass. But then, Ass was his only friend. “Appreciate it, man.”

  Cade bit his tongue and hung up the handset. What a mess he’d made of his life. As one of his foster mothers used to say, Trouble always comes home to roost.

  Chapter Three

  “When’s Roxanne coming for her baby?” Andie’s mother asked for the hundredth time the next morning. “If she doesn’t show up by tomorrow, I might have to call Child Protective Services.”

  “No, you can’t.” Andie reached for the baby as they settled in the kitchen. “It’ll kill Cade for his son to go into foster care.”

  As much as she wanted to go home and see her dad, she couldn’t stand the thought of not leaving Bret in good hands.

  Andie’s mother handed Bret to her. “You’re admitting Bret is Cade’s son?”

  “Not admitting anything without another DNA test,” Andie said, patting her dog, Gollie. “Cade already has fatherly feelings for Bret and since he used to be a foster child, he would never want to see Bret go into the system.”

  The dogs, Red and Gollie, milled around them in the kitchen, waiting to be fed. Last night, when Cade had been arrested, they’d barked themselves hoarse. Gollie was her golden retriever and collie mix, whereas Red was Cade’s champion Irish setter. They’d been fast friends ever since they met, and Andie hated the thought of splitting them up.

  “I see.” Andie’s mother poured dried dog food in the dog dishes and filled the water bowl. “Another day has gone by, and we’re still here. We also need someone to take care of Cade’s dog.”

  “How about the dog walker? Are we shipping Gollie home?” Andie sorted through the mail as she waited for the formula to warm. “We should do another DNA test. I’m going to fill out the forms.”

  Why was her brain so sc
attered? She should stick to clearing Cade from the charges, not worrying about dogs, babies, and DNA.

  “Shouldn’t Cade have a lawyer contact us about his dog and baby?” Her mother patted the dogs. “I’d like to buy the airline tickets soon.”

  Andie hugged Bret and cuddled him. “I can’t see myself leaving Bret to foster parents. It’s not his fault he has flaky Roxanne for a mom.”

  The microwave dinged, signaling Bret’s formula was done. Her mother tested it and handed it to her, sighing. “He’s such a sweet little thing, but we can’t stay indefinitely.”

  “Maybe I’ll stay.” Andie offered the bottle to Bret who latched on, his eyes gazing at her adorably. “Even though Cade told me to leave, he’s still a friend in need. I can’t leave him without speaking to him at least.”

  Besides, no matter what notoriety Cade brought her, including the indecent images, he himself had treated her well. If he’d lied about Bret, he must have had a good reason.

  “He’s lucky to have you.” Her mother opened the refrigerator. “But I’m worried about you. What exactly do you want to do with your life?”

  Andie gazed deep into Bret’s baby blue eyes and sniffed his powdery baby scent. A flood of contentment and love comforted her. “I don’t know, but right now, Cade needs me. So do Bret and the dogs.”

  “If you’re staying, you should find a job.” Her mother set a frying pan on the stove. “Don’t be like me. I lost all interest in a career when I met your father. Followed him all over the world and forgot my dreams.”

  “Do you regret it?” Andie set the bottle down and turned Bret over her shoulder to burp him.

  “No, not at all.” She opened the refrigerator. “Taking care of you and seeing the world, listening to you and your father discuss his archaeological finds and being a part of it. It’s been an adventure.”

  “What did you want to do that you gave up?” Strange how she knew and yet didn’t know her mother.

  Mom cracked an egg, a secret smile lighting her face. “Write mysteries. I guess now that you’re all grown up, there’s nothing stopping me.”