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I wished I could help. I really did. Two years ago, I hadn't been quick to encourage her. I'd liked Jaime well enough, but she didn't seem a good match for Jeremy. I still wasn't sure that she was, but I now thought she deserved the chance to find out.
After Jaime finished unpacking, she took off to investigate potential venues for a future show. Clay, Nick and I got ready for our trip to Shanahan's office. While his administrative assistant wouldn't tell strangers where he was hiding, he or she might be persuaded to divulge a few details to a pair of urban professionals about to have their first baby and looking to make a very large investment to safeguard their child's future.
"I'll play husband and daddy-to-be," Nick said as we walked into the room.
"Yeah?" Clay said. "Well, not to complicate things, but how about the real husband and daddy-to-be plays the husband and daddy-to-be?"
"Won't work. You don't look the part. You look like the actor hired to play the part."
Clay made a rude noise and grabbed his wallet from the nightstand.
I turned to Clay. "Since when do you ever want to playact anyway? If you do, then fine, but if you're just complaining for--"
"Go ahead," Clay said. "Though I don't see how he looks any more like your husband than I do."
"He doesn't. But if we're about to have our first baby and going to Shanahan for investment advice, we have to look and act like urban professionals. Nick does. I can. You...can't. And you'd hate trying. So let's stop arguing. We still need to do a quick bit of shopping. I only have two sets of clothes, and neither screams prospective investment banker client." I picked up my sunglasses, then glanced back at Clay. "Oh, and speaking of disguises, remember to lend Nick your ring."
"Should I wear it?" Nick said. "If I'm wearing a wedding band and you're not, won't that look--"
His gaze went to my hand and he stopped, then grabbed it and lifted the ring finger, complete with both engagement and wedding ring. I'd worn the engagement ring on and off for years, and "on" for the past five, a sign to Clay that I was staying.
As for the wedding bands, while he'd worn his for fifteen years, to show that he considered himself married--whether I agreed or not--my own had stayed in the original case.
"When did you start wearing--?" Nick began.
"When I got pregnant. Though I may have to stop wearing it soon. It's getting tight."
"Ah." Nick smiled and dropped my hand. "Didn't want to walk around looking pregnant and unwed. I'll lay dibs on how fast that comes off once the baby's here."
I reached for the door handle. "It's not."
Clay grabbed the door and opened it for me. Nick jumped forward and pushed it shut again.
"Whoa, hold on. You're going to keep wearing it? Even after the baby?"
"What? You think I'm willing to have Clay's baby, but not wear his ring?" I grinned at Clay. "We're even thinking of making it legal."
"Wha--? Married? What happened to 'not in this lifetime, no way, no how'?"
"Did I say that?"
Clay opened the door. "More than once."
"Damn."
"But I won't hold you to it."
"Good of you."
"Wait a second," Nick said. "When did all this--?"
The closing of the door drowned out the rest as we headed into the hall.
Shanahan's secretary wasn't talking, but when we "suggested" taking our baby investment elsewhere, she admitted that he called in daily for messages. We gave her my cell phone number and Nick's. If Shanahan was the zombie's controller--and the one giving the orders to kidnap me--then if his secretary announced he'd had a visit from a blond pregnant woman, anxious to speak to him, he might make the logical leap. In fact, he probably would. All the better. With any luck, the opportunity to set up a meeting and catch me would prove irresistible.
Jeremy and Antonio's search of Shanahan's house hadn't revealed anything that would tell us where he was. They'd gathered a few leads--his ex-wife's address, restaurants he liked to frequent, the name of his golf club and such. Chances were that a guy on the run isn't going to pop by the club for a round, but unless we came up with something better, they'd check it out tomorrow.
After dinner, the Pack headed to the warehouse district where we'd first found Rose. It was barely dusk, but the area was empty enough that we didn't need to wait until nightfall. Jeremy wanted us to try hooking up with Zoe at Miller's again. She hadn't called, maybe because she didn't plan to or maybe because she hadn't remembered anything, but she was now our best source of information on the Shanahan family. First, though, we'd hunt for Rose.
