Hot Pursuit

Chapter 3

3

Amazingly, Merry's day kept getting even busier.

She finished her article on the campground arson fires—with no mention of her suspicions. Douglas Wentworth took one look at it and proclaimed it "too boring to publish."

Thanks, Will Knight.

To avoid letting her temper get the best of her around her new boss, she hauled her laptop down to the Venus and Mars Cafe.

When she'd first arrived in Jupiter Point, the cutesy business names had seemed absurd to her. The Milky Way Ice Cream Parlor, the Goodnight Moon B & B, the Orbit Lounge and Grill…she'd rolled her eyes all the way down Constellation Way. But tourists loved it, which was the entire point. This area was known for its clear skies and outstanding stargazing. By playing up the star theme, Jupiter Point had transformed itself from a struggling fishing community to a favorite destination for honeymooners.

Merry honestly didn't care what the Venus and Mars was called, as long as it kept serving her favorite cinnamon lattes and caramel-drenched sticky buns.

After snagging a corner table, she set down her latte and drew her imaginary cone of silence around her. Big Bose headphones, check. Open laptop, check. Furious focus on the screen, check. This was her happy place—work. To her, work wasn't "work"—it was a chance to claim her place in the world. A chance to matter, a chance to shine.

She loved every part of being a reporter for the Mercury News-Gazette. She loved interviewing people, digging for information, exposing injustice. Of course, most of her assignments involved tedious city council meetings or budget hearings—but she did her best to make those stories interesting as well. Seeing her byline on the front page thrilled her every single time.

Face it, she was a nerd at heart.

A detail had been nagging at her. Recently she'd written a story about the challenges faced by single mothers. She'd interviewed a waitress who worked at a bar near the waterfront. The waitress had talked about sticking with a job longer than she wanted to because she needed the money. But eventually she'd quit because they offered her some kind of illegal opportunity. She wouldn't say what, but Merry got the definite sense it involved drugs.

To Merry, that amounted to a lead worth following up on.

Of course, she intended to honor her promise to Will about the opioids story. Pissing off the best sheriff's deputy in town would not be a good idea. But just because she'd committed to not publishing something didn't mean she couldn't explore it. That way she'd have something ready to go when he gave the all-clear.

She pulled up the notes she'd made on that interview and scanned through until she found the name of the bar. The Rootin' Rooster.

On the restaurant's website, she found more nuggets of information. Its slogan: "Where you're the c**k of the walk." It offered "eats, drinks, and good company," along with a cartoonish busty woman winking. It also claimed to be the "home of the world famous Roosterburger."

Okay then. Not a place she would ever go voluntarily. Nevertheless, she clicked on the "employment opportunities" tab. Waitresses wanted. Minimum wage plus tips. Night hours required.

Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. But for a story, she'd take a chance. At the very least, she could pretend to interview for a job just to check the place out.

She was about to call the number when her phone beeped.

"Tobias Knight here," a deep voice rumbled. "Will gave me your number."

That was Will Knight for you. For all his annoying qualities, he always followed up. Solid as a mountain. "Right. Thanks for calling. He mentioned a tour, and said you guys could take me up in a plane."

"Did he? Well, whatever Will said. You tell us."

"Do you always do exactly what Will says? Is it the badge or the bossiness?" Apparently, all members of the Knight family brought out her sass.

"Huh. He mentioned something about attitude."

Her face heated. "Sorry. Will and I, we…have our issues."

"Uh-huh." Amusement deepened his voice. "Good to know. So when can you come out here?"

She set up a time to visit Knight and Day Flight Tours. From the sounds of it, Tobias was a lot like Will. Alpha man, bossy, arrogant. She had their number.

After they'd set up the appointment, she glanced at her watch and realized she had to leave for the weekly evening class she taught at the community college. She ordered a sandwich to go and ate it on the drive to the campus, smiling as she remembered Will's comment about only eating foods she could consume while driving.

Will had a good sense of humor, when he chose to. Too bad most of the time he was such a stern, impassive guy.

At the college, she raced into the classroom to find her students laughing at someone's i********: feed. She quickly brought the class to order and tackled the week's subject—how to distinguish a legitimate source from a false one. A passionate discussion about "fake news" followed, which Merry enjoyed to the hilt.

Afterward, she poked her head into her friend Carolyn's office. Carolyn lay flat on the floor with her legs propped against the wall. She had a guest-teaching gig at another college for the semester, but she came back once a month to oversee a few ongoing thesis projects. The schedule exhausted her.

"Uh-oh, one of those days?"

Carolyn groaned. "I can't even. I just need my happy place right now. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sure. If you need to ditch the Zen and get cocktails, let me know. My treat."

"You're a bad influence."

