“No, Dad and I are heading home from Aunt Janet’s in a few days, but we have things to do at home and Lou hasn’t mentioned going up.”
“So it’s okay if I head up there then?”
“Sweetheart you don’t ever need to ask, of course you can.”
“Thanks Mom.”
“Have a good time sweetie, we miss you.”
“I miss you too, tell Dad hi for me.”
“Will do.”
When Jo hung up she felt better now that she had a plan. Ralph came back and handed her a sandwich, ‘on the house’ he said giving her a fatherly pat on her shoulder. Jo thanked him for the sandwich and for letting her use his phone and then she headed home.
The first thing Jo did back in her house was to write Nick a note; she didn't want him to worry. She packed everything she thought she might need, including her computer and the case file, and put everything in her car. She then walked back to Nick's door and taped the note to it before heading off to her family’s lake house.
Chapter 16
Wes’ Really Bad Week
Wes’ week had gone from awesome to bad to worse. Being with Jo had been everything he had hoped it would be. They hadn’t had sex, but he considered it to have been just as extraordinary. What they had shared that memorable morning was mind blowing. Wes had also had one of the best nights sleep that he’d had in ages, and he knew it was all because he had been holding his Jo.
Jo was passionate and giving. He loved how she had become shaky with need and then how she had come apart for him, saying his name over and over again. Every time he thought back to that moment Wes felt himself harden. Then he received the ill-timed call from one of his team, reporting that Ginger was AWOL that she had slipped her security detail and had been missing since three in the morning.
Wes had spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday trying to track down the wayward star. Leena was positively beside herself and Wes was worried as well. They even had a member of his team prepared to take a call from kidnappers if that’s what was going down. The only reason Wes wasn’t frantic yet, was that Ginger’s entire girl entourage, consisting of Patty, Carrie, Ann, and Beth were also missing. Wes had called in Jace and Andy to help search for the wayward diva. T.U.F.’s impeccable reputation was perilously close to having its first smudge attached to its notable status.
Finally on Monday, late in the afternoon, Wes caught one of the girls, Patty, sneaking in to the suite to pick up all five girl's birth control packs. Wes threatened to have her thrown in jail for trespassing if she did not tell them where Ginger was.
Patty flippantly told Wes that Ginger had decided that she and her girls’ needed to get out on their own for a little fun, away from the scrutiny of Leena, the security guards, and other ‘party poopers'.
She snippily told Wes that they had made friends with one of the bartenders at the club they were at, ditched their security guards, and had been holed up in a swanky hotel that Beth had rented using her brother-in-law's credit card The team had checked on Ginger and her girl's credit cards, hoping to find a clue as to where they were. The brother-in-law's card would not have been looked at. Wes made a mental note to himself to always expand searches to include family members and close friends should this ever happen again. Patty boasted to Wes and Leena that they had been partying hard for the last two and a half days. Wes noted how pleased she was that they had successfully ditched their detail.
When Wes, Jace and Andy walked into the disheveled hotel room that Ginger and her friends were holed up in, it was Monday evening, and Ginger and her crew were totally shit faced. Ginger was out on the balcony with her shirt off yelling down to a group of men who were luckily too far away to recognize her, but close enough to see that they were being treated to the site of a topless well endowed woman. Wes took her by her hand to pull her away from the on lookers and Ginger immediately started hysterically laughing.
Wes firmly placed her on one of the balcony chairs to try to calm her down and that was the precise moment when Jo had called him. He had answered because he had been worried she might be in trouble, but she wasn’t, and the timing couldn’t have been worse for a social call. He felt badly, he hadn’t reached out to her, except for a quick text, since they had been together he knew that was very bad form.
While Wes was talking to Jo, Ginger became agitated and began to whine that he never paid attention to her. Ginger was begging Wes to come to her and when he didn’t she had quickly stood up and tried to burrow under his arm, telling him in a drunken, slurred and not so quiet voice that she would be very good for him, that she was a great girlfriend, and she could get him lots of jobs. Then before Wes even knew what was happening Ginger had grabbed the cell out of his hand and thrown it over the balcony. They were on the twentieth floor! Wes was livid and he knew it would appear to Jo as if he’d just ended the call. Wes looked over the balcony hoping his phone hadn’t hit anyone. Luckily it hadn’t. It had just busted into a ton of little pieces on the sidewalk below.
