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“You loved him,” I said.
She nodded and another tear slid down her cheek. “We became lovers, but something wasn’t right. He was secretive and I knew he lied to me sometimes about the things he was doing or where he was going. He always said he was working and wouldn’t tell me anything more, but I knew it was more than that.
“He asked me to meet him that day at the motel room. I thought he was trying to be romantic. I thought he might ask me to marry him.” Her breath hitched and her lips trembled as she tried to get control of herself. “But he didn’t. He said he was being followed and that it wasn’t safe, so that’s why we had to meet like that. Then he told me what he’d found out. He said that you killed John.”
Jane’s gaze bore into Jack’s eyes as she said it, daring him to deny it. “Is it true?”
Jack didn’t look away from her when he answered. “It’s true.”
“I slapped him when he told me that,” she said. “Asked him why he was trying to hurt me with lies, but he wouldn’t stop talking. He said John had been a traitor and that he’d been working with the men who’d tried to rob the bank.
“He started asking questions about WMF just like you did. He knew about the payments they’d been giving me, and he wanted to know what they’d asked me to do in return. He asked me if I’d known what John had been involved in all along. If I knew that WMF had helped fund the operation that had killed John.”
“He asked that specifically?” Jack asked.
She nodded without looking at Jack.
“And were they?”
“I didn’t know that John was involved with those people. I swear I didn’t. Not until after he died. Then they came to me and told me I was theirs now.”
“Who came to you?”
“A woman named Genny Boxer. She said her son was killed with John during the robbery. She said I was theirs and I belonged to them now. That they’d be there for me during my grief and through the rest of it. And they said that I owed them because they’d saved Katie’s life.”
“Are you saying that WMF owns the Kids with Cancer charity?” I asked.
“I don’t know if it’s their charity, but I know that’s where the anonymous donation came from and the instructions were that it had to go to us for Katie’s treatment.”
“Give me a second, Jane. You’re doing the right thing.” Jack took out his phone and hit a number for speed dial.
“Carver,” he said once the call was connected. “You need to send someone to pick up Genny Boxer. She’s the one who initially contacted Jane to meet. And dig harder into the Kids with Cancer Foundation. Jane confirms that the money came from WMF. See if it’s just an offshoot of the same fund. We’re going to need a safe house for Jane and her children. Get that set up too.”
Jack was silent for a couple of seconds, listening to whatever it was Carver was saying on the other end and then he said goodbye.
The look on Jane’s face was devastating. She’d heard about the safe house, and it was starting to sink in what a dangerous position she was in.
“Oh my God, Jack. They’ll kill me. And the girls. You have to send someone to my mother’s house right now. Have someone get them and take them away.” Hysteria tinged her voice and the color seeped back into her face. Jane Elliott’s children were her strength and it was coming back with a vengeance at the thought of them being hurt.
“It’s already being taken care of,” he said. “The FBI is sending agents as we speak to get the girls and your mother to a safe place. They’ll take you as soon as we’re done here.”
“Take me to prison, you mean.” Her breath shuddered out and she stared at her hands, as if she could still see Caine’s blood on them.
“Just finish it out and tell me the rest. We’ll figure out what happens next.”
“I was so angry,” she said, tightening her hands into fists. “I knew what Caine was saying was true. When Genny first came to speak to me she didn’t tell me the details of what had happened and how John died. But I knew it was bad. That he’d done something wrong. And then Caine told me you were the one who killed him and I just went crazy. How could you do that? He was your friend.
“How could you!” Her hand cracked against Jack’s cheek like a whip, and her elbow knocked her water glass over so it spilled across the table. She crumpled and her body shook with harsh sobs. The manager started to make his way across the restaurant to us, but the look on my face had him turning away.
I felt the waves of hurt coming from Jack and knew he blamed himself everyday for John’s death. For not suspecting that he’d been dirty and for firing the shot that had ended his life, even though he’d had no choice. But he didn’t defend himself to Jane. I didn’t have any problem defending him. I didn’t care what Jane Elliott had suffered. She didn’t have the right to blame Jack for anything.
“Don’t ever touch him again like that or I’ll cut you in two,” I said, my voice hoarse with anger. “Jack did what he had to do.” I wasn’t going to stand by and let him take the blame when he’d done nothing wrong. “He almost died that day too. And by your husband’s hand.”
“It’s okay, Jaye—” Jack said, squeezing my thigh.
“No it’s not, but I’ve made my point.”I clamped my mouth shut before I said anything else I might regret.
“What happened next, Jane?”
