Aftershocks

by Nancy Warren

  He rubbed his face in his hands. He’d never been a quitter, but for the sake of his children, maybe he should make a new start, move somewhere different. He’d paid off the house with Janie’s life insurance money and he had some savings. They’d be fine. He could make a new start for his family, find a new job, a new home with no memories.

  And yet, good things had happened in this house, as well as bad. His family was here. O’Sheas had lived in Courage Bay for over a hundred years. He’d been a fool and he’d face up to that. But was he going to run away?

  Hell, no.

  On that determined note, he went to bed, though he really wondered why he bothered. His hurt was too fresh, his anger too raw, so he tossed and turned and finally got up and wrote a speech. Yet another passionate Mayor Patrick O’Shea goes to the people appeal, only this one was more in the line of crisis management.

  Damage control, Archie would call it.

  When the first few streaks of dawn lit the sky, he decided to call it morning and got into the shower. By the time Mrs. Simpson arrived at seven-thirty, he’d gone through the better part of two pots of coffee, had read the paper cover to cover, and written Briana a letter. Two, in fact. He’d torn up both of them, but he felt better for expressing some of the hurt and anger and disbelief that raged within him.

  He dressed carefully, and when he left the house, he was already preparing himself for one of the toughest days of his career.

  Of his life.

  There were no TV crews or reporters outside his house, for which he silently thanked the brass at the local media. This was Courage Bay, California, and the media would hound him at work rather than waylay him at home, where his kids would be upset.

  It was one reason he’d be at his desk on time and accessible to any reporter who wanted him. He wouldn’t hide what he’d done. He was ashamed of his actions and he’d apologize. The rest, he supposed, was up to the people of the community.

  He accepted that he might end up turfed out of his job, but he was going to do everything he could to lobby for someone decent to take over as mayor. Cecil Thomson and his heartless niece may have succeeded in destroying Patrick’s career, but they were going to discover it was a hollow victory. Cecil was never going to be mayor if Patrick could help it. He’d use every means at his disposal-every honest and ethical means-to make sure someone of decency and character held the mayor’s office.

  Courage Bay deserved a good mayor. It had certainly had a string of lousy ones.

  Gritting his teeth, he prepared for a media scrum when he reached city hall, but there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. He’d called Archie at home and requested a meeting first thing.

  When Patrick got to his office, he was surprised for a second that the door was still locked. Grimly, he opened up and flipped on the lights himself.

  When Archie arrived for their meeting, his first words were, “Where’s Briana?”

  “I fired her.”

  “What?” The man was so stunned he dropped his pen on the ground. “It’s not April Fools’ Day already, is it?”

  “No.” Patrick sighed heavily. “You’d better sit down. You’re not going to like what I have to say.” And Patrick told his media manager the truth. All of it.

  Archie didn’t say anything for a minute, but his face registered stunned disbelief. Then he blew out a breath. “Wow.”

  “I’m sorry, Archie. I’m apologizing to you, and as soon as you think it’s right, I’m apologizing to the people of Courage Bay. I screwed up.”

  “Whoa, there. I appreciate the apology, and there is no question that you screwed up, but let’s not go rushing out for a public whipping quite yet.” Archie leaned back and began tapping his pen against his binder.

  “Archie, if you’re planning something, forget it. I did wrong. I’m not going to hide.”

  Archie glanced at Patrick with eyes that weren’t nearly as condemning as he thought he deserved. “Patrick, I said you screwed up, and it’s true, you did. But you’re still a good man and the best hope Courage Bay has as a mayor. Should you have slept with your assistant? Hell, no. But I’m not going to pretend I didn’t notice there was more than professional respect between the two of you. You handled it quietly, you’re both single. I was ready to step in with a word if I’d suspected a problem.”

  He tapped his pen against his binder again in a way that was getting on Patrick’s nerves. “You and Briana having a quiet romance wouldn’t be that big a deal. Briana setting you up for sexual harassment, however…”

  The communications manager shook his head. “I’m obviously not as shocked as you are, but I’m beyond surprised. I would have pegged Briana Bliss as almost as decent, God-fearing and loyal as you are yourself.”

  “Well, I guess she fooled us both.”

  “More than the two of us. Everybody liked Briana. Hell, this is awful.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Okay, first thing I’m going to do is get you a temp for today.”

  Patrick nodded.

  “You shouldn’t have let her take that tape, buddy,” Archie said.

  “I guess not,” Patrick admitted. “I was so angry I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  Archie tapped some more. Patrick bit his tongue. He needed someone on his side, and he was relieved that his media manager was willing to be that someone. “Strange she hasn’t gone public with that tape,” Archie said. “I wonder why? Cecil will use it to divert attention from the funding crisis, of course.” He shrugged. “Right now, you’re still a hero and he’s one of the most unpopular men in Courage Bay. If I was his media advisor, I’d tell him to get that tape out today.”

  “It’s a good thing you’re on my side, and not his.”

  “Don’t worry.” Archie grinned. “I’ll do everything I can to keep Cecil Thomson out of that chair,” he said, pointing to the one Patrick was currently sitting in, “and you in it.”

