The Father of Her Son - By Kathleen Pickering Page 0,100
to be with your son. We can’t wait another day.”
She exhaled a breath. “Okay. You’re right.” She thought a minute. Looking totally stricken she said, “What should I wear?”
He laughed out loud.
A knock sounded at the door. Jake barged in carrying a large plate and two napkins rolled with utensils. “Glad to hear you two laughing.” He placed the plate on the small table. “Burning all that energy fighting off the bad guys requires a special meal. Crawfish étouffée. I’ll bring the beers to wash it down in a minute.”
Evan rubbed his hands together. They needed a moment of normalcy to offset today’s insanity. God bless Jake for making it happen. “Thank you, Jake. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Jake smirked. “Oh, yeah? Come with me to N’ Awlins. I’ll show you how it’s really made.”
Knee to knee, Evan and Kelly sat for the first time in agreement on their plans. This battle was going to be tough on Kelly, but he’d use every contact he knew to make her interview the harpoon that put the end to Buzz’s threats. Then he’d decide which direction their marriage would take. God knew he didn’t want to let her go, but she had to prove her courage here, or she’d lose him forever.
Kelly frowned. “What did you do with Matt?”
Between bites he said, “Michael showed up this afternoon unannounced. He’d had some church council meeting midtown so dropped in. They should be fine until we get home.”
“We have to explain to Matt what’s going to happen.”
He nodded. “I’ve made an appointment with a child psychologist for some pointers after lunch tomorrow. We should be ready for him by the time he gets home from school.”
Time to get the ball rolling. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the keypad on his cell phone. Watching Kelly as the number rang, he noticed that a subtle change in her body language had taken place today. Even though Campbell had wound her up with his threat, she seemed calmer. The tense energy that always seemed to drive her had softened as if releasing the muscles in her body from years of strain. While her eyes still held concern over the enormity of the undertaking that lay ahead, she popped a crawfish from the tip of her fork into her mouth as if eating the tiny morsel was the only thing in the world she had to do right now. Kelly had found peace within herself by making this decision to fight.
He liked that.
Steve answered the phone. “Evan! Good to hear from you.”
“Steve. Listen. I’m going to need the talk show set for a breaking news segment after the morning show. Kelly is going live with her story.”
The man actually hooted.
Evan shook his head. If it wasn’t for the fact that this story involved Kelly, he’d be right on board with his boss’s relief. But feeling the razor edge of unbiased reporting cut into his world personally had given him pause. When the dust settled Evan would reevaluate his approach to future reporting. He was still angry and not happy at all with having to go back to Steve because it looked like he was caving to Steve’s offer. But the issue at the moment wasn’t about him. He had to get the job done for Kelly. He’d do whatever it took.
Steve said, “Excellent, my man! I’ll arrange it immediately.”
“I appreciate it.”
“What’s the platform going to be?”
“Assault. Campbell forced himself on my wife when she was his nanny. She became pregnant from the event and hid the boy because there are no laws in New York State protecting her against Buzz taking custody of the child.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“God’s honest truth. It’s why I wanted you to let me work through this mess before going live. We are not only going to press charges against Buzz but will challenge New York State’s laws on their stand on protecting women who bear children from rape and keep their babies.”
Steve whistled low. “This is bigger than I thought. What made Kelly change her mind?”
“Madeline Campbell. She gave Kelly her blessing to speak out. Seems Madeline suspected the assault back when it happened and pretended it didn’t. Now she’s willing to back up Kelly’s story. Madeline Campbell wants her husband to go to jail.”
“This is perfect! We’ll be able to work this angle for months.”
Steve’s impersonal enthusiasm irked Evan. “We’re not doing this for you, Steve. So stop salivating.”