HE NERVOUSLY PACED the room. It was midnight and he’d called her six times. Each time it had gone directly to voicemail. Nate had called him earlier in the day to tell him what had happened and at the time, Jake laughed at Madi’s feistiness and investigative skills. Even Nate had said she would make an amazing PI. Jake wasn’t as angry at Nate for getting caught as he should have been. He should have insisted on someone with more experience versus someone who would fit in on a college campus. Now, as he dialed her number a seventh time and it went to voicemail, the whole thing seemed a lot worse than he thought. Jake dug his hand through his hair as he scrolled through his contact list. He sighed deeply with dread before he dialed the number. What other choice did he have?
“What’s up, fine piece of ass?”
“Hi, Kendra. Sorry to call you so late. Have you spoken with Madi today?”
“Do you want to know if I’ve spoken to her or if she told me you were having her followed?”
Jake’s hand curved into his thick hair. “Both.”
“Then yes,” Kendra said matter-of-factly.
“How pissed is she at me?”
“On a scale of one to ten, ten being fuming and seriously angry, I would say she’s a fifty.”
“Shit. I need to talk to her to explain. I only had her followed to make sure she was safe.”
“That’s not what she thinks.”
“What do you mean?” Jake felt his heart lurch with concern.
“I really shouldn’t say. It’s none of my business.”
“Come on, Ken. You can’t say something like that and drop it. I need to know what’s going on in her head so I can figure out how to fix this.”
Jake could picture the scowl on Kendra’s face as her words came out in an angry fury. “If you hurt her, I will cut your balls off and stick them up your ass.”
“Okay…” He twitched his head. He hadn’t spoken to Kendra since Madi’s party and had forgotten just how blunt she could be. “I don’twantto hurt her. What does she think this is about?”
“If you tell her I told you, I will never speak to you again and I’ll start a ‘Jake Morgan Fucking Sucks’ page where I will post daily.”
“I won’t tell her,” he reassured. He was getting irritated and angry. He didn’t like games. He was too old for this shit.
Kendra sighed. “At first she thought something bad was happening. She thought maybe something had happened to you or maybe you were concerned for her safety. She told me you’d been acting weird and worrying about her needlessly. Then she said you told her that no matter what happened you would always love her.”
Jake poured himself a shot of whiskey and sat down, preparing for what he was afraid was coming next.
“Then she went to the Internet and saw all the reports about you and Allison. She put it together, and basically, she thinks you’re having a little of both of them.”
“That’s complete and total bullshit.”
“You know, I really don’t blame her. You’re having her followed? Why? You know they say that cheaters always worry their partners are cheating. Doyounot trusther?”
“That’s not what this is about. I tell her every day how much I love her.”
“You have her followed and dismiss her concerns about being followed? Then you tell her to be careful? Are you playing games with her, Jake? Because I’ll fucking kill you.”
“I swear to you that I have not, nor will I ever, cheat on her. I know she deserves an explanation, but I can’t do that if she won’t answer my calls.”
Kendra sighed. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to tell her you called me and that’s it. I’ll tell her you’re worried and you want to explain. So help me, you’d better not be lying to me.”
“I love her desperately. I promise you, it’s true.”
“Alright, give me ten minutes and call her again.”
“Thanks, Ken. I owe you.”
“Yeah, you do.”