"I try." Merry blew a kiss at Caro, who waved backwards from her flat-on-her-back position.

"Oh wait," Caro called as Merry turned away. "Someone was looking for you."

"A student?"

"No, he said he's from New York. He seemed really anxious to meet you. He said he emailed you but you didn't answer."

And that was when Merry's day turned from busy to utter disaster.

Only one stranger from New York had emailed her lately. And she hadn't answered for a reason. "Where'd he go?"

"I wasn't sure if he was legit, so I told him to wait in the snack room." Caro drew her legs down the wall and scooted back on her butt. "He seemed harmless enough, kind of bouncy and eager. Like a golden retriever in human form. Who is he?"

Merry put a hand on her stomach, which was roiling from tension. "No one. No one important."

Caro shifted onto her knees on the yoga mat she'd spread on the floor. She brushed her ash-blond hair from her face and twisted it behind her neck. "Okay…."

"Don't tell him I was here, okay? I don't want to—"

"Merry? Merry Warren?"

The sound of a male voice behind her made her spin around. Golden retriever in human form…that description ran crazily through her brain because it was so perfect. Golden brown hair, eager manner, innocent eyes fixed on her as if pleading for her to toss a ball with him.

"I'm—"

"I know who you are. You shouldn't be here. You need to leave." The words came out harsher than she'd intended. A wounded expression came over his face.

"Please don't say that. We're fam—"

She interrupted with a glare. "No, we’re not. Not even close. Just turn your ass around and go home."

She must have looked extra fierce, because he glanced nervously at Caro, who jumped up from her yoga mat.

"Do you want me to call security, Merry? Also, I know a few Krav Maga moves." Beneath Caro's Zen-like surface, she could be a true warrior.

Chase looked even more hurt. "Why would you do that? I'm her—"

"Don't say it!" Merry practically shouted. The drab little office felt more like a tilt-a-wheel knocking her off balance. How dare he show up here uninvited? "Just don't say anything. I have to think."

Caro put an arm around her shoulder and lowered her voice. "Merry, what is going on? He's just a kid. You deal with them all the time in class."

"He's not just a kid. He's—" She couldn't say it. From the time she'd first learned of Chase's existence, at the age of nine, she'd tried so hard not to hate him. And now he was standing right in front of her, and—

"I'm her brother," Chase said in that same eager, hopeful tone as before. "Half-brother," he added. "But that's more than nothing. I thought I didn't have any sisters until about a month ago. That's why I came out here. I had to meet you, Merry. I just want to get to know you, that’s all."

He stepped forward, but Caro shoved out a hand to stop him. "Hang on there, buddy. She has a choice in the matter, you know."

A choice in the matter. The words resonated through Merry. She hadn't had a choice in any of it, from the moment of conception onwards. She hadn't chosen to be rejected and ignored by a father she'd never even met. She hadn't chosen for this kid to show up in Jupiter Point.

"Listen, why don't you leave your number," Caro was saying to Chase. "If Merry wants to talk to you, she'll call you."

Merry dug her fingernails into the heels of her hands. Get a grip, girl. She never had any trouble speaking for herself. Her mother called it "personal power"— relying on yourself, standing up for yourself, claiming your space in the world. But right now she felt her power leaking away, thanks to this confused-looking golden-haired kid.

"That's okay," she told Caro. "I got this."

With a big effort, she faced her half-brother, Chase Merriweather. She knew all about him, but seeing him in person was a shock. She studied his face for any resemblance between them. Since he was entirely Caucasian and her mother was from Brazil, their skin tone was nothing alike, nor was their hair. His was dirty blond, his eyes an eager hazel-brown. Everything about his face read 'anxious to please.' But she could see a few similarities between them, especially when he smiled. His lips curved in exactly the same off kilter way that hers did. And his ears stuck out the same as hers did.

But that was no doubt the end of the resemblance. He'd been raised in the wealthy, sheltered cocoon of the Merriweather family and their high-end department stores, while she'd grown up in a dicey neighborhood in Brooklyn. Also, he seemed kind of … well, clueless.

"I can't believe I have a sister," he said happily. "Like a sistah, sister."

"If you want anything to do with me, don't ever say that again," she told him sternly.

He shook his head quickly. "I won't. Promise. That was inappropriate. I get it."

She clenched her jaw tight. Somehow she doubted that he "got" anything about her perspective on this situation. How could he?

"Look, I know this is strange. I was so pissed at Dad when I found out that you existed and that he just sent your mother away with a check and an NDA. It's so unfair and so typical and I…I guess I want to…I don't know. I know I can't make it right. But I thought, maybe, if someone in our family reached out to you, maybe that would make it a little bit better."

Merry folded her arms across her chest. "If you think I've been pining away for some attention from the Merriweathers, you're completely mistaken."

