Chapter 7 #2
“That’s nice. Listen, I have to go.”
Disappointment coiled inside her. “Okay. Hey, have you heard from Ryan by any chance?”
Silence. “Um... sorta.”
Kalista frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I... I’m sorry, Kalista. We were going to tell you.”
She gripped the receiver. “Tell me what?”
“Like, he said you two weren’t seriously serious, so when he asked me out—”
“He asked you out ? I’ve barely been gone a whole day!”
“Yeah, but he said you weren’t seriously serious. You know. Like on a break. Remember Rachel and Ross? He said it’s like that.”
“Abbie, you know how much he means to me.”
“I never got the impression you were all that into him. Like, you two were only convenient when you needed something to do or were bored.”
Her words hit home, but Kalista ignored them. “How could my boyfriend and my best friend go out behind my back?” she wailed.
“I said I was sorry. Geez, you’re always such a drama queen. If you were so into him, then why did you leave him behind for a whole summer?”
“It’s not my fault I had to... go on vacation! And I’ve tried calling him, more than once. Now I know why he’s so busy. Fine, you two deserve each other.”
“Kalista—”
She hung up, not wanting to hear any excuses—or accusations. She ran to the bedroom and flopped on her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her life was upside down and now her boyfriend and best friend had betrayed her. Could things get any worse?
Suddenly the electricity shut off, and the only light was the sun coming through the small bedroom window. Dust motes danced in the air. She sat straight up as Viv knocked on the door. “Kalista?”
“Yeah?” Without thinking, she wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand, then realized what she’d done. Ew.
The door opened a crack, and Viv poked her head in. “A worker accidentally backed his pickup into one of the electric poles by the street. The power’s going to be out for a while.”
I hate this place.
* * *
Close to noon, Jade walked into The Clementine Times office building again. Now that she was fortified with the best coconut pie she’d ever eaten, she felt optimistic. A little. Okay, maybe not at all, but at least she was trying.
She thought about her phone call with Miles after her unproductive meeting this morning.
Maybe he had a point, although she would never use her past relationship with Sebastian to get him to talk to her company.
But perhaps she should have been friendlier and not just strictly business.
They could have caught up on each other’s lives, made some small talk, and then she could have asked him to talk to Miles. That might have worked a lot better.
Convinced she should do a soft sell rather than drop the info into his lap, she headed upstairs more positive than before. She didn’t bother to put the small crossbody purse back in her briefcase after she paid for lunch, and it lightly bounced on her hip as she went up the stairs.
Tyler was sitting at the front desk in the reception area, using it as his workstation. His laptop was open, and he pushed his glasses closer to his eyes as he scanned the screen.
“Hi,” she said, approaching him with a smile. “Tyler, right?”
He looked up, grinning. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I’d like to see Mr. Hudson again, if he’s not too busy.”
Tyler frowned a little. “He wasn’t in his office when I got back, but I’ve only been here a few minutes. He might be out on assignment.”
“He’s still a reporter?”
“When he can be. He likes being out in the field and talking to people.”
Jade nodded. He enjoyed doing that when he worked for The Democrat-Gazette even when he wasn’t officially on the job. “Is there any way I can find out where he is?”
“Well, he used to have a secretary, but that was before I started working here. Ms. Flora sometimes kept his appointments, but she retired last week.” He held up his hands. “Sorry I can’t help you.”
“That’s okay. Thanks for answering my questions.”
“Anytime.” He grinned. “When I have the time, that is.”
What a nice young man. She headed for the front door, then had an idea. “Tyler?”
He kept typing. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Do you have a lady’s room on this floor?”
“Just down the hall, past Mr. H.’s office.”
Perfect. “Thanks.”
A few moments later she was standing in front of Sebastian’s door.
On the off chance he actually wrote down his appointments, he might have them on a list or in a calendar on his desk.
She looked to the left. To the right. Then touched the doorknob and gave it a twist. Unlocked. All she had to do was go inside...
She stared at her hand clutching the old-fashioned knob, then looked up and saw Sebastian’s scowling photo in the picture frame beside the door.
That made her reconsider, only to change her mind again.
She had to try to find him. The sooner they talked again, the sooner she could finish her assignment and go back to Atlanta.
She wouldn’t stay long, just enough to scan his desk and then leave.
Before she talked herself out of it, Jade opened the door slowly, thankful that the doorknob wasn’t as squeaky as his old chair, and tamped down the guilt as she walked inside. “Two minutes,” she whispered. “That’s it.”
There was enough light coming through the dusty window that she didn’t have to flip on the switch, so she slipped off her noisy shoes and crept to his messy desk.
Her toe hit the metal trash can, and she saw her sleek Harrington Media folder inside.
