Next to Me (32 page)

“Thank you for the compliment, but I didn’t do any digging. It seems my father did one thing right before he turned into your soulless minion.” I pull the envelope from my bag and place it in front of him. He eyes it and then me, not seeming to be sure if he wants to know what’s inside. “If you don’t want to open it, I can do it for you.” I begin to take the envelope back, but he slams his hand down on it so hard that he breaks the side plate it was resting on.

I shake my head ever so slightly, letting Oz know that I’m fine. He’s only there in case things get so crazy that I can’t handle it. Right now, I’ve got this level of crazy under control.

Trey comes rushing to us, asking the Senator if he’s ok. “I was trying to swat a fly,” Dellinger says flatly. “Everything is fine.” Trey removes the broken plate and returns in a flash with a new one.

Henry Dellinger’s eyes are cold and hard as his anger rises. He hasn’t even seen what’s in the envelope, yet he’s enraged. It’s not that the envelope may or may not contain damaging information. It’s that I
dared
to challenge him. He’s
the
Senator Henry Dellinger, the distinguished representative from Connecticut, and
nobody
challenges him.

Dellinger opens the large envelop and pulls out the photocopied documents. He quickly thumbs through them once and then reviews each page carefully. It takes him a full four minutes to review each page. I start to get a little nervous, thinking that maybe Dad wasn’t as detailed as he should have been to make this a slam dunk. But when the three minute mark hits, and a bead of sweat rolls down the side of Dellinger’s face, I know that I’ve got everything I need.

“You think this proves anything?” he has the audacity to say.

“I don’t think the names, dates, and numbers prove anything on their

own. But if it took me all of 30 minutes to do a simple online search for where most of these items were last sold, for how much, and by whom, how much deeper do you think the police are going to take it? They’ll press hard in to Ken Cooper and he’ll cry like a baby when they tell him how long he’ll spend in prison for insurance fraud,” I say. I let the words roll off my tongue like honey.

“Whatever fraudulent activity Mr. Cooper has committed at his job has nothing to do with me.” Dellinger downs the rest of his gin and motions to Trey for another.

“Really? You’re serious,” I begin. “You don’t think they’re going to track the original insurance number to original owner and then track the new insurance number to you…and see that you have no proof of purchasing the item? Please tell me you’re not that stupid. You’re a Senator. You represent a state of people who are counting on you.”

The rage that filled Dellinger’s eyes only a moment ago has turned to fear and that one bead of sweat has turned into a tie-loosening heat that is making Dellinger shift uncomfortably in his chair. He’s losing it.

“Ok, Miss Rockwell…you’ve made your case. How much to keep you quiet?” His voice shakes a little as he speaks, throwing me completely off.

“Oh, my God. I thought it was just a caricature, but you’re one of those people who really thinks money is the answer to everything. That was your whole point in the lavishness of sending me to Paris. First class, most prestigious hotel in the city, thousands of dollars to buy a
dress
. Money is a toy to you. You pay off, buy off, and threaten whoever you can so that you can keep all your dirty little secrets.” I take a sip of my wine, satisfied that the night has been a success.

“You’re sad. You’re a sad man who’s done nothing but live off his family’s wealth and privilege. I feel sorry for you. You haven’t even built any great power with the opportunities you’ve been given. You won your first election by mud-slinging someone who was supposed to be a good friend. After that I imagine not too many people were willing to go up against you and your smoke and mirrors, diversion campaign tactics, which is how you’ve kept your seat in the Senate.

“You talk a big game with your muscly thug by your side and your hidden cameras, but you’re not going to do anything. I’m sitting here with evidence that is going to crucify you in Washington and your first instinct is to throw money at me.”

“Would you rather I threaten your life and the life of your friends again?” he asks, annoyed that I haven’t gotten to the nitty gritty of my demands.

“Well that’s just a silly question,” I reply sardonically.

“
What
do you want?” Dellinger raises his voice and draws the attention of several guests seated around the dining room. “You’ve made your point, Miss Rockwell. Just tell me what you want and you can have it.”

