Authors: Delia Delaney
There was a light knock on the door and it scared me. Jared opened it and stuck his head inside. He looke
d me over for a few seconds
and I knew I wasn’t good at hiding my emotions. He turned around and said, “Give me a minute,” to someone behind him, and then he entered the room and shut the door.
“Taryn? What’s going on?”
I stood and shook my head. “Nothing that we need to talk about right now. I’ll fill you in after the show, okay?”
He didn’t say anything at first,
but
I could
tell he was a little unsettled and
he said, “Can you just tell me what the police found out?”
I eyed him suspiciously and automatically asked, “Why do you need to know?”
I knew it was totally accusatory, and he looked surprised. “Uh, because I love you and I want to make sure
everything is okay.
Taryn, what i
s goi
ng on?” He stepped closer to me
and softly place
d
his hand against the side of my face. He lightly touched my skin with his thumb and said, “You’re really worrying me. What did the police say? Did they find something?”
I wanted to blurt out that Maggie could be his sister, but I knew that would be a stupid thing to do. He had a show to get through, and I at least had the sense (and the consideration) to hold off.
“She just said that
Rachel
was in a relationship with someone at Berkeley—not a professor, but a guest speaker at a lecture. She’s looking into it further.”
I deliberately studied his reaction—I guess I was waiting for some kind of sign that he knew what I was talking about—but he looked confused.
“That’s all she called about? That they still didn’t know anything?”
I shrugged. “She just wanted to know if it rang a bell.”
He didn’t say anything at first. Then he sighed and said, “Taryn, maybe we should hire someone private to do the investigation, like I suggested before. Maybe we’d get more answers that way. You know, someone that can dedicate their full attention to the case without other cases to distract them at the same time.”
“I think Detective Bronson is doing a great job,” I replied defensively. “She cares about the case and she cares about Maggie.”
“I know she does, but what if someone else could care just as much? What if the case was solved that much faster?”
I understood his point, but I also knew that he was misreading my frustration. He had no idea what information was just dealt to me.
“Jared, you need to get onstage, okay? We can talk about this later. Oh gosh, where’s Maggie?” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering that she’d been with
him
.
“She’s with Carrie,”
he
said as I flung the door open.
Carrie was sitting on the couch with Maggie, looking at some of the photos on her camera. Maggie smiled at me and pointed to the camera. “Look how weird they are,” she giggled.
I was too frazzled to care about what they were looking at, but to humor my niece, I glanced at the picture she thought was funny.
“Yep, guys can be pretty weird,” I said. “Are you ready to go?”
“Jared! Come on, man!” someone hollered from near the stage. “They are gonna tear the walls down out there!”
It just occurred to me that the entire arena was screaming for the band.
“I gotta go, ladies,”
Jared
smiled.
He kissed me
, but I
couldn’t
exactly put any meaning into my end of it. I still felt a little
troubled
about
the
phone call
from the police
.
“Okay,
Mags
,” he added, putting his fist out. She bumped hers into his and then they both made the sound of an explosion. He waved at us both and jo
gged toward the stage entrance to disappear
. A few seconds later I heard the crowd erupt
even more
, and then a loud force of music belted out from the stage.
Carrie left at the same time
with her camera equipment
, so I sat down on the couch with Maggie. She looked at me for a few seconds until she finally
asked
, “Aren’t we gonna watch the show?”
I didn’t know
what
I wanted to do at that point. Somehow I needed to
get to Washington the next day
and I seriously considered leaving that second. I could just pack our things from the bus and call a cab, but I knew that would be pretty immature of me. And I knew I didn’t want to do that to Jared. Despite the crazy mess I was in—or could possibly be in—I still loved and respected him. Deep down I knew that he was nothing like his dad. But the news of late
had really done a number on me
and the possibilities scared me. I didn’t know what kind of obstacles were in store for us.
I’d been thinking about his most recent song and had decided to finally express to him how I felt about it, but now I felt like I was shutting down again.
I did take Maggie out to watch the show because she wanted to. I
’d always
thought it was funny that she was so into watching Jared perform, and I originally
decided that she liked to be entertained that way with music. But as we sat there watching the concert from our VIP seats, I
started to wonder
if Maggie shared Jared’s interests because of different reasons.
Biological
reasons. She was picking up the piano pretty fast, and she showed an obvious interest in singing. Sometimes she and Jared would sing songs together that I didn’t even know. What if she really was his sister? What was that going to mean?
I hated the “what if” game. I played it with myself way too
often
.
When the show was over and we were back on the bus, Jared knew something was wrong. He showered and changed, and I heard him tell the guys not to bother him as we left Albuquerque behind.
He led me into the back room and said, “Time to talk to me, Taryn. I barely got through that show because I was worried about you, so please tell me what’s going on.” I worriedly glanced out of the room as he was shutting the door and he said, “Maggie’s fine, okay? If she needs us she’ll say so. Now tell me what the hell is going on. I know that phone call was more than you said it was, so just fill me in, okay?”
