Love, Lies & The D.A. (31 page)

“I
care about him—deeply. He’s important to me,” I reply, looking her in the eye.
“Frankly, focusing on the needs of others is probably the best thing I can do
for myself right now.”

“Well,
thank you for being there for my son and, by extension, my family.”

“Caroline,
it hasn’t all been one sided. You could have judged me like much of the media
and believed I was guilty. You welcomed me into your home at the height of my
difficulty. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Trust
me. I do. Your being here tells me that.”

“So
enough about me. How are you?”

“I’ll
be fine. I’m going to go into this with a positive attitude, and I’ll make it
through this.”

“You’re
a brave woman.”

“So
are you.”

We
spend the most of my time there together talking, except for when the doctors
and nurses come in to do tests in preparation for her surgery tomorrow.

At
exactly noon, Daniel walks into the room, lunch bags in hand. After a short
exchange, I stay for a little while then leave to let them have some private
time together. I get the distinct feeling that Daniel isn’t comfortable with
me. He barely made eye contact with me today. I’m not happy about it, but I can’t
expect everyone to treat me the way Jonathan and the rest of his family does,
even if it’s his brother. I push the thought aside and hope it is something we
can overcome with time. I head home.

I’m
about to step into the elevator at my condo building when, in my peripheral
vision, I see Phillip and Douglas approaching me. I hold the elevator door open
and allow them to step in.

“Miss
McLean. Having a good day?” Douglas asks.

“Please
call me Jada. I was… but why do I get the feeling that you two are about to
complicate it for me?” The doors open to my penthouse.

“Can I
get you anything?” I ask, walking into the kitchen.

“Coffee
please,” they simultaneously reply.

“Have
a seat,” I offer while preparing the beverage. They both sit at the island.

“So
tell me the news.”

“First
of all, those men weren’t there to harm you. They were hunters,” Douglas says.

“That’s
a relief.”

“Do
you recognize this number?” Phillip asks, handing me a piece of paper.

“I can’t
say I do,” I reply after scanning the sheet of paper.

“That’s
the number that call came from. It’s from one of those prepaid phones, but it
looks like it was purchased almost five years ago. It’s going to take some work
for us to trace who purchased that phone. And if they used cash, we may never
find out who it belongs to.”

“Just
great. Anything else?”

“Do
you know Nathan Rice?”

“The
senator?”

They
both nod in reply.

“I
know who he is. I’ve seen him on the news, but I don’t know him personally.
Why?”

“We
found out the names of the signatories on that account. It was just Mr.
Preston. Coincidentally or not, the last person he made a payment to was found
dead.
A man from Nevada named William McNabb.”

“What?
Richard was—”

“We
know… having an affair with his wife. He was killed in a car accident a few
days ago.”

“My
God,” I sigh. “What does the senator have to do with this?”

“Richard
sent various payments of large sums of money to him. The only other person he
sent large sums of money to on that account is the SFPD Chief of Police and
some other questionable characters.”

“What?”

This
is too much. I have to sit. My head aches as I try to process all of what I’m
being told.

“I
wasn’t aware that Richard knew any of these people, much less be involved in
any sort of business with them. Do you have any indication at what type of
business this is?”

“They
say
real estate. We think that’s a cover. We think that account is somehow being
used for money laundering.”

“Laundering
money for whom? And real estate? As far as I knew, Richard only owned his condo
and a house in Utah.”

“We
have evidence to prove he owned at least three more properties: one in Las
Vegas, one in Reno, and the other in Seattle. The one in Las Vegas is a
property valued at over thirteen million dollars. But that’s besides the fact
that there were some other payments to some very unsavory characters.”

“I’m
getting sick. Anything else?”

“We
have people on the ground investigating in Nevada, and we have the chief and
the senator under surveillance.”

“Won’t
he know? Surveillance is supposed to be his business.”

“We
have our ways.”

“What
I’m I supposed to do when he calls on Wednesday? Do I continue to string him
along… although he did imply that I had to make a decision?”

“We’ll
be in touch to let you know about that.”

“Thanks
for wearing that necklace. You should know that we’re nearby if you need us.”

“Thanks
for letting me know… I noticed you all following me this morning.”

Within minutes of
the FBI leaving, my
Johnnyphone
rings.

“Hey,
I’m about to go lie down. I have a massive headache.”

“What’s
wrong?”

“I’ll
tell you when I see you.”

“How
was Mom doing?”

“She
was great. Positive… in good spirits.”

“Jada,
I can’t thank you enough for spending time with her.”

“It
was my pleasure. How have you been?”

“Okay.
I’m on a quick lunch break. I have to head back to court in a while, but I have
managed to reschedule or get someone else to handle my cases. I’m off for the
rest of the week.”

“Will
I see you later?”

“If I
do, it probably won’t be till late. When I leave the office, I’m going to the
hospital to see Mom. It will probably be about the same time I saw you last
night.

I left
you a bunch of keys on the bedside table. There’s a key to the Bentley on there
as well as the house. If you like, you can drive it to my place and I’ll see you
when I get home.”

I
glance at the bunch of keys at the side of the bed and pick them up. The silver
stiletto key chain brings a smile to my face.

“Okay.
Are those mine to keep?”

