“Yeah, I just…” Her head shot up. “Why are Jack’s parents here?”
“Donovan,” Maverick said slowly. “I don’t think you’re understanding the situation. The whole fucking world knows you’re up in Canada with Jack. It’s only a matter of time before the paparazzi and reporters find their way out to this lake.”
Donovan thought she was going to pass out.
“But how?” She said weakly. “Jack wouldn’t have said anything.”
“I’m guessing it’s because the police got involved. A high profile celebrity goes missing isn’t something that’s easy to keep under wraps.”
“Police?”
Maverick looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You were gone, Donnie. Of course he called the police.”
“Shit.”
Alarm. It was like a fast and hard blade thrust deep into bone. It hurt, and she bent forward, head in hands and tried to calm her racing heart. “Shit,” she said again.
Maverick was on the bed beside her, his arms around her shaking body. “What the hell? When are you going to level with me, because something’s going on, and it’s not just about you and Jack playing house up here.”
She yanked her head up, voice shaking so badly she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the words out. “Does Cooper know?”
Maverick’s eyes narrowed. “What does my brother have to do with this? Why is the fact that you and Jack obviously worked out whatever the fuck issues you had a problem?”
“Does he know?” she said, not caring that she sounded as if she was about to jump off the edge of a cliff. Because she was in fact standing on the edge, and it sure as hell felt as if she was falling.
For a few seconds, Rick said nothing and then he shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to the guy in a couple days. He’s probably at his place in Maine. But it’s only a matter of time. You and Jack are trending on twitter for Christ sake. As of this morning, you’re the number one story on every entertainment news show that there is.”
Donovan was on her feet like a rocket. She stumbled over the clothes on the floor and looked around for her purse. She rooted through the large Kate Spade, but her cellphone wasn’t there and then she turned back toward the bed, hair flying wildly and spotted the device on the comforter.
Maverick watched her but remained silent. His dark eyes were concerned, but she ignored him, and when he got up, she never noticed. Donovan’s only thought was heading off a showdown with Cooper before she could tell Jack everything.
With shaking fingers, she looked through her contacts but no dice.
“Rick what’s his number?” Frantic she glanced up.
“Whose?”
“Cooper. What’s his number? I need to talk to him.”
“If he’s in Maine he won’t answer.”
“I don’t care. I have to talk to try.”
He tossed her his cell, and she quickly searched through Rick’s contacts until she found the number she needed. She held the cell to her ear, biting her lip nervously as she waited for the connection and when she heard his voice, she jumped.
“Cooper, I...”
But it was his voice mail and Donovan clenched the phone so tightly that her fingers cramped. She waited for his message to be over and then took a deep breath, hoping she didn’t sound like the lunatic she heard in her head.
“Cooper, please call me as soon as you get this message. There are things you don’t know, things that are… just please call me before you do anything or talk to Jack. Please.” She paused, fighting tears and fatigue and hurt and fear. “It’s Donovan.”
With dead fingers she tossed the cell onto the bed.
“Donovan.”
She ignored Maverick and hoped he would go away. She didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to share. And she sure as hell didn’t want to go downstairs.
Like a caged animal, she began to pace, biting her nails, eyes on the floor. Had it always been knotted walnut?