I didn’t want to but I began to cry. The tears came out
too easily
and Jared was alarmed.
He sat down next to me on the bed.
“
Taryn
… What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know,” I f
i
nally said.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I just…don’t know what it all means.”
He was silent for a while before he softly said, “Okay, t
hen just tell me what she told you. We’ll go from there.”
I looked at him reluctantly. I just didn’t know
how
to start.
“Taryn, please. You’re killing me. I’m worried about you. I’m…worried about
us
. Something happened. I can feel the difference, the way you are around me. What is it?”
Finally I
said
,
“The guy I mentioned at the seminar?”
He thought for a second. “Uh, the guest speaker at Berkeley?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“What about him?”
I paused for a few seconds and then said, “It was your dad.”
It was the same moment I had in the dressing room—the sounds on the other side of the door, but complete stillness
immediately surrounding me
. I looked at Jared and he was giving me a blank stare
, and then he stared at the floor with a
puzzled
look on his face.
“I’m, uh, coming up with a lot of scenarios right now,” he eventually said. “Could you fill me in a little better?”
I took a slow breath and said, “Your dad was giving a lecture at Berkeley six years ago. He and
Rachel
met up afterwards, and then saw each
other for a while after that. Jared, t
hey were in a relationship together.”
He looked at me, kind of like he didn’t believe it or
was
at least trying to wrap his
mind around it. “Six years ago,
” he repeated, and I knew he
’d finally caught on
.
“It’s a long story, but apparently
Rachel
blackmailed your dad into getting the job at Miller and Harris, even telling him that Maggie was his. Then
she said she wasn’t, and then James Graham’s family was told
he
wasn’t the father and…” I groaned out loud. “I don’t know what to believe, Jared. I mean… My sister really weaved a tangled web. I don’t know where all of this is going to lead…”
“But Maggie’s paternity…”
“I don’t know. The police don’t know. Detective Bronson wanted me to bring Maggie back to Washington. They’re…going to run a paternity test against your dad,” I finished quietly.
“Oh my God,” he whispered. He stood up so quickly I thought he was going to hit his head on the ceiling, but tha
nkfully he was just an inch
shy. He leaned against the doorway for a
moment
, like he was going to be sick at first, but then he cracked the door open just slightly to look at Maggie for a few seconds. I could see that she was playing Go Fish with
Jack
at the table, and even though
Jack
glanced up and looked at Jared, Maggie continued to play, and Jared shut the door.
“Did m
y dad lie
about
it
?” he finally said
.
“His past with
Rachel
? I’m sure the police questioned him about every little thing at the very beginning. He kept it a secret? He lied to the police?”
“Did you know about Rachel
?” I asked.
“What? No,” he scoffed. “I’m just
…
talking out loud. If this
just
came out, that means he covered it up at the beginning of the investigation. You said they were looking into anyone that
Rachel
could have been seeing,
past and present,
and I’m sure they questi
oned everyone she worked with—m
y dad included.”
“Yes, that’s as much as I know.”
He studied me for a few seconds and said, “I didn’t know anything about it, Taryn.” He sounded angry, and it surprised me.
“I-I didn’t say you did,” I stammered.
“You’re looking at me like I knew about it or…” He didn’t finish the sentence and he just sat on the bed
again
. I had no idea what was going through his mind until he said, “You’re afraid it has something to do with her death, don’t you? You think my dad had something to do with it and—”
“Jared, I don’t know anything, okay? That’s the bottom line! I know
nothing
! I don’t know what it
means,
I don’t know where this is headed… I don’t know what to
say
.
Okay?”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, and he leaned
onto his knees. “This is just…” He was quiet for a long time
a
s he held his head in his hands
.
“That’s why I couldn’t get into it with you earlier. There are too many questions. I was just…afraid. I don’t know where this puts us.”
“I don’t want it to change anything, Taryn,” he mumbled into his hands. “Please don’t let it change anything.” He finally looked at me and he had tears in his eyes. “I don’t care what mistakes other people have made, but I do know that I love you, and I love Maggie. Nothing else should matter, okay? I don’t want to lose you because of other people’s choices. That’s not fair.”
I did agree with him, and I nodded my head. I wasn’t sure how I felt about my sister’s relationship with his dad, and as for Maggie’s paternity… I’d have to take that as it came.
“So what’s the plan for now?” Jared asked
with a sigh
. “You need to get to Washington?”
“Yes.
The sooner the better.”
He nodded his understanding. “We’ll catch a flight in Phoenix then,” he said, standing up. “We’ll be there by morning.”
“What? We?”
“You don’t have to have me around if you don’t want, but I have some things to discuss with my dad.
Uh
,
I’ll be right back,” he added. “Let me tell
Joey
we need an airport.”
I watched him walk through the bus to the front, and
he
stopped at the table where Maggie was playing cards.