A Fresh Start
Chapter Three
It was around seven pm; Jeffrey was walking down the east side of the Neva River in St. Petersburg Russia. It was mid-June so the city was in the middle of what the locals called "White Nights" He was walking back from a debriefing on the surveillance from the night before. For the last several years, the Russian Mafia had taken control of many of the city governments through out the country and Moscow had requested help from the US to clean up the mess. The agency had been ordered to send in operatives to infiltrate the Russian organization. Jeffrey had volunteered for the mission, along with his long time girlfriend and partner Rebeca.
A couple days before, while they had been getting ready for their shifts at the White Night's club they had made plans to meet for dinner tonight and then perhaps take walk along the river when they finished their shifts and debriefing. They weren't expected to be back at headquarters until the evening after next and they really hadn't had any time alone since this operation started. He missed her a lot in the last few days. "And tonight he had something extremely special to ask her." He thought, as he reached into his pants pocket for the small white box he picked up earlier that afternoon. "She's going to be totally blown away." He said, smiling as he walked up the street to their apartment. He was deep in thought, that's why he didn't noticed the two agents waiting on the front step of his apartment.
"O'Neill." They whisper as he walks up the steps.
Jeffrey spins around, no one in St. Petersburg knew his true identity he'd been given a complete bio and identification before contacting the owners of the club. Looking around he spots two men in Russian street clothes, but he can see the difference just from that distance.
"What are you doing here? Are you trying to blow my cover?"
"You're requested back at head quarters."
"What! No, I'm off for the next two days. I got plans tonight."
"This is an emergency."
"Come inside." Jeffrey says, opening the door to the apartment building. None of them spoke as they walk up the three flights of stairs to Jeffrey's apartment. Unlocking the door, he lets them in and then goes into the kitchen. Putting the bags of groceries on the small table, he turns to the two gentlemen. "What's going on?"
"We can't get into here. You've been ordered back to headquarters, immediately."
"Did something happen? Is our cover blown? What's going on?"
"We can't discuss it here. We were only told to bring you in."
"Alright, let me leave Beca a note." Jeffrey scribbles a quick note for her and then he leaves with the other two men.
They ride back to headquarters in silence. Jeffrey has a million thoughts running through his head. Had something happened to his debriefing, had their cover been blown, was Rebeca alright. As they were pulling up to a non-descript office building the pressure and silence came to be too much and Jeffrey asks again "What's happened?" Neither man answers him as they pull into and underground parking deck. Parking, they all get out of the car and walk into the building in silence.
Jeffrey rolls to his side, clinching tightly to the sheet that is lying at his waist.
When they reach the upper floors, Jeffrey is led to one of the briefing room. The office is strangely quiet as they walk through. And Jeffrey wonders about it, but his mind is too full of other things. After he is led into the briefing room, the two gentlemen leave him alone. For about ten minutes, Jeffrey stares at the walls surrounding him, the silence is killing him and it feels like the longest ten minutes of his life, or so he thought. When the door opens, he is surprised to see the head of operations for the agency standing in the doorway. "Lieutenant O'Neill."
"Sir, what's going on?"
"We have a situation Lieutenant?"
"Okay."
"When was the last time you saw your partner."
"Beca, it was the morning before last. When she left for her shift at the club, why?"
"She missed her check in time yesterday morning."
"What! She wouldn't do that."
"I know, but none of the agents with her has seen her since before her shift was to start at the club."
"We have to find her." Jeffrey says, standing up and walking towards the door.
The director steps in front of him. "We have every agent looking for her."
"No, I have to be out there. She has…"
"We'll find her. She may have just been late to check in. We don't know that something…"
"Yes we do. She would never, never misses her check in times." Jeffrey replies, walking around the Colonel.
"Jeffrey, if you go looking for her, you'll blow your cover."
"I don't care about my cover. If she's in trouble she needs me."
