Conservative Affairs (21 page)

Gabe opened the door slowly, taking in the scene.

“What happened in here?” he asked.

“You know me.” Jo laughed nervously. “Talking with my hands again.”

“Oh, okay. I’ve got someone on the phone for the mayor. She says she’s a personal friend but wouldn’t give a name, so the intern transferred it to me when I walked in.”

“Take a message, please,” Madeline said. “I’ll get back to her as soon as Jo and I have finished here.”

“Aren’t you a little worried about
her
calling up the office?” Jo asked when Gabe was out of earshot, her own fears crashing in at full force.

“Don’t worry about it,” Madeline answered, brushing it off, clearly not wanting to entertain thoughts of Natalie. “You know how it is—everyone who wants a special favor claims to be an old friend.”

“I guess you’re right,” Jo said, standing, yet, she could not shake the sense of dread that had overwhelmed her after hearing Gabe’s words.

“Come see me after while. I’m going to be working in the hotel suite this afternoon, so you can meet me for lunch if you’d like.”

* * *

In the soft light of afternoon fading to evening, Jacquelyn’s red curtains made her room appear pink. She knew she should be out of bed and doing something important, but for the fourth time this week, she had known exactly how to let off some steam. It had been all too easy. She sent the text, and fifteen minutes later he’d let himself in.

Was that all this was—letting off steam? She wondered if it was just that for Isaac too. He kissed her wildly, pulling off her clothes, and she shut off the thoughts in her mind and focused on the only goal she had at the moment—pleasure.

When they finished, he rolled off her and lay next to her.

“Thank you,” he said, trailing his finger down the side of her face to brush the hair to the side.

She smiled. “No, thank you.”

“I’ve been thinking that we should actually go out sometime.” Isaac said the words carefully, as if afraid she would shoot his idea down.

“Is that so?” Even though she had been enjoying the physical side of this relationship, she might be interested in more.

“Mmmhmm,” he said, kissing her gently. “I’d like to take you to dinner one night soon, if you want to.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit forward?” she joked, stroking him underneath the covers.

His body writhed. “Possibly,” he said breathlessly. “But I think we would have a good time.”

She smiled and brought both of her hands above the covers. She just wanted to tease him a little and keep him hanging on. Of course, she wanted to go to dinner.

“Sounds good. Are you free tomorrow night?”

“I sure am.” He kissed her and then glanced at the clock on her nightstand. “But I’ve got to go now. I’ll be here to pick you up tomorrow at seven.”

“All right. I’ll be ready.” She pulled the sheet around her body and watched as he got dressed. She had no idea what she was thinking, getting involved with a cameraman for the local news station—especially right here in the middle of the workday. After all, she spent most of her days trying to avoid letting the news get a closer look at her, her boss or their jobs. With Isaac, though, she had given him as many close looks as he had wanted. It was the closest thing to sleeping with the enemy she ever planned to do. It had been fun, though, and right now she desperately needed fun. Jacquelyn wasn’t going to stress out about how things looked for the next election, since Madeline couldn’t be bothered to. She already had begun searching for a new job. In the meantime, she was determined to enjoy the rest of her time here.

Shortly after she heard the front door close behind Isaac her cell phone began to ring. Just as she had every other time it rang this week, she closed her eyes and imagined throwing it at the wall, then dutifully answered it. Working from home had its disadvantages sometimes, like the fact that she couldn’t just blissfully enjoy her day “off” the way she’d like to.

“Hello. This is Jacquelyn,” she said, offering the greeting she always did when the number on the screen was an unknown.

“Jacquelyn, I didn’t know who else to call,” a man’s voice answered. “I figured since I knew you better than the other staffers, I’d give this a try.”

“Excuse me, who is this?” Jacquelyn answered.

There was a second of silence. “It’s John Stratton, and I need to talk to Madeline as soon as possible.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, John, but I can pass along the message,” Jacquelyn answered.

Even though she was curious to see what he wanted, she decided that she would extend her loyalty to Madeline one last time. Sure, it was a sinking ship, but Madeline had never actually wronged her. And John was a cheating asshole.

