Page 72 of Wicked Deeds

“You’re coming here?” I asked, somewhat startled. “You don’t want to wait until we know for sure?”

“I was coming into the city today anyway. And it’s best to deal with this kind of thing in person. No chance of anyone listening in who shouldn’t be. And even if Meredith says you’re not sisters, that still leaves the question of whether or not Jack is your father. A question I’d rather have answered quickly, so we need to work out how.”

Right. Damon’s place was as secure as a house could be. “Good point. Okay, we’ll call Meredith.”

“Amy is supposed to be working this afternoon,” Damon said. “Do you want me to give her the day off?”

“Yes,” Cassandra said. “We want to be able to talk freely. I’ll see you all soon.” She ended the call.

Gwen and I stared at each other for a moment. We were still holding hands.

“Do you want to call Meredith, or should I?” I asked.

Gwen swallowed. Hard. Then lifted her chin. “Let’s do it together. You said she would need permission from both of us, right?”

“Yep.” I turned my attention back to the datapad. It only took a couple of minutes for Meredith to confirm we were half sisters.

“Congratulations,” Meredith said after she gave us the news. “Will you be contacting your father?”

“No,” I said. “In fact, we need you to make sure any files you have on me and Gwen are as secure as you can make them.”

Her congratulatory smile vanished. “Can I ask why?”

“Long story. Short version is there’s a possibility it’s Jack Miller. If it is, well, Gwen doesn’t want anything to do with him, and I don’t want him to discover he’s related to me.”

“You don’t think he knows?”

“If he did, I think he would have pulled some sort of ‘Maggie, I’m your dad’ crap the last time we crossed paths. And my mom went off-grid for a reason. Other than her being, you know, generally shady. That’s not enough to hide the way she did. Theonly reason I can think of is that she didn’t want anyone else with a claim on me showing up to ruin her plans.”

Meredith’s face turned grim. “Right. I’ll make sure your files are secure. Gwen, how are you? Did you use one of the patches?”

Dammit, we’d forgotten the patch. “She slept in. I told her to put one on after she ate.” And wow, that sounded totally like a bossy older sister.

“The patches are right here on the counter,” Gwen said. “I’ll put one on now, but so far the block is holding.”

“Good. But you want to start the patch before the block stops or you’ll be in a lot of pain. Better to stay on top of it. Right, I’m sure you both want time to talk. Call me if Gwen has any issues with her arm or if you need anything else.”

She leaned closer. “It’s a bit early for me to be prescribing a stiff drink and Gwen shouldn’t have alcohol while she’s using those patches. So, I’m going to say, eat some ice cream or something sugary and bad for you. Doctor’s order. If you want to go wild, drink some herbal tea. Something soothing.”

I managed a smile. “Cassandra’s coming over, I’m sure she’ll take care of that.”

After Meredith ended the call, and I’d messaged Cassandra the news, Damon offered ice cream. Gwen and I both refused. Did her stomach feel as queasy as mine?

I slipped my hand free and went to grab her pain patches, bringing them back to the table with two cans of soda. They at least had sugar and my stomach didn’t rebel at the thought of drinking one.

I cracked one open and pushed the other toward Gwen.

She studied the can. “Cranberry, pomegranate and yuzu?”

“You ordered a yuzu margarita last night. I thought you liked it.”

She half-smiled. “I’m not even sure what it is.”

“It’s a citrus. I think.” I swigged my soda. It was just sweet enough, the sharpness of the fruits offsetting the sugar rush and washing the sour taste of adrenaline out of my mouth. “Try it. It’s good.”

She looked dubious, but opened the can. Damon was watching both of us, one finger drumming on the table. No doubt he’d prefer it if he could swing into action. Be all ‘master of the universe’ and deal with all of this with a wave of his bank balance, but he had to wait like the rest of us mere mortals. He could work his own brand of magic once Cassandra told him how he could help.

Gwen downed her soda fast. Then burped and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, turning scarlet.

---