Out in the living room again, Justin gave himself a few minutes to consider Vanessa’s situation. He wanted to get started on this mysterious half-sister, but the whole thing had to be handled delicately.
Very delicately. Salazar apparently knew about Ceinlys’s other men but had been decent enough not to use the information against her. However, if it came out publicly that she not only had other lovers but had passed off one of their children as her husband’s, then the divorce would almost certainly become uglier. Justin didn’t want that, as much to protect Vanessa as to protect Ceinlys herself.
He could use his family’s usual investigator, but the man was a long-time friend of Barron’s, and Justin didn’t want his great-uncle knowing about any of this. It was none of his business.
He considered. The Lloyds have an investigator who won’t say anything to anyone…
Justin called Kerri. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Hello, handsome. What’s up? I thought you’d be on a honeymoon.”
“I’m taking a bathroom break.”
“Eww. Are you calling me from a bathroom?”
He chuckled. “I’m actually at Vanessa’s place right now. I was hoping you could call Pattington and give me a referral.”
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s some delicate stuff that I don’t want anybody knowing, especially Barron.”
Kerri made a sympathetic noise. “I totally hear you on that. He can be so nosy.”
“Tell me about it. So, Ms. Lloyd, how’s pregnancy treating you?”
“Not too bad. I feel nauseous, and sometimes I get emotional, but other than that it’s fine.”
“You get emotional? Wow.”
“It’s the hormones,” she groused. “The stupidest thing can set me off. It’s, like, a thousand times worse than PMS.”
“Poor Ethan.”
“I know. Thankfully he loves me enough to put up with it.”
“A man among men. All right, listen, just hook me up with Pattington, and I’ll owe you.”
“Give me about ten minutes. And here’s his number.” She rattled off the investigator’s digits. “Good luck.”
Justin waited exactly ten minutes and dialed Pattington’s number. A man said, “Hello?”
“Justin Sterling.”
“Kerri told me to expect your call. What’s the problem?”
“Peggy from Provo.” He looked down at the napkin he’d fished out of his wife’s purse and read the numbers. “That’s her cell. She’s in L.A. right now. She claims to be my wife’s half-sister. Apparently Ceinlys Pryce had an affair.”
If Pattington was surprised, it didn’t show in his tone. “And you want me to check her out with an eye toward…?”
“Nothing in particular. I just want to know about her for the moment. Get a reading.”
“Anything else?”
Justin was about to say that would do, then he remembered how worried Vanessa had been about Shane’s whereabouts. “Find out where Shane Pryce is. You can bill everything to me privately. Do not send anything to my office or my assistant.”
“Is this your private cell phone?”
“Yes.”