“You don’t know anything about what I feel.”
“The hell I don’t,” the driver countered. “You figure it’s your fault she was ever in danger in the first place. You figure you got her on that show, and as a result, she nearly got herself killed. Somehow you should have known that a psycho actor was stalking Walker, right? So now you’re going to do penance for the rest of your life to make up for it.” He glanced over at Jason, who was riding in the front seat beside him. “How am I doing so far?”
“A veritable Freudian genius,” Jason said bitterly. “You’re so smart, why don’t you buy a couch and go into the shrink business? It’d pay a hell of a lot better than driving me around town.”
“Most people’s hard heads don’t interest me. Yours does.”
Jason shot him a foul-tempered look. “Am I supposed to be grateful for that?”
“You should be,” Henry said complacently. “Should I take you to her apartment?”
“No,” Jason said stubbornly. “You can let me out right here, so I won’t have to listen to any more of your blathering.”
Henry’s disapproving scowl spoke volumes. He braked his car so hard, it rocked on its frame. Jason climbed out, slammed the door, then stood there a minute, uncertain how to thank Henry for being willing to be there for him and Callie.
“I’ll never forget what you did today,” he said eventually.
Henry’s expression didn’t lighten a bit. “I did it for Miss Callie.”
Jason smiled. “I know that. Like I said, I won’t forget it.”
Now it was Henry who looked hesitant. His expression filled with compassion. “You going to be okay?”
“Sure,” Jason said. “By this time next century.”
He stuck his hands into his pockets and started to walk. It was a surprisingly cool night for early June, with a hint of rain in the air. The air should have cleared his head, but it didn’t. Images of Callie with that gun pointed directly at her ate at him. Images of Terry’s shattered face and blood-soaked clothes taunted him. He kept telling himself there must have been a way to prevent everything that had happened.
It didn’t seem to matter that the man responsible for both was clearly mentally unhinged. He blamed himself. It was his obsession with ratings, with proving his programming genius that had brought Callie into the middle of a nightmare. Henry was right. He would never forgive himself for that. He was no better than his ambition-driven mother.
He vowed then and there, standing on the corner as rain began to fall and soak him to the bone, that he would release Callie from the life he’d forced her into. He would call Whittington on Monday morning and tell the attorney there would be no problem if she wanted to get out of her contract early.
And he would make a few calls to brokerages that had made a fortune betting on his success at TGN. Callie would have the kind of job she loved by the end of the day on Monday. It was all he could think of to do to make amends.
He wondered if he would ever be satisfied that it was enough.
31
Callie sat quietly beside Terry’s bed while he slept. In the past twenty-four hours she’d been home only long enough to reassure her mother that she was okay and to change clothes. The hospital had become her haven.
She could have stayed away. Terry was in no danger. The doctors said he was going to make a full recovery and that any scarring to his face could be repaired with plastic surgery.
The truth was, though, that she didn’t want to be at home where she would be forced to think about Jason and his sudden abandonment. Of all of Saturday’s tumultuous life-threatening events, that had been the most traumatic. He had walked away and not looked back.
Neil came into the room and walked up behind her. He rested his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them.
“You’re tense, Callie. And you’re exhausted. Go home.”
“I can’t,” she said simply.
“Because the big shot won’t be waiting?”
She nodded as a tear escaped and slid down her cheek. “Silly, isn’t it? I fought letting him into my life. Now I can’t bear to see him go.”
“Love’s a bitch, isn’t it?” he said, his gaze on Terry when he said it. “I sure as hell never thought I’d be crazy for an actor. Yesterday, when I thought I might lose him...”
His voice trailed off and Callie could feel him shudder. She reached up and put her hand on his. “He’s going to be fine.”
“No thanks to Baines.”
“Have you heard any more about Terry’s ex-brother-in-law?”
“Actually, he stopped by while you were off being kidnapped. He apologized to Terry.” He hesitated, then added, “And to me.”
“You? Why you?”
“Because he tried to blackmail me into getting Terry to cooperate. He came to the apartment one afternoon. Your mother saw him there. She just didn’t know who he was. She thought I was having a fling behind Terry’s back.”
“No way,” Callie said with absolute confidence. Her own relationship with Jason should be as strong as the bond between these two men. “Tell me about Bryan.”
“He’s ambitious. He only wanted to catch a big break by using his connection to Terry’s past. He promised me anonymity, if I’d talk Terry into going public. I refused. Then Baines practically handed him an even bigger story by clueing him in on the threats Terry’d been receiving and that hit-and-run he’d set up. Bryan swears he had no idea Baines himself was behind them. Also, he told the police Jenny had nothing to do with any of it. They’d been out a couple of times so he could pump her for material, but he swore she’d refused to give him any inside information at all. That’s why he was so thrilled when Baines started passing along these scoops of his.”
Callie shook her head. “I can’t believe he tried to blackmail
