Page 17 of Angels and Skulls
“You knew?”
Her gaze bounces around the room frantically, like she’s looking for a way out. Well, I hate to tell her there isn’t one.This is something I have to get to the bottom of. I can’t overlook finding my best friend’s birth mother alive. He’s spent most of his entire life loving a dead woman. This is all a little fucked up.
I lean over to get her attention. “The woman who gave me the letter told me Rachel instructed her to wait two years.” I shake my head. “The letter was vague. It just said she trusted me to do right by Jackson, and it included directions here.”
“Have you been looking after Jackson?”
It makes me smile, but it’s kind of sad at the same time. “Jackson’s an adult. I mean, of course we look out for each other, but …” I shake my head a little confused by her question.
“He’s my baby.”
“Yeah, but have you seen him lately? He’s got a beard. If you can call it that.” I laugh at my own joke, but she doesn’t.
“No. I haven’t seen him since …” Her face falls, and sadness washes over her. “I haven’t seen him since Bill’s funeral. He was just a teenager.”
I lean back against her couch. Fuck, this is so nuts. I was at the funeral, and I sure didn’t see her there. No one did.
The ceiling catches my attention, and I chuckle to myself while admiring all the little gold stars painted there. Jenny would definitely get along with Willow. I rub my hand over my head. What a predicament I find myself in.
“I’m good at hiding,” she jokes quietly.
“Yeah. That’s an understatement.”
She rests against the cushions beside me. “What do we do now?”
I roll my head to look at her. “Well, I don’t know, but I think I better call my wife and tell her this is going to take a little longer than I thought.”
Her sigh almost breaks my heart. She knows her entire world is about to change. “Okay,” she agrees reluctantly.
I take her hand in mine and give it a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you just start from the beginning?”
Chapter Seven
Jenny ~ Past
Iwatch Raffe and my son through the crack in the door. It’s just like I dreamed it would be, but in my dream, I was sitting beside him and the baby between us was ours.
But they can never be mine.
I’m going to be sick to my stomach. I hurry down the hall and into the bathroom to splash water on my face. I’ve got to get it together, because my ride will be here to pick me up in a few minutes.
After a quick pep talk, I order myself to go back to my room. I make sure not to pass by the room Raffe was in a second time. I cannot risk it. If he sees me, it’s over, and that would put all three of us in jeopardy. It’s not just the senator I’m worried about either.
I’ve always known I’d never be free of them.
Rudy holds the car door open for me after the nurse walks me down to leave. When I slide into the backseat, I inwardly groan. What the hell is he doing here?
“I’m heading to the airport,” he answers my question without me even asking. He rips the paperwork from my hand to peruse over the postpartum instructions from the hospital.
The way he sighs makes me murderous, but I remind myself all of this is almost over.
He shoves the papers against my chest. “My wife is demanding that you are gone before she and Lily return from Paris.”
My stomach turns at the thought of what that might mean.
“You’re ending up to be a heck of an investment. They’re giving me double what I originally paid for you. Sounds like they still find you useful, so I’m afraid our time together is coming to an end.”
When he reaches across the seat to squeeze my knee, my skin begins to crawl with a thousand insects.
