The Naked Truth(3)
“Nate, it’s Josh. Sorry to bother you as this hour, but I need to you to find out information on someone for me.”
“Okay, what did they do?”
“Nothing that I know of. It’s personal. A lost love, I suppose you could say. I want to know why her life took a turn for the worse.”
“Name?”
“Abigail Reese.” Josh didn’t think she was married. Nah, she couldn’t be. She was smart enough not to marry a deadbeat—he hoped. “She’s currently living in a small town in North Carolina.”
“Do you know if she has ever been in trouble?”
Abigail had said her life was good and she was doing well. “Not that I know of. Just a basic check on her. I don’t need her followed twenty-four seven or anything like that. I just want to know her story and how she got to the life she has now.”
“You got it.” Nate yawned. “I’m going back to bed. I should have something to you tomorrow.”
“All right. Thanks. Call me as soon as you have something.” Josh pressed the end button on his phone and then set it back on the nightstand. Hopefully he could get some rest now that he knew he’d have his answers soon.
* * * *
The next day, late in the afternoon, Josh had the answers he’d asked for. Nate called to tell him he hadn’t found much, but was sending over what he had. The printer spit out several sheets of paper. Once it was finished, Josh removed them and took them over to his bed.
As he’d suspected, Abigail hadn’t been in trouble. She lived in a small apartment downtown and had been working at the strip joint for over a year. Before that she had done some bartending and retail work. As far as her schooling, she’d dropped out, according to records, two months after their one night together. How odd.
So far he wasn’t learning much, but that changed when he picked up the last sheet of paper. She had a child. A four-year-old girl to be exact. The child’s name was Hailey and she attended a private pre-school. He stared at the face of the little girl and then his mother came to mind, whose name also happened to be Hailey. What a strange coincidence—or was it? Was it at all possible this child was his? He thought back to their evening and the year. He did the math. He wasn’t sure exactly, but there was a chance, he supposed. But if he was the father, why would Abigail do this alone? He was rich and there was no reason for her to be struggling the way she was. Besides, after all these years she would have contacted him at some point and told him. It wasn’t like he was some sort of monster.
One thing he was sure about was that the child was the reason Abigail had quit school. She must have gotten pregnant around the same time they were together, but whoever the child’s father was, he must have abandoned her. That a man could be so cruel disgusted him.
He picked up his phone and called Nate. “Hey, Nate, it’s Josh again. Did you find out anything about this kid’s father?”
“Everything I found, you have. It wasn’t much.”
Josh gazed at the picture. “I see that. I didn’t expect much. Is there any way you can get into the child’s school records and get a name of the father?”
“That’s illegal.”
Josh laughed. “Has that ever stopped you before?”
Nate also chuckled. “You’ve got a point. I’ll get back in touch soon.”
After the call was disconnected, Josh looked back through the papers for anything he’d missed. But it was pretty cut-and-dry. The only thing missing was information about the little girl’s father. It made him sick though to know what Abigail was doing for a living and it had to be because she was a single mother. He’d never had kids. Always wanted them, but hadn’t found the right woman to settle down with. Years ago he thought that woman might have been Abigail, but she’d just vanished into thin air, until now.
He rubbed his chin and decided he wasn’t going to let her slip through his fingers again. The woman needed him and he wanted her. Abigail deserved to return to school and finish her degree so she could give her daughter the best life. He intended to be there to help. And the first thing he had to do was convince her to stop stripping.
Grabbing his keys, wallet, and phone from the nightstand, he prepared to head to the strip joint to take care of that right then.
* * * *
Abigail kissed her daughter goodbye and thanked the babysitter as she did every night. This was the longest sitter that Hailey had had since she’d started this job. It was harder than she thought it would be to get someone to stay so late into the night—or early morning. But she paid the sitter well. There was no way she could afford the schooling her daughter was receiving or the babysitter if it wasn’t for stripping. She hated the job, but nowhere else could she make the money she did without a degree.