Condemned

by Barbara Huffert

  “I see. And that’s all you know of her?”

  “Uh, yeah, that’s about it.”

  Mark threw the folder on the table in front of Walt, opened to the picture of him with Tish the night before. “Clear your desk and get out. You too, Sands. I find all three of you despicable. I’m shocked by the things I’ve learned today. I’m appalled that you would attempt such a thing. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. That includes you, young lady. How you could use a man’s decency against him to steal from him is unforgivable.

  “Brett, being part of this agency gave them the opportunity to enact this scheme. I know that is the extent of my involvement but I still feel responsible for being so blind to the true character of my employees and that of my own family. I’m horrified to acknowledge our relationship. I won’t speak to your mother of this immediately, Walt. I suggest you find a way to explain to her why you no longer work for me as soon as possible. I’ll give you one week.

  “Sands, you might want to consider relocating because I assure you there isn’t another agency in this city which will touch you after I make the calls I intend this afternoon. And Tish, I know your stepfather quite well. I will be speaking to him too. Brett, unless there’s something else you’d like to add?” Brett shook his head. “I’ve already informed security. They are waiting at your desks. You have fifteen minutes and will not be permitted to touch your computers. Everything you plan on taking out of here will be inspected so I urge you to only take that which is truly yours.”

  Mark glared until the three left the room before he sank into a chair. “Brett, I don’t know what to say.”

  “There’s nothing for you to say. You’ve treated me very fairly in the time I spent here. I’m sorry but I’m sure you can understand why I need to leave today.”

  “Of course, of course. If I hadn’t insisted on you easing away gradually this may have never happened to you.”

  “Don’t blame yourself, Mark. I let them do this to me. I should have known better but I was too wrapped up in other things to pay attention to my own life. Fortunately,” he looked toward Jesse, “I have some very good friends who are watching out for me. I’m sorry your nephew was involved. I hoped he was only taking advantage of what went on at those games.”

  “Yes, me too. If he had said he knew Tish through Sands I may have kept him on here. He’ll never do anything remotely close to your quality but he’s not totally without talent. My sister is going to be shocked but I think she should know. Walt wasn’t raised to lie like that. He should have walked away from them once he learned of their plans.”

  “Yes, but who knows what they promised for his silence,” Jesse added. “Finding another game like theirs can’t be the easiest thing to do. I’m sure there are plenty out there but he was already in. He might not have wanted to give up his access to what they were offering.”

  “I’m probably showing my age if I admit I find the whole thing disgusting. Sharing a woman like that, encouraging her to be with other men. I would have fought a man who even suggested such a thing with my wife, still would.”

  “Me too,” Brett agreed sadly. “Age has nothing to do with it. Everybody has to live the way that’s best for them but I’d need the woman I marry to commit to a mutually exclusive relationship. Not that I’m criticizing anyone who wants something different but I couldn’t be like Craig is. I was relieved to see they all used condoms at least.”

  “I never even thought of that,” Mark groaned. “I know you don’t want this but I simply must repeat how sorry I am. I wish you nothing but the best, Brett. I hope you can find a woman who can make you forget all of this.”

  “He already has if he can find a way to get her to forgive his own behavior,” Jesse muttered.

  “Not now, Jess,” Brett warned. “Mark, I’ll just grab my things from my office and shove off. I still want to hire a mover to pack up the rest of the house here before Jesse takes me home.” He offered Mark his hand. “I’m sorry this ended the way it has but I’ll never forget all you did for me.”

  “Nonsense.” Mark accepted his gesture. “You did more for this agency than I ever imagined possible. Jordan was right when he said I’d be a fool to pass you by. If you ever decide to get back into it and don’t want to go out on your own, there will always be a place for you here.”

  “Thanks but don’t expect me. I think the station will provide plenty of challenges to keep me busy. If it doesn’t, I’m sure Jordan and I will come up with something new for us to do.”

  “Undoubtedly.” Mark walked them to Brett’s office. “You’re quite a team. I’m sure you’ll both continue to be very successful at whatever you choose.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Jesse sat in Brett’s driveway, waiting for his friend to speak. After Brett made some arrangements and packed the few things he wanted to take with him immediately, Jesse drove him back to what would now become his permanent home.

  “I don’t know how to thank you for all this.” Brett finally broke the silence.

  “Pull yourself together and your life back on track. As your friend, that’s all I could ever ask for.”

  “Oh I’m going to. Starting tonight. I’m going to go see if Flynn will talk to me. I don’t want to wait until he gets out of school tomorrow.”

  “He’ll talk to you if he’s home.”

  “Where else would he be?”

  “I had him hide out in Andie’s car this morning. He said he’d stick with her no matter where she was going.”

  “He’s in the city?”

  “Possibly. But Shane was there and he was our best chance at calming her down before she drove very far. Flynn has good instincts. He’s likely to have talked to her about himself and I don’t think Andie would expose him to any danger even if she is still as upset as she was earlier.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t. He’ll be home. You know, I’ve never seen anyone quite that furious before or at least not with me. Hell, you weren’t even that pissed when you figured out the sorts of things I said to Flynn. I guess anger is better than hurt though.”