"Jeffrey, I know you two have…"
"I was going to ask her to marry me, tonight. I have to find her." Jeffrey says, pulling the door to the debriefing room open.
Jeffrey sits up in the bed, staring at the room in front of him. Gasping for breath, he can't think for a few seconds as the residual memories of the dream plays through his mind.
"What the hell was that?" Jeffrey thought, as he gasps for breath. "Why would I dream about her now? I didn't even dream about her when Cassie showed me her picture." Jeffrey says, rubbing his face with his hands. Sitting up on the side of the bed, he let his memory drift back to the next few days after Beca had come up missing.
After leaving headquarters that evening, he had gone back to their apartment hoping that she had somehow turned up. No one was there. He could remember the hollow sound of his voice when he called her name as he opened the door to the apartment and then the silence afterwards. Closing the door, he starts back downstairs, but as he reaches the lobby two agents from the agency stop him.
"Lieutenant, Colonel Mathews has ordered you to stay here."
"I can't, I have to find her." Jeffrey says, trying to walk around them.
"I'm sorry, but you must stay here until we know more." One of the agents replies, as they both block him from leaving.
"I have to go look. I can't just stand here and wait." Jeffrey pleads, as the two men turn him around and start back upstairs. "Let me go." He demands, but the agents continue towards his apartment. "Please, I have to find her." Jeffrey pleads, until they close the door to his apartment.
For the next three days, every time Jeffrey had opened his door one of the agents would be there. He even tried to sneak out through the fire escape but another agent had stopped him and escorted him back to the apartment.
During those three days, he had spent them staring at the white box he had bought, now sitting on the coffee table in their living room and praying that she would come home to him.
On the third day, someone finally knocks on the door to the apartment and he nearly ran to the door, hoping it would be her. That she was safe. He felt disappointment wash over him as he stares at one of the agents guarding the apartment.
"What! I'm still here. I haven't…"
"Colonel Mathews just called…."
"They found her. Is she alright?" Where has she been?" Jeffrey fires questions as he pulls the door closed.
"Colonel Mathews didn't say. He only said to bring you down to headquarters."
"Let's go." Jeffrey says, running downstairs.
"The agency had sent one of the local cars to pick Jeffrey up, just one more attempt to keep cover." Jeffrey thought, as they pull away from the apartment.
When they finally reach the office building, Jeffrey didn't wait for the car to park. The moment it slows down he is out and gone before the other agents can follow.
When he reaches the briefing room where he had been brought three days before he opens the door as he says "Bec…" He stops as he stares at a room full of other agents.
"What's going on? Where's Beca?" One of the agent's steps aside as Colonel Mathews came forward. "Jeffrey, why don't you sit down?"
"No, tell me. Where is she?"
"Please, sit down."
Jeffrey sits down as Colonel Mathews sits down beside him and Jeffrey looks around the room at the other agents, each one looking away when their eyes met, before he asks. "Where is she? Did you find her?"
"We have agents just west of the city, checking out a scene of an accident."
"How do you know that she's involved?"
"We received a note yesterday afternoon."
"What note? Who was it from?"
"Here." Colonel Mathews says, pulling a piece of paper from a folder laying beside him and handing it to Jeffrey. "We'll leave you alone." Colonel Mathews says, motioning for everyone to leave the room, closing the door behind him. Slowly Jeffrey opens the note and immediately he recognized Beca's handwriting
"My darlin Jeffrey,
"I'm so sorry but I can't do this anymore. It has to be this way. Please forgive me." Beca,
Jeffrey stares at note as tears fills his eyes. He refuses to believe what those few sentences imply. Several minutes later, Colonel Mathews comes back in the room. "Well." Jeffrey whispers, staring at the open note lying on the table.
"The agents found the accident site and a car similar to hers."
"Did they find a body?"
'Yes, but we won't know anything until all the tests are run."
"So you don't know for sure it's her."
"No, not till we get the results back."
"I want to go out there."
"I don't…."
"I have to. I have to see it with my own eyes."
