“Exactly. Their birthday is June fourth.” Again, Janus paused while his lawyer mentally went back in time.
“But that would mean that…were they conceived right before your…accident?”
“That was no accident,” Janus growled. “It was an attack.”
Tom sighed. “Yeah, sorry. Bad choice of words. If it’s any consolation, Rockwell was convicted of beating a guy in a bar fight three months ago. He’s been on a downward spiral ever since being kicked out of the league. I think he’s finally reached rock bottom.”
“I don’t give a damn about that ass. What’s on my mind now is protecting my kids.” Janus picked up the paper that showed the DNA tests. Sure enough, there was the evidence. He was a father. A father! Damn it, what the hell had Stevie done?!
“I’m sending over a voice recording of a conversation I just had with the private investigator, Jerry something or other. I’ll get you his full name. But the recording is proof that he is trying to blackmail me. If I don’t pay him a million dollars, he’s going to release pictures of my kids to the press as well as their contact information.’
Tom hissed. “The media will go nuts over a story like that!”
“I know. Especially since I’ve refused interviews for so long. The press salivates over anything about me that they can get their hands on lately.”
Tom laughed. “Yeah, you’re a good target.” He sighed. “Okay, send me the recording and I’ll get the police involved. I have some contacts that can keep this quiet. You’re still a legend in this town and you’ve always contributed heavily to the police fund raising efforts.”
Janus didn’t correct his friend’s assumption that his contributions had been altruistic and not a way to earn points with the police. He just wanted the task accomplished and knew that Tom would get results quickly.
“What’s the other issue?” Tom prompted.
Janus glanced down at the pictures. “I need to file for custody of my children.”
Another silence, this one longer. “Um…I…that’s going to take time, Janus. There’s groundwork that needs to be laid before a custody hearing. I didn’t know that you even had children before five minutes ago.”
“I didn’t either. Until about ten minutes ago.”
Janus heard Tom shift in his chair, getting serious now. “Okay, so give me the details. I can draw up the paperwork and have it hand delivered. But…is this really what you want to do? I mean, is the mother a bad guardian?”
“I have no idea,” he growled out. “Her name is Stevie Hunt. I met her a few weeks before the start of the season. She was sweet at first, but as soon as I was injured, she dropped me like a hot potato.”
Janus could picture Tom nodding. “That name sounds familiar, for some reason.” There was some typing on his keyboard. “Right.” More typing. “We sent Ms. Hunt a letter about four months after your injury. She was calling and showing up at your office, wanting to speak to you.”
Oh hell! Janus closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Well, I guess I know why now, huh?” He asked, smothering a bark of horrified laughter. But he wasn’t amused. “Okay, so she did try to tell me. But she obviously didn’t try very hard. I still want–”
Tom interrupted him again. “Let me gather more information on this before you move forward, Janus. Maybe there’s more to this story than we know.”
Janus thought about that, and nodded. “Fine. Get your people on it. But I want to know what’s going on, so get me something fast.”
“Will do.”
After the phone call, Janus picked up the photographs on the desk, staring at the images of the smiling faces. His kids? Could it be true? And what had Tom said about that visit? Stevie had visited him in…January. Yeah, he remembered that now. Had she been trying to tell him that she was pregnant? But why wait so long? Probably so that he couldn’t demand she get an abortion.
Janus snarled with disgust. He would never do that.
His thumb moved over the image, but it wasn’t his child. It was just a photo.
Making a quick decision, he grabbed his jacket and hurried out of his office, stuffing the pictures into his pocket. “Cancel my afternoon meetings. Something’s come up.”
He didn’t see Mary’s bemused expression as he stormed out of the office. He didn’t see anything except a red haze as he drove out of Seattle towards the address on the envelope. He was going to see his children!
Chapter 14
The sleek, black vehicle parked in front of her house was odd, but Stevie had too much on her mind to figure out who might be visiting one of her neighbors. “Halley, quit hitting your brother!”
Halley stopped, but that only gave Harrison the opportunity to return fire. “Harrison! That didn’t mean you can hit your sister!”
The pair burst into giggles.
“No hitting!” she repeated firmly as she pulled into the driveway.
Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw the mischievous looks and knew she was in for a long evening. “Okay, we’re home. I want you both to…” Stevie didn’t get a chance to finish. They were already out of the car and halfway up the driveway. Herbie was barking at the window, eager to be let out so that he celebrate their return. Stevie sighed as she grabbed her purse and her tote filled with papers that needed grading, then moved to the back of the car to pick up the first load of groceries. “Hey! Don’t step in that puddle, Harrison!” she called out. “And Halley, your teacher told me that you didn’t finish your classwork today. So
