said, trying for levity.
It worked. Sharon smiled. “I know, but that’s his MO. Last time Tony only asked for a thousand. He’d planned on stringing it out, asking for more each time. I’m sure he’s got the same plan now. He’ll keep me on edge by making me wonder if and when those photos will show up in the next day’s paper.” Her face had grown pale at the notion.
Something wasn’t sitting right in Gabrielle’s mind, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was bothering her. “When did Tony get out of prison?”
Sharon shrugged. “I don’t know that he did, but it has to be him, right? Nobody else would have the pictures but him.”
“I don’t know.” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “It seems odd that your old pictures would resurface around the same time I’m not so politely being asked to leave town,” Gabrielle mused.
“You think the two things are related?” Sharon shifted in her seat, curling her knee beneath her so she faced Gabrielle.
“Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s just weird to have two separate threats against each of us going on at the same time.” She paused. “What if Tony sold the pictures to someone?”
“Anything’s possible.”
“This stinks. Even if you pay, you can never be certain that you have all the pictures. This could drag on forever.” Gabrielle turned and stared out the window, trying to come up with some way to help her friend.
They needed to track down Tony, but Gabrielle didn’t think her friend was up for that conversation just yet. Maybe after the shock wore off. In the meantime, she’d do some digging herself. Research was what she was good at, after all.
“Do you have the money?” Gabrielle asked.
“For this payment and maybe one more. I obviously can’t afford to keep this up indefinitely. I just wish I hadn’t been so stupid.”
“Hey!” Gabrielle whipped around in her seat. “Do not blame yourself. You were drugged. It’s not like you were a willing participant,” she reminded Sharon.
With that, Gabrielle realized what had been bothering her. “You were a victim. Surely nobody will hold that against you or Richard. I say you call his bluff. Refuse to pay and ride out the scandal. Richard loves you. He’ll stand by you and so will I.” Gabrielle reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. “It’s the least I can do for the woman who went toe to toe with Hank Corwin for me.”
Sharon glanced out the window. “I think you’re forgetting who Richard’s opponent is. Mary Perkins won’t hesitate to use this as ammunition to hurt Richard and convince people to vote for her.”
Mary Perkins and that damned curse she wielded like a magic wand with the power to bend people to her will. Gabrielle decided the incumbent mayor would be high on her list of people to interview, if for no other reason than to dig into the psyche of someone willing to use other people’s weaknesses against them.
“At least tell Richard what’s going on so he won’t be caught off guard if this leaks,” Gabrielle suggested.
“No.” Sharon swung back around. “Not yet. I need to go to the Wave tomorrow night and see what and whom I’m dealing with first.” Sharon’s voice shook at the idea, but with her decision made, she drew her shoulders up straighter.
“
Gabrielle cleared her throat. “Fine. If you insist on going to the Wave tomorrow with five thousand dollars, you aren’t going alone. But we still need to go to Boston today because I don’t have any clubbing clothes with me here.” Gabrielle restarted the car.
Sharon blew out a relieved breath of air. “Thank you. You’re the best. Now, just promise me you won’t tell Richard about any of this.”
Gabrielle frowned. She wasn’t a fan of keeping secrets, but it wasn’t her choice. “I won’t tell him if you insist, but-”
“I do. So you promise?”
“Fine.” She put both hands on the wheel. “I don’t like it, but I promise not to tell Richard.”
But that didn’t mean she had to keep it to herself. Just like in the old days, when something serious happened, there was just one person Gabrielle wanted to turn to. One person she trusted with anything, one who she knew in her heart would help her with any problem.
Derek.
And not just because he’d been back in town long enough to know someone who could quietly help her find Tony. If she and Sharon were meeting a crazy man who’d drugged a number of women, taken nude photos of them and gone to prison for his actions, they weren’t going alone.
She wanted a man by her side that she trusted.
She wanted Derek.
CHAPTER SIX
DEREK BURNED THE PANCAKES he’d made Holly for breakfast. He really couldn’t cook and should have known better than to try. Back in the city, he’d lived on takeout.
Scraping the destroyed remains into Fred’s dish, he glanced at his daughter. “Want me to try again?”
She shook her head and made a disgusted face. “Can I have cold cereal, Dad?”
He laughed. “Smart move.”
“Yeah, I know. Even you can’t ruin corn flakes.” She climbed onto the counter and pulled out a cereal bowl. “Dad?”
“Hmm?” He poured the flakes from the box, then added milk and handed her a spoon.
“You promised to tell me about you and Gabrielle. That man said you dumped her. You said you didn’t. So what’s the real story?” she asked between slurping cereal and milk from a spoon.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how to explain adult behavior to a preteen. “We dated in high school and broke up before going away to college,” he said, proud of his concise summary.
“Who broke up with who?”
“I broke up with her.”
“Why?”
“I had my reasons. Finish your cereal. Grandpa’s coming by to take you to feed the ducks at the pond. You want to be ready.”
She glanced down and focused on eating what was left. “There. I finished my cereal. I’m just working on the milk.” She picked up the bowl, clearly intending to drink it down in one gulp.
He shot her a warning look.
“Okay, okay.” She retrieved the spoon and slowly sipped at the milk.
“That’s better.”
“Can Fred come with us to feed the ducks?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not. Just talk to your grandfather.”
She finished two more spoonfuls, then asked, “So what are you doing today?”
Boy, was she talkative this morning. “I’m going to get some work done here.” He had clients in the city who had left messages he needed to return. He didn’t need to go to the office he rented in town, though.
She finished her cereal with a last, loud slurp and walked the bowl over to the sink. “Do you still like Gabrielle? ’Cause I really like her a lot.”
He swallowed a groan. “Of course I like her.”
“Will you marry her the way Mom married John?”
Derek’s palms began to sweat. Suddenly, without warning, the front door creaked opened and Hank’s voice bellowed throughout the house.
“Who wants to go feed the ducks?” he called out to announce his presence.