"I'll have one of the agents take you to the scene. But I have to warn you, Jeffrey that scene is…" Jeffrey just nods as he stands up.
Through the next few days very little information came through. The body that was pulled from the car wasn't able to be positively identified. All of the victims teeth had been pulled so she couldn't be identified through dental records and the actual body was burned beyond recognition.
As the months wore on Jeffrey began to accept the fact that she wasn't coming back, although the agency couldn't conclusively prove that Rebeca had been killed in that accident. On the other hand, they couldn't prove that she was alive either.
A couple weeks after her disappearance the Russian government moved on the club, he and Rebeca had been working at. With the help of the agency, they were able to bring down most of the Russian Mafia's ties to Saint Petersburg, and Jeffrey was assigned to another operation in East Germany.
Jeffrey closes his eyes and immediately Rebeca's face, smiling at him the last morning he saw her alive fills his mind. "What would have happened if you hadn't've died?" Jeffrey thought as he lays back down, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
The next morning the buzzing of Jeffrey's alarm clock woke him from a restless sleep. It had taken him a couple of hours after the dream for him to relax enough to go back to sleep. And still he was plagued by images of Beca and St. Petersburg. Pushing the covers back, he sits up.
He feels completely drained. His head hurt and his eyes feel like he had buckets of sand poured into them. Slowly he walks into the bathroom. He isn't surprised to see the effects of the restless night he had. He wanted to call City hall and tell them he wouldn't be in, but he didn't. Turning on the shower as hot as he could stand, he stands under the spray for several minutes.
He has just turned the water off in the shower when the phone in his nightstand starts to ring. Grabbing a towel he runs for the bed, pulling the drawer open, he picks the phone up.
"Hello."
"Password?" A voice asks.
"2223237." Jeffrey replies
"Colonel O'Neill, you have a call from Washington. I'll put it through."
"Thank you." After a couple clicks the calls are connected.
"Jeffrey, its Noah Chase."
"What's going on?"
"You need to fly down here."
"I can't, I'm in the middle of some important stuff that needs my full attention. Has there been any change?"
"No, he's still in a coma."
"Then, why do I need to come down."
"We found the woman that ordered the hit. They're bringing her in tomorrow morning."
"How did we find her?" We've been looking for her since the accident."
"Apparently she decided to come back home from the islands."
"You're sure she's the one that ordered the hit."
"Yes, the guy that messed with his brakes positively identified her from the pictures we showed him at the time of his arrest."
"Alright, I'll see if I can get down there this weekend, but I can't get away before then."
"Alright, we'll see you this weekend."
"I'll try." Jeffrey replies, hanging up he quickly gets dressed and leaves for City Hall.
It is a few days before William is able to make it over to the villa. Will is still in school but William had left orders that at soon as he returned to bring him to the villa.
"Alon… William." Cassie says, opening the door when he knocks.
"Cassie, it's so good to see you. I was surprised at your request to stay on the island for the summer. I thought things were going pretty well for you in Springfield." He says, walking into the house.
"Yes, well looks can be deceiving." Cassie replies, as she leads the way into the living room where she and Richard had stayed so many times. Sitting down on the couch, she watches as William sits down beside her.
"You want to tell me what happened?"
"It's a lot of things. I just realized that I needed a break. I need to get my head back on my shoulders."
"It looks like it is." He says, smiling at her
"You know what I mean. Ever since Richard, I've been running, running from his death, running from being alone. I've put RJ through one relationship after another. I lost my daughter. And then there was the whole fiasco with Josh, and I'm afraid that I've completely destroyed my relationship with my sister. I pushed Jeffrey away. I convinced myself that I loved Edmund. Everything has been so screwed up for the last few years."
"Cassie, what happened with Richard is enough to rock anyone's world, especially yours. You two loved each other so deeply, so completely and really you were just getting started on your life together and…" He snaps his fingers, "…like that it was over. You can't blame yourself for going a little crazy."
