"You think so?" she asked coolly. "Because I found that quote about all the men of the city stoning me to death kinda bad news."
"What?"Nell stared at them in horror.
"Deuteronomy?" Hank asked, and when Jared nodded he turned to Nell. "The violation of the fifth commandment was a capital offense in the old testament," he told her. "The Bible references it in several different books. It wasn't a one-way street, though-Ephesians tells parents to conduct themselves so as to be worthy of honor. Our guy is obviously selective and only chooses the passages that reinforce his beliefs."
"Which makes him a fanatic, which sounds dangerous," Nell said and turned back to Jared. "And you see this as good news, how?"
"Because we know who we're dealing with now," he said evenly. "I have a name, which makes finding more information possible. And information is power." He turned to P.J. once again. Waited until she looked him in the eye. "The power to stop this psycho dead in his tracks."
P.J.CLOSED THE DOOR behind Nell and the guys and slumped back against it. She felt as if she'd just stepped off one of those whirling carnival rides; her head was reeling and her stomach felt wonky. Today was supposed to have been an opportunity to recoup from the crazy tour schedule, but instead she'd spent it reading sick letters from so-called fans. The stoning reference had just been the cherry on her sundae. What else could possibly go wrong?
Her cell phone rang from the other room.
She jerked in shock, then reined herself in.Get a grip, she commanded herself sternly.Not everything is bad news.
"You want me to get that?" Jared asked from the suite.
"No." Pushing away from the door, she strode into the sitting room and crossed over to the desk where she was recharging her phone. Looking at the number on the screen she saw it was her manager and picked it up, pushing the talk button. "Hey, Ben. What's up?"
"Priscilla, we've got a situation with your mother that has to be addressed immediately."
A sigh escaped her. "I was afraid it was too much to hope you'd be calling to tell me the album went platinum." Hadn't she known it would be more bad news?
"Oh, that's going to happen, as well, and probably sooner rather than later, considering the strength of your sales," he assured her with his usual no-nonsense Yankee briskness. "Unfortunately, it's not what we need to discuss today."
"What did she do this time?"
"She sold an unauthorized biography about you." He hesitated a second then added, "The working title isUngrateful Child. "
For once pain wasn't the first emotion she experienced over hearing about one of her mother's betrayals. Instead pure unadulterated fury pulsed through her veins. "I'll take care of it," she said in a tight voice and hung up without bothering to exchange the usual pleasantries with her manager. Then, breathing heavily, she punched out her mother's number.
A tanned hand snaked around her side to remove the phone from her hand. "Hey!" She whirled to glare at Jared, who had his thumb firmly on the disconnect button. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I don't know what your mother did this time, but you're practically hyperventilating. Take a few deep breaths and get yourself in control before you call her."
She wanted to snap at him to mind his own damn business and give her back the phone. But he was right. Her mother could push her buttons and turn her inside out faster than anyone she knew. This time Mama had gone too far, and P.J. was determined to stop Jodeen's attempts to make a buck at her expense. To do that, however, she needed to have her wits about her. Doing as Jared directed, she took several deep, calming breaths. A minute later she exhaled noisily and shook out her hands. "Okay. Gimme back the phone."
He looked at her closely. "You sure?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to talk about it first?"
"There's nothing to talk about. That was Ben on the phone. Mama sold a tell-all book that you can be damn sure is going to be filled with lies about me. She named itUngrateful Child. " She took another deep breath, because more than anything else, that grated, and she knew the hurt that lingered beneath her fury would gnaw her confidence to bits if she didn't guard against it. "I plan to have a little heart-to-heart with her."
"You could save yourself a lot of heartache by having that same discussion with her agent."
It was a perfectly reasonable, logical out, and for a moment the temptation to latch onto it beckoned like an umbrella-garnished drink on a tropical beach. Then she shook her head. "Don't tempt me." Dealing with it herself was the adult thing to do-but before she had time to pat herself on the back for her mature handling of the matter, she exploded.
"Ungrateful child, J?Ungrateful child? I've put up with her shit my entire life, but I'm through taking the high road. She's crossed the line with this one. If I don't put an end to her crap once and for all, she'll just keep coming up with other schemes to get rich quick, and you can be sure they'll all involve trashing me. I'm tired of it."
He handed her the phone.
She hit the redial button, then had to remind herself to keep breathing when the phone began to ring.
The line was picked up at the other end and Jodeen's voice said, "Hello?"
P.J. stood frozen for a microsecond, then said, "Hello, Mama."
"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Miss Bigshot," her mother drawled. "I didn't think you were lowering yourself to talk to me these days. What can I do for you, missy?"
Her tone was the sound of P.J.'s childhood, that you're-too-insignificant-to-waste-my-time-on tenor that never failed to set P.J.'s nerves to jangling. Amazingly however, instead of putting her stomach in more of an uproar than it already was over the upcoming confrontation, the you're-worthless tone put her tension on a more manageable level. "For starters, you can drop the new book contract before you embarrass yourself."
Jodeen's laugh had a harsh you-wish edge to it, and the sound of a lighter clicking and the quick inhale on a cigarette came through the line. "I'm not the one's gonna be embarrassed," she said.
"Well, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to be me.Ungrateful Child, Mama?"
"It seemed fitting."
"Please. You and I both know that when it came to you I never had a damn thing to be grateful for."
The sound of an exhale drifted down the line and P.J. could picture her mother narrowing her heavily mascaraed eyes against the smoke drifting up from her nostrils, then lazily waving it away from her over-processed, dyed ash-blond hair.
Jodeen emitted a little grunt of disgust. "How do you know the title, anyway?"
"My new manager actually looks out for my interests. I suggest you call your shiny new agent and withdraw the book before you find yourself hip deep in a libel suit."
Her mother made a rude noise and P.J.'s spine stiffened further.
"You think because I've let you bad-mouth me to the tabloids recently that I won't make our private problems public now? Guess again. Because truth is a wonderful thing, and a whole lot easier to document than the pack of lies you've no doubt written. For instance, I could call Molly Griffith. Remember her, Mama, the owner of the Buffalo Gals Barbeque in Cortez? Or Sue Redbush from the Cracker Barrel in McFadden or Mike Scraggs from the Red Hot and Blue in Cedar City? Heck, maybe I'll call all three, since all of them thought it was a crying shame that a girl my age had to work so hard in their diners while her mama sat on her butt in her broken-down little trailer. I'm sure they'd just love to testify on my behalf."