  “She’s still plenty hurt. Maybe always will be.”

  “I know. I can’t begin to know how I made her feel. Not last night, not this morning, not ever probably. What I don’t get is why she was mad at you too.”

  “I promised to wait for her before I came to see you so she could talk to you too. She was out cold when I left and I thought I had enough time to get you back there.”

  “You would have if I hadn’t gone off on Flynn.”

  He was quiet for a bit. “You said you were heading back tonight. You planning on checking on her anyway?”

  “Yeah. I spoke to Wyatt when you were packing. Andie’s back at Sadie’s.”

  “Back at Sadie’s?”

  “That’s right. You don’t know that she was hanging out in my guestroom. She needed a place to hide after I told her about you and Tish so I offered to let her stay with me. I was afraid she’d go back to her parents’ and we’d never see her again.”

  “If I didn’t know you and I had any right, I’d be jealous.”

  “Oh please.” Jesse snorted. “You are the only man who ever had any chance with her. Probably still are if you find a way to work this out.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  Jesse heard the desperation in Brett’s voice. “Maybe, if you do it right. It’s entirely up to you though. I can’t help you out with this one.”

  “I know, Jesse. I should probably thank you now for all you did to try to help me with her already. I wish you hadn’t decided to be so thorough with your self-defense lessons but I’m glad she can take care of herself.”

  “I gotta admit that she surprised me some with that move this morning. I showed it to her but I never expected that she’d be able to execute it as effectively as she did. You’re going to be sore for days.”

  “I should be grateful that she didn’t kill me.”

  “Hey, give me some credit here.
I didn’t teach her any of those moves. I want her to be able to protect herself but I’m not a fool. Unlike you, I always knew there was more to Andie than she let show. I’m not about to teach a woman how to kill a guy when the guy who might annoy her could very well be me one day.”

  “So you’ll keep going to see her even if she shuts you out?”

  “Of course. She might try but nothing she says will stop me. I’ll talk to Holly too. One way or another, Andie will be looked after. Don’t worry about that part of it, Brett. You have concerns of your own at the moment.”

  “You wouldn’t have any ideas you’d care to share? I know it’s up to me but if you could tell me anything that might help point me in the right direction or keep me from doing something to make it worse?”

  Jesse considered Brett’s request. “She seems fond of email. I know she keeps in touch with a bunch of her friends that way. She was on my computer a lot while she was staying with me. You could give that a try. I don’t know, maybe start small and see if she bothers to open it. Build up from there.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “Brett, I’m not sure that’ll work. Andie might delete any mail you send. If she does, don’t give up. She was more hurt than anybody I ever saw this morning when she came back from your house. I’m sure she still loves you but I don’t know if she’ll be able to give into that again. It’s not going to be easy for you to reach that part of her or for her to let herself trust you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Andie’s my friend too. I don’t want you to rush things if you get her to talk to you. I don’t want to have to stand by and watch if you push too hard and hurt her again.”

  “I promise I will do everything possible to prevent that. I will be extremely cautious if I even get the chance. If I were Andie, I don’t think I’d ever let me contact her in any way. If you sense my trying to approach her is hurting her, you have to tell me. I’ll stop if you see I’m upsetting her more. I can’t believe how much I screwed up this time. Think of the irony here, Jess. Andie saves my life and I manage to wreck it even worse before I knew I was saved.”

  “Yeah, you do seem to have a talent for that just now. I’m going to take off so you can find Flynn. I do feel the need to remind you to talk to your other friends though. I don’t really get why you stopped in the first place but you can’t shut them out forever.”

  “I know. You were right the last twenty times you said that and you still are. I need to figure out what to say to them but I’ll work on that too. Thanks again. I mean it when I say I don’t know what I would have done without you lately.”

  “You would have sorted it all out eventually. It would have taken longer.”

  “I’m not so sure about that but thanks for saying it. Let me know if there’s something specific Andie needs from me, okay? I know you won’t break a confidence but…”

  “I get what you mean. I will. Take it easy, Brett.”

  “You too, Jess. If I can ever do anything for you…”

  “I’ll ask.” Jesse finished the sentence as Brett got out of the car. The confrontation with Tish and Craig hadn’t been as bad as it could have been but Jesse was glad he wasn’t Brett. He hoped his friends would find a way to put this in the past since he truly believed they still belonged together. He was serious that it was up to Brett now but if Andie showed him a way to help them, he knew he would. That is if he managed to gain her forgiveness for the way he had broken his promise to her. Maybe he should be glad fate was making him wait to meet his destiny. Seeing what his friends were going through made him less anxious to experience the same thing himself.

  * * * * *

  “Miss Sadie.” Jesse didn’t show any surprise when the older woman opened the door. “I hate to bother you so late but I need a few minutes of your niece’s time.”

  “What makes you think she’s willing to see you? You disappoint me, young man. I don’t know what exactly you did to her but I will not permit you to cause any more pain to that lovely girl.”

