Nancy Warren - Aftershocks

He dressed carefully, and when he left the house, he was already preparing himself for one of the toughest days of his career.

Of his life.

There were no TV crews or reporters outside his house, for which he silently thanked the brass at the local media. This was Courage Bay, California, and the media would hound him at work rather than waylay him at home, where his kids would be upset.

It was one reason he’d be at his desk on time and accessible to any reporter who wanted him. He wouldn’t hide what he’d done. He was ashamed of his actions and he’d apologize. The rest, he supposed, was up to the people of the community.

He accepted that he might end up turfed out of his job, but he was going to do everything he could to lobby for someone decent to take over as mayor. Cecil Thomson and his heartless niece may have succeeded in destroying Patrick’s career, but they were going to discover it was a hollow victory. Cecil was never going to be mayor if Patrick could help it. He’d use every means at his disposal-every honest and ethical means-to make sure someone of decency and character held the mayor’s office.

Courage Bay deserved a good mayor. It had certainly had a string of lousy ones.

Gritting his teeth, he prepared for a media scrum when he reached city hall, but there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. He’d called Archie at home and requested a meeting first thing.

When Patrick got to his office, he was surprised for a second that the door was still locked. Grimly, he opened up and flipped on the lights himself.

When Archie arrived for their meeting, his first words were, “Where’s Briana?”

“I fired her.”

“What?” The man was so stunned he dropped his pen on the ground. “It’s not April Fools’ Day already, is it?”

“No.” Patrick sighed heavily. “You’d better sit down. You’re not going to like what I have to say.” And Patrick told his media manager the truth. All of it.

Archie didn’t say anything for a minute, but his face registered stunned disbelief. Then he blew out a breath. “Wow.”

“I’m sorry, Archie. I’m apologizing to you, and as soon as you think it’s right, I’m apologizing to the people of Courage Bay. I screwed up.”

“Whoa, there. I appreciate the apology, and there is no question that you screwed up, but let’s not go rushing out for a public whipping quite yet.” Archie leaned back and began tapping his pen against his binder.

“Archie, if you’re planning something, forget it. I did wrong. I’m not going to hide.”

Archie glanced at Patrick with eyes that weren’t nearly as condemning as he thought he deserved. “Patrick, I said you screwed up, and it’s true, you did. But you’re still a good man and the best hope Courage Bay has as a mayor. Should you have slept with your assistant? Hell, no. But I’m not going to pretend I didn’t notice there was more than professional respect between the two of you. You handled it quietly, you’re both single. I was ready to step in with a word if I’d suspected a problem.”

He tapped his pen against his binder again in a way that was getting on Patrick’s nerves. “You and Briana having a quiet romance wouldn’t be that big a deal. Briana setting you up for sexual harassment, however…”

The communications manager shook his head. “I’m obviously not as shocked as you are, but I’m beyond surprised. I would have pegged Briana Bliss as almost as decent, God-fearing and loyal as you are yourself.”

“Well, I guess she fooled us both.”

“More than the two of us. Everybody liked Briana. Hell, this is awful.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Okay, first thing I’m going to do is get you a temp for today.”

Patrick nodded.

“You shouldn’t have let her take that tape, buddy,” Archie said.

“I guess not,” Patrick admitted. “I was so angry I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Archie tapped some more. Patrick bit his tongue. He needed someone on his side, and he was relieved that his media manager was willing to be that someone. “Strange she hasn’t gone public with that tape,” Archie said. “I wonder why? Cecil will use it to divert attention from the funding crisis, of course.” He shrugged. “Right now, you’re still a hero and he’s one of the most unpopular men in Courage Bay. If I was his media advisor, I’d tell him to get that tape out today.”

“It’s a good thing you’re on my side, and not his.”

“Don’t worry.” Archie grinned. “I’ll do everything I can to keep Cecil Thomson out of that chair,” he said, pointing to the one Patrick was currently sitting in, “and you in it.”

Patrick nodded. He was pleased to hear he still had Archie’s support even after his admission. “Me, too. I’m not sure that’s possible, though.”

“It all depends on Briana, I guess. I’m going to call up a couple of old friends in radio and at the paper. If there’s any hint of anything coming down the pipe, they’ll tell me.”

Patrick rose and stretched. His limbs felt stiff, as though he’d been beaten. “I’m telling you again, Archie, I’m not hiding from this.”

“I hear you, but don’t do anything public without my say so. Agreed?”

He nodded shortly. “Agreed.”

Within the hour, he had a perky young temp he’d seen in the building before. Her name was Lucy and she had twin daughters a year behind Dylan at school. Lucy was pleasant on the phone, knew how to use the computer and showed absolutely no initiative.

He ached every time he walked by her desk and realized Briana was gone. And why.

Fortunately, he had nothing scheduled that couldn’t be rescheduled and Archie took care of that, insisting Patrick stay around until they knew what damage control would be required. He’d advised Patrick not to tell anyone that Briana was fired. She was off for the day and that’s all the information they were giving out. Tomorrow was soon enough for the paperwork and the lawyers.

So Patrick found himself in the office, stuck at his desk trying to work. But his mind felt foggy.

He’d told Lucy he was busy with important paperwork and not to be disturbed, then he closed his door.

About eleven-thirty, his office door flew open. He glanced up from staring blankly at a report, expecting to see Archie holding back a pack of baying reporters. Instead he saw his sister, Shannon, standing there. He was so surprised he blinked hard, as though she were an apparition.

“You should tell the temps there’s no point trying to keep me out,” she said, breezing in wearing full uniform. No, Patrick thought, no apparition would talk to him that way. “I was in the neighborhood and came to drag you off for lunch. Where’s…” Her words petered out when she saw Patrick’s face.

“My God, Patrick, what happened?” she asked in an entirely different tone. “You look like you did the day Janie died.”

Patrick rose from his desk and stalked to the window. “Nothing so tragic.” He stared out at the street below, wondering how much to tell his sister. Then he decided, the hell with it. The world would know soon enough. She might as well be among the first.

He turned back to her. “Briana isn’t the woman I thought she was.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“It means I fired her.” He told Shannon everything. About the tape, the confrontation, his plans to come clean. “Archie made me promise we’d wait and let them strike first.”

“Archie’s a smart guy, and you’re not firing on all cylinders today. Listen to him, bro.” She stood there, so serious in her navy uniform, a frown gathering on her face. “I can’t believe this,” she said finally. “I absolutely cannot believe it. Briana was in love with you. I’d bet my life on it.”