  Patrick nodded. He was pleased to hear he still had Archie’s support even after his admission. “Me, too. I’m not sure that’s possible, though.”

  “It all depends on Briana, I guess. I’m going to call up a couple of old friends in radio and at the paper. If there’s any hint of anything coming down the pipe, they’ll tell me.”

  Patrick rose and stretched. His limbs felt stiff, as though he’d been beaten. “I’m telling you again, Archie, I’m not hiding from this.”

  “I hear you, but don’t do anything public without my say so. Agreed?”

  He nodded shortly. “Agreed.”

  Within the hour, he had a perky young temp he’d seen in the building before. Her name was Lucy and she had twin daughters a year behind Dylan at school. Lucy was pleasant on the phone, knew how to use the computer and showed absolutely no initiative.

  He ached every time he walked by her desk and realized Briana was gone. And why.

  Fortunately, he had nothing scheduled that couldn’t be rescheduled and Archie took care of that, insisting Patrick stay around until they knew what damage control would be required. He’d advised Patrick not to tell anyone that Briana was fired. She was off for the day and that’s all the information they were giving out. Tomorrow was soon enough for the paperwork and the lawyers.

  So Patrick found himself in the office, stuck at his desk trying to work. But his mind felt foggy.

  He’d told Lucy he was busy with important paperwork and not to be disturbed, then he closed his door.

  About eleven-thirty, his office door flew open. He glanced up from staring blankly at a report, expecting to see Archie holding back a pack of baying reporters. Instead he saw his sister, Shannon, standing there. He was so surprised he blinked hard, as though she were an apparition.

  “You should tell the temps there’s no point trying to keep me out,” she said, breezing in wearing full uniform. No, Patrick thought, no apparition would talk to him that way. “I was in the neighborhood and came to drag you off for lunch. Where’s…” Her words petered out when she saw
Patrick’s face.

  “My God, Patrick, what happened?” she asked in an entirely different tone. “You look like you did the day Janie died.”

  Patrick rose from his desk and stalked to the window. “Nothing so tragic.” He stared out at the street below, wondering how much to tell his sister. Then he decided, the hell with it. The world would know soon enough. She might as well be among the first.

  He turned back to her. “Briana isn’t the woman I thought she was.”

  “What exactly does that mean?”

  “It means I fired her.” He told Shannon everything. About the tape, the confrontation, his plans to come clean. “Archie made me promise we’d wait and let them strike first.”

  “Archie’s a smart guy, and you’re not firing on all cylinders today. Listen to him, bro.” She stood there, so serious in her navy uniform, a frown gathering on her face. “I can’t believe this,” she said finally. “I absolutely cannot believe it. Briana was in love with you. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “I’ve had all night to get used to the fact that she’s a good actress. I think I’ll take a rain check on lunch, if you don’t mind.”

  She nodded. “I’ve lost my appetite, too.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “SO, YOU BREAK my brother’s heart, now you’re running away. You really are a piece of work.” Shannon O’Shea was the last person Briana had expected to see on her doorstep. The woman eyed the packing boxes in the hall as though she’d like to kick them. After their conversation at Dylan’s birthday party about how Shannon would take Briana apart if she ever hurt Patrick, maybe she should have expected the tough-talking firefighter to show up at her door with vengeance sparking from her eyes.

  “Have you come to beat me up?” Briana asked. She was so deep in misery she didn’t care. A little physical pain might help relieve the inner ache. Of course, Shannon knew of Briana’s treachery. Everyone in the city probably knew about it by now. “I know I deserve to be beaten up. Go ahead.”

  Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, her cheeks chapped. She’d never been a pretty crier. Even her hair seemed depressed. It hung lank around her face since she hadn’t bothered to do anything with it once she’d got out of the shower. What was the point?

  “Don’t tempt me. I’d like to smack you from here to tomorrow. I just left my brother looking almost as bad as he did the day they buried his wife.” Shannon stepped over a half-packed box and glared. “How could you do this to him?”

  Briana had believed she was all cried out, but discovered there was a fresh supply of tears just waiting to flood her cheeks.

  “I couldn’t,” she sobbed. “I believed he’d leaked that story about my uncle Cecil and the prostitute that ran in the paper, the one that cost Uncle Cecil the election and allowed Patrick to win.” She stopped to blow her nose on a tissue she’d stuffed in her pocket. It was already tear-damp. “But he didn’t. He-he wasn’t even the one who l-leaked the story to the paper.”

  “Of course he wasn’t. What were you thinking?” Shannon yelled at her. “My brother is the most honest, uncomplicated man there ever was. He had to be bullied into running for mayor.” She stomped farther inside and slammed the front door behind her. “Believe me, he’d have been relieved if he’d lost the election.”

  “Okay, so I know that now. I didn’t at the time.”

  “I heard Patrick’s version of the story. Now I’d like to hear yours.”

  “Patrick wouldn’t listen.” She wiped her wet face with the back of her hand. “I was going to tell him last night. I planned to tell him everything.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not true. I was never going to tell him about the tape. I was going to destroy it. Except I lost it. Remember when I phoned you to see if you’d found anything in the elevator? I made up some lame excuse about a missing earring, but it was the tape I wanted. So I could destroy it.”