I see the fear in his eyes again and it dawns on me that I am the only person in his life who has ever called out his shit. We spent all this time being afraid of him like some mysterious Boogie Man when all we had to do was stand up and tell him to go away. I don’t think it would have mattered if I had these papers or not. If I had walked in here and laid out a clear plan to smear his name through the media, I think he would have sweated just as much.

“It’s simple. Leave me, my friends, Landon Scott, and my father alone…forever.”

“After how your father betrayed you, you care whether he continues working for me or not?” Dellinger’s arrogance is creeping back and all I want is for this to be over.

“How my father and I work through our personal family issues is none of your business,” I tell him. “Do you understand?” He nods. “Good. Because if I find out that anything has happened to my father, I’m going to blame you. I don’t care where he is in the world, I will blame you. He wouldn’t have picked up this life again had you not invited him into it and, therefore, he wouldn’t be on the run from you.”

“Are we done here?” Dellinger asks with defeated annoyance.

“Yes.” I stand and put my bag across my body, leaving Dellinger with a copy of the evidence of insurance fraud. Taking a step forward, I lean into his ear I say, “You might want to reevaluate your relationship with Ambassador McKay. I forged a copy of the V Nickel and gave it to him. Not knowing he had a copy, he was giddy at the thought of having something you wanted
so
desperately.”

“Miss Rockwell!” The Senator stands and calls after me.  I stop and turn back, tilting my head as I look at him. “Who has the real coin?” he asks hopefully. It occurs to me that this might be the one thing that he actually cares about, but I’ll never know for sure.

“As far as I know, my father has it, and I trust you’re going to keep your word.”

I leave the Senator standing in the middle of the restaurant dining room and walk swiftly out onto the sidewalk. I hail a cab and am met by Oz as soon as I slide into the back seat. I let out the breath it feels like I’ve been holding since Dellinger walked into the restaurant, and let tears of relief fill my eyes to overflowing.

I lean into Oz and let him hold me like he used to when I was a little girl…back in the days when I would refer to him as my other dad. He was always there for me, and now that my dad never will be again, I’m really glad to have him.

“You did good, Angel. You did good.”

Chapter 20

There’s a knock at the hotel room door and Mercy scurries to get it. We put our card out last night for room service breakfast this morning and we’re all just giddy about it. Mercy, Demi and I are staying at a nice hotel just a couple of blocks from Duke’s. Jerry sprung for the hotel saying that it was every girl’s right to stay in a fancy hotel the night before her wedding. He continued by saying that he didn’t know what Jack had planned for their honeymoon and wanted to make sure she had at least one pleasant memory from the day.

He was kidding, of course, but it was still a lovely gesture on his part to do something so sweet for us even beyond what he’s already doing by closing the bar and covering all the food and non-alcoholic drinks. He said he had to draw the line somewhere.

Demi thanked him profusely and said her only stipulation on any part of the wedding was that Jack was not to show up to their 3:00 pm wedding still hung over from the night before. Jerry held Jack’s bachelor party at the bar last night and I’m sure he didn’t let Jack get too crazy. He’d have the pregnant bride and his own girlfriend to deal with if he did.

“I am starving!” Demi declares. “Where are my pancakes?”

“Good grief, woman! It’s like you’re eating for two!” Mercy jokes. “Oh, and please do not puke today. Your dress is way too gorgeous and I cannot handle puke.”

“You’re a nurse! How can you not handle puke?” Demi asks as she smothers her pancakes with syrup.

“Hey…we all have our limits,” Mercy says seriously, but then cracks a smile. “You’ve actually been doing pretty good in that department, haven’t you?”

“Yeah…it’s been great. I’ve been nauseated, but I haven’t thrown up once. Although, by the time this baby comes, if I never see another whole wheat Ritz cracker again, it’ll be too soon! Those are the
only
thing that sooth my queasiness.”

“Alright, ladies,” I interject. “I have a surprise for you. I know we said we were just going to go natural and do our own hair but…I hired the girl who does my hair to come do ours! And she’s bringing one of the girls from the salon to do our makeup, too!”

Squeals of
what!
and
oh, my God!
echo through the room as both girls jump up and hug me.

“Oh, Jenna! You truly are the greatest ever! Everyone has been doing so much for us. Jack and I don’t want you guys to think we can’t afford anything. I mean, we’re not swimming in cash but…” Demi starts, but I cut her off.

