Conservative Affairs Part 18

"Well, she dialed the wrong number. Aside from that, she has some nerve to think she can demand that I take her call." Madeline's voice was nearly hysterical. "She can't make that call to the media." After a brief pause, her voice hit a new octave. "If you want to help so d.a.m.n badly, give me her number. I'll arrange to meet with her tonight."

Jo watched as Madeline fished a pen out of her purse and wrote something on the palm of her hand.

"Thanks," she said before hanging up the phone.

Jo watched in astonishment as Madeline dialed the number she had just written down. She felt another pang of jealousy as she saw Madeline's eyes brighten at the sound of the voice on the other line.

"Natalie." She spoke the word like a caress, even though the woman had ripped her heart out. Jo felt her heart ache too and wished that she could hear the other end of the conversation.

"No, you didn't speak with me...That was...someone else," Madeline said.

Someone else...Jo did not expect a t.i.tle-or even an acknowledgment-but being referred to as just "someone else"? The words were like a dagger through her heart.

"Sure, we can meet to talk about all of this," Madeline said, agreeing to whatever Natalie had proposed. "Just please don't go to the media."

There was a moment of silence. "Okay, thank you. I appreciate that."

"All right. I'll meet you tonight."

"Seven sounds great."

With each word that came out of Madeline's mouth, Jo felt more and more like she might vomit. Madeline was really going to meet this woman tonight, was going to spend time with her.

"Yes. I agree. Someplace private would be best. Let's meet at my hotel."

As Madeline rattled off the address, Jo turned and grabbed her things. She had come to Madeline's hotel after leaving the office, but she wasn't going to stick around for this. She wanted out of the tangled mess she had gotten herself into, and she wanted out now.

"Jo, wait," Madeline said, stepping in between her and the door. "We need to talk about this."

Jo's anger bubbled up inside her and erupted. "What do we need to talk about? The fact that you're giddy about meeting up with your ex? The fact that you have a smile on your face even though that b.i.t.c.h slept with your husband and ripped your heart to shreds?"

The words were intended to sting and they did. From where she stood, Jo could see they had affected Madeline deeply.

"Not only that, but have you thought about what it could do to you-to everyone involved-if she goes to the press?" More of Jo's anger spilled forth with each word. "You said you didn't know her, and now she's going to spill everything to the media."

"First off, don't try to lecture me on what I should have said to the press. Technically, I think my statement said that I didn't know that John was cheating and with whom, not that I didn't know her. Hair-splitting, I know, but I did the best I could under the circ.u.mstances. Also, there's no reason for you to be jealous of her."

"I'm not," Jo lied, hating the fact that she was, indeed, jealous. "But the woman knowingly slept with your husband, disrupting your work as mayor, threatening your reelection and putting you through personal h.e.l.l. Why would you want to have anything to do with her? I don't trust her. This is a bad idea."

"What else do you want me to do? If she goes to the press, it's going to blow everything wide open, like you said. It'll start with the press delving into my past, but trust me, it'll end with them uncovering the truth about me and you. Are you ready for that? For what your family will say? What it will do to your reputation, your career? I'm inviting her over in hopes of smoothing things out so we can go on with our lives."

Jo wasn't sure Madeline's logic added up. She already had quit her job, after all, and sooner or later, she was going to have to come out to her family and friends. She'd be deprived of her privacy for a while, sure, but at least she'd be able to live a life without lies.

When she tried to put that into words, though, what came out instead was, "What lives are those?"

"Our lives..." Madeline trailed off, before adding, "together. I want us to have a life together, Jo."

The words were what Jo had wanted, but they still shook her to the core. Not only had no one ever said those words to her, but she had never before wanted so desperately to hear them.

Speechless, she leaned down and kissed Madeline. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, pulling away.

"I'd like for you to stay, if you're willing," Madeline said gently. "Please, stay here with me until she leaves. After that we can go back to your place and get some sleep."

"Let me think about it," Jo said, glancing at her watch, noting that she had several hours to figure things out. "I think I'll take Jaws for a walk and do some thinking. I'll either be back in a bit, or I'll give you a call and let you know I'm not coming. It's not a good idea for her to know about me, and I need some time to sort through my thoughts on how to handle things if all of this becomes public."

Jo might have played it cool, but inside she was dying. Of course she wanted to stay and hear what this little tramp had to say. But more than anything, she wanted to stay to make sure nothing happened between Madeline and Natalie. She couldn't explain it, but she felt the sudden need to be a.s.sured that she had Madeline's full loyalty and fidelity.

And she had a pretty d.a.m.n good idea of what was possible when an old flame reappeared.

Jacquelyn waited by the phone. Surely, Jo would have the common decency to answer her last text or at least give her a call. She needed answers, and she needed them soon.

Her hands shook as she replayed the conversations that had occurred in the course of her investigating. In the heat of the moment, her curiosity had won out over her professionalism. She feared she might have said too much or been indiscreet. With luck, Ian would never find out. She certainly wasn't going to call him up and admit she might have screwed up. In any case, there was nothing to report-all of her questioning had been fruitless.