“It’s highly important,” John insisted.

“Let me know what it’s regarding and I’ll pass along the message to her.”

“Jacquelyn,” John practically hissed her name. “It cannot wait. It just can’t. It is urgent! She messed up with an old friend of ours. If she doesn’t get her shit together her skeletons are going to be on display for the world’s viewing and soon. She needs to stop screwing around.”

“What are you talking about?”

John hesitated. “Well, I might as well, I guess. You’re going to find out soon enough when Natalie goes to the media.”

“Natalie?” Jacquelyn said, her voice rising. “The Natalie you slept with?”

“That’s the one,” John answered gruffly. “She knows some of Madeline’s old secrets and might be going to the media with them since Madeline blew her off on the phone when she called.”

“I’m confused,” Jacquelyn said. “She knows the mayor?”

“Let’s just say they’re old friends. But hey, Jacquelyn, I’m going to get off the phone now. You find a way for Madeline to call me in the next hour or I guess you can hear the story on the news—like the rest of the state.”

The line went dead.

“Shit,” Jacquelyn said.

What on earth was she going to do? She had to get in touch with Madeline—and fast. John had never called her before. Sure, she had been fairly well acquainted with him from working with the mayor over the years, but he had always been so polite and refined. Today, he was a different man, callous and angry and threatening.

As quickly as possible, she dialed Madeline’s number.

It went straight to voice mail.

“It’s Jacquelyn. Please call me back as soon as possible. It’s urgent.”

She sent an email, begging Madeline to call her within the hour. Reverting to communications director mode, she knew that if a story was going to break, she needed to get on top of it.

First and foremost, she needed to know what the story was and who had access to it. Then she could fight back. Draft statements, schedule a press conference if necessary and possibly arrange a video address to the media.

Quickly, she dialed Jo’s number. It went straight to voice mail. Frustrated, she resorted to desperate measures and tried Jo’s personal cell number. It rang three times, before Jo answered, sounding a bit out of breath.

“Jo, it’s Jacquelyn. I need to talk to Madeline. Can you get in touch with her? It’s urgent,” she said.

“Of course,” Jo said. “She’s actually right here.”

Jacquelyn was surprised they were together, but she wasn’t about to question it at this point. She was desperate. She heard the phone changing hands in the background as Jo explained that it was Jacquelyn on the phone and that it was important.

“Hello, Jacquelyn.” Madeline sounded winded too. What the hell were they doing?

“I have a message for you,” Jacquelyn began, letting out the breath she had been holding. “And I have a couple of questions too.”

“Okay. What’s going on?”

“John called, and he said some stuff that makes me think we may have a major mess on our hands soon—very soon, actually.” Jacquelyn knew she didn’t have much time to explain. Still she couldn’t just throw John’s words at Madeline.

Madeline was silent, so Jacquelyn continued. “He said you knew Natalie—the…well, the other woman…and that she had tried to call you. He said that since you didn’t talk to her, there was something she was going to tell the media.”

“Shit!” Madeline replied. “Okay. I’ll call him. Thanks, Jacquelyn.”

“Mayor Stratton?” Jacquelyn needed to get the next part resolved. “Do you have any idea what this is about? I need to have something prepared if whatever it is hits the news.”

“I know exactly what it’s about, and I’m going to stop it.”

With that the line went dead.

What the hell was she supposed to do now? She needed to know what was going on. Before she could think it over too long, she dialed Isaac’s number. It rang twice before he picked up.

“Hey there,” Isaac answered. “Did you miss me already?”

She cut him off. “Isaac, have you heard anything about my boss? Anything new on the story?”

“No…” his voice trailed off.

“Okay, thanks.”

“If there is, you’d tell me right?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered, then reconsidered. Would she really alert one of the media just because she was sleeping with him? She decided to ponder that later.

“Listen,” she said. “If you hear anything, please let me know immediately.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “But the same goes for you. If there’s a story, I need to know as soon as possible. My boss is on my ass.”

