Scandalous 2 Page 0,21

What else is going on?" Jack says, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, sorry. The museum is a little bit skittish about housing your art. It's not like the major museums in the country where a good scandal helps draw in more patrons to see what all the fuss is about. They're a little freaked out by the size of the crowd."

"What's your impression? Do you think it has the same vibe as previous shows?"

"No," Gus says, lowering his voice, "there's something in the air making everyone tense."

"It's as bad as I thought, then. Listen, Brimstone flagged me. I think they're going to try to do something down there. They don't seem to realize that I won't be at the opening. Normally, I would have been, but with the way our honeymoon fell and the tour plans, I'm not going to be at an opening until the show is back in New York. That said, have you seen any trace of their people?"

"Holy shit," Gus says. There's some static, like he changed the phone to his other ear. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I got a letter today, anonymously. It said to look at the site. Either someone gave us a heads up or they want to make sure we're looking when things crash and burn. How'd you know who they were?"

"They send us shit from time to time, usually taunting letters saying that you're next. So I looked them up. I know exactly who they are. Since they seem to aim at one person at a time and they had someone else in their sights, I ignored it. You get fan mail and hate mail, Jack. I thought it was hate mail. I didn't think they'd seriously put you on the list next." Gus says some choice words over and over again.

Jack cuts him off, "Listen, I don't want anyone to get hurt. Take Kate and get the hell out of there."

"Done. We'll go to the airport now and grab a flight back. We should be there first thing tomorrow. And Jack..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not taking my head off about the painting. I didn't want anything to happen to it. I know how much it means to you and Abby. It was Kate's idea to drive it down." There's another smack. Gus's voice gets higher, "Well, it was. But I thought it was a good idea. It's my fault if something happens to it because of what we did."

"I know why you did it, Gus. Tell Kate thanks. It's nice to know someone else is watching out for us."

"No problem. See you in the morning."

Jack hits the END CALL button and tosses the phone on the table. There's an open pizza box between him and Abby. Her green eyes flick up to meet his. She looks so fragile lately. If he could take away her anguish, he would. Jack knows she tries to hide it and act like it's not there, but he knows her too well for that.

"So, everything's fine then?" Abby asks sarcastically, taking a bite out of a slice.

Jack presses his finger to the table, staring at nothing in particular. "Yeah," he laughs and looks up at her. "Gus said there are more protestors than usual, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

Worry flashes across her face and she asks, "Do you really think that the Brimstone people would do something to Kate and Gus? I mean, they're going after you, right?"

Jack glances at Abby and nods. "Yeah, but they'll aim at the people around me if they can. I wish I knew who threw them at us. The tour itself isn't controversial, especially since I married you and it was all over the press." Jack sighs and stares blankly.

Abby picks a piece of cheese off her pizza and pops it in her mouth. "So this is about something else?"

"Most likely."

She nods slowly. "And we have no idea what, or why they targeted you?"

"I'm an easy target Abby." Jack sits up and straightens, stretching his back. "I always have been."

"It's because you paint with your heart." She glances up at him. "There's no way to please everyone. I couldn't put my heart on a canvas and listen to people rip it apart. I don't know how you do that."

Jack walks over to her and pulls her up. Taking Abby in his arms, he says, "Because every painting is a memory of you. They can say what they want about the quality of my work, but when I