Part 12 (2/2)

The doorbell rang, both startling her and filling her with hope. Maybe Madeline had decided to come back and talk things over.

She made her way to the door and glanced through the peephole. In an instant, hope turned to dread.

”Jacquelyn, hi,” Jo said, opening the door.

How the h.e.l.l do all these people know where I live? she wanted to scream. Never before had she had to worry about someone from work popping in randomly.

Jacquelyn walked in, without having been invited. Rude, but expected, Jo thought.

Jo glanced into the kitchen, then hurried to turn off the stove. ”I'm making dinner. Do you want to join me?” she asked, hoping Jacquelyn would have the good sense to politely decline.

”That would be lovely. There's just a couple of things I would like to discuss with you, so I thought I would drop by tonight. We can work through them and then I'll be out of your hair tomorrow.”

The smile on Jacquelyn's face was forced, but Jo knew hers was as well.

”Sounds good. Let me finish up really quickly,” she replied.

As she set the food on the table, Jo glanced around the kitchen. Thankfully, there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for a few everyday items that Madeline had left behind in her abrupt exit.

To her credit, if Jacquelyn noticed anything out of the ordinary, she covered it well. They settled into a somewhat normal pattern, as they ate.

Jacquelyn swallowed. ”This is wonderful.”

Jo offered her a smile. ”So what did you want to talk about tonight?”

She did not want Jacquelyn in her apartment any longer than necessary, so she figured she might as well get the ball rolling.

”We need to formulate a plan of response,” Jacquelyn said, taking a sip of wine. ”Basically, the press won't wait forever. They've been calling nonstop, and given the election next year, we can't just disappear.”

Jo agreed, but she did not want to push Madeline too far, too fast. Besides, at this point, she didn't even know where Madeline was.

”Why are you asking me?” Jo asked.

”Because you're the one she let in, I suppose. You seem to know what is going on with her, where she is and maybe what she wants me to tell everyone.”

Jo resisted the urge to scream and hoped that her face was masked. ”Sorry. I don't know. As you can see, she's not here anymore,” Jo said, gesturing around the small apartment.

Jacquelyn's brow furrowed. ”Did the two of you have a falling out?”

Jo took a sip of wine. G.o.d, why is this suddenly such a popular topic of discussion? First Gabe, now Jacquelyn.

”No, it was always a temporary thing, just until she got her feet under her, which didn't take long, thank goodness,” Jo replied with a forced smile. ”As you can see, this is a small place.”

”Right,” Jacquelyn said, obviously not buying the excuse. ”How did you make it work for as long as you did?”

”It was a day and a half, not an eternity, though it may have felt like it to Madeline. My couch isn't the world's most comfortable.” Jo was getting sick of this. ”She needed someone, and I was there for her. End of story. Now, if you want me to help formulate strategy, I'd be more than happy to do so-but I'm tired of being interrogated.”

Jacquelyn straightened in her chair, looking taken aback.

Jo softened her tone. ”I'm sorry. It's just I've heard them all before, and I'm tired of being verbally a.s.saulted and targeted with a million rapid-fire questions-all because I was acting with human decency and helping out someone in need. ”

Jacquelyn's eyes narrowed, but she let it go. ”Fair enough. Now, what do you think I should tell the press?”

”Well,” Jo began, ”I think you need to talk to Ian and Madeline directly on that one.”

”I've already talked to Ian. We have his statement that we can give once Madeline approves it, but the people don't want to hear from him. They want her words.”

”I don't think we can overstep our boundaries on this one.”

”I'm not going to,” Jacquelyn said, a wicked twinkle in her eye. ”She still has to approve his statement, and it's my job to get her to approve what's said publicly. But I also want to know what she has to say. Let's speakerphone her in right now and get her input.”

Jo's heartbeat quickened, and she hoped that Jacquelyn couldn't tell how agitated the suggestion made her. She didn't want to step on Ian's toes, and she certainly didn't want to hear Madeline's voice right here, right now, with an audience. She tried to keep her breathing even, reminding herself that she had to work with Jacquelyn, and this was about work.

Jacquelyn placed her cell on the kitchen table and started tapping the b.u.t.tons to call Madeline. Jo wanted to protest but resisted. The questions she wanted to ask, of course, were ones she couldn't ask with Jacquelyn in the room-and ones Madeline likely would not answer at this point anyway.

”h.e.l.lo? This is Madeline.” The voice she'd been longing to hear came in over the speaker on the phone, breaking through the jumbled thoughts in Jo's head.

”Hi, Mayor Stratton. It's Jacquelyn and Jo. We wanted to talk to you about media strategies. Do you have time to talk?”

The mayor cleared her throat. ”Sure.”

Was Madeline drinking again? Jo thought she detected a slight slur to her words. Maybe she was just tired. She shot a glance at Jacquelyn. It was good to know Madeline was having a difficult time tonight too. As much as she wished Madeline was doing well, her breakdown might mean that she cared, even a little bit. Jo considered the thought, and her guard went up. If Madeline had been drinking and wasn't in full control of what she said, it could be dangerous. Jo would have to make sure Jacquelyn didn't get wind of what had happened between them.

She wanted to invite her back over, wanted to tell her that she was sorry. But none of that was appropriate-and she knew it. Madeline was her boss, and anything romantic between them would be dishonorable, not to mention grounds for her dismissal, Madeline's impeachment or both. She had to get a grip.

She heard Jacquelyn ask Madeline what she wanted to say to the press.

”Well, I'm sure I can guess most of them,” Madeline said. ”But can you give me an example of the questions you've been getting?”

”Sure,” Jacquelyn said. ”Did you know about John's affair before the news broke? Do you plan to file for divorce? Do you know the woman he was caught with?”

”Okay, I can answer these,” Madeline said, although her pain was evident in her voice. ”No, I didn't know John was cheating and with whom. I plan to file for divorce.”

The words sounded rehea.r.s.ed and rolled off the tongue too easily, obviously a practiced lie-at least in part. There was more to that story, Jo was sure.

”Okay,” Jacquelyn answered. ”There are a few more things.”

She turned to Jo. ”Did you have anything to add, Jo, before we move on?”

Jo stiffened. She had a million things she'd like to say, but only one came out. ”We would like to give you all of the time in the world to deal with this, but the media has been persistent. I think that at some point in the near future we should hold a press conference.”

Madeline didn't speak.

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