Accidental Meeting (Accidental Hook-Up 3)

Knock, knock.

Oh God, she was close! I race to the front door and swing it open, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Tia, you are not going to believe what I have found out.” Rae pushes passed me and falls on to the couch. “I cannot believe it myself. I’m just…” She makes an explosion gesture by her head. “Mind blown.”

I sit next to her and watch her wild eyed expression for a moment. “What is it?”

“Okay, so you must have heard about the kidnapping, right?”

“Lady Saffron Jones?” What does this have to do with anything? I don’t get why she’s so excited.

“Yeah. So, that might be a little more linked to you than you realize.”

“Okay, what on earth are you talking about, Rae? I don’t know her at all. I’ve read about her but that’s it.”

“No… but you do know her son.” Her lips curl up into a delighted smile. She’s getting a real thrill from this.

“Her son?” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. “She doesn’t have a son, does she? I’ve been following the story a bit in the press and I haven’t seen anything about any children. She was married for a bit, but…”

“Oh no, the child has nothing to do with her husband. It was an affair.”

I shake my head, still very stuck. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“No, I know you don’t, but that’s because I haven’t gotten to it yet.” Rae rolls her eyes. “So, many years ago, Lady Saffron Jones had an affair with a bit of rough and ready and they had a baby. A child who has been covered up ever since. A bastard child who isn’t ever to come to light.”

“And where did you hear this?” I ask disbelievingly.

“The Internet, obviously. The newspapers have to be careful what they print because of libel. But the Internet is a free for all. Anyone can post whatever the hell they want.”

“Yeah, including lies…” She must know that. Barely anything online is the truth.

“Oh no, this isn’t a lie, I’m sure of it. And I have seen pictures of the guy when he was a kid too. I know who it is and so do you. You know him a lot better than I do actually.”

I rack my brain, but this doesn’t start to make any more sense. “Huh?”

“Shane,” she shocks me by declaring. “It’s Shane Valentine. His dad is some criminal which is why they don’t ever want his presence to be known. A Lady cannot be linked with a criminal… of course.”

“Shane?” I reply in shock. “No, you have got to be joking.”

“I’m not joking. It’s Shane. Trust me. He’s always been secretive about himself, hasn’t he?”

She grabs her cell phone and stares intently at the screen as she searches for something. My heart hammers painfully against my rib cage while I watch her. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, it’s so weird.

“There, look.” She thrusts the phone at me. I see a picture of a young kid who looks just like a generic boy to me. “That’s Shane, isn’t it? That has to be him. Just look at the eyes.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rae. This is all nuts.”

“It’s him. He’s the bastard child and I’m betting the kidnapping is all linked. He was kidnapped too, right?”

“I… I don’t know about that. The police never said anything.”

“Exactly. They didn’t tell you that he was, but they didn’t say he wasn’t. That’s so fishy.”

“I suppose I am just a witness…”

“No, you aren’t. You are more than that. They are keeping you in the dark for a reason, and this is the reason”.

I furrow my eyebrows at her. I don’t know about any of this. It sounds more like the plot of a movie rather than something that could happen in real life. I can’t help but wonder if Rae is trying to create some drama because she doesn’t have anything going on in her career right now.

Sure, the men with the guns was drama unlike real life, but still this feels like too much.

“You haven’t heard from Shane since, have you?” Rae continues.

“Well, no but I haven’t tried much.”

“That’s a lie. I’m sure you have tried lots.”

I keep silent. Mostly because she’s right. But I don’t want to think this is all even worse than it already seems. The police did tell me that it could be a prank between friends, that they have had things like that happen before and I have tried to convince myself that’s the truth… however crazy that would be.

Then again, the guys haven’t come back to kill me either, which I assumed they would, so perhaps it was all just a prank. I don’t know, I’m just trying to move on with my life. To focus on me for a change.