Page 61 of Waiting for Devon
“No, she didn’t tell me. I heard it from her sister, Emmaline. I’m here because Devon is missing. She called me yesterday and asked me to pick her up from the airport. She never made it to San Francisco. No one has seen or heard from her in over twenty-four hours now.”
“Dios mio!” Inez exclaimed in a soft voice. She addressed Blair. “Where do you think she is?”
“I don’t know, but it’s not like Devon to disappear without letting anyone know her whereabouts.”
Jack glanced around the waiting room. Dozens of pairs of eyes silently pleaded with him. He knew what Devon would want him to do. Treat these patients before searching for her. “Look, we need to clear this waiting room. Let’s triage these patients, then focus on finding Devon. Is there somewhere I can put my duffel bag?”
Blair led him to Devon’s office. Nostalgia hit Jack hard when he saw her white lab coat hanging on a peg behind the door. Her familiar scent assailed him. He prayed he would find her alive.
When Blair brought the first patient into an examination room, Jack asked, “Do you work here?” She seemed to know her way around the clinic and commanded it with an air of authority.
“I do. Devon and I opened it together. When she decided to leave, my father promised he’d find a doctor to replace her, but so far we haven’t had any luck. A physician’s assistant came in this morning for a few hours.”
“There’s a lot we need to discuss. I can’t wait to get my hands on your brother.”
“Which one?” Blair returned with an arched eyebrow.
“You have another brother? What did he do to Devon?”
“It’s a long story.”
“So Devon hinted when she called me. Let me do my job here first, then we’ll talk.”
Inez left soon after Jack started treating patients, and Blair promised to keep in touch with news about Devon. Working together quickly and efficiently, Blair and Jack sent the last patient out the door at six-thirty. Blair locked the clinic, and Jack followed her to her car.
He settled into the passenger’s seat. “So talk. What’s the deal with your other brother?”
“Reed. Here’s the short version. He and Devon fell in love and…”
“You’re kidding, right?” Jack interrupted with a snort. “She came to Dallas pretending to be engaged to one brother, Shane, isn’t that his name, but fell in love with the other? Reed?”
“That’s it in a nutshell.”
“I don’t believe this. Does Reed know the truth?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“I guess he didn’t take it well?”
“You guessed correctly.”
A stab of jealousy hit Jack. He always knew there was a possibility Devon could fall in love with someone else, but it hurt to hear it. Though that begged his next few questions. “What happened when Reed confronted her with it? Or did she confess to him on her own? Did he reject her, or did your father toss her out of his home?”
Blair glanced sideways at him. “None of the above. When Devon realized the extent of her love for Reed, and his for her, she went to my father and confessed the whole story. He already knew, of course, before Shane and Devon even left San Francisco. Anyway, Devon knew Reed would never forgive her for deceiving him, so she decided to leave. She said goodbye to me in a letter, and wrote one to Reed, too. He ripped up his without reading it. My father was the last person to see her.”
Anger burned in Jack. It coursed through his veins and caused heat to flush his face. “Damn you Barringtons! If something happened to Devon, it’s your fault. Where did your father see her? At your estate?”
“No. At Barrington Industries.”
“Now we have a place to start.”
They fell silent. During the rest of the drive, Jack didn’t know what was running through Blair’s mind, but he concentrated on confronting Jasper and Shane Barrington and finding Devon. He began to imagine the worst. Foul play.
Blair parked in front of the main house. “Dinner will be served shortly. We’ll find my father and Shane in the formal living room, probably having a drink. Reed’s been keeping to himself since he learned the truth.”
Jack followed Blair into the expansive home. Through the wide-open double doors of the formal living room, he saw a blond man he didn’t recognize cup the pretty face of a dark-haired woman. Smiling into her eyes, he planted his mouth on hers in a deep kiss.
Jack lost his tenuous hold on his anger. “You son of a bitch!” He rushed forward, spun the startled man away from the woman, and threw a combination of kicks and punches that sent the blond flying backward. Blood spurted from his broken nose and a split lip. “Devon loves you! And you’re fuckin’ cheating on her! She left because she didn’t think you would forgive her for your brother’s sham, and all the while you’ve been jerking her around. I should kill you!”
