Page 104 of Waiting to Lose
JAKE FINISHED THE final encore and made his way to his dressing room, feeling an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Ang stood outside the door with a bottle of water in her hand. She handed it to him as he passed through the door. He nodded as his eyes spoke volumes to her.
He wiped his head with a towel and pulled his sweaty shirt off his head. Ang handed him a fresh one.
Caleb rounded the corner, smiling. “Fantastic job, Jake!”
Jake nodded but made no eye contact.
“Rob called. Said you need to call him ASAP,” Ang stated, returning his cell to him.
Jake nodded as he took another drink of water.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb questioned. “Does your throat hurt?” he asked, reaching into his pocket for the spray singers often use before a show.
Jake held his hand up to him. “No thanks, I’m good. Just tired. Is Dave out front?” he asked.
Ang nodded, handing him pictures to sign. She turned and he scribbled on her back, handing them back to her.
She took them and eyed him warily, concern flowing out of every pore.
“So, tomorrow afternoon, we have a scheduled interview at the hottest new talk show on television then a fan club luncheon and signing. Tomorrow evening we’ll head off to Jersey and wrap this baby up!” Caleb exclaimed excitedly.
“Make sure you tell them I willnotanswer any personal questions,” Jake insisted.
“They’re clamoring for a scoop. We need to saysomethingabout what happened.” Caleb huffed in frustration.
“No, we don’t. Unless you want me to tell the world that I was drugged and posed and that someone on my team is gunning for me?”
Caleb shook his head no, appearing defeated.
Jake shot him a burning gaze as he made his way through double doors, toward Dave. Dave handed him his leather jacket and Jake slid it on before rushing toward the car. The flashes made it difficult to see. He didn’t stop to sign autographs as he usually would. He pushed past and slid into the limo, pulling out his phone almost immediately.
“Tell me,” he said when Rob answered.
“You were drugged. There were traces of Ketamine in your system. There’s no other way they’d be there.”
“Son of a bitch.” Jake shook his head.
Rob continued, “We got more information on Peter’s supposed sister. It seems they weren’t blood related. Peter’s friend from grade school said that his mom was only married to her father for a few months until he found out she was using and divorced her. The stepsister was five years younger than him, but apparently he was infatuated with her and followed her everywhere. This ‘friend’ said it was creepy how he talked about her. He’d said something about how she was his family and how’d they be together forever. Even after their parents divorced, he kept trying to call her. She wanted nothing to do with him, but he never stopped trying.”
“Can we talk to her and see what she knows?
“I’m afraid we can’t.”
“Why?” Jake asked nervously.
“She died in a car accident ten years ago. Her name was Tessa Rose Thomas.”
Jake felt the air leave his lungs as he heard her name. Tessa… Tessa Rose. Thomas Rose. Thomas Markum. Peter Markum. Everything fell into place. The girl he’d dated who crashed her car after he broke up with her. The one he killed with his selfishness was the stepsister of the man who tried to rape Madi. It all clicked in his head. His mind ebbed and flowed over everything he’d known about him before this.
“Jake? Listen, I know this is major. I’m just as surprised as you are. But it all makes sense. The vendetta he has against you is because of her. It seems this friend also said he was devastated when she died. Said you’d taken away the love of his life and that you deserved to die, not her. I suppose he wanted to take Madi away from you.”
Jake’s eyes closed as pain shot through him. He’d caused so much pain. Pain to Tessa, and her family, even Peter. And then there was Madi. This was all his fault. His sins were coming back to haunt him. Just as he said the words in his mind, his head clung to a memory.
“Rob, there was a piece of hate mail I received. It always stayed with me, but I never knew why. See if you can get your hands on it. It said something about my sins and had the word crashed in it. I think it might be related.”
“You’ve got it.”
“There’s one more thing you need to know,” Rob said.
Jake drew in a deep breath and held it. “Tell me.”
“Ang was right. Greg and Caleb were talking outside your dressing room door in Melbourne, and Greg was holding a case of water in his arms. We’re going to find out why.”
***
