Page 22 of Every Broken Piece

Chapter twenty-two

Gabe

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: New VA

Dear Mr. Strong,

My name is Jacob Davis. I will be taking over your account from Theresa James. As your new virtual assistant, it is my goal to provide a seamless transition. In the coming days I will look over Ms. James’ notes, so I am up to speed on where you left off.

If you should have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone. My number is 614-555-8725.

Sincerely,

Jacob Davis

Virtual Assistant

TaskGenius VA

W hat. The. Fuck .

I stare at the email in shock. Hell, no.

No.

This is unacceptable. She’s not going to just disappear from my life with no explanation.

I dial Tess’s number, but a mechanical voice tells me the number is no longer in service. This is different from what I was getting last night. Last night my calls went straight to voicemail. Something happened between Sunday night and Monday morning. Something bad.

I dial my new VA’s number.

“This is Jacob Davis.”

“It’s Gabriel Strong.”

“Mr., Strong, it’s a pleasure to speak to you. I assume you read my email.”

“Where’s Ms. James?”

Jacob hesitates for the slightest moment. “I’m afraid Ms. James no longer works for TaskGenius. I was assigned to you as of this morning. But please don’t worry, I’ll be up to speed in no time—”

“Where’d she go?”

Another pause. “Uh, well. I’m not sure. I wasn’t given any specifics.”

“And who’s your manager?”

Another pause. “Mr. Strong, I understand that this is an abrupt change—”

“You understand nothing. I need your manger’s name and phone number.”

This pause is longer than the others. I rub my aching eyes.

I didn’t sleep at all last night. Visions of Tess being drugged, of going home with a strange man, of being in some sort of accident, haunted me every time I closed my eyes.

My reaction is out of control. I know that.

I also know this stems from Cara’s death, the not knowing where she was for hours.

Except there will be no police knocking on my door this time because no one knows of my relationship with Tess. I need answers and obviously Jacob Davis doesn’t have them.

“Look,” I say, trying to soften my tone while adrenaline pumps through me and my gut is telling me things I don’t want to hear. “Mr. Davis, I’m sure you’re a fine virtual assistant, but Ms. James and I have projects we’re working on. I don’t have time to get you up to speed. I need to find her.”

“But she doesn’t work for the company anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter. Now, what’s your manager’s name and phone number.”

He rattles off the name, Mary Vaughn, and her phone number.

I hang up without saying goodbye, knowing I’m being a dick, but I don’t care.

I dial Mary.

“This is Mary Vaughn.” The voice is no-nonsense, older, professional.

“Ms. Vaughn, this is Gabriel Strong.”

I can hear her quick intake of breath. “What can I do for you, Mr. Strong.” Interesting that her tone went from professional to cold.

“You assigned me a new virtual assistant. I prefer to work with Ms. James, so if you could assign her back to me.”

There’s rustling on the other side and the click of a door like she’d stood up to close her office door. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mr. Strong. Ms. James doesn’t work for us anymore.”

“Why?”

“I can’t divulge that information.”

I’m not surprised by her answer. Our company would have said the same. Basically, it’s none of my damn business.

But it is my business. It’s very much my business.

“When did this happen?”

“Mr. Strong, the new VA assigned to you is extremely competent and I feel a better fit—”

“When?”

“That’s confiden—”

“ When , Ms. Vaughn?”

There’s silence on the other end. I check my phone to make sure she hasn’t hung up. She’s still there so I wait her out.

“Certain information came to light yesterday,” she finally says. “We had to make the tough decision to let her go.”

I squeeze my phone and close my eyes. Tess was fired. They fucking fired her.

“Why?”

She clears her throat. “Fraternizing with our clients is against corporate policy. I’m certain your company has the same rules.”

My head drops because I know where this is going. They found our texts on her damn phone. Her company phone.

I know better.

I fucking know better.

“I need her personal phone number.”

“You know I can’t give you that.”

“You can.”

“I won’t. This is inappropriate, Mr. Strong. Ms. James is gone, and Mr. Davis is now your assistant. He will seamlessly step in to Ms. James’ shoes.”

I hang up and drop my phone to my desk to bury my head in my hands.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck .

I did this. I caused Tess to lose her job because I started texting her. I tried to stop but I couldn’t. I couldn’t walk away from those nightly connections that meant everything to me. I couldn’t walk away from her .

It’s so stupid. Stupid and careless. I need to find Tess and make this right.

“Jack!”

A few seconds later Jack appears, leaning against the doorframe, hands in the pockets of worn jeans, hair sticking up in all directions like he hasn’t brushed it in a week. “You know you can text me. Or even message me on the company messenger app. Bellowing is unnecessary in this day and age.”

“Tess was fired.”

His eyes widen. “Why’d you fire Tess? I thought things were better.”

“I didn’t fire her, you idiot. She was fired from the company she worked for.”

He pulls his hands out of his pockets and steps in to close the door. “What’d you do to get her fired?”

“Nothing. I...” But I did get her fired. This is all my fault.

Jack stalks forward, jaw ticking, eyes flat and cold. “What’d you do?”

I run a hand down my face. “She was fired for fraternization with a client.”

He blinks. “You? You were fraternizing with her?” He grins. “Way to go, man.”

“No! Not way to go. Her company found out and fired her. I need to make this right. I need to talk to her.”

He drops into the chair across from me, folding his hands on his stomach, the grin growing into a smile. “Exactly how did you fraternize with her?”

He makes it sound dirty and sexual, and it wasn’t that at all.

“Texting.”

“Sexting?”

I point at him. “If you’re not going to help, then get the hell out.”

He spreads his hands wide. “I’m just trying to get clarification.”

“It was not sexting, asshole. We...talked. A lot.”

“So, text her now. Or better yet, call her.”

“It was her work phone and it’s no longer in service.”

His brows rise. “Ah. So, you broke the cardinal rule by fraternizing with company property. Not smart, brother.”

“Shut up.” I drop my head back into my hands, feeling sick. What’s she thinking right now? Does she hate me?

“What do you need from me?” Jack asks.

“I need you to find her. A phone number. An address. Anything. I need to make this right.”

He places his hands on the arms of the chair and pushes up. “On it.”

As he’s reaching to open the door I call his name.

He looks over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“I don’t care what you have to do to find her, just find her for me.”

He looks at me in sympathy. “Will do.”