"I went to Edmund, after all the things he did to me and Richard and…."
"Edmund lied to you."
"Yes he did, but that still doesn't excuse me. I knew what he was. I knew how he felt about Richard and I should have realized what he was doing."
"Edmund is a good actor. He knows how to manipulate people, take me for example he manipulated me into giving him Richard's job. Oh, it was Alexandria Spaulding that made the formal request, but he still manipulated the situation, but manipulating her. Richard warned me about him, but I wanted to trust him. He is my brother after all."
"Okay, so maybe we're not at fault about Edmund, but Jeffrey certainly didn't deserve what I did to him. I tossed him aside like yesterday's news for my sister's husband. He made one mistake. Look at all the things I've done in my lifetime, all the mistakes I made and I couldn't... no, I wouldn't forgive him. He loved me. He loved me the way Richard loved me, wholly and completely and I pushed him away for Josh, for my sister's husband and to make matters worse she was dying of cancer and I was too blind and selfish to see it."
"Cassie, you were not the only one involved in that, Josh was too. If he loved Reva so much, why didn't he insist that she tell him what was going on? He didn't, instead he focused on the hospital project and…"
"And me."
"And he ignored his wife when she needed him most."
"You're right, we should have made her tell us what was going on, but I was so caught up in my own stuff that I couldn't even see that she was dying of cancer."
"Okay, you realize you're wrong. You changed it. You're not expected to be perfect Cassie. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you go on."
"That's why I'm down here. I'm going to take this summer and I'm going to focus on my son's and getting my life back into control. And after the summer is over, we'll see where we are?"
"Well, I know one little boy who will be very happy to see you. He's been missing you."
"I know. It's been a long time since I was down here. How has he been doing? Is he adjusting to being here and being with you?"
"He's eating it up. He's so bright and he picks things up so quickly and sometimes he can see things before I can figure them out. It's amazing. But there is something I need to tell you."
"He hasn't been sick has he? His liver is okay?"
"No, no, he's fine. The doctor's given him a clean bill of health. No this has to do with Camille."
"Camille, what does she have to do with anything? You banished her after you became prince."
"Yes, I know I did. But after Richard died and you brought Will down here last summer I allowed her come back to island."
"You what!"
"I allowed her back on the island. I thought she could use the chance to get to know Will and he would know his natural parents. I did it for Will."
"After she cost me my life, cost Richard his life, his country, everything he ever worked for. After everything she did with Dax, and you let her back on the island. Is she still here?" Cassie asks standing up.
"No, I had her deported the day I talked to you about the phone calls not getting through."
"Deported, why?"
"Because she was the reason that you weren't getting through to me, she had ordered the communications staff not to put any of your calls through. When I found out and confronted her, and told her that you were coming down here for the summer and she threatened you and Will. That was the last straw."
"How come I didn't see her when I was down here last summer with Edmund and Jeffrey?"
"I didn't contact her until after you left."
"And why didn't Will ever say anything about this when I talked to him?"
"I told him not too."
"You told him not to, why?"
"Because I knew this would be your reaction and I didn't want to worry or upset you."
"Given what she's done? Do you blame me? She ruined my life."
"She also gave you Will."
"That's the only good thing she's done." Cassie replies, pacing in front of couch. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I felt that I should tell you, maybe to show you that you're not the only one that makes errors in judgment."
"You mean you're not the perfect Prince." Cassie says, stopping her pacing and looking at him.
"No, I'm not." He replies, as the front door bursts open and Will runs into the house, running straight for Cassie.
Cassie catches him before he slams into her, wrapping her arms around him she holds him tight while William watches.
Through the rest of the week, Jeffrey is plagued by memories of Rebeca. He buries himself in work, either working on the investigation into Doris's connections to Alan or in meetings with the current mayor about different projects he had started. On Friday afternoon, he is coming out of Company as Ava is coming in.
