“I wanted to speak to Mr. McGrath. He isn’t answering his calls.”
Janie’s lips curled. “Isn’t it a little late to ask for Gregg’s permission?” She closed her purse with a shake of her head. “He doesn’t mind. He’s too excited about today’s wedding.”
Her carefree words were a direct punch to my gut. “Today’s wedding?”
She looked down at her watch. “We’ve closed the executive offices down and” —she waved her hand toward the empty room— “as you can see, most people are on their way to Gregg and Ana’s home.”
I repeated her last phrase—“on their way to Gregg and Ana’s home”—letting the meaning sink in.
Fuck.
“You’re saying that Julia and I are marrying today, here in Chicago at the McGrath home?” I asked, wanting confirmation.
“Why, yes.” Janie took a step back. “Why do I feel like this is news to you?”
“Because, Janie, it is.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent Michael a text message as well as one to the PI. He was supposed to tell me where to find Phillip. Instead, I was informing him. When I looked up, I asked, “Who announced the wedding?”
“Ana did, to the entire office, when she told Gregg that you’d called.” Her expression turned quizzical. “It wasn’t you?”
I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t me. There won’t be a wedding, but there may be a show.” I hit the elevator button, summoning our means of escape from this building. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before we were on our way down to the ground floor.
As we descended, I made a call to a connection I had at the Cook County Courthouse.
By the time I was back in the car with Michael and Albert, I’d confirmed a marriage license had been purchased this morning for Julia Ann McGrath and Donovan Sherman. The honorable Judge David Hill was en route to perform the nuptials.
“What the fuck is your endgame, brother?” I mumbled as I pressed the contact for the one person who may be in on this or at least had the possibility of being informed.
“Do you miss me that much?” Lena answered in lieu of a greeting.
“Are you still in Chicago?”
“No…” Her tone grew somber. “What’s wrong? I hear it in your voice.”
Gripping the phone tighter, I watched as Michael made his way through noon-day traffic toward the McGraths’ home. “Phillip has Julia.”
Lena’s gasp could be heard through the phone.
“Does that mean you didn’t know about his stunt?” I asked.
“I didn’t. I would have told you. Where does he have her and how did you lose her?”
“I didn’t lose her. He pretended to be me, and I don’t know if she knows she’s not with me.”
“Va-an,” Lena elongated the one syllable. “Please don’t tell me that you were about to marry this girl and you hadn’t told her about Phillip.”
My lungs filled as I inhaled. “Telling her about Phillip would mean telling her about Madison and even Brooklyn. I was waiting for the right time.”
There was no right time to tell Julia all the horrible things I’d done.
“I can call Logan and find out what he knows,” Lena volunteered.
“He’s in on it,” I said. “I have a picture from a PI of Phillip with Logan taken here in the city yesterday. I also have it from a reliable source that a marriage license was purchased this morning under Julia’s and my name.”
“He can’t marry her,” Lena said. “Technically, he’s still married.”
My fingers of my free hand balled into a fist. “He wants to fuck with her.”
“Van, I’m sorry. Maybe she’s stronger than…” Lena didn’t need to finish that sentence. She continued, “I’ll do whatever you need. Phillip’s my brother-in-law, but I won’t stand back and watch the two of you ruin another woman’s life. I should have done more the first time when I had the chance.”