“Sure,” she said, ending the call. What next? Should she call Ian or just pray that Madeline could get everything resolved on her own? If she couldn’t, things were going to become even more hellish than they had been of late.

She decided to wait a few minutes and give Madeline time to sort things out. If she hadn’t heard back from her by 5 P.M., she would call John herself and then Ian, when she knew more and had a plan to propose to him. It sounded like there was no way this was going to miss the nightly news at six, and they needed to be ready.

Jo had to know. Jacquelyn hated her for that. If anyone deserved to be in the loop, it was her, the person who handled all of Madeline’s media. And Ian, of course, as chief of staff. At the moment, though, Jo was her only hope. She sent her a quick text, knowing that wherever she and Madeline were Jo was at least checking her personal cell phone.

When this is sorted out, please let me know what’s going on. I need to prepare a statement in case whatever this is gets leaked. Please get back to me. Thanks!

Now, she had to wait. Waiting was the hardest when you were on a deadline. That was one of the first lessons she had learned when working with the press.

The wheels in Jacquelyn’s mind spun round and round as she tried to figure out what secrets from Madeline’s previous life Natalie might hold. Madeline clearly had been less than truthful earlier. She knew the “other woman,” and the “other woman” obviously knew her.

Shit!
She couldn’t just sit around and wait while there was so much at stake. Going into overdrive, she started calling contacts at rapid pace, trying to make her inquiries as discreet as possible while at the same time playing Nancy Drew. She cringed. She had only forty-five minutes to get to the bottom of things.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jo felt as if the ground had collapsed beneath her. Beside her on the bed, Madeline was fumbling with her phone, trying to call John and mumbling to herself. “Natalie never called me. She called
you.
I should have known something was up. Should have called her back. I should have found a way.”

“I need to know exactly what she said that night,” Madeline said finally, her face completely white. Jo hadn’t wanted to rehash the conversation, but they had things to clear up, obviously.

“She kept asking for ‘Maddie.’ She thought I was you. I told her that I wasn’t, but I didn’t say who I was. She said she wanted to say she was sorry. I said she had the wrong number.” Jo’s words were spilling out quickly, and she hoped they were making sense. “After I phoned you, she kept calling. I ignored the calls, because I didn’t know what to tell her.”

Madeline nodded, then pushed past Jo to go into the hallway.

Jo listened to Madeline’s side of the conversation.

“John, it’s Maddie.”

It was a stupid thing to be concerned about at this time, but Jo wondered why everyone from Madeline’s past got the privilege of calling her Maddie. Was it a special club that only a select few got to join? She chided herself for being jealous of the man who had cheated on her precious Madeline and the woman who had helped him.

“Well, she dialed the wrong number. Aside from that, she has some nerve to think she can demand that I take her call.” Madeline’s voice was nearly hysterical. “She can’t make that call to the media.” After a brief pause, her voice hit a new octave. “If you want to help so damn badly, give me her number. I’ll arrange to meet with her tonight.”

Jo watched as Madeline fished a pen out of her purse and wrote something on the palm of her hand.

“Thanks,” she said before hanging up the phone.

Jo watched in astonishment as Madeline dialed the number she had just written down. She felt another pang of jealousy as she saw Madeline’s eyes brighten at the sound of the voice on the other line.

“Natalie.” She spoke the word like a caress, even though the woman had ripped her heart out. Jo felt her heart ache too and wished that she could hear the other end of the conversation.

“No, you didn’t speak with me…That was…someone else,” Madeline said.

Someone else…
Jo did not expect a title—or even an acknowledgment—but being referred to as just “someone else”? The words were like a dagger through her heart.

“Sure, we can meet to talk about all of this,” Madeline said, agreeing to whatever Natalie had proposed. “Just please don’t go to the media.”

There was a moment of silence. “Okay, thank you. I appreciate that.”

“All right. I’ll meet you tonight.”

“Seven sounds great.”

With each word that came out of Madeline’s mouth, Jo felt more and more like she might vomit. Madeline was really going to meet this woman tonight, was going to spend time with her.

“Yes. I agree. Someplace private would be best. Let’s meet at my hotel.”