“I agree,” she murmured. “She seems remarkably healthy to me.”
“I’m thinking it’s all tied into whatever scam she’s running now. It’s always been about two things with her. Power and money.”
Once more, she nodded.
Narrowing his gaze, he focused back on her. “You’ve dropped a hell of a bombshell on me with no warning.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding sincere. “But I figured you’d want to know.”
“It’s a lot to process,” he admitted. “And I will, just later. Now, enough about me. Who are you, really? I’m sure you’d hate for me to go to Micheline with my concerns.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Bluffing, but she’d never know. Jake knew he excelled at bluffing. He made a hell of a poker player.
Her hard swallow told him he’d succeeded.
“Jake, I want to tell you the truth. Really, I do.”
“But?” he prodded.
“But I can’t take a chance of jeopardizing...everything.”
He opened his mouth, intending to press again, but she held up her hand.
“I keep my ears open,” she said, offering up a half-hearted shrug. “You’d be surprised at the kind of things you can learn when people find you invisible.”
“Uh-huh.” With his arms crossed and his expression skeptical, he let her know he wasn’t buying it. One, two, another heartbeat while he waited for her to say more.
When she didn’t, disappointment knifed through him. “That’s all you got?” he asked. “The best you can do?”
He could have sworn he saw a twinge of guilt in her face, but she managed to smile. “That’s it. I wish I had more.”
He shook his head. “That’s too bad. That tells me that you’re more like Micheline than I realized.”
The insult made her gasp. “In what way?” she asked.
“You’re a liar, just like her. I can put up with a lot of things, but I refuse to deal with a liar.”
Back stiff, he turned and walked away.
Once inside his room, he locked the door. He dug out his laptop, powered it up and did a search for Ace Colton. Quite a bit turned up.
First, he pulled up the picture. Though they were both forty, the ousted CEO of Colton Oil looked nothing like Jake. But then, why would he? They weren’t related. Instead, Jake realized he could actually see traces of Micheline in the other man’s face. There, in the chin, maybe even the nose. While the other man’s appearance seemed fashionably casual, he also exuded an aura of comfortable wealth. Because as a Colton, Ace would have been brought up wanting for nothing, especially love.
Except Ace Colton had been accused of trying to kill the man he’d believed to be his father. And, even worse, the fact that he wasn’t actually a Colton had made the news. Ace had eventually been cleared and the actual attempted killer had been caught. Still, something like that had to leave scars.
Slightly queasy, Jake couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life he might have had if Micheline hadn’t taken it upon herself to switch babies. He couldn’t help but want to know her reasoning.
He’d never know now. With four decades already under the bridge, he supposed the Colton family might be content to simply leave things the way they were. Though a simple DNA test would be able to prove or disapprove Micheline’s story.
In that instant, Jake realized he wasn’t going to be able to go home, not just yet. He wanted to meet Ace Colton. He assumed the other man would be just as curious about him, especially since Ace already knew about the baby switch.
Decision made, he grabbed his keys and left. To his surprise, no one intercepted him or tried to stop him.
He first drove to Colton Oil, but when he reached the parking lot, he realized Ace probably was too high up in the corporate ladder for Jake to simply walk in and expect a meeting. Still, he’d come this far. It couldn’t hurt to try.
Once he’d killed the engine, he stared up at the building. If things had been different, he would have been comfortable in this place, known. Now, while he might have been a Colton by blood, since Ace had been ousted as CEO, they were both strangers here.