It was like any other day. Except it had been two days since her father had left without warning. Virginia was sure now something was wrong. She'd had a dinner date with him this night, and he didn't show. His phone was off. He wasn't responding to texts. Or emails.
He was a United States Senator. Sitting. Locked in. Voted in. Had constituents and a press secretary and a publicist (more than one). Had caucuses and meetings and all the rest.
Which meant his phone was always close by.
Which meant his location was always known.
Virginia wore a dress worth over four thousand dollars—purchased from Saks Fifth Avenue. She wore a necklace from Tiffany's worth about two grand. The heels were two-fifty. From Nordstrom.
She was looking at her reflection in the window of her flat, looking out over the bright city. She'd gone to the restaurant and waited for an hour, longer than she would have waited for anyone, hoping her father would show. Anxiety rested in her stomach, like an annoying itch.
Perhaps this was the feeling he was always talking about in relation to her joining USI. Now she had it about him. She knew something was terribly wrong. If he was all right, he had better have a good excuse for falling off the face of the map without a warning. But that was the thing. He was a very considerate father and would never do that to her.
Virginia went to her bedroom, let her dress slip off. Sat on the bed and took off her heels. Then she laid back in bed, put on the covers, turned out the light.
She laid here for about two minutes before she realized she wouldn't be able to sleep. She had to do something, and she had to do it tonight.
She got out of bed, put on light jeans and a white blouse.
Put on a thin sweater—was a warm enough night.
She was walking to her door when someone knocked on it. She never received any visitors but for Shannon. Virginia put a small pistol in the back of her pants. Then opened the door.
A man in a suit; a man she'd never before seen.
Hair was disheveled.
Bags under his eyes.
He couldn't look her in the eyes, not right away.
Had been living off of coffee and not much else for the last few days for sure. Probably scones and carbs. Maybe some yogurt. Virginia knew the days.
"I think something's happened to your father. I didn't know who else to come to."
*****
Virginia woke up then, snapped awake, fully back to consciousness. Jake was laying on the carpet of rainforest leaves beside her. Thick drops of rain fell all around them onto the muddy, leaf-strewn forest floor.
Jake was groaning, and getting to his feet, detaching the parachute from his body. Virginia sat up, looking him over for any signs of mortal injuries. She felt fine, herself. Except now that she was sitting up, she got head rush.
Then a beating pain entered her head.
"You got knocked out," said Jake, coming to her side, kneeling beside her. He'd dispensed with the parachute.
Virginia couldn't see him clearly. Everything was blurring.
He held her chin and turned her face towards him.
"Dilated big time."
Virginia blinked a few times.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a tree."
"You hit the tree, darling," he said.
"In that case, I feel bad for the tree, and let's hope I have insurance."
"Your mind is working. What's my name?" he asked.
"You're Jake, the roof repair guy." Virginia glanced up with her eyes. "There's a leak."
"I think you have a concussion," he said.
Virginia was pretty sure she did too. Everything was blurry, slowly coming into focus though. A good sign. She began getting to her feet, gripping Jake's shoulder for assistance. She took a sharp breath, against the pain in her head. Everything else felt fine.
Until she felt the cold again.
Her teeth started chattering, which made the headache worse.
She got to her feet, put out one hand against the tree that had hit her head. She felt a little ashamed to befriend the tree after it had done such an evil thing to her. But she knew it wasn't the tree's fault.
Her vision suddenly went black.
Her mind traveled back to the past.