I had my phone out of my pocket as soon as I was in the hallway. Jane didn't answer.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself as I listened to her voicemail.
“Jane, it's me. I understand you got a call from a reporter. If I'd known this was blowing up, I would have given you a heads-up. I have no idea how they got your name or your phone number. I'm really sorry. Please call me.”
I ended that call, immediately jabbing at my screen to call Dallas next.
He answered immediately. “How’re you holding up?”
“I'm fine. A fucking reporter got Jane's name and number and called her.”
Dallas groaned. “That sucks. At least everything's out in the open now. It's all over the news already.”
“I don't give a shit about that. I mean, I do,” I corrected. “But Jane didn't answer when I tried to call her.”
“I'll ask Audrey to try to reach out to her,” Dallas offered. “She's probably working now, right?”
“Fuck, fuck,” I muttered.
“I'm sure she'll understand.”
“I hope so. I wanted to tell her, and I canceled last weekend. Now there's no way I'm going up there. If reporters are looking for her, they're gonna look for me. I’ll just end up bringing them to her doorstep. I don't want to fucking do that.”
I ran my free hand through my hair, feeling ragged with my nerves strung tight.
“It'll blow over,” my brother said, his tone calm and soothing. “There's going to be a little explosion in phone calls, but just dial down your stress and wait. All you can do is wait this out. The FBI will field most of this for you.”
“I hope so. I'll keep trying to call Jane. If Audrey is able to get ahold of her, please let me know right away.”
“You got it,” Dallas replied.
After that call, I walked briskly down the hallway and jabbed at the elevator button when I reached the bank of elevators. After too many minutes passed, I swore and jogged to the stairs. I was too restless to stand around waiting. Moments later, I walked outside of the building, glancing around quickly before aiming for home. I was tempted to go to my office, but I figured I’d be more likely to encounter reporters there.
I spent the afternoon trying to reach Jane and fielding phone calls from nosy reporters. All three of the guys involved in the scam had been arrested. All three pled not guilty this afternoon and were released on bond. Meanwhile, I just wanted to talk to Jane.
She finally answered. “Hi,” she said, her tone almost impossible to read in that one word,
“Jane, thank God.” I let out a heavy sigh. “Did you get my message?”
“I did. It's okay.”
Relief rushed through me. “I'm sorry. I have no idea how they got your name or your number.”
“It's fine. I just wish you had told me what was going on.”
“I couldn't.” A sense of unease chased through me.
“Oh no, I understand you couldn't tell me about the case. But maybe telling me something serious was going on that you couldn't tell me about for legal reasons would have been nice.”
“Jane.” I paused, leaning my head back into the couch cushions and sliding my laptop onto the coffee table. “Okay. I guess I could have said that, but I didn’t know the best way to handle it.” When she didn’t say anything, I asked, “What did the reporter want?”
“They wanted to know what I knew and if I thought you were involved in it. I just told them I didn't know because that was the truth. I didn’t even know what they were asking about.”
“I'm not involved inanyof it, Jane. I stumbled across this, and I turned into a fucking whistleblower. It’s been going on for months, and it sucks. That's why I was up in Haven's Bay in December. I needed a break from the pressure. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone, not even Dallas and Noah. Even though they work for the FBI, this case is not under their jurisdiction. It was on lockdown.”
“I understand, Ian. I really do,” she said quietly.
“Are you upset with me?” I asked, even though I was almost afraid to ask.