The Family Simon: Jack Part 25

"Does it really matter?" she said eventually.

"h.e.l.l yes. Don't you want to know who threw you under the bus like that? I sure as h.e.l.l do."

"I've got other things to focus on, Rick." Like the second positive pregnancy test.

"You haven't heard from Jack, I take it?"

"No."

Silence. "s.h.i.+t, I gotta go, Donnie. I'll be out of town for a few days. A business meeting with some foreign distributors for this indie film. Beau will be there, and we want to get this nailed down now."

"I'm okay. Don't worry about me, really."

"I'll come see you when I get back."

Donovan hung up the phone, eyes on the second pregnancy test she'd taken the day before. The one that told her without a doubt she was pregnant.

She sat in her oversized comfy chair for hours, only getting up to grab some food and then slide right back into her spot. She sat there until the shadows grew long and her bedroom was so dark it was hard for her to see. Until all the chaotic thoughts in her head went away, and she was finally left with a clarity that she needed.

She was going to have a baby. A baby she'd made with the man that she loved. She might not have much, but she did have that. It was time for her to stop feeling sorry for herself and start acting like an adult.

She picked up the phone from beside her bed and made an appointment to see her personal doctor. After a few moments, she dialed another number. It was time to face a few ghosts from the past and do what she'd always done. Just get the h.e.l.l on with it.

"Mama? We need to talk."

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

Jack flew into Florida two days after his buddy Brett's funeral. He picked up his Mercedes from valet parking and didn't bother driving to the beach or his house. Grace had taken Coco home with her, so at least the little ball of fur didn't need looking after.

That was good. He had someone to see first.

He drove in silence. The anger that boiled beneath his skin told him he was alive, even if he felt as if he'd been through the ringer. He was sick of the press. Sick of the media circus that had landed in his lap. And he sure as f.u.c.k was sick of Derek McKenzie calling his cell.

He was about to put that puppy to rest.

He drove through the familiar streets of Cypress Hill, giving a mental finger to a bunch of paparazzi near the entrance to the gated community. It boasted one of the nicest golf courses around, and when he parked in the driveway of 101 Cypress Lane, Jack hopped out of the car, tossed his ball cap onto the pa.s.senger seat and ran up the steps without pause.

His body was full of adrenaline and he clenched his fists as a fresh wave of anger rolled over him. He banged on the door. Once. Twice. And was just about to beat the h.e.l.l out of the heavy oak panels when it swung open.

Derek McKenzie looked like s.h.i.+t and smelled worse.

"Hitting it pretty hard aren't you?" Jack said roughly, pus.h.i.+ng past Derek.

"Well h.e.l.lo to you," Derek said, bloodshot eyes following Jack as he strode through the foyer.

"Where's Janice?" Jack asked.

"She's been gone for days." Derek slurred his words and took another swig of whatever the h.e.l.l was in his gla.s.s.

"Good." Jack was guessing his wife wasn't coming back.

Jack took a moment because right now he was overloading on emotion. This guy right here...this guy used to be like family to him. Those kinds of ties didn't just disappear. Even when adulthood brought new perspective.

"Jack, I...buddy-"

"Shut the f.u.c.k up, Derek. I don't want to hear it. Don't apologize to me, because I'm not here for that. I just want to know the truth. Did you screw Donovan?"

Derek thrust his chin forward and attempted a smile, but he was so wasted it came off more like a sneer. "She wanted it."

Red hot fury momentarily blinded Jack, but he got his s.h.i.+t together. He needed to do this.

"When?" he barked.

"That last night. The four of us were together, and then you and Donovan had a fight. Janice left because she had a f.u.c.king headache, and I stayed and listened to Donovan whine and cry." He shrugged and staggered to the left, dropping his gla.s.s. "What can I say? She was a h.o.r.n.y b.i.t.c.h, so I gave it to her."

Jack took a step forward, and Derek laughed. "That's right. I stuck it to that b.i.t.c.h more than once."

Jack's fist swung out, and he took Derek down with one heavy punch.

"Jesus f.u.c.king Christ," Derek shouted, scrambling to his feet and yelping when he cut the palm of his hand in the shattered gla.s.s on the tile. "What the h.e.l.l did you do that for?"

Jack raised his fist, ready to smash the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's face again.

"I did you a G.o.dd.a.m.n favor. Don't you see? She was f.u.c.king trash from Arkansas. What the h.e.l.l does someone like us want with someone like that?"

Unease slid through Jack. Derek's choice of words didn't sit right.

"What do you mean, you did me a favor?"

Derek rubbed his b.l.o.o.d.y hand over his forehead and leaned against the wall, chest heaving from his effort to stay on his feet.

"Monique. Now she's the type of woman to get you all the way to the White House. Not some white trash, honkytonk from Arkansas."

Jack got right up in Derek's face again. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. What the f.u.c.k did you do?"

"Besides f.u.c.k her? I took some pictures and some videos, and I told her that if she ever showed her face in Florida again, I'd use them."

Something twisted inside Jack, and he let loose with several more quick hits that put Derek McKenzie back down on the floor. When he was done, his knuckles were as b.l.o.o.d.y as Derek's face.

