Page 62 of Waiting for Devon
The woman cried, “No!” and knelt next to the fallen man Jack presumed was Reed Barrington. “Oh, my God, Shane!” She cradled his head in her lap as he struggled to breathe and worked his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken.
“Shane?” Jack shook his sore fists.
“Yes,Shane! What’s the matter with you?” the woman demanded. “Are you insane?”
While Blair went to get a first aid kit, an older man joined them. “Who the hell are you? You just burst into my home and attacked my son. Speak, before I call the police.”
“I’m Dr. Jack Taylor, Devon’s ex-husband. You must be Jasper Barrington. Consider your age a blessing, otherwise I’d knock you on your ass, too, for what you did to Devon.”
“Why don’t you try knockingmeon my ass?”
Their heads swiveled to face the man standing in the doorway. He flexed his muscles and took menacing steps toward Jack. Jack balled his fists and planted his feet firmly beneath him. He bent his knees a little in anticipation of a fight. So,thiswas Reed Barrington, the man he’d seen with Devon in the clinic. As he assessed his brawny opponent, Jack wondered how he had won Devon’s heart. Recalling what she’d said and the way she’d looked in the clinic with her arm around Reed’s waist, he knew then he’d lost her. But now maybe he would have another chance to prove to her he had changed. At the moment, though, he still worried for her safety.
“Reed.We meet again. I guess you didn’t take my advice.”
Reed merely inclined his head. “You can have Devon if you want her.”
“You cocky bastard. All of you Barringtons make me sick to my stomach. You played with Devon’s life and ruined it. Now she’s missing, and you don’t give a damn.”
That startled Reed. His eyes reflected a moment of concern before it disappeared, and a blank expression replaced it. He offered a nonchalant shrug. “Why do you think she’s missing?”
“First of all,genius, I wouldn’t be here if Devon had safely returned to San Francisco. She called and asked me to meet her plane. She wasn’t on it. No one has heard from her, and she’s not responding to her messages. You know her. She would never do something like this. Of course, I never thought she would agree to be someone’s fake fiancée, either. That’s allyourdoing. If something has happened to her, it’s on you Barringtons.” Jack’s eyes pinned Reed. “Especially you. You have no idea how lucky you are to have earned Devon’s love.”
Reed didn’t flinch. Before Jack finished speaking, Jasper had called a personal friend in the Dallas Police Department.
“Detective Kennedy, it’s Jasper. We have a situation. Will you please come to the estate?” He paused. “Yes, of course. We’ll be waiting for you.” Jasper faced the others. “Detective Kennedy is on his way. Miss Turner, why don’t you take Shane upstairs and tend to him?”
Blair and Miss Turner helped Shane to his feet. He glared at Jack and vowed, “I will pay you back, Taylor.”
“Fuck you. You’re a selfish son of a bitch. If I had known the truth months ago, I would have outed you to your equally selfish father and extricated Devon from this situation before she stupidly fell in love with yetanotherselfish Barrington. And by the way, I include myself. If I hadn’t been such a selfish, short-sighted idiot, we would still be married.”
No one responded. Blair and Miss Turner left the living room with Shane being supported between them. Reed went to the bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey. He didn’t offer Jack a drink, and Barrington’s rudeness aggravated him even more.
“So was Devon right? Are you such a self-righteous jackass you wouldn’t forgive her for a situation out of her control? Do you even love her?”
Reed drained his shot glass and poured more whiskey. He gulped it and stared hard at Jack. “I’m not discussing Devon with you.”
“Coward,” Jack tossed at him. “You don’t even have the fucking guts to admit you drove Devon away.”
Reed slammed the shot glass down on the bar and started to leave the living room, but the hulking form of Detective Kennedy filled the doorway. Jasper approached him with an outstretched hand.
“Donald,” he greeted him by his first name. “Come in.”
“Jasper,” the detective acknowledged him. “What’s going on?”
“We’re not sure…”
Jack cut him off. “I’ll tell you what’s going on, Detective. My ex-wife, Dr. Devon Brooks, is missing. She never made it home to San Francisco yesterday, and she’s not answering her cell phone.”
“Your ex-wife, you say?” He removed a notepad from his inside jacket pocket. “And you are?”
“Dr. Jack Taylor. Devon and I have been divorced for a little over a year. And before you even think about pursuing me as a suspect let me be perfectly clear. I didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance. I’m here to find her.” Jack tossed his head in the direction of Reed and Jasper. “Talk to them. Old man Barrington was the last person to see Devon before she went missing.”
“Is that true?” Detective Kennedy turned toward Jasper.
“I have no idea,” Jasper replied.
Jack snorted in disdain and wanted to deck him for his cagey answer. “Liar.”