"Dad." She says, walking over to him and giving him a hug
"Hi."
"Where have you been? I've come by your room several times this week and you were never there."
"I've been busy at City Hall and the investigation."
"How is that going?"
"Good, I'm waiting for a faxed statement from the guy that Alan used to run over Tammy, once we have that, we'll see were we are."
"Okay, so what are you doing this weekend?"
"Actually, I have to fly down to Washington."
"Washington D.C."
"Yes, I have some business to take care of down there."
"When will you be back?"
"I don't know, probably Sunday evening. Why?"
"I was just curious. I thought maybe we could hang out."
"What about Mike?"
"He's out of town this weekend."
"Down at his parents, I forgot he goes about once a month."
"Yeah, so I have the whole weekend free."
"Well then, why don't you go to Washington with me?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'll be busy most of the weekend. But there's a lot to do down there. I think you'll like it. We might be able to take in some of the sites while we're there."
"I'd love to go."
"Good, I'll call my travel agent and book you a ticket."
"Okay."
"I've got to go to a meeting, but I'll call you with the time we're leaving. I would go home and pack."
"I will. I'm just going to grab something to eat."
"Make it more than a salad." Jeffrey replies, as Ava walks away.
She nods as she walks into Company and Jeffrey turns for his truck.
"May I help you?" Camille's mom asks when she answers the door.
"Yes, we need to speak with Ms. Johnson."
"She's upstairs, she's been quite upset since she's gotten home.
"Could you please get her?"
"Yes Sir."
Mrs. Johnson walks to the stairs. "Camille, there are a couple of gentlemen here to see you."
"I'll be down in a minute Mom." Camille calls, getting up and glancing in the mirror as she wipes the tears from her face. Walking downstairs, Camille is surprised to see two federal agents in her mother's living room. "May I help you?"
"Are you Camille Baptiste?"
"Johnson, I went back to my maiden name after my divorce."
"But you are the ex-wife of William Winslow, Prince of San Cristobel."
"Yes."
"Could you please turn around?" One of the agents replies, pulling a pair of handcuff from his pocket and taking Camille's arm.
"Camille! What's going on?" Mrs. Johnson asks
"I don't know."
"Ms. Johnson, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Richard Winslow. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you can not afford an attorney one will be provided for you, do you understand these rights?"
"Yes." Camille replies.
"What are you doing? My daughter did not try to kill anyone." Mrs. Johnson says, standing in front of the door, blocking the agents exit.
"Ma'am, you need to step out of the way."
"Mom, it's alright. I'll take care of this." Camille says.
"Camille, what's going on?"
"I don't want you to worry. I'll be back before you know it."
"Mrs. Johnson, please step out of the way." One of the agents says.
She moves away from the door, and watches as the agents take Camille out to the black sedan parked in front of the house. She watches as they help her into the back of the car and then one of the agents slide in beside her and then they leave.
Camille doesn't say a word as they drive to the airport and board a plane. When they land in Washington, two more agents are waiting for them. They pull up to an building, parking in the lower parking deck they walk inside and lead Camille into a holding room, closing the door behind her.
"Let him know that we're here." One of the agents tells another agent.
"Yes Sir." Picking up a phone from one of the desks and pushing a button.
"Yes." Noah says, holding down the intercom button
"She's here."
"I'll be right down. Has she said anything?"
"No, not a word since we picked her up."
"Okay."
Noah is leaving his office when his private cell phone starts to ring, pulling it from his pocket, he answers on the second ring. "Jeffrey."
"I just landed."
"You need to come straight here."
"They've brought her in?"
"Yes, she waiting for us."
"I'll be there as soon as I drop my stuff off at the hotel."
"I'll wait till you get here."
"Alright." Jeffrey says, as he and Ava climb into a waiting cab. Hanging up as the cab pulls away from the curb.
"You have a meeting already."
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. I'll just hang out. Maybe take a walk or something."
"I'll try to finish this up as quickly as possible."