Whatever was happening was going to hit the press in about fifteen minutes if John was correct in his estimate. She paced back and forth in her living room, flipping through the channels on her TV and repeatedly refreshing her Google news search to check for breaking headlines.

At the ten-minute mark, she decided that she could not wait another minute. She picked up the phone, found John's number in the list of recent calls and dialed it.

"h.e.l.lo," he answered.

"John, it's Jacquelyn. I haven't heard back from Madeline, and I need to know what's going on. Have things been sorted out?"

"You mean, you haven't heard any of what's happening?" John's voice was amused.

"No, John, I haven't, and now is not the time for games. I'm the press liaison, so if s.h.i.t is going to hit the fan, I need to be informed ahead of time."

Jacquelyn was beginning to panic. She had talked a big game about being ready to leave, but right now, the truth was that she didn't have anywhere else to go. There was no job waiting for her somewhere else. If this ship went down, she was going to go down with it.

"Well," John said cautiously, but with obvious enjoyment. "Maybe you should ask the pastor's daughter, the pretty brunette who came by the house with Maddie to pick up her things. She might know a thing or two about my Maddie's secrets."

"Jo?" Jacquelyn asked.

"Yeah, they looked pretty cozy," he said, and she heard the gurgle of liquid courage refilling his gla.s.s. "I'd say by now she probably knows as many of Madeline's secrets as anyone."

"What are you talking about?" Jacquelyn demanded.

"I'm just saying that things-people, for that matter-aren't exactly as they appear to be a lot of times. Ask Jo. She'll know what I'm talking about."

"I don't have time to ask Jo," Jacquelyn said. The truth was that she didn't want to ask her, but she didn't tell him that.

"Make time, Jacquelyn."

"What exactly should I ask her?"

John laughed. "Why don't you just start by asking her who else my wife has been f.u.c.king these days? You know I never was quite Madeline's type. Maybe she's found a pretty little thing with a nice rack and long hair to take my place."

Jacquelyn's phone dropped to the floor, effectively ending the call. Could it be? Or was John trying to retain what little dignity he had by suggesting he was not the only one in the wrong? She had had her suspicions about Jo, but Madeline? None of this made sense. Madeline didn't seem the type. How did Natalie fit into the picture? What did she know?

True or not, if this. .h.i.t the press, there was no statement to write. Madeline's career as a Republican elected official was over. It was as simple as that.

Picking her phone up from the floor, Jacquelyn again called Jo. Again, there was no answer; it just rolled over to voice mail. Having no other choice, she sent an email to Ian and Gabe.

We have an emergency, need senior staff meeting NOW. Meet in Ian's office in 30 minutes. THIS IS URGENT!

Gabe replied almost immediately.

Still at the office. I'll be there. What about you, Ian?

A few minutes later, Jacquelyn was dressed and ready to head out the door. Ian hadn't responded yet, but this needed to be dealt with immediately. Even if he couldn't get there, she and Gabe could hash out some of the details. Per office protocol, she would wait a few more minutes before giving him an after-hours phone call.

She would fill in Jo and Madeline later-if that was what they all decided. As it was, she didn't want to see either of them. They had made this mess, were forcing everyone else to scramble around at lightning speed to clean it up while continuing to withhold details.

Her BlackBerry beeped with a message from Ian. I went to grab dinner, but I'll be back in a few. Meet you both there.

Grabbing her briefcase, she headed to the office. Gabe greeted her at the door.

"What's going on? Is everything okay? What is all of this about?" He shot the questions at her, one after the other, like machine gun fire.

She held up her hands to slow him down. "It's about Jo and Madeline and a phone call I got from John Stratton."

Ian came through the doors then, and Jacquelyn stopped speaking. He took one look at her face and suggested they go to the conference room. The staff had all gone home, but there was less chance they'd be overheard there by a custodian or someone coming back for something they'd forgotten than if they met in his office.

Suddenly, Jacquelyn questioned her judgment in calling them. She didn't want to reveal what she had heard, and even if she did, she wasn't sure she would be able to find the right words. When they got to the room, she seated herself and let out a deep breath.

"Okay, Jacquelyn," Ian said. "What's going on?" He and Gabe were sitting straight up in their chairs, their eyes glued on her.

"That's the thing," Jacquelyn began, "I don't really know. I got a strange call this afternoon from John Stratton. He warned me that if I didn't get a message to Madeline that the woman he had been sleeping with-Natalie-had something she was going to tell the press about Madeline."

Their eyes widened, and Ian held up his hand to stop her. "I thought Madeline didn't know Natalie Longworth. That's what she told us when her picture was splashed all over the press. Is something else going on there? Or was she threatening to go to the press with something new about her affair with John?"

"I wasn't sure at first, but I wanted to avoid a press firestorm. So I called Madeline. I asked her if she knew what this was about. She said she did and she'd take care of it. She must have gotten it all straightened out, because nothing has. .h.i.t the news yet. When I followed up with John, though, he said something that I think we need to figure out how to deal with."

