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“Why would she need to protect my dad from you?” Finley asked. That part didn’t make complete sense to her. Just because Jack cared about her mother didn’t mean he would hurt her father. She refused to believe any such thing. His admission itself was disrespectful, hurtful, thoughtless, but Jack hadn’t taken it further, had he?
“My opinion?” He stared at Finley a moment. “I can’t say for sure, but to this day I make myself feel better by thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was in love with me too. Once,” Jack clarified while Finley scrambled to catch up.
“We were both so focused on school and building our careers,” he went on, “and you know how damned hardheaded we are. Anyway, I think she was in love with me back then, and she was afraid I didn’t feel the same, so she went on with her life. Just like I did because Ithought exactly that about her. When I drunkenly admitted this to her all those years later, I think she was angry at what we’d thrown away. At my terrible timing.”
Holy shit. “You believe, even then—just five years ago—she was still, on some level, in love with you too.”
He nodded. “But she wouldn’t hurt Bart that way. Or you. Not to mention there was her career to consider.”
Finley wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Was the idea even plausible? The concept of her mother being in love with Jack seemed ... a bit far fetched. But—she gazed at the sadness in Jack’s eyes—if believing as much made him feel better, why not?
“I’m only telling you this,” Jack went on, “because your mother doesn’t deserve the rift between the two of you. It’s time it ended.”
Finley held up a hand. “I get what you’re saying, but I’m not sure I can forgive her for the way she treated Derrick.”
Jack nodded. “I understand how you might feel that way, but you need to try to get right with what she did. Especially if you’re going to keep trying to get yourself killed.”
“I didn’t try to get myself killed.” She held up her hands to stop him before he could argue with the statement. “The incident in the convenience store notwithstanding,” she confessed. “What happened with Brant was totally out of my control. I went to the location to meet a woman who said she had information about Derrick. But it was a setup.”
“Jesus Christ,” Jack muttered. “You couldn’t call me for backup?”
“It was stupid,” she admitted. “I should have played it smarter. Anyway, she turned out to be Brant’s girlfriend.”
She related the details to Jack, his face going paler with each statement she uttered.
He shook his head. “You gotta have a guardian angel, kid. Damn. It’s a flat-out miracle she didn’t kill you.”
Regrettably, he was probably right about that. Funny how sometimes the idea bothered her and other times it didn’t. A smart person would share this troubling dilemma with her therapist.
Finley wasn’t so sure she considered herself smart anymore.
“I need you,” Jack said in his “I’m the boss” voice, “to stay away from Dempsey and his people. I swear if you’ll let me, I will help you find the truth.”
“No way. I’m not dragging you or Matt into this.”
“Let’s break this down,” Jack argued. “The one who killed Derrick is dead.”
She nodded.
“The one who hurt you is dead.”
“Yeah.”
“Then back off, and let’s finish this the right way. Stay away from the third guy, and let’s go about this in a way that gets the man who is actually responsible for what happened.”
“The only way I will agree is if we make a verbal contract that we don’t do anything without talking about it first.” She didn’t want Jack charging into any unpredictable situation related to Dempsey without her next to him.
“You have my word,” he agreed.
“Good.” She would try her best to do the same. “Now, finish your coffee, go back to your place, change, and get to the office. We need a meeting with Winthrop. We have to talk about all these inconsistencies.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “She’s not going to like it,” he warned.
“The trouble is, if I can find the inconsistencies, so can Ventura if he looks hard enough. It’s just a matter of time. We can’t properly defend her if we don’t have all the details.” Her boss knew this better than anyone.
Jack laughed. “The lady reminds me of you. She doesn’t want to listen, but I’ll give it the old college try.”
Either way, Finley needed to satisfy her former-assistant-district-attorney urges. Maybe finding answers was her addiction. Of all people, she was well aware just how dangerous secrets could be. The longer they were kept, the bigger and darker they grew.