"Okay."
Jeffrey gives the driver the name of their hotel and then settles back to watch as they drive into Washington. He'd been there many times over the years, usually at the end of an operation for debriefing before he was sent out again. He didn't mind Washington, but he preferred New York when he was at home for any length of time. A picture of Rebeca flashes in his mind and he shakes his head slightly "I can't think about her." He thought, turning to Ava. "If you get hungry before I get back to the hotel, there is a little bistro just a couple blocks down that is wonderful. I'll try to be a quick as I can with this."
"Alright." Ava replies as the cab pulls up to their hotel.
Opening the door, Jeffrey gets out and then turns to help Ava as the bell hop comes for their luggage. Walking into the lobby, they walk over to the front desk.
"I need to check in." Jeffrey says, walking up to the counter.
"Yes Sir, may I have your name."
"Jeffrey O'Neill."
"Yes Mr. O'Neill, we have a room for you." The clerk replies, as she pushes some keys on her computer and then hits the print button. When the papers have printed, she hands them to Jeffrey and says, "Could you please sign here?" She finishes, handing him a pen. After signing the papers, she hands Jeffrey a set of key cards and then he turns to Ava.
"Can you get upstairs?" Jeffrey asks, handing her one of the key cards.
"Yes, I can handle it."
"Thank you, I'll be back as soon as I can." Jeffrey replies, walking back across the lobby as Ava and one of the bell hops head for the elevators.
Hailing another cab, Jeffrey slides inside and then says "NIS headquarters."
"Yes Sir." The cab replies, pulling away from the hotel as Jeffrey reaches into his jacket pocket to make sure that he has his ID with him. A few minutes later, they pull up to the front.
"You can drop me off here." Jeffrey says, as the cab stops and he hands him some money. "Keep the change." Jeffrey says, as he opens the door and gets out.
"Thank you. " The cab driver replies, as Jeffrey closes the door and starts walking towards the guard's shack.
A man in an military uniform steps from the shack as Jeffrey pulls his ID from his pocket and shows it him as he waves him on through.
"Thank you, Jeffrey says, walking away from the shack and towards the building.
When he reaches the building, he pulls out his badge and clips it to his belt before he enters the building, nodding to the security guard as he walks past the front gate to the elevators. Pushing the up button he waits for the elevator and then steps on after it is empty, pushing the button for the second floor, he rides up in silence.
"It's been years since I have been in this building." Memories of the first time he had come here after Rebeca flashes through his mind as the elevator doors opens and he steps out. Turning right, he starts down a long hallway, at the end of it is a large room where most of the active agents who were assigned as field assignments work, it also holds a series of holding rooms, were they would bring suspects in to question.
There are a group of agents standing around, talking amongst each other as Jeffrey walks up. One of them looks up and stares, drawing the other agent's attention. Most them knew Jeffrey before his surgery and they had seen pictures of Richard before his death but none of them were prepared for how much Jeffrey resembled Richard.
"He's and exact duplicate." One of the agents whispers as Jeffrey walks by.
"I know." Another agent replies, as the door to a holding room opens and Noah walks out.
"All right, back to work." Noah says, as he walks up to Jeffrey, holding out his hand. "Jeffrey, it's good to see you. Sorry about that."
"And you Noah. And I'm sort of used to it."
"Have you talked to her?"
"Yes, but she's not saying anything."
"She's not even denying it."
"No! She won't say anything. She's not even asking for an attorney."
"Let me see if I can get her to talk." Jeffrey says, walking towards the room as Noah smiles.
Opening the door, Jeffrey walks into the holding room as Camille looks up. Gasping, she stares at Jeffrey. "Richard!" She squeaks, but Jeffrey didn't reply. "You're supposed to be dead. He…"
"He what?" Jeffrey asks, smoothly changing into Richard's voice.
"He promised me! He swore…"
"That I wouldn't survive." Jeffrey says, continuing in Richard's voice.