  Briana grabbed a fresh tissue. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Yeah.”

  So the two of them sat in the kitchen and drank coffee. Because she was such an emotional wreck, Briana wasn’t the most efficient packer today. There were plates piled on the counter, but she hadn’t boxed them yet. Cutlery was in a silver heap by the sink. Some things she couldn’t decide whether to keep or chuck were sitting on the counter beside the fridge. And blazing down at her from its prized spot on the refrigerator door was the picture Dylan had drawn for her. She cried anew every time she glimpsed it, but she wouldn’t take it down. She deserved the punishment.

  “Sorry about the mess. I need to get more boxes.” Except she couldn’t make herself go out to get them. She thought people might hiss at her and throw rotten eggs and tomatoes.

  Taking a sip of coffee, she told Shannon the truth. All of it. “I was wrong. What I did was terrible.” A tear dripped into her coffee, rippling the surface. Usually she added milk, but today black suited her mood.

  “What did you do with the tape?” Shannon asked. She’d listened in silence to the story and now stared at Briana with an implacable expression.

  “It’s in a million pieces in the garbage can.”

  “A million pieces?”

  Briana nodded. “First I mashed it with a hammer, then I cut the tape up with scissors.” She sniffed. “Then I burned it.”

  “I see.”

  “I thought it might make me feel better. But it didn’t. At least no one will ever be able to play that tape.”

  “Patrick’s sitting in his office expecting a media scrum any minute. He thinks you’re still out to destroy him.”

  “No!” She leaped to her feet, knocking the table so the coffee sloshed in their cups and slopped over the sides. “How can he believe that? I told him I would never use that tape. Why didn’t he believe me?”

  “I leave that to you to decide,” Shannon said. “He told me he won’t hide from the truth. He’s all ready to make a public confession.”

  “But, we have to stop him. He’ll hurt his career if he does that.”

  “He thinks you’re trying to kill his career, you and your uncle.”

  She shook her head. “Please, will you tell him no one will ever know about us?” She sniffed dismally at the thought. “And tell him I destroyed that stupid tape. I would never have used it against him anyway. I couldn’t.”

  “I don’t think Patrick would believe anything you told him. Not sure I do, either.”

  Briana dug into the pocket of her old jeans and pulled out a piece of metal. She handed it to Shannon.

  “What is this? It looks like shrapnel.”

  “It’s part of the tape recorder. I found it in the driveway this morning.”

  Shannon ’s eyebrows rose. “You sure did a number on that thing.”

  “I made a terrible mistake. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, sister,” Shannon said, dropping the twisted piece of metal to the table with a clink, “sorry isn’t going to cut it. What do you plan to do about your mistake?”

  Shannon was an imposing woman at the best of times, but in uniform, and standing at her full height of close to six feet, she was downright intimidating.

  “I’m leaving the city. I’ll start over somewhere new.” She almost choked on the words, realizing, now that it was too late, how much she’d come to love Courage Bay and feel at home.

  “Like I figured. You’re running away.”

  “Do you think you could leave me a little pride?” Briana was crying openly again, the tears running down her face faster than she could wipe them away.

  “Nope.” Shannon passed her a half-empty box of tissues from the kitchen counter.

  “Did you come to gloat?”

  “No. I came to make sure you do the right thing.”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” Briana sniffed. “I’m leaving. Patrick can forget about me and move on with his life.”

  “And what about his kids? What about Dylan and Fiona?” Shannon asked.

  Even hearing their names had Briana’s misery increasin
g. Oh, she was going to miss them. How could she not have noticed that she’d fallen in love with them, too?

  “My leaving is the best thing for them. They’ll get over me.”

  “I told you before, I only care about my family. And you are not going anywhere before you say goodbye to those kids.”

  “But Patrick would-”

  “The hell with Patrick. He’s not thinking any straighter than you are. Dylan and Fiona already had one woman they loved leave them without saying goodbye. Did you ever think of that? Instead of whining and sniveling over yourself, maybe you could think about how those kids are going to feel if they never see you again and never understand why. Do you think that’s good for them?”

  Briana shook her head, her misery so deep she’d lost the ability to think. Shannon was right, though. How selfish of her not to realize she owed those children a proper goodbye.

  “Okay. You’re right. I’ll go and see them.” She gestured vaguely around her. “Just as soon as I finish packing.”

  “The kids’ll be home from school by now. I’ll take you.”

  Briana gaped.

  “Come on. I’ve got to get back to the station house. I don’t have all day.”

  “I can drive myself.”

  “Quit arguing and come on.”

  Since Shannon was fitter, stronger and bigger than she was, Briana didn’t have much choice but to obey. It was best to get this over with anyway.

  She shoved her feet into sneakers and they walked outside. Briana blinked.

  “You came here in an official fire department vehicle?”

  “Be glad it’s not a police cruiser or you’d be in the back wearing cuffs.”

  LUCY BROUGHT Patrick a sandwich and put it on his desk without even being asked. Okay, so maybe she did show some initiative. Because he didn’t want to act as churlish as he felt, he thanked her and ate it. He couldn’t have said afterward what the filling was.