Lawful Wife
Page 49
Holly lifted her eyebrows.
“Is Sabrina pregnant?”
For a second not a sound could be heard in the kitchen. His mother was holding her breath, and Holly seemed to contemplate her answer.
“Holly!” he urged her. “Jay saw you and Sabrina at the OBGYN’s office the other day.”
Holly blinked. “The doctor confirmed it. She’s seven weeks pregnant.”
His heart started to hammer and seemed to overshadow even his mother’s loud gasp. “Does she want my baby?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course she wants your baby!”
“Why didn’t she tell me then?”
“She wanted to tell you on your wedding night.”
Though the way things stood now, there wouldn’t be a wedding night. “I have to find her. Now.”
“Wait!” Holly stopped him.
Daniel stared at her, wondering what else there was to say.
“You won’t be able to change her mind. Nothing has changed. The situation is still the same: the scandal is causing your business to suffer. Sabrina won’t simply take your word for it that you don’t care about that. You’ve already tried that. You have to get the story retracted before Sabrina will talk to you.”
“Damn it, Holly, we already tried that. Neither talking to the newspaper reporter nor threatening Audrey has helped. I called my attorney and he’s already preparing everything to sue the newspaper, but a lawsuit is a drawn-out process. They won’t retract the story in the next few days. I’ve tried everything.”
“Not everything,” Holly said. “I wanted to tell you before you left for brunch. I have news.”
“What news?”
“I’ll show you on my computer.” She motioned him to follow her out of the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” his mother called after them.
Holly turned briefly. “Trust us, we’ll get Sabrina back, but the fewer people know about this the better.”
Daniel followed her up to her room, his pulse racing all the while. He could only hope that whatever Holly had wasn’t just news, but good news.
Holly walked to her computer and booted it up. “Remember that we talked about trying to convince the paper that it was all a case of mistaken identity?”
“Yes, but we already ruled it out because it would expose you.”
“Oh, I’m not talking about myself.” She navigated to a website, then clicked on a link and scrolled farther down until a picture appeared on the screen.
A photo of Sabrina with a slightly different hairstyle greeted him. It had to have been taken before he’d met her, since her hair was longer and wavier in the picture.
He raised an eyebrow. “How is an old photo of Sabrina good news? And what is it doing on a website?”
Holly grinned. “Guess she just passed the test.”
“What test?” Daniel’s forehead furrowed.
“If you can’t tell that this isn’t Sabrina, then nobody else can either.”
He pointed to the picture, looking at it more closely now. “This is not Sabrina?”
“No.”
Daniel blew out a breath. He suddenly knew exactly what Holly was trying to do. “Oh my god!” He hugged her, lifting her off her feet and making a full circle before he set her down again.
“Okay, okay. We’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve got work to do. I’ve found out that she lives in Colorado. There’s a phone number and an email address.”
“How can I help?” he asked eagerly.
“We need to hire her to come to New York, go to the newspaper office and tell them she’s the escort the columnist’s source is referring to. The columnist will look at her, then at Sabrina’s picture and realize she’s practically her twin. We’ll have to pay her of course.”
“I don’t care what it costs.”
“Do you know anybody who’s got a jet to fly her from Colorado to New York? I’m afraid if we book her on a commercial airline, we’ll be losing time.”
Daniel nodded instantly. “I’ll talk to Zach. His company has a couple of jets. Maybe one of them is out west. If not, he’ll know somebody else whom we can borrow a plane from.”
Holly made a note on a small notepad next to her computer. “Good.” She tapped with her pen on the paper, clearly contemplating something. “That leaves us with only one problem.”
“What problem? It looks clear to me.” He pointed to the screen where the picture of the woman who looked like Sabrina still stared at him. “This woman will show the reporter her ID and prove that she’s not Sabrina. The reporter will realize that it was a case of mistaken identity and issue an apology.”
“Is Sabrina pregnant?”
For a second not a sound could be heard in the kitchen. His mother was holding her breath, and Holly seemed to contemplate her answer.
“Holly!” he urged her. “Jay saw you and Sabrina at the OBGYN’s office the other day.”
Holly blinked. “The doctor confirmed it. She’s seven weeks pregnant.”
His heart started to hammer and seemed to overshadow even his mother’s loud gasp. “Does she want my baby?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course she wants your baby!”
“Why didn’t she tell me then?”
“She wanted to tell you on your wedding night.”
Though the way things stood now, there wouldn’t be a wedding night. “I have to find her. Now.”
“Wait!” Holly stopped him.
Daniel stared at her, wondering what else there was to say.
“You won’t be able to change her mind. Nothing has changed. The situation is still the same: the scandal is causing your business to suffer. Sabrina won’t simply take your word for it that you don’t care about that. You’ve already tried that. You have to get the story retracted before Sabrina will talk to you.”
“Damn it, Holly, we already tried that. Neither talking to the newspaper reporter nor threatening Audrey has helped. I called my attorney and he’s already preparing everything to sue the newspaper, but a lawsuit is a drawn-out process. They won’t retract the story in the next few days. I’ve tried everything.”
“Not everything,” Holly said. “I wanted to tell you before you left for brunch. I have news.”
“What news?”
“I’ll show you on my computer.” She motioned him to follow her out of the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” his mother called after them.
Holly turned briefly. “Trust us, we’ll get Sabrina back, but the fewer people know about this the better.”
Daniel followed her up to her room, his pulse racing all the while. He could only hope that whatever Holly had wasn’t just news, but good news.
Holly walked to her computer and booted it up. “Remember that we talked about trying to convince the paper that it was all a case of mistaken identity?”
“Yes, but we already ruled it out because it would expose you.”
“Oh, I’m not talking about myself.” She navigated to a website, then clicked on a link and scrolled farther down until a picture appeared on the screen.
A photo of Sabrina with a slightly different hairstyle greeted him. It had to have been taken before he’d met her, since her hair was longer and wavier in the picture.
He raised an eyebrow. “How is an old photo of Sabrina good news? And what is it doing on a website?”
Holly grinned. “Guess she just passed the test.”
“What test?” Daniel’s forehead furrowed.
“If you can’t tell that this isn’t Sabrina, then nobody else can either.”
He pointed to the picture, looking at it more closely now. “This is not Sabrina?”
“No.”
Daniel blew out a breath. He suddenly knew exactly what Holly was trying to do. “Oh my god!” He hugged her, lifting her off her feet and making a full circle before he set her down again.
“Okay, okay. We’re not out of the woods yet. We’ve got work to do. I’ve found out that she lives in Colorado. There’s a phone number and an email address.”
“How can I help?” he asked eagerly.
“We need to hire her to come to New York, go to the newspaper office and tell them she’s the escort the columnist’s source is referring to. The columnist will look at her, then at Sabrina’s picture and realize she’s practically her twin. We’ll have to pay her of course.”
“I don’t care what it costs.”
“Do you know anybody who’s got a jet to fly her from Colorado to New York? I’m afraid if we book her on a commercial airline, we’ll be losing time.”
Daniel nodded instantly. “I’ll talk to Zach. His company has a couple of jets. Maybe one of them is out west. If not, he’ll know somebody else whom we can borrow a plane from.”
Holly made a note on a small notepad next to her computer. “Good.” She tapped with her pen on the paper, clearly contemplating something. “That leaves us with only one problem.”
“What problem? It looks clear to me.” He pointed to the screen where the picture of the woman who looked like Sabrina still stared at him. “This woman will show the reporter her ID and prove that she’s not Sabrina. The reporter will realize that it was a case of mistaken identity and issue an apology.”