"You did all of this?" he roared, stepping away because if he didn't, he just might kill the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

"No," Derek gasped. "I didn't. Cooper has them. I.... He...he took them a couple years ago." He coughed and made it to his knees. "I would never jeopardize your bid for senator. Never. I swear," Derek said roughly. "It wasn't me. Cooper must have leaked the information."

"Why the h.e.l.l would Cooper do that? It makes no sense."

"I don't know," Derek said, backing away when Jack took a step forward. "You'd have to ask him that yourself. I've been trying to get hold of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d ever since the story broke. I was looking out for you, Jack. I always look out for you. It's my job."

Heavy breaths falling from him, Jack swore and turned away. He was more confused than ever.

"Jack," Derek said hoa.r.s.ely. "We can work this out, right?"

"Who else knows about this?" he spat.

"No one." Derek was crying. "No one but Cooper. I swear. I haven't told anyone. I...s.h.i.+t."

"Who?" Jack asked tersely.

"Jayleigh. Jayleigh knows. I mean, h.e.l.l she hasn't seen anything but she knows."

Jack left without another word. He slid into his Mercedes and sat there, hands on the steering wheel for so long that his fingers cramped. Minutes pa.s.sed and finally he put the car into gear and drove off, putting a call through as he did so.

"Hey." Maverick's voice filled the interior of the car.

"Where's Cooper at?"

Silence.

"Rick, don't play games with me. Where the h.e.l.l is Cooper at?" The son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h was known for disappearing for weeks at a time, and Jack hadn't heard from him since the fundraiser.

"Jack-"

"He has the f.u.c.king pictures and video Maverick. I need to see him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just came from Derek. He told me Cooper took the thumb drive. I want it in my hands, so that I can end this right now."

Maverick swore a blue streak. "He told me that he had nothing to do with it."

"Where is he?"

"He's at his place in Maine."

"Maine?"

Jack's tires squealed as he moved over two lanes and made it back onto the interstate. Looks like he was heading to the airport.

"He's got a place out there. An old estate he bought over ten years ago. I'll text you the address."

"Thanks," Jack said tersely.

"Have you talked to Donovan?"

"No."

"Do you plan on it?"

"I don't know."

"Well, looks like you've got some stuff to figure out."

No s.h.i.+t, Jack thought.

"And while you're at it, try not to forget that Cooper has his black belt. I'd hate to see that pretty face of yours ruined."

Jack sped into the night, his anger barely in check and his thoughts all over the place. He had no idea if he was going to accomplish anything, but it didn't matter. He had to do something, because even the thought of doing something was better than sitting in his beach house thinking about Donovan.

Because Donovan was complicated and messy and mysterious and aggravating. And as hard as that was, he loved her. He f.u.c.king loved her. But then hadn't he always?

The problem was that he didn't know what to do about it. The pain of her betrayal was still too raw and though he knew he'd find his way back to her, he didn't know how much time he needed to get his head straight.

He loved her. That was a given. This situation was going to take some time. Another given.

He just hoped she was willing to give him the time he needed.

Jack landed in Maine at close to midnight. He was dead tired and suffering from a severe lack of focus. He punched the address Maverick had given him into the GPS of his rental, and as he pulled out of the airport, he had to ask himself, was he going crazy?

"Let's hope not," he muttered.

Jonathan Grimes, his new campaign manager, had called him several times on the flight, and he knew that his political campaign was intact. His publicist had also made a statement, basically saying 'no comment', and for now the storm was at bay.

He needed to make sure it never reached land.

He drove for nearly an hour, out along the coast, and when he finally found the address he was looking for, Jack pulled into the long driveway, blinking away his fatigue. When was the last time he'd slept?

The driveway was nothing more than gravel littered with potholes. After the fourth time his front tire banged hard, he switched on his high beams. They lit up tall gra.s.s along each side that blew shadows across his winds.h.i.+eld. Big drops of rain started to fall, and Jack peered into the distance, spotting a light among the gloom.

He pa.s.sed a barn on the right-one that had seen better days-and a large house rose out of the darkness, illuminated by his car and nothing else.

Jack parked alongside a s.h.i.+ny silver Land Rover and cut the engine. This wasn't at all what he'd expected to find. Cooper wasn't exactly the rundown farm type.

He scrubbed at his eyes and slid out of his rental, long strides taking him up steps that were on the rickety side and a porch that was leaning a little too much to the right. The doork.n.o.b turned, and he didn't bother knocking. He walked inside and closed it behind him.

The place was in darkness, but the moon allowed him to see enough to move around without b.u.mping into anything. He'd seen a light from the road, and because the driveway had twisted and turned, he was thinking the light had come from the back of the house.

Jack spotted a hallway to his left and made his way toward it, ears picking up when he heard music on low and a man's voice. Cooper. The hallway opened up into a large room, one that was dimly lit, and Jack spied Cooper sitting at a table and working at a computer. His back was to Jack, but his cousin was s.h.i.+rtless, humming along to some old rock from the 70's.

"Cooper."