Conservative Affairs

by Scott, Riley

  Shortly after she heard the front door close behind Isaac her cell phone began to ring. Just as she had every other time it rang this week, she closed her eyes and imagined throwing it at the wall, then dutifully answered it. Working from home had its disadvantages sometimes, like the fact that she couldn’t just blissfully enjoy her day “off” the way she’d like to.

  “Hello. This is Jacquelyn,” she said, offering the greeting she always did when the number on the screen was an unknown.

  “Jacquelyn, I didn’t know who else to call,” a man’s voice answered. “I figured since I knew you better than the other staffers, I’d give this a try.”

  “Excuse me, who is this?” Jacquelyn answered.

  There was a second of silence. “It’s John Stratton, and I need to talk to Madeline as soon as possible.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible, John, but I can pass along the message,” Jacquelyn answered.

  Even though she was curious to see what he wanted, she decided that she would extend her loyalty to Madeline one last time. Sure, it was a sinking ship, but Madeline had never actually wronged her. And John was a cheating asshole.

  “It’s highly important,” John insisted.

  “Let me know what it’s regarding and I’ll pass along the message to her.”

  “Jacquelyn,” John practically hissed her name. “It cannot wait. It just can’t. It is urgent! She messed up with an old friend of ours. If she doesn’t get her shit together her skeletons are going to be on display for the world’s viewing and soon. She needs to stop screwing around.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  John hesitated. “Well, I might as well, I guess. You’re going to find out soon enough when Natalie goes to the media.”

  “Natalie?” Jacquelyn said, her voice rising. “The Natalie you slept with?”

  “That’s the one,” John answered gruffly. “She knows some of Madeline’s old secrets and might be going to the media with them since Madeline blew her off on the phone when she called.”

  “I’m confused,” Jacquelyn said. “She knows the mayor?”

  “Let’s just say they’re old friends. But hey, Jacquelyn, I’m going to get off the phone now. You find a way for Madeline to call me in the next hour or I guess you can hear the story on the news—like the rest of the state.”

  The line went dead.

  “Shit,” Jacquelyn said.

  What on earth was she going to do? She had to get in touch with Madeline—and fast. John had never called her before. Sure, she had been fairly well acquainted with him from working with the mayor over the years, but he had always been so polite and refined. Today, he was a different man, callous and angry and threatening.

  As quickly as possible, she dialed Madeline’s number.

  It went straight to voice mail.

  “It’s Jacquelyn. Please call me back as soon as possible. It’s urgent.”

  She sent an email, begging Madeline to call her within the hour. Reverting to communications director mode, she knew that if a story was going to break, she needed to get on top of it.

  First and foremost, she needed to know what the story was and who had access to it. Then she could fight back. Draft statements, schedule a press conference if necessary and possibly arrange a video address to the media.

  Quickly, she dialed Jo’s number. It went straight to voice mail. Frustrated, she resorted to desperate measures and tried Jo’s personal cell number. It rang three times, before Jo answered, sounding a bit out of breath.

  “Jo, it’s Jacquelyn. I need to talk to Madeline. Can you get in touch with her? It’s urgent,” she said.

  “Of course,” Jo said. “She’s actually right here.”

  Jacquelyn was surprised they were together, but she wasn’t about to question it at this point. She was desperate. She heard the phone changing hands in the background as Jo explained that it was Jacquelyn on the phone and that it was important.

  “Hello, Jacquelyn.” Madeline sounded winded too. What the hell were they doing?

  “I have a message for you,” Jacquelyn began, letting out the breath she had been holding. “And I have a couple of questions too.”

  “Okay. What’s going on?”

  “John called, and he said some stuff that makes me think we may have a major mess on our hands soon—very soon, actually.” Jacquelyn knew she didn’t have much time to explain. Still she couldn’t just throw John’s words at Madeline.

  Madeline was silent, so Jacquelyn continued. “He said you knew Natalie—the…well, the other woman…and that she had tried to call you. He said that since you didn’t talk to her, there was something she was going to tell the media.”