  “At least we’re in agreement. I’ve disappointed myself several times over the last two days. Andie and I are friends and I let her down, more than once. I assure you, all I want to do is speak with her to see if there’s any way I can help.” Jesse’s request was met with Sadie’s continued glaring silence. “Please, Miss Sadie. Even though I broke a promise, I still consider us friends. I’d like to explain why I believed that I was acting with her best interests at heart. I was hoping to make some of today easier for her and…”

  “It’s all right, Aunt Sadie,” Andie said as she appeared in the hall behind her aunt. “I think I’d like to hear this.”

  “Andrea, don’t let him bully his way in here.”

  “He’s not.” Hurt was evident in her tone. “If you’ll excuse us, I’m sure Jesse won’t be more than a few minutes.”

  “Fine.” Sadie stepped aside. “I’ll be right across the hall. Just shout if you need me.”

  “I will. Thanks.” Andie’s voice sounded thoroughly defeated.

  Jesse followed her into her uncle’s study before he spoke. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I was thinking after you turned in and I decided it would be too uncomfortable for you to ride back here with Brett. I know you wanted to assure him you were there last night by your own choice but I was afraid of what would happen after you made him understand that. You know he had to concentrate on how to confront Tish, Andie. I don’t want to offend you but you would have been a distraction.”

  Andie was silent while she considered his statement. Finally, she nodded. “You may be right, not that I’m ready to forgive you. Why didn’t you wake me and explain this before you left?”

  “You were sleeping so soundly that I thought we’d be back before you woke up. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Flynn. He heard me tell Brett that we were stopping to see you before we met with Tish. I wasn’t overlooking what you wanted. I intended to bring him to you.”

  “Did she admit it?” Andie couldn’t help asking.

  “Didn’t say a word. Neither did Sands. One of the other players was Brett’s boss’s nephew who was working at the agency too. When his uncle called him in and questioned his knowledge of who Tish was, the kid lied through his teeth. Both he and Sands were given fifteen minutes to empty their desks. Poor Grendle is probably going to end up telling his sister why he fired his nephew since I doubt that the kid has the courage to tell his mother himself. He also advised Sands to relocate and assured him he would be making calls so it would be impossible for Sands to find work with another agency in this city. Turns out he knows Tish’s stepfather and plans on speaking with him as soon as the man returns from the trip he’s on.”

  “So it’s done?”

  “Essentially,” Jesse stated. “Brett arranged for a moving company to finish up at the house here. He grabbed a few things to take with him today and said he isn’t coming back.”

  “Did I really dislocate his shoulder?” Andie curiosity got the best of her.

  “Hell yeah! You were spectacular.” Jesse tried for a grin. All he got in response was silence. “He’ll be fine in a couple of days. Shane and I popped it back into place. I take it you spent some time with Flynn?”

  “You shouldn’t have put him in that position.”

  “What other choice did I have? I knew you weren’t going to stick around at Brett’s. You weren’t about to listen to me and I didn’t think you’d go home with Shane until you calmed down. That was the only way to keep you from driving. I already told Flynn some of what was going on. He’s a very sensitive kid, Andie. I know he cares about you.”

  “I was going to bring him here when he refused to get out of the car.”

  “He told you about his past.”

  She nodded. “He is quite a boy. I still don’t think you should have used him like that.”

  “I used you too. I’m assuming you heard that Brett took some of his misery out on Flynn. I did as much damage control as I could but I know you did more than
I ever could. If Flynn thinks he helped you today that shored up his self-confidence in ways my words never could. He needed to spend time with you as much as you needed to be calmed down.”

  “Perhaps,” Andie said slowly. “I don’t think Wyatt is very happy with you today either. I wasn’t at my best when I realized that you left without me.”

  “Oh I don’t know. He sounded fascinated with you when I spoke to him this afternoon. He was the one who insisted that I come see you tonight and not wait until tomorrow like I was planning to. He wanted me to tell you to call him if you ever need anything and made me promise to give you the number that always reaches him.” He handed her the information. “What exactly happened when you woke up, Andie?”

  She shrugged but smiled slightly. “Is there anything else?”

  “Um, not really,” Jesse hesitated. “About Brett…”

  “Look, I appreciate all you’ve done but I can’t do this anymore. I need to get on with my life now.”

  “Andie.” Jesse touched her arm.

  “Don’t.” She stepped away. “It’s over. I need you to give me some space. I’ll be by tomorrow for my things but I don’t think I can spend any more time with you just now. Good night, Jesse.” She moved to the doorway.

  “Andie, please don’t shut me out like this. I’m as much your friend as I am Brett’s.”

  “I can’t.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Will you stay in touch with Holly? Let her know how you’re doing?”

  “If I can. Please go.” She opened the door for him. “I’m too tired to argue with you.”

  “All right.” He brushed her forehead with a light kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Can I give you a ride back home?”

  She sighed and nodded, closing the door in his face.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Brett sat and stared at his computer screen. He’d been trying to think of what message to send Andie for the entire hour since he’d returned from speaking with Flynn. Though the boy had accepted his apology, Brett knew he had a long way to go to regain Flynn’s trust. Thank goodness Flynn seemed willing to give him another chance. Brett vowed he wouldn’t disappoint the boy again.