Stunned, Shay switched to reading articles.
Jaylynn Turner was a TV personality in Charlotte. She had plenty of other titles. Miss North Carolina Petite, Junior Miss Charlotte, winner in the North Carolina Perfect Pageant, and runner-up of Miss North Carolina.
None of those titles were as impressive as the fact that Shay recognized her as the woman who had brought Bogart in to be destroyed.
She skimmed a few more articles, including the most recent one, less than a week old, where Ms. Turner claimed to have been a victim of a cruel hoax by parties yet to be determined.
Shay glanced over at the summons in disbelief.
“But that’s crazy!” She had done nothing, didn’t know the woman from Adam, except for the fact that she walked in on a day when Shay had been volunteering at the local animal shelter.
Shay read through that last article again, looking for clues to the hoax Jaylynn claimed had been played on her. There were none. In fact, there was a very noticeable absence of details. Leading a cohost at a competing network to comment in print, “Let’s hope this isn’t one of those attention-grabbing stunts. We are, after all, in the midst of November sweeps.”
“I can’t believe this,” Shay murmured. How had Jaylynn found her? She wasn’t easy to find. Even James said— Of course! James had filed a report. That report would be public record, and that’s how Jaylynn knew how to find her.
Shay searched the Web for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police blotter. It took her nearly five minutes to read through all the public records of crimes in the Charlotte newspapers for the past two weeks. There was nothing about Bogart, or his return, or actions filed against Jaylynn Turner.
Shay sat back and hugged her arms to her body. Maybe this was a mistake. It would all just go away.
The bump of relief lasted no longer than it took her gaze to settle on the summons again. She was being sued. That was very real.
“That’s crazy.” Shay said the words aloud to make them real.
What made Jaylynn think she could accuse her of anything? Being a finger-pointer was the very last thing she needed in her life these days. Not after her accusations against Eric. No way would she agree to be a witness in another case. In fact, no one in Charlotte knew who she was.
Except James.
Something cold and heavy and ugly sank down through her.
James had told her he’d had her investigated for details he needed to complete the police report on Bogart’s return. Why hadn’t he warned her about Jaylynn’s intentions? Or, was he using her information to get back at his ex?
Other dark thoughts swarmed through her head like a colony of bats leaving their cave. For several dark minutes she let that sense of betrayal and anguish snatch her up and carry her along in a flurry of self-pity and desolation. The dark flight was familiar.
But at the end of that very long, scary flight, Shay wasn’t decimated. She wasn’t soul-scorched. She was angry.
Maybe James didn’t know about the civil suit. No, of course he knew. This didn’t just materialize overnight. He must have known what Jaylynn Turner was up to before he left Charlotte. It was in all the news accounts she just read online. Why hadn’t he warned her?
Shay grabbed her phone and dialed James. This time he answered. She didn’t give him time to say hello.
“You lowdown, lying rat bastard!”
“You got the summons.” He didn’t even sound surprised by her anger. “I’m sorry. I wanted to call sooner—” His voice sounded muffled. “Hold on.”
Shay closed her eyes, her heart beating as quickly as if she’d run a mile. She’d trusted him with so much—no, everything. How could he do this?
“Okay. This is better.” His voice sounded normal, happy even. “I was in the kennel putting Bogart up. We just finished a night course. You’ll be really happy to hear that he took first place overall.”
“Don’t! Just don’t!” She didn’t want to hear happy news. She was too furious for any kind of happy to leak through. “You lied to me! You said you’d take care of things. You did that, didn’t you? Only you took care of them in a way that’s going to humiliate me and drag my life out before every news agency in the state.”
“I got a summons today, too.”
There was a beat while she took a breath. “What?”
“I’m named as a coconspirator or something, for collusion with you to extort— Hell, I didn’t finish reading the thing.”
Shay swallowed. That took a bite out of her anger. “Did you know about this before today?”