Cox put an arm against the wall to steady himself. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before?”
“What would you have done if I had?”
“I… well—I—”
“Right. Nothing, as usual. So I came in and cleaned up yet another mess.”
“Why didn’t she just have an abortion?”
“And end up like her?” said Jane, motioning to Tippi. “And it’s not quite as easy as you think, Danny. I contacted her. Told her that it would be okay. That I understood what had happened and didn’t hold it against her.”
“How did it happen?”
“Apparently you picked her up, I believe in a bar. You must have been extremely charming to convince her to have sex that quickly. Or perhaps it speaks to the class of woman you were attracted to.”
He put a hand to his forehead. “I don’t remember any of it. I swear.”
“So you don’t remember Sean King bringing you home?”
“King? Sean King? He knows?”
“He found you in the car with her. And he’s never said a word about it to anyone.”
“So that’s why you befriended him?”
“That was one reason, yes.”
He looked sharply at her. “Were there other reasons?”
“Don’t you even dare ask me that.”
“I’m sorry, Jane. I’m sorry.”
“Wright called me back about a month later. She’d missed her period. Then she’d found out for sure that she was pregnant. She was certain you were the father. She hadn’t had sex with anyone else. In fact, you were her first, she said. I believed her. She didn’t want any money or anything. She was just scared, didn’t know what to do. Much like Tippi Quarry. Tuck and Pam were living in Italy at the time. She had gotten pregnant, but had miscarried. She didn’t tell anyone other than me and Tuck. And the fact was that the baby was yours, even if you had it by a woman other than your wife. I couldn’t just let it go to a stranger, because I knew Wright wasn’t going to keep it. It was still your blood. I made an arrangement with Wright, and eight months later she trave
led to
Italy. I met her there. When the baby was delivered I took it to Pam and Tuck. When Pam came home later everyone just assumed the little girl was hers.”
“You kept all that from me?”
“Considering what you’ve tried to keep from me over the years, I’d say I have a lot of ground to make up.”
“But why all this for—”
“For a baby you got by screwing another woman? Like I said, she’s your blood. She’s your child, Dan. One of us had to take responsibility for it. And that one was me. It’s always been me!”
“You never told them? Tuck and Pam? That Willa was mine?”
“How could I? Go up to him and say ‘Oh, by the way, dear brother, this is Dan’s bastard child. Would you like her?’ And Diane Wright never met Pam or Tuck. She just assumed I’d lined up someone to take the baby. I never wanted her to know Willa’s new identity for obvious reasons. But Sean King found out that Pam only gave birth to two children. That’s why I had to keep the kidnapper’s letters from everyone and try to cover things up.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If they found out Willa was adopted, people might start digging, Dan. Like your political enemies. They could locate Diane Wright, maybe figure it out. Tie you to having sex with her and me arranging her baby, your baby, to go to my brother. There is no spin you can put on all that. Your career would’ve been over.”
“I see. I am very fond of Willa,” said the president. “I always have been. Maybe I sensed a connection with her.”
“She’s smart and good and sweet. And I would do anything to get her back safely.”