“They’re mistaken. My mother did not do this. She wasn’t that kind of person.” Bailey’s eyes traveled to Nicole. “She wouldn’t have done this.”
“Of course not,” Mae said, stepping up to Bailey’s side.
Nicole lifted a placating hand and said, “I’m sure it’s a mistake.”
“I want to see my husband.” Linda stood and brushed by Bailey. “He must be sick about this. No wonder he collapsed.”
Everyone’s heads turned, and they watched her as she walked over to the counter and asked about Alex. When they buzzed her in, she pulled on the heavy glass door and disappeared down a corridor.
“What’s going on?” Wade said. He leaned over, fighting to catch his breath. “I got here as fast as I could.”
“What are you doing here?” Bailey asked.
“Lucas told me what happened. I wanted to check on you guys.” He straightened and exhaled slowly with his hands on his hips.
“You didn’t have to come,” Bailey said when he reached out to hug her. “But thank you. Who’s getting the bar ready for tonight?”
“Everything’s covered. I called Rick in. He’s on his way.”
She walked over and sat down. Her head was spinning, her energy wearing thin. She didn’t know what to think about all this. More than anything, she wanted to talk to Sharpe and find out what evidence he had. Surely, the letters from Uncle Pat weren’t enough proof.
Ryan slipped into the chair next to her and leaned in to catch her eye. When she looked at him, he glanced around to see if anyone could hear them, then said, “Are you going to be okay?”
She waved a hand at him. “I’m fine, but Ryan, do you think… My God, could this be true?”
“I think it’s about time we consider at least some version might be true.” He gave her an intense look. “Let’s be real here, babe. If you didn’t believe in some way it was a possibility, we wouldn’t have kept those letters a secret like we did.”
“I didn’t…no. I thought it was something we needed to keep to ourselves. I thought there was some kind of family secret that needed to stay a secret, but not this.” She jumped to her feet, pacing the room with her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She walked back to her seat and shook her head at Ryan. “I refuse to even entertain the idea until I see solid proof.”
He took her hand in his. “Then we’ll wait.”
“Bailey, I need to talk to you about something,” Lucas said, approaching them. “Can we step outside?”
“Sure. What is it?”
Lucas gestured toward the glass doors and walked outside, with Bailey and Ryan following. He seemed extremely tense, which was out of the ordinary for Lucas. Seeing them step outside, Mae followed. Lucas turned and looked over their shoulders to make sure nobody else followed. Bailey could see her siblings inside, with Wade sitting next to Nicole, making conversation.
Bailey turned back to Lucas. “What’s going on?”
He hesitated for a moment as if he was having a hard time saying what he needed to say. “I know where I recognize Nicole from.”
“Okay…”
“It’s her voice. She’s the caller.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “She’s The Rosa Trials caller who’s been feeding the show information about you and Dex, and probably your parents.”
“You’re sure?” Ryan asked. “She only called into the live show once, maybe twice. Wouldn’t her family have recognized her voice?”
Lucas held up two fingers. “Twice, and I’m absolutely sure. I searched YouTube last night and was able to see both clips from when she called into the show. It’s her, I’m sure. If her family didn’t see those two episodes, they wouldn’t have heard it.”
“That fucking bitch,” Ryan growled. “Why? How? Where did she get the information?”
“My guess is she got it from her husband,” Lucas said. “Listen, I’ve suspected this since I met her at the club last night. I’ve had some time to think about it. She must’ve found whatever it is Dex took when he broke into the house. She probably found photos Dex had of him and Bailey. It’s not impossible to believe he had a few. They were together for nearly a year.”
“That little bitch,” Mae said. “I’ll kick her ass.”
“Don’t you dare,” Lucas reached out and grabbed her before she made it to the glass doors. “That’s Bailey’s sister. You need to let her decide how to deal with this.”
Bailey stood staring at them, not sure what to think. How could this be? She and Nicole had grown close. Bailey had confided in her, and she had confided in Bailey. She was Bailey’s sister. How could she betray her like this?
“Bailey, Dex was her husband. It’s not surprising she harbors some ill will over what happened,” Lucas said.
Bailey nodded. “Right, because I did have an affair with her husband. He’s dead because of me.”
“No,” Ryan said. “Don’t you dare. He’s dead because of him. He did this, not you.”
“He’s right, Bailey,” Lucas said. “If she blames you, it’s not… That’s not…”
“It’s wholly unfair,” Mae said. “You’re the victim from go here. Even as an infant. You have zero responsibility in this entire mess.”
Bailey looked from the three of them to the window into the waiting room. Nicole and Wade were laughing together. How could she be so relaxed after having done so much to hurt Bailey? Months and months of feeding information to Rosa Sikes, all of it to target Bailey. Not to mention keeping this from her own father, letting him learn about it on The Rosa Trials.
She turned and walked back inside the waiting room just as Alex and Linda returned.
James stood and rushed over to greet his parents. “Dad, what’s going on? Are they letting you go?”
As he approached, Nicole and Stanley both stood, as well. Alex looked older. His pale face was highlighted by swollen eyes. Linda also looked worse for wear. Her makeup had been cried off, and she looked tired.
Alex