He gave a frustrated groan and hunched his shoulders. "I'm screwing this up so bad. I knew I would. Okay, look, I'm staying at the Goodnight Moon bed and breakfast until I find a place, so whenever—"

"Find a place? What are you talking about? You're staying here?"

"Yeah, I'm serious about this. I want to know my only sister. It's like a quest. A personal quest. You can check out my Tumblr about it."

"A Tumblr? My name better not be in it."

"It's not. I kept you completely anonymous. I'm not here to make trouble. I swear."

When he set his jaw, she found one more striking resemblance—the "you're not the boss of me" expression she herself had perfected.

She found that particular similarity endearing, but she still wasn't ready for this.

"Look, uh, Chase. Let me think about this. I know where you're staying. You already emailed me your number. If I decide to get in touch, I will."

He nodded reluctantly, took a step back, then stopped. "You know, I read all of your newspaper articles from the Gazette. You're so smart, but I didn't know you were so pretty."

She lifted her eyebrows at him. "I like compliments as much as anyone, but you know what I like even better?"

He shook his head.

"Free choice. I'll call you. Or not."

"Okay." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his khaki trousers. "I understand. Hey, are you hungry? I could really use a burger—okay, I’m going now. It was nice to meet you." With that last word, he finally left.

When he was gone, Merry let out a long breath and slumped against the wall.

"Wow." Caro touched her arm. "Are you okay?"

Merry tilted her head, not sure of the answer to that question. "Probably?" She laughed. "Hey, it's not that weird to meet your half-brother after twenty-one years, right? Just another average day."

"He seems nice enough," Caro said cautiously.

"I'm sure that's what my mother thought about his father, before he got her pregnant and abandoned her."

Caro winced. "Ouch. Sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Merry said wearily. Her anger with Chase drained away. Her whole life, she'd been quick to lose her temper, then just as quick to let it go. She wondered if her half-brother had the same quality. "We were fine without him. Without any of them. Why should that change now?"

"No reason. Except that he's here and…" when Merry frowned at her, she shifted course. "What was that you were saying before, about cocktails?"

Merry laughed. "Is this a blatant attempt to get me buzzed so I tell the whole story?"

Caro squinted at her. "Would that work?"

Merry shoved herself upright and fluffed her hair, which had gotten flattened against the wall. "Probably. But I should get home. I have to make a good impression on the new boss tomorrow. How about the thumbnail version over a quick bag of chips from the vending machine?"

"You sweet-talker, you."

In the student lounge, as they shared a bag of Doritos, Merry summed up her childhood. "My mother's a singer from Brazil. She came to New York to further her opportunities, but couldn't exactly make ends meet. So she took a job cleaning house for a wealthy family, the Merriweathers. Their son took one look at her and fell hard. My mother's gorgeous, by the way."

"Not surprised," said Caro loyally.

"They got together, Mama got pregnant with me, but he couldn't take the heat from his family. They didn't want the likes of us messing with their lineage. So they gave her a big chunk of cash. She signed a non-disclosure agreement and promised to stay away. And that's about it. A couple of years later, my secret father got married to the right kind of girl and they had Chase. That's how I ended up with a white half-brother. I never met my father, and I sure never expected to meet Chase." She balled up the empty bag and checked her watch. "I need to head out."

Caro prepared to leave as well, gathering up her backpack and yoga bag. "But you know all about him. Did your mother fill you in?"

"She never said much about them. You know me, too curious for my own good. The Merriweathers were one of my first research projects." She grinned. "I had to know about the people I got my name from."

Caro tilted her head, not getting it at first. Then— "Merry's short for Merriweather?"

"Bingo. Mama always liked that name. And the NDA didn't say a thing about what she could or couldn't name me."

"I like her style."

Merry smiled with pure affection at the thought of her mother. "She's really something. Anyway, now you know my deep dark secret life."

"I guess I do. Want me to sign an NDA?" Caro winked as she slung her yoga bag over her shoulder.

"Hey, I trust you more than ever after you threatened to call security on Chase. I bet that's the first time anyone did that."

They headed for the exit. "You're going to see him, right?" Caro said. "How can you resist, with all that curiosity you keep talking about?"

Merry groaned. "You know me too well. Okay, I admit I'm curious. But I'm pissed too. I know his kind. Just like my non-father, so used to getting whatever they want. If I'd wanted him to come here, I would have emailed him back. So I'm not in any hurry. I'm crazy busy with work right now, not to mention a new boss, and a big story I'm investigating. If Chase is serious about this, he can stick around and contribute to the Jupiter Point economy until I'm ready to see him."

Caro lifted her hand for a high-five. Their palms met with a satisfying smack, and Merry felt her personal power flooding back.