“No one thinks that. We would all just rather you save your money for that little baby. He or she is worth far more than anything you two could spend your money on today,” I say.

“Yeah, let Jenna pick up the tab!” Mercy jokes. “You know she’s got loads of money!”

I once told Mercy about the inheritance I got from a distant uncle – aka Oz – and that after school I wasn’t touching any of it. That I was saving it for something great and by great I really meant was in case I had to leave town. But, now that I’m not leaving, I guess I should start thinking of something else I could do with the money.

The girls from my salon arrive and we talk and take turns eating and ordering more food. The closer we get to the wedding, I don’t think Demi is going to eat. And then once we’re there, I think she’ll forget to eat altogether. So my objective is to make sure there’s food here constantly so I can trick her into munching all morning.

By 2:15 all of our hair and makeup is done and we’re all sufficiently stuffed. Fortunately, all of our dresses are very forgiving. Demi told Mercy and me to just find something really pretty in colors that made us look and feel good. That was harder than it sounded, but, we found the same dress in two different colors and bought the same shoes that would go with both. It wasn’t until we saw Demi’s dress that we realized just how perfectly they all fit together. They’re all empire waists with a flowing chiffon skirt that hits just at the knee. Mercy's and my dress are halter tops that tie with the same soft chiffon around the neck. I almost didn’t even try the dress on because it reminds me so much of the dress I bought in Versailles with Landon, but it really was beautiful on the rack and Mercy and I both agreed that we looked more than fabulous in them.

Demi’s dress is a gorgeous, soft white, strapless dress with gold beads and threading embellishing the bust.  With her hair up and makeup done, she’s simply radiant.

“Demi…you’re stunning,” I whisper, trying to keep my tears at bay.

“You two look amazing. That royal blue is gorgeous on you, Jenna. And, Mercy…I had no clue how incredible emerald green would be on you. I’m blown away.” Demi starts to tear up too and before we know it, we’re all dabbing our eyes to keep from messing up our makeup. “You have no idea what you two mean to me. I couldn’t do this without you. You’ve both helped me see just how lucky I am to have Jack. I think we were all so uncertain of how he would react to the baby…if he could grow up enough and take responsibility. But now…sometimes I look at him across the room and think about how happy I am. This man makes me so happy and I know he’s going to be a great husband and an amazing dad. Thank you for everything.”

We all dab our eyes preemptively before the tears come and catch them as soon as they appear. With deep breaths and hugs all around, we walk down the hall of the hotel to the elevator with excited anticipation.

Demi found a florist who agreed to do just three bouquets and one boutonniere for the wedding. Jerry got his sister to come and do a little decorating by putting white table clothes on the tables and setting little votive candles in the center. We worked through how the whole bar needed to be set up so there was an actual aisle and chairs on either side. And because Sharper Image is a surprise, we got some pipe and draping to hide the stage. I told Demi it was to cover the messiness of the stage so all their wedding pictures wouldn’t look like they were in a bar.

We get downstairs at the hotel and are prepared to hail a cab for the two and a half blocks, but there’s a limo and a driver holding a sign with Demi’s name on it.

“Um…that’s me,” Demi says. “Jenna, did you hire a limo, too?”

“No. This one is not on me,” I say. “It must be a surprise from Jack, or maybe Jerry.”

“If it’s Jerry, he didn’t tell me,” Mercy says. “I’m sure it was Jack. Get in girls! We have a wedding to get to!”

The Sunday traffic is horrendous for some reason. It’s taking us twice as long to drive there as it would if we had walked.

“So, Jenna…” Mercy says. “Have you heard from Landon?”

“No, I haven’t,” I reply shortly. “And today is about Demi and Jack so I am not talking about my tragedy of a relationship with Landon.”

“It doesn’t have to be a tragedy, Jenna. You’re still in love with him.” Demi says.

“Of course I’m still in love with him, but…there’s so much you guys don’t know about Paris, and the things I said to him that pushed him away.  It’d be a miracle if he ever forgave me.” I don’t want to, but I have to dab the corners of my eyes to keep the tears I feel stinging them from rolling over and messing up my makeup.