Jace and Andy helped Wes and Leena escort the girls and Ginger back to the hotel suite, bringing them in a side entrance. The paparazzi had been camped out in the front. They were aware she hadn’t shown up on the movie set in two days and rumors were rampant as to why.
Wes’ week went from bad to worse that evening. Leena was pissed at Ginger for taking off. She had to do damage control. She called the movie director and told her that Ginger was sick. She then sent Ginger’s little group of girl friends packing and told Ginger she was going to a spa in Arizona for a few days to get her head together. She told Ginger she could spin it to the media that she was in need of a little R and R.
At first Wes thought it was a great idea, until Leena informed him that he was still responsible for Ginger, even at the spa. According to the contract T.U.F. was responsible fo
r Ginger’s security until the movie scene in town was complete. Wes was prepared to send one of his team, but Ginger threw a tantrum and told Leena she wouldn’t go unless Wes personally went with her. She then convinced Leena to let one of her girl friends accompany her as well.
So without a phone Wes was put on a private jet late Monday evening. He had no way to get in touch with Jo and he hadn’t memorized her cell number either. Wes took the time in the air to try to sleep. It was the only time he was confident Little Miss Pain in the Ass couldn’t escape. Wes leaned back in the large comfortable seat hoping sleep would claim him, but every time he shut his eyes he kept picturing Jo’s beautiful face. He could not even imagine what she was thinking of him right now. He knew it would not be complimentary. He hadn’t called her and then when she’d reached out to him she thought he’d hung up on her. He ran through different scenarios in his head. What she was doing? What she was thinking? How will she react when he saw her again? Would she even let him try to explain? Wes became agitated all over again at Ginger and her antics.
The jet landed in Arizona and a town car met them. They were driven an hour away, to the middle of no-where, to an exclusive spa. There were very few other patrons at the posh get-a-away. It boasted every kind of relaxing, fitness, and beauty treatment one could imagine. Cell phones and computers were not allowed onto the property and they were far enough removed that there was no cell service anyway. There were no televisions or radios either. The place was known for catering to exclusive clientele who required strict privacy and that included being unplugged from any outside communication.
While Ginger and Carrie found their rooms and crawled into bed, Wes had to inspect the lay out, approve Ginger’s pampering treatment schedule and do a risk assessment. He met with the head of security and enlisted the services of the spa’s security personnel to help him keep an eye on Ginger. It was going to cost him 1000 dollars extra a day, but he figured he’d put it on the final bill. There was no way he could watch her 24-7 and he was running on fumes to begin with. Wes finally got to bed around 4:00am. Ginger had a manicure and pedicure scheduled for 10:00am and he noted that she asked for room service at 9:30am so Wes hoped he could catch a few hours of sleep, before having to trail after her all day.
Tuesday morning and afternoon passed without incident. While Ginger was up to her arm pits in a detoxing mud bath, Wes was finally able to send an email to Jace and Andy, using a computer in the spa’s security office. He let them know what was going on and where he was. They had known Ginger had destroyed his phone and he explained in the email, that he had been talking to Jo when it happened and that he was concerned that she probably thought he’d hung up with her. He asked them to get in touch with Jill and get Jo’s number from her so that when he returned on Thursday he could call her immediately. He then asked Andy to go to her place and just tell her that he was out of town and would call her as soon as he got back.
On Tuesday night, just when Wes was starting to unwind, Ginger made a major play for him. She bribed one of the desk managers into giving her the card key to his room. She told the unsuspecting man that Wes was her boyfriend and she had something very special planned for him. The manager was eager to accommodate the lovely celebrity and without checking with security first, handed the gushingly, grateful Ginger a card key to his room. As Wes stood in his room, draped only in a low-slung towel, after taking a shower, Ginger walked through his door. Her eyes drank in his uncovered body and a coy smile appeared on her face as she approached him.
At first Wes was too shocked to respond, but when he recovered he immediately told her to leave his room. Ginger ignored his harsh tone and tried to entice him by undoing her gossamer robe and letting it fall to the carpet. Wes kept his eyes glued to her face and told her he wasn’t interested. She then tried to make a game out of pulling the towel off of him, but Wes had a good grip on it and finally he was able to take her by the arm and haul her back to her own room. Luckily there were no guests in the hallway because Ginger was totally naked.