Sometimes,
even I surprise myself.
How presumptuous of me…

He
chuckles. “Yes. Those are yours to keep. That’s why I left them there. You don’t
think I’d be caught dead walking around with a key ring like that, do you?”

I
blush. “Of course not… and take away from your manhood,” I laugh. “Keep in
touch… I’m going to lie down. We’ll see each other later.”

Jonathan
wakes and
gets out of his bed. I look at my watch and notice it’s
two in the morning. He spends a few minutes in the bathroom, then instead of
returning to bed, he heads downstairs. I know he must be nervous about his mom’s
surgery this morning. In about five hours, she will go under the knife.

I
trace his steps and find him sitting on the sofa watching the news. I circle my
arms around his nude shoulders from behind.

“Why
are you down here all by your lonesome?”

“Hey. I
couldn’t sleep,” he replies, kissing me on my cheek.

“You
want some tea or coffee?”

“Tea,
thanks.”

I make
us each a cup and snuggle next to him on the sofa. We watch reruns of the late
night news, and talk shows of the previous day flash by.

“Is
this all part of your normal morning routine?”

“Sort
of… I’m not usually up this early. I do start the day watching the morning news,
though. What about you?”

“Of
course not. I’m usually at my place.”

“That’s
not what I mean, Silly,” he says, poking my ribs.

“I
know. I wanted to see you smile. You’re so serious in the morning… at least,
during the week days.”

“Am I?”

 I
nod.

“I
guess that’s how I get myself in the zone for those crazy workdays.”

“Do
you prefer to be alone?”

“No,”
he replies, caressing my leg. “I’m usually in a contemplative mood in the morning,
I guess. It has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to worry.”

“I’m
not worried… I’m just getting to know you.”

“I’m
sorry if I’m a little extra edgy this morning. I’m concerned about Mom.”

“You
don’t need to apologize. I’m here to support you the best way I can.”

He
pulls me into his arms and hugs me. He holds me still. Soon, I hear his long
lingering breaths, then I slowly fall asleep.

Jonathan’s
driving me
home before he heads to the hospital. It’s a dark and
gloomy San Francisco morning. He holds my hand as he drives.

“I’ll
be thinking about you all today,” I murmur. “Call or text me updates. Okay?”

“You’re
not coming with me?”

“I
didn’t realize you wanted me to. I thought you were dropping me home.”

“Can
you? Please.”

“I’ll
be there if you need me… but are you sure that will be okay with the rest of
your siblings? I’m not family.”

“I
want you there. They’ll be fine with it.”

“You
can be so arrogant sometimes.”

He
returns my smile. “That’s a privilege older brothers enjoy.”

“Is
that so? Bobby never tried that one on me.”

I dig
through my purse looking for my makeup.

“You’re
beautiful just the way you are.”

“So
charming,” I respond, quickly brushing the shine off my face then applying some
blush to my cheekbones. I apply some lipstick, and he is patient with me after
he parks while I put on some eyeliner.

We get
to his mother’s room in time for a quick chat, and then we all say a prayer
with her before she is wheeled off. I don’t think Daniel is too pleased that I’m
here. Perhaps he doesn’t trust me, or it could be he feels that only family
should be present, in which case I clearly understand. I was ambivalent about
this anyway.

Megan
is scared and cries as she watches her mother disappear down the hall. The
waiting begins. The doctors have warned that the surgery could go on for as
long as six hours.

I sit
back and observe how each individual member deals with the anticipation over
the next few hours.

Megan
curls up in Jonathan’s lap. While now there are no tears, there have been
periods where they suddenly appear. It’s a difficult time for all of them. They
are still very much grieving the loss of their father, and I would guess at
this time, it’s difficult not to worry that their mother may join him.

Daniel
has been pacing the floors. For a short while, he worked on his laptop, but at
some point, he seemed agitated and shut it closed. It seems that he may have
wanted the distraction but was finding it difficult to concentrate.

Pierce
and Jonathan seem calm and okay. For the most part, they appear to be holding
things together.

Every
now and then, Jonathan casts me a smile, but we all wait in a nervous silence. It’s
been a few hours, and I go for a walk to stretch my legs and return with coffee
and donuts for everyone. My phone pings, and it’s Phillip asking me to meet
him.

Jonathan
looks at me questioningly. I mouth to him it’s Phillip and leave.

I meet
him in the lobby, and he escorts me to an empty conference room in the
hospital.

“I’m
sorry I came to visit here. I know this must be a difficult time for you and
Jonathan.”

“I
understand. What’s up?”

“It
looks like William McNabb’s death is a cover up. He was murdered.”

I sink
into the chair besides me, burying my fingers in my hair.

“We
need more information. Tomorrow, when they call, you can agree to give them
money, but only on the condition that at least one of the charges is dropped. A
lot of people are now under surveillance; we want to see how this dynamic will
unfold and what the conversation will be like between the suspects involved…
see if we can get to the bottom of this case.”

“If he’s
uncooperative, should I tell him I’ll cut my losses?”

“Push
him. Only cross that line if it’s necessary. We know who most of the players
are, but there’s evidence to suggest someone is paying them. Who, we’re not
sure. Richard was making those payments on behalf of someone else. We need to
know who that someone is, and what they were paid for. This looks like it’s
getting nastier by the minute. It may not be a bad idea to get you out of this
after that conversation. Trust your gut… Whatever happens, we got the break we
need because of you.”