The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (134 page)

The last thing I want to do is distract Evan from his work.  It’s looking exceptionally good for the Sentinels this season.  Evan might even lead his team to the division playoffs. He’s got the lives and careers of nearly one hundred people in his hands, literally.  He’s got a greater responsibility to them and to his fans to remain singularly focused.

I have the beginning of a plan and it feels good.  I can fly out to Denver today.  I’ll have to use Evan’s Visa to buy the tickets – I doubt there’s enough money in the business account to cover the cost of last-minute plane tickets.

I’ll have to make arrangements for someone to take Maddy, so I’ll tell everyone I’m flying out to surprise Evan.  I’ll call him when I arrive.  He knows I have a long list of friends I’d like to visit with, so if I disappear in Denver for a short while, it should be easily explainable.

By the time I see our home along the horizon, I finally begin to feel some sense of control.  This could work.  It has to work.

I begin to slow my pace.  I check my watch, and I’ve been running for a little over an hour.  My legs feel like spaghetti when I finally reach my back door.  I slide it open and I’m immediately greeted by Maddy, who’s happy to see me.  I’ve just bent down to pet her when a low, deep voice jars me from my daze.

“We need to talk about this.” 

Shit
. 

Slowly, I raise my head to see where the voice is coming from.  Sitting at my kitchen counter and holding the photograph is the last person I expected to see right now – Adam.

“Dammit Sparky, you scared the shit out of me.  What the hell are you doing here?”  The best defense is a strong offense, and at this point I have nothing to lose.  So I walk over to him, rip the photo from his grip, and toss it onto the counter, out of his reach.  Then I head to the refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of cold water, which I desperately need right now.

“Mac called me and asked me to stop by to get his notes for tomorrow’s game.  Imagine my surprise when I found your centerfold instead.  Does Mac know about this?”

“No, of course not.  And I’d appreciate it if it stays that way,” I bite back, leaning on the counter.

“Well if you want me to protect your little secret, or whatever this is, you’re going to have to give me a pretty damned good reason.”  He places his hands over mine.  “Jette, talk to me.  Let me help.  Who is D?”

I pull my hand away and turn, staring out the window, watching the crashing waves churning up the surf.  “Adam, please don’t do this.  I can handle it.”  I look down and notice my hands are actually shaking.  I don’t know if I can handle this, but I desperately want Adam to believe that I can.

“Fine, don’t tell me.  I’m sure I can connect the dots all by myself.”  He picks up the picture to examine it more closely.  “This wasn’t taken recently.  You’ve lost weight since this was taken.  It’s blurry and slightly out of focus, and your eyes are half closed, so I’d guess this is a cut from a video.  Either you thought this was a private video or you didn’t know you were being taped.  And I can’t imagine you would let someone stand there with a camera taping you like this.  Am I close?”

I mumble, “I didn’t know.”

“Is D someone you used to ... know?”

“His name is David.  We dated all through college.”  I grab the picture and shove it back into the envelope, completely ashamed and mortified.  “He still lives in Denver.  I’m flying out there to see what he wants.  If Evan finds out ... ”

“No, you’re right.  Evan would be homicidal if he saw this.  But it’s me he would kill if he found out that I didn’t stop you.  You know I can’t let you go out there alone like this.”

I look up at him as tears begin to well in my eyes.  “Then come with me.”

A
dam drives the rental car through the streets of Denver while I send David a text to let him know I’m ready to talk.  I deleted his number from my phone long ago, but it hasn’t been long enough for me to forget.  I can still dial his number with my eyes closed. 

One of our biggest fights happened when my cell phone died and I couldn’t call him to let him know where I was.  He made me memorize his number so I could call him at any time from anyone’s phone.  He would even quiz me every once in a while, just to remind me that I had no excuse to keep me from calling and checking in.

“So Sparky, what should I say when he texts me back?  Do I invite him to my hotel room?  Do I meet him at his place?”

“No way,” he tells me sternly.  “You meet him in public.  Pick a restaurant that has a bar.  I’ll sit at the bar and you can sit at a table next to the bar so I can listen.  We don’t want to scare him off.”

Sure enough, within moments of my text, David responds.

David:  welcome home kitten.  let’s talk in private.  my place. 

Jette:  public.  highland tavern.  7PM.

David:  come alone

Jette:  fine

We check into a hotel close to the stadium and head directly to the tavern.  I enter the bar alone and ask the hostess if I can be seated close to the bar.  She brings me to a high-top table that is only two steps away from the bar.  It’s perfect.  I make sure to choose a seat facing the bar so I can keep a constant eye on Adam.

I send Adam a text telling him to come sit at the bar right away.  There’s an empty seat directly across from my table.  There are two large mirrors behind the bartenders, so even though Adam sits facing the bar, he can see me in the reflection.   

While I wait for David to arrive, I send out a text to Auggie letting him know we’ve landed.  He warns me to stay away from David.  I laugh out loud a little when I read that.  If he only knew!

“I missed the sound of your laugh, Jette.”  I look up and find David standing here smirking at me.  “You always had a beautiful laugh.”  He pulls out a stool across from me. “May I?”

I agree.  “I would like to get back to my fiancé, so if you don’t mind, let’s make this quick.”

David says nothing.  He just sits there staring at me with a silly grin on his face.  He looks exactly as he did the last time I saw him.  He’s wearing his stupid baseball cap and a faded green cargo shirt left unbuttoned and showing off a white wife-beater underneath.  A wide smile spreads across his face, and there was a time when that smile was my undoing.  But not now.  His shallow gray eyes betray him, revealing his true self, as cold as steel.

A waitress comes over to take our drink order.  “I’ll take a Black and Tan, and the lady would like a vodka and cranberry.” 