"Of course, I paid him a hundred thousand dollars."
"That's all my life was worth to you."
"Yes, in fact I thought it was a bit much, considering how completely your precious Cassie ruined my life. You took everything away from me, William, my son. You deserved to die." Camille says, standing up as one of the agents standing beside the door steps forward, but Jeffrey waves him back.
"What are you going to do Camille? Finish the job. That might be hard with all these witnesses around."
"You ruined my life!" Camille shouts.
"No, you ruined your own life. Cassie and I were more than willing to allow you to see Will, but you had to manipulate William into taking the throne."
"That's were he belonged. It's where…"
"Where you belonged?" Jeffrey asks.
"Yes!" Camille shouts. "Your precious Cassie took everything away from me. That is why I had to take everything she held so dear." Camille sits down, staring at Jeffrey
"That is why you hired that man to try and kill me."
"Yes!" Camille shouts. "He'll be sorry he crossed me. You all will."
"Thank you, Ms. Johnson. And by the way, I'm not Richard." Jeffrey says calmly, switching back to his normal voice as he opens the door and walks out of the room. Camille stares at the door.
"That was brilliant." Noah says, as he walks out of the observation room, closing the door behind him.
"Did you get everything?"
"We got it all."
"Good what about the charges?"
"She's charged with attempted murder."
"You know if we only charge her with attempted murder and not murder one, they're going to know that he's still alive."
"I know, and I wish we could charge her with murder one, but we can't because he did survive."
"What about the conspiracy charges?"
"She'll be charged with that too. "
"Good, then I need to head for San Cristobel."
"Why?"
"First I need to see William and tell him that Camille has been arrested for Richard's accident and then I need to tell Cassie that Richard is alive."
"Why do you need to tell her? He's still in a coma."
"Can you imagine her reaction if we don't tell her." Jeffrey says, looking at Noah.
"I see what you mean but isn't she in Springfield?" Noah asks, as they walk through the office to the hallway
"No, she took RJ and went to San Cristobel for the summer."
"Oh, I guess she needed to get way after the Josh and Reva thing."
"How do you know about that?"
"I check WSPR's website on occasion." Noah replies while they wait for the elevator.
"Umm, I'm going to head back to my hotel. I left Ava there."
"I was surprised to hear about that too. I never pegged you as the father type."
"You weren't the only one, and I never thought of myself as the father type either." Jeffrey replies, as the elevator arrives and he steps on. Holding the door open, "I'm learning to be a father and I'm actually enjoying it." Jeffrey says with a smile.
"I would freak out if I had a grown child show up."
"I was at first."
"I would love to meet her."
"No, not with your reputation." Jeffrey says, as Noah smiles. "Since we've got this wrapped up. I need to see what she wants to do." Jeffrey replies, nodding towards the office.
"I understand, maybe next time."
"Yeah, next time." Jeffrey replies, releasing the button that was holding the elevator door open.
"I'll let you know what happens."
"Thanks." Jeffrey replies, as the doors close.
When he reaches the lobby, Jeffrey pulls his cell phone from his pocket and dials William's private line, after a couple rings he picks. "Hello."
"William, its Jeffrey."
"What's going on?"
"I need to talk to you in person. Are you leaving the country anytime soon?"
"No, not till next month."
"Good, I need to make some arrangements and I'll get back to you."
"Can you tell me what this is about?"
"I'd rather tell you in person."
"Alright, I'll be waiting for your call."
"Okay." Jeffrey replies, as he slips into a cab, giving the driver the name of his hotel as he hangs up the phone.
As he settles back into the cab, he dials Ava's cell phone, after a couple rings she answers. "Hello."
"Ava."
"Hi, what's up? I thought you were in a meeting."
"It's taken care of. Where are you?"
"I'm just a few blocks from the hotel. I went to get something to eat."
"I'm on my way back."
"Alright, I'll meet you there."
"Okay." Jeffrey replies and hangs up.
3.15