  “Shit!” Madeline replied. “Okay. I’ll call him. Thanks, Jacquelyn.”

  “Mayor Stratton?” Jacquelyn needed to get the next part resolved. “Do you have any idea what this is about? I need to have something prepared if whatever it is hits the news.”

  “I know exactly what it’s about, and I’m going to stop it.”

  With that the line went dead.

  What the hell was she supposed to do now? She needed to know what was going on. Before she could think it over too long, she dialed Isaac’s number. It rang twice before he picked up.

  “Hey there,” Isaac answered. “Did you miss me already?”

  She cut him off. “Isaac, have you heard anything about my boss? Anything new on the story?”

  “No…” his voice trailed off.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “If there is, you’d tell me right?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she answered, then reconsidered. Would she really alert one of the media just because she was sleeping with him? She decided to ponder that later.

  “Listen,” she said. “If you hear anything, please let me know immediately.”

  “Okay,” he agreed. “But the same goes for you. If there’s a story, I need to know as soon as possible. My boss is on my ass.”

  “Sure,” she said, ending the call. What next? Should she call Ian or just pray that Madeline could get everything resolved on her own? If she couldn’t, things were going to become even more hellish than they had been of late.

  She decided to wait a few minutes and give Madeline time to sort things out. If she hadn’t heard back from her by 5 P.M., she would call John herself and then Ian, when she knew more and had a plan to propose to him. It sounded like there was no way this was going to miss the nightly news at six, and they needed to be ready.

  Jo had to know. Jacquelyn hated her for that. If anyone deserved to be in the loop, it was her, the person who handled all of Madeline’s media. And Ian, of course, as chief of staff. At the moment, though, Jo was her only hope. She sent her a quick text, knowing that wherever she and Madeline were Jo was at least checking her personal cell phone.

  When this is sorted out, please let me know what’s going on. I need to prepare a statement in case whatever this is gets leaked. Please get back to me. Thanks!

  Now, she had to wait. Waiting was the hardest when you were on a deadline. That was one of the first lessons she had learned when working with the press.

  The wheels in Jacquelyn’s mind spun round and round as she tried to figure out what secrets from Madeline’s previous life Natalie might hold. Madeline clearly had been less than truthful earlier. She knew the “other woman,” and the “other woman” obviously knew her.

  Shit! She couldn’t just sit around and wait while there was so much at stake. Going into overdrive, she started calling contacts at rapid pace, trying to make her inquiries as discreet as possible while at the same time playing Nancy Drew. She cringed. She had only forty-five minutes to get to the bottom of things.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jo felt as if the ground had collapsed beneath her. Beside her on the bed, Madeline was fumbling with her phone, trying to call John and mumbling to herself. “Natalie never called me. She called you. I should have known something was up. Should have called her bac
k. I should have found a way.”

  “I need to know exactly what she said that night,” Madeline said finally, her face completely white. Jo hadn’t wanted to rehash the conversation, but they had things to clear up, obviously.

  “She kept asking for ‘Maddie.’ She thought I was you. I told her that I wasn’t, but I didn’t say who I was. She said she wanted to say she was sorry. I said she had the wrong number.” Jo’s words were spilling out quickly, and she hoped they were making sense. “After I phoned you, she kept calling. I ignored the calls, because I didn’t know what to tell her.”

  Madeline nodded, then pushed past Jo to go into the hallway.

  Jo listened to Madeline’s side of the conversation.

  “John, it’s Maddie.”

  It was a stupid thing to be concerned about at this time, but Jo wondered why everyone from Madeline’s past got the privilege of calling her Maddie. Was it a special club that only a select few got to join? She chided herself for being jealous of the man who had cheated on her precious Madeline and the woman who had helped him.

  “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 damn 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 title—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 bitch 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 circumstances. 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 hell. 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 assured that she had Madeline’s full loyalty and fidelity.

  And she had a pretty damn 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.

  “Hello,” 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 shit 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 glass. “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 fucking 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 hit the press, there was no statement to write. Madeline’s career as a Republican elected official was over. It was as simple as that.