It’s like no time at all has passed between us.  He thinks he knows what I want and what I need.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  As the waitress turns to fill our drink orders, I stop her.

“Excuse me, miss, I’m sorry but my friend here has me confused with someone named Kitten.  I’d like a Moscow Mule, if it’s not too much trouble.  Thank you so much.”

As soon as the waitress is out of earshot, David turns to me. “Well, you’ve certainly grown a pair since the last time I saw you.  I must say, it doesn’t become you.”

“I’m sorry to hear you feel that way.  I was so hoping we could pick up where we left off,” I tell him sardonically.  “Let’s cut the crap, David.  You got me out here – why don’t you just tell me what you want?”

“Fair enough.  You were always very cut-and-dried, Kitten.  It’s one of your least appealing qualities.”  He lets that remark hang in the air for a moment before he continues.  “So, here’s the deal.  I’m sure Reese told you that I’m starting my own web design company.  Well, I hit a little snag in securing the startup funds.  I’m looking for a top-of-the-line computer, color image scanner, and the best graphic design package money can buy.”

“And if I help you get those things, you’ll leave me alone?” I ask. 

Before he can answer, the waitress returns with our drinks.  We sit silently, sizing each other up.  I’m sure she can sense the tension between us.  You’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to pick up on it.  As she places David’s beer in front of him, he reaches out and runs his hand up her arm. “Thank you, sweetie.”  He puts a five-dollar bill on her serving tray.  “Don’t forget to come back and check on us.”

The moment she leaves, David responds.  “Tell you what – as a show of good faith, I’ll give you the original copy of the video I took that day.  Would that help?”  David looks at me with such a smug look on his face,  I wish I could reach over the table and punch him.

“You think you’re helping me?  You’re a fucking pig, do you know that?”  I take a sip of my drink and consider his offer before I respond. 

I look across the bar and see Adam staring at me in the mirror.  His face is twisted in a hard line and I can see how angry he’s becoming.  But he’s holding it together relatively well.  He holds up his hand and rubs his thumb across his fingers, the common gesture for money. 

“You only have the one copy?”

“I do.”

“You’ll turn it over to me?”

“Yup.”

“How much?”

“That
is
the sticky wicket, isn’t it?”  David gazes down at my left hand and his eyes land firmly on my engagement ring.  “That’s a beautiful ring, Juliette.  Lots of diamonds – pretty big ones too.  I’m guessing that ring is worth at least 20K.  I think that number sounds about right.”

Without hesitation, I answer him.  “No,” I tell him sternly.  I don’t even have to think about it.  This is non-negotiable.  “You’re full of shit.  Five thousand for a fully loaded computer, another thousand for the software and maybe two thousand for the scanner.  I’ll throw in two more thousand for incidentals, and we’re talking ten thousand dollars.  Take it or leave it.” 

David considers my offer.  “Deal.  I want the cash in my hand before you leave town.”  He takes a big gulp of his beer but doesn’t take his eyes off me.  His eyes rake me up and down, making me feel like he’s eye-fucking me.  It makes my skin crawl.  “I have to say, you lost weight in all the right places.  Long, lean legs and trim waist, but you somehow managed to keep your full rack.  Can I interest you in, perhaps, sealing the deal back at my place?  You know, just for old time’s sake?”

“Drop dead.”  I get up from the table, grab my drink, and pound it down, finishing it to the very last drop and slamming the glass firmly back onto the table.  “I’m outta here.  You can pick up the check – after all, it’s your fucking party.”

As I’m walking away, I hear David holler, “Call me,” in a sickeningly sweet voice dripping with mockery.

I walk directly to the car as Adam catches up to me halfway down the block.  Adam unlocks the car and opens the door for me.  Neither of us has spoken a word.  He gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car.

“David is a fucking scumbag,” Adam pronounces.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I answer. 

“Can I ask you something?” Adam asks as he pulls onto the road.

“Shoot.”

“You came up with that counteroffer pretty quickly.  Did you have a plan that I didn’t know about?”

I open up my purse and take out a small, black velvet box with blue satin inscribed with the gold lettering.
Tiffany & Co.
.  I stare at the beautiful diamond teardrop earrings Evan bought for me in Atlantic City.  The same ones I wore at our grand opening and again at the Snowflake Ball.  I place them on the dashboard so that Adam can see them.  “These were a gift.  They’re worth exactly ten thousand dollars.  I’m going to sell them.”

Adam glances over. “Jette, no.  You can’t.”

“I have no choice.  If I try to take that kind of money out of our joint account, he’ll notice.  If I do it as a cash advance, he’ll get the bill.  This is the only way to keep Evan out of it.”  I take a deep breath to try to calm my nerves.  “You know I’m right.”

“Fine.  Let’s get this over with.  If I think about it for too long, I’m going to turn the car around and kick that little prick’s ass from here to East Bumblefuk.”  I can see the veins in Adam’s neck pulsing.

Two hours later, I’m sitting alone at the bar in our hotel with an SD card in my hand. The entire hand-off took less than five minutes.

Adam comes over to me the moment David is out the door.  “That’s it?  He’s gone?  Just like that?”

I nod. “Just like that.”

“Jette, I hate to be a wet blanket, but don’t you think that was a little
too
easy?”

“There was nothing easy about it, Adam.  Do you think I wanted to sell those earrings?  Do you know how much they meant to me?  If Evan ever finds out what we’ve done today, he may never forgive us, and I have to live with that.  I hate keeping secrets from him.”  I can easily explain away the missing earrings.  There’s no paper trail, and I have to believe that I’m now holding the only recording of our little tryst.  I’ve done the right thing, the only thing I could have done.  I’m certain of it.  So why do I feel like I’ve just made a deal with the devil?