Jacquelyn's hands were shaking, so she set them in her lap. She was about to throw her colleagues a curveball, and she wasn't sure how it would go over. Their jobs would hang in the balance too.

"What did he say?" Gabe pressed.

"Neither of you are going to like this answer," Jacquelyn warned.

"It doesn't matter," Ian said, now impatient. "Spit it out."

"I called him to ask what issue Natalie was taking to the press, and he said I should ask Jo, the 'pretty brunette' who had gone to the house with Madeline to pick up her things."

"We know that. Jo hasn't been back, has she? Hasn't mentioned anything about having some kind of interaction with John while she was there, has she?" Gabe asked, looking around the table for answers.

"No," Jacquelyn answered. "It wasn't that. He said I should ask Jo whether or not Madeline has been...um, 'sleeping' with anyone else. Apparently, for some reason he believes that she's sleeping with-or...um...has slept with women. I'm guessing Natalie is privy to that information, somehow, and so is Jo. He also insinuated that she and Jo seemed 'cozy' and that by now Jo probably knew all Madeline's secrets. I don't know what's going on, but we need to find out, so we don't get a bomb dropped on us by the nightly news."

Gabe and Ian stared at her, completely perplexed.

"Are you saying Madeline is a lesbian?" Gabe asked.

Ian shrugged, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Is Jo?" Gabe asked, still trying to make sense of it all.

Ian shrugged. "I never would have guessed," he said in astonishment.

Gabe glared at Jacquelyn, demanding an answer.

"I don't know," she finally answered. "But these are some pretty heavy accusations, and John seemed convinced that Madeline was. And I've had my suspicions about Jo. Either way, we've got to figure out how to move forward."

"Do you think that's why she stayed at Jo's place?" Gabe asked, his eyes wider than Jacquelyn had ever seen them. "Are they sleeping together?"

Jacquelyn didn't want to add fuel to the fire. But in light of everything they couldn't afford to give them the benefit of the doubt right now.

"It would make sense, if it's all true," she said.

"If this gets out, it's the end-true or not," Ian said. "Madeline was elected on the basis of being a social and fiscal conservative. She's actively stood against gay marriage and made numerous speeches on traditional family values. If there is even any speculation about her s.e.xuality, she is ruined. Aside from that, while I'd like to steer clear of the gossip mill, if she's accused of sleeping with a staff member, there's no coming back from that."

Ian wasn't usually one to jump to worst-case scenarios, and his doing so made Jacquelyn's heart race. He was voicing her deepest fears.

Ian put his head in his hands, and when he looked back up at them, his face was ashen. "I was going to tell you this at the staff meeting tomorrow, but Jo resigned this morning. It's all making sense now. If all this is true, she could have been doing that to protect Madeline."

Gabe looked as if he had bit into something rotten and Jacquelyn felt like she had as well. As they sat around the conference room, discussing options, Jacquelyn refreshed the news pages on her phone, hoping the news wouldn't drop.

Ian was already on his phone, dialing both Jo's and Madeline's numbers repeatedly. After the fifth try to each, he left voice mails and shook his head.

"They could at least have the decency to answer their d.a.m.n phones."

Determined to get a jump on things, he decided that a call to the media from the mayor's chief of staff might yield more results than one from Jacquelyn. As quickly as possible, he placed calls to his contacts at the major media outlets in Oklahoma City, requesting that they call him before they ran anything on his boss so they'd have the opportunity to respond.

When he finally set his phone down, he let out a long sigh.

"They all said that they haven't heard anything, but gave me their word they'd alert me if they did so we could issue a statement. It roused their curiosity, but I don't think we had much choice. Didn't stop the d.a.m.n vultures from prying for information, of course."

Jacquelyn texted Isaac again, but got no answer. It was a busy hour of the workday for him, she knew, but she wished he could at least reply and set her mind at ease.

"I guess if n.o.body's heard anything yet, John and his mistress are holding off," Jacquelyn said, though she couldn't stop the churning in her stomach.

Around the table, they fell silent for a while, all still weathering the shock. Finally, Ian slapped his legal pad down on the desk and began drawing out a timeline. Per his direction, they decided that if something got leaked-which they would desperately try to avoid-there was little they could do at this point. It was impossible to make plans when they didn't know what was going on. If any media queries came to them, they should forward them to him. With luck, they'd find out more tomorrow and be able to put together an action plan.

At the end of the meeting, Ian stood and hugged Jacquelyn. "We'll figure it out," he told her. He shook Gabe's hand. "Either way, know that both of you can expect a solid recommendation from me if this heads south."

He walked out, leaving Gabe and Jacquelyn alone.

"Do you really think she's a lesbian?" Gabe asked, looking like a child who'd had his favorite toy ripped from his hands.

"Gabe, is that all you've been able to focus on tonight? Forget about Jo, okay? Even if she isn't a lesbian, she isn't interested in you. And if she is, well, isn't it rea.s.suring to know that isn't your fault?"