He must have trashed it after she left. Jerk. Now she wasn’t feeling quite as guilty.
The piles of papers in front of her were daunting, and she carefully set her briefcase on top of two of them and started looking for something resembling a schedule. Nothing. She was about to grab her case and go when she saw a ledger book beside a pile.
She shouldn’t.
She couldn’t.
But a peek couldn’t hurt, right? And it was in front of her— she didn’t have to dig for it. While she had some of The Times ’s financial info thanks to Miles, there might be something else here that could help her case. He’ll never know...
Carefully she picked up the book and started opening it, then heard a female voice coming from down the hall.
“Don’t worry, Tyler, he won’t care.”
Jade froze.
“I think he’ll notice if the computer’s gone,” he responded.
Panicked, Jade clutched the ledger, grabbed her briefcase, and ducked under the desk, shoving her legs to her chest just as the door opened and the light flipped on.
“He never uses that thing.” The woman and Tyler neared. “Besides, my PC is dying, and he’s got a perfectly good Mac here, even if it’s old.”
Jade closed her eyes as she heard movement in the room just inches away.
“Oof, the monitor is heavier than I thought.”
“I’ll carry it,” Tyler said. “You can get the keyboard.”
“Hey, while I’m thinking about it—Seb had a meeting with a woman this morning. Do you know anything about that?”
Jade tensed.
“What did she look like?”
“Red hair—”
“Oh, that’s Ms. Smith. I’ve never seen her before today.”
“Interesting,” the woman said. They were moving away from the desk. “I’ll get the door for you.”
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you. This baby is getting a brand-new home, thanks to my brother being such a Luddite.”
Brother?
The light turned off and the door clicked shut.
Jade waited a few seconds before scrambling out from under the desk.
She rushed to the door, eager to get out of Sebastian’s office undetected, when she looked at her stockinged feet.
Her shoes were right there by the door. Thank God neither Tyler nor Sebastian’s sister saw them.
She slipped them on and, still clutching her briefcase, walked down the hallway. Peering around the corner to the reception area, she was relieved to see it was empty as she hurried out of the building. When she got to the car, she grabbed the handle of her briefcase.
The ledger fell to the ground.
Oh no! She’d forgotten all about it. She seized it off the ground and stood, just in time to see Tyler enter the building again. She gasped.
Jade jumped into her car, shut the door, and turned on the air. All she could do was stare at the building in front of her, wracking her brain to find a way to return Sebastian’s ledger. But there was no way she could do it without looking suspicious.
I could just tell the truth. She discarded that idea too. Sebastian would never speak to her again if he found out what she did, and that would kill any chance of him talking to Miles. She would lose not only her raise and bonus, but probably her job. She broke the law, after all.
She wanted to throw up. How could she be so stupid? She’d never been underhanded in her life. It wasn’t lost on her that she deserved this too. Could he prosecute her? Oh, the irony that Logan might have to bail her out—
Stop!
She couldn’t think when her brain was on fire. After a few deep breaths, she decided to return to Clementine Inn to formulate a plan. She put the ledger in her briefcase, closed the clasp, and backed out of the parking spot.
On her way, she sorted out her whirling thoughts. Taking the ledger had been a mistake, one she could explain. Her biggest crime—shudder—had been to go into his office without him being there, despite her benign intentions. She was only snooping to figure out where he was, not to take anything.
By the time she reached the inn, she was a lot calmer and a little less nauseous. She could fix this. She still didn’t know how, but being alone in her room and away from the scene of the crime would help her concentrate.
Jade pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car.
Before she opened the door, she remembered what the woman had said.
Sebastian was her brother. She was the one who interrupted her meeting with him.
Jade had no idea he had a sister, although anytime he tried to talk about family, she changed the subject.
Not because she wasn’t interested in his, but she didn’t want him asking questions about hers.
Considering their quick breakup, it had been a good idea.
A slight wave of unexpected relief washed over her that she wasn’t his girlfriend. Or wife.
She pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead at the rogue thought. Sebastian’s relationship status shouldn’t affect anything. Or bother me. She jumped out of the car, hustled into the inn, rushed past the front desk, and—
“Ms. Smith! Come join us!”
She screeched to a halt at Mabel shouting her name. Yikes. If she ignored the hospitable woman hollering across the lobby, that would look suspicious. And rude. For a split moment she considered doing just that. There was no time for chitchat—she had a hole to dig out of.
But that hole could wait for a few more minutes. Pasting on a smile, she turned to see Mabel waving at her from the eating area, sitting at a table with two glasses of iced tea and a man who wasn’t Clyde. He actually looked a little like—
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no.
Sebastian Hudson was motioning for her to join them.