I almost scoffed out loud.Welcome to the club.As long as I'd known Jack, he'd been unavailable when it came to sharing personal details about his life.
Wasthatthe reason?
If so, I guess I could see why. Still, I couldn't help but take it at least a little personally that he'd been so tight-lipped withme, the person he claimed to love.
And besides, I could keep a secret.
In spite of what Jack might think, I was no blabber. Even now, I hadn't said a single word about his strange behavior on the book tour – or the fact I'd seen those photos.
But now I was more curious than ever.
This afternoon, Anna and I were scheduled to tour yet another castle. Irresponsible or not, I couldn't see myself doing it. All I wanted to do was hunker down with my computer and read all about Jack.
In the end, I begged my sister to go without me and write up whatever she saw.Was I shirking?Maybe. But the truth was, I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, and I knew full well that I'd be crappy company, anyway.
Our Romanian research trip was scheduled to last for three weeks total. Two of those weeks were already gone, which meant that in just one week, I'd be seeing Jack again.
In theory, anyway.
Still, I couldn’t resist trying to call him, if for no other reason than to see how he was doing with all of the publicity. But when I did, the call went straight to voicemail.
As usual.
I shouldn't have been surprised.
Apparently, that whole "no comment" thing applied to me, too.
Go figure.
I spent the whole afternoon in the hotel suite, desperately searching for all the news I could find, until I could probably write a giant news story on my own – not that I ever would.
And besides, I was too emotionally exhausted to write anything.
Throughout the day, my thoughts and emotions had been bouncing around like crazy – going from self-righteous anger to an odd kind of gratitude.And why gratitude?It was because I'd come up with a new theory, and I was pretty sure I was right.
After all, it wasn't just news about Jack that I'd been researching. It was news about all those cities, where corrupt people were being outed left and right.
If Jack was somehow involved – and I was pretty sure hewas– that meant he'd been treading on some very dangerous ground over the past few months.
And yet, he'd somehow managed to keep me out of it.
That couldn’t be an accident.
Finally at dinner time, I ventured down to the hotel lobby intending to dash out for a quick bite, only to stop in surprise at the sight of a familiar figure near the front desk.
It wasn't Jack.
It was Imogen, who sounded just as frustrated asIfelt.
Chapter 72
Becka
The lobby was bustling with people coming and going. And yet, Imogen was talking so loudly that I noticed her the moment I got off the elevator.
She was standing near the front desk, hassling the concierge. At the sight of her, my steps faltered, and I stopped to stare. Her hair was coiled tightly atop her head, and she was wearing a long slinky dress and lots of jewelry.
Her face was flushed, and her stance was unsteady, as if she'd had way too much to drink or had just returned from a very long boat ride.