She’d never lied to Brett. She’d introduced him to Reggie Wallace, the man she considered her father. Dominic Russo was simply someone she shared DNA with, nothing more. Would Brett see it that way? Or would he think she’d been trying to hide her true past from him? And if he did, what would he do?
Actually, even if he understood why she never mentioned she was adopted, Brett might not want anything else to do with her. She didn’t like it, but she realized there might only be one way for him to salvage his campaign, and more importantly his reputation. His family was probably already suggesting he end their relationship. She’d found both his parents, as well as the rest of his family, to be friendly and kind, but the Sherbrookes had an image to maintain. They wouldn’t want one of their own dating a woman whose father had committed armed robbery and murder.
Jen moved into an upright position. “I better prepare myself now,” she said to Bo. When Brett ended things, she wouldn’t beg and plead with him to reconsider. Even though it would hurt like hell, she’d maintain her dignity. She’d reserve all her crying for the nights when she was alone.
Brett had said he’d call tonight, but considering this disaster, maybe she should try calling him now. She reached for her cell phone, but before she could bring up Brett’s contact information, the phone rang and her mom’s name appeared on the screen.
Something told her this call would only be the first in a long string of others.
***
“Answer the damn phone.” Brett paced from one end of the room to the other. Despite his command, the ringing stopped and Jen’s voice mail came on. He’d wanted to call her the second he left Carl’s office. He’d decided to wait. When they discussed the details of the article, he wanted Jen to have his full attention. He couldn’t give her that if he was driving.
Suspecting there would be a media circus around his house, he’d gone straight from Carl’s office to his brother’s condo in Boston. Although the place was currently on the market, he knew Curt wouldn’t mind if he used it for the night. He’d arrived there ten minutes ago and had been calling her ever since. So far she hadn’t answered his calls or the two text messages he sent her. She was expecting his call, so why wasn’t she answering or at least sending him back a text message? By now she’d seen the articles circulating. Even if she hadn’t, someone she knew would’ve and alerted her to them. Was she avoiding him or had something happened to her? People got into accidents all the time driving to and from work. He’d seen one tonight on his way to Carl’s office. If she was lying in a hospital bed, or worse, a morgue, she’d have no way of answering her phone and her family would have no easy way of contacting him. He couldn’t call them either. He didn’t have their phone numbers. Getting them might be possible.
Brett knew Kristen’s address but unfortunately not her full name. Finding a cell phone number without a name would be difficult, at least for him. One of Carl’s people could probably find it with even less information, but he had no intention of getting Carl’s contacts involved with this too. He’d have to see if he could find either her mom’s cell or home number instead.
He typed in the name Erica Wallace first. When all he got was an address and a list of possible relatives, he typed Reggie Wallace into the site. Once again, the website came back with only an address and a list of possible relatives. Apparently Jen’s parents, like so many other people these days, didn’t have a landline, and finding cell phone numbers was more difficult than he’d expected.
Frustrated, he closed the laptop and tried Jen again. Like all his previous calls, it rang before going to voice mail. Although he’d left her several already, Brett left another message asking her to call him right away.
Brett dropped the cell phone next to the computer and considered his options. He could sit and wait for her to call back. If she was avoiding him, who knew when she might do that. And if she was injured and unable to call him, it might be days before Jen or someone in her family found a way to contact him. He knew her brother Keith worked for Elite Force Security these days. He might be able to reach him by calling the firm. It wasn’t a guarantee, especially this late.
Waiting much longer to talk to her was out. He needed to know she was okay, and he needed answers. Brett checked hi
s watch. It was already after eight o’clock. Leaving now, he’d get there around nine. Jen should still be awake, but they’d been up late last night working on the speech he’d given this morning. She might have called it a day and gone to bed already. If she had, he’d hate to disturb her. Unfortunately, he didn’t see he had any choice tonight.
Brett pulled out of the parking garage and tried her number again. It rang several times before Jen’s voice came through the car’s speakers.
“Thank God you answered. I’ve been calling you,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. I think half the people on the planet have called me since I got home and turned my phone’s ringer back on,” Jen said, sounding frazzled. “I just hung up with Kristen and was about to call you.”
Well at least she wasn’t trying to avoid him.
“We need to talk. I’m on my way to your house now,” Brett said.
“There are a few news vans outside. Most have left; I think they assumed I wasn’t coming home tonight or something. Maybe the others will leave soon too. If they are still there when you get here, drive over to 8 Hudson Street. My neighbors are on vacation, and that’s where I parked. There is a gate in the fence, and it will bring you right into my backyard.”
He wasn’t surprised the media was camped outside her house. “Will do. See you soon.”
From the corner of her street, he saw the two news vans parked across from her house. Brett turned the corner and parked in her neighbors’ driveway behind Jen’s car. He followed her instructions and used the gate in the fence to enter her backyard. He immediately noticed there was no light coming through the downstairs windows suggesting she remained upstairs with her blinds drawn so the media out front didn’t know she was home.
The motion lights went on as he approached the back steps, and he knocked on the door. Bo’s barking reached him through the door. Thanks to the outside lights, he saw the blinds on a nearby window move, and Jen peek out soon after. She opened the door a moment later.
“Come on in.”
She took a step back so he could enter, and he gave her a quick once-over. She was wearing a pair of smiley face pajama bottoms with a matching T-shirt. Her hair was a wild mess, as if she dragged her fingers through it repeatedly.
He closed and locked the door. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve been better. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. After I talked to you, I turned it back to vibrate only.” Jen moved across the room and sat. “How are you?”
“About the same,” he admitted.
She nibbled on her thumbnail. In all the time they’d spent together, he’d never seen Jen bite her nails. When she caught him watching her, she folded her hands together instead.
He sat down and immediately Bo jumped up next to him. The dog didn’t like to be left out. “Jen, we need to talk.”