Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (3 page)

“Did you know she was married?”

“Yes.”

“And you did it anyway?”

“Yes. I can tell you what I was thinking
at the time, but it doesn't excuse it.”

“Why did you do it?”

Jack sat back in his chair and ran his
fingers through his hair. “I wasn't in my right mind after my mom died. I was
bitter that I could have all this money and success, but not save the one
person that mattered most. I was drunk or getting drunk most of the time. Liv
and Charles were having problems. They were separated and she said she was
filing for divorce.”

Separated. Filing for divorce. That was
better, wasn't it? She looked at Jack and saw disappointment etched in his
face. She could see this was hard for him. “With her, there were brief moments
when the pain was gone.”

“What about Cora?”

Jack sighed. “Cora tried to help, but
only Liv would let me do what I wanted.”

“Which was drink and have sex with a
married woman.”

Defeated, he dropped his head. “Something
like that.”

“So what happened?”

He laughed.

“This isn't funny.”

He looked up at her then. “No. I'm
laughing because I think you'll appreciate the irony of this. It was Brad who
told me I was throwing away my life and that my mother would be sorely
disappointed.”

“Brad?” Her ex-fiancé and Jack's chief
operating officer wasn't the type to intervene in anyone's crisis. The only
explanation was that Jack's behavior was impacting the company's bottom line.
Brad wouldn't tolerate that.

Jack smiled. “Who would have thought he
had scruples, eh? Anyway, he convinced me to get back involved with the
business. I wasn't quite ready then, but I broke it off with Liv, who took it
well. Then I went away for a while to get my head together. When I got back, I
decided I wanted to honor my mother by living how she lived— all out, carpe
diem and all that. But until I met you again, I was still carrying around a
huge hole. With you I'm…”

“If you say I complete you I'm going to
walk out of this room.”

He gave a faint smile. “I just feel
normal again. Better than normal. I don't want to lose that, Tess.”

She rubbed her hands over her face and
then looked to him. “So why are you telling me this now?”

“I told you…”

“Why now? Why not before we went to
dinner?”

Jack gave her a sheepish expression. “I
thought I wouldn't tell you ever. I didn't think it would matter. I told myself
it wasn't the same type of betrayal you experienced.”

“Cheating is ch—”

“I know that. I was just trying to avoid
it. But then, tonight in the car, you told me you weren't jealous. I realized I
had the trust I thought you were denying me, but I didn't deserve it. I had to
come clean and hope you'd forgive me for not telling you sooner or for doing it
at all.”

“I would have never thought you'd do
something like that.”

“I'm not perfect.”

The tightness in her chest that had been
loosening began to burn. “What does perfect have to do with it? Since when does
decency require perfection? There has to be millions of non-perfect people
who've never been involved in infidelity.”

“I made mistakes because I didn't handle
my mother's death very well. But I am decent, Tess. Since we have known each
other, I have never done anything to make you question my feelings for you,
have I?”

She shook her head. It was true. In
fact, of the two of them, she was the one who'd always put a wrench in their
relationship.

“I will never betray you. You have my
word.”

“This is not a little thing, Jack. I
wasn't just angry at Brad when I caught him cheating. I was angry at the other
man. They both knew he was engaged, but slept together anyway.

“I know. I was hurting and alone and
pissed off at the world. I didn't care about me or Liv and certainly not
Charles. She was hurting too. If she wasn't separated, it probably wouldn't
have happened.”

“Probably?”

“Jesus, Tess, I don't know. I only know
that at the time her separation was the reason I decided it was okay. She told
me she was going to file for divorce. If I didn't care about other people's
commitments, I would have tried to seduce you when you were with Brad. I may
have made a bad choice, but I believed Liv and Charles were over. “

“But she didn't leave him.”

“I don't know if she did or not. We were
over about as quickly as it started. They must have reconciled, but I don't
know what he knew or if he knew. I'm not like that now. I've got myself
together. I'm happier than ever and that's because of you.”

She stood, watching him, wanting to
believe him.  A part of her did believe him, at least the part about his love
for her. But if he could be a part of infidelity once, didn't that mean he
could do it again?

“Tell me you believe me. I made a
mistake once in a horrible time in my life. You aren't really going to make me
pay for that, are you?”

“It's not a matter of punishing you,
Jack. It's a matter of trusting you.”

He stood then, walked to her. “You know
all my secrets, my demons. I've been honest with you, Tess.”

He stood close, but didn't touch her. He
was waiting for her to make a move. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes,
as if he knew that she could just as easily move away as toward him. She had to
give him credit. He could have kept the secret to himself or at least not
highlighted Liv's marital status. By showing his past mistake, he was trying to
tell her he could be trusted.

A little tinge of guilt crept into her
gut. “Since you've been honest with me, I should probably tell you something
I've been keeping from you.”

His eyes narrowed and he looked like he
wasn't sure if he should be worried or annoyed. “Okay.”

“I think Liv killed her husband.”

Jack couldn't have been more surprised. “She
has an alibi.”

“I know.”

Confused, he asked, “So why would you
think she killed her husband?”

“She acts like a woman who needs an
alibi.”

“Turns out she did need one,” he pointed
out.

She blew out a breath. “The only people
who act like they need alibi know they need an alibi.”

Jack shook his head. “You aren't making
sense.” Then he realized what must be going on. “Did Daniel call you?” The idea
of it angered him. Not that Daniel would call her, but that Tess would willingly
go to dinner with Liv and not tell him she was undercover for the police. Talk
about betrayal.

“No. I figured this out all on my own.
I've worked with a few guilty people.”

“And what did you
figure
from our
dinner?” he asked tightly.

“What did I have for dinner?”

“What? Some pasta dish.”

“It was risotto. And did you and Brad
play golf this weekend?”

“Yes. So what?” Jack couldn't determine
where Tess was going with her questions.

“Do you have the receipt?”

“I don't know…I think Brad paid.”

“So if I were killed this weekend, you'd
have no alibi.”

“Except that I was with Brad.”

She gave him an exasperated glare. “The
point is, who collects receipts when it's not business?”

“Maybe Charles required her to. He was
known be tight with a penny.”

“Jack, she told us she couldn't help the
police with information about Charles' life and yet she knew he ate an egg
white omelet at 9:08 in the morning.”

“Maybe she cooked it for him,” Jack
said. Although deep down, he didn't think Liv knew how to heat water in a
microwave. “Look, it might look suspicious to you, but Liv's not a killer.
She's got too much going for her.”

“Just because she's good in bed doesn't
mean she isn't a killer.”

“And just because you're jealous doesn't
mean she is.”

“We're not back to that, are we?” Tess'
eyes mirrored Jack’s anger and annoyance. “Are you always going to discount
what I say because you think I'm jealous?”

“What you're accusing her of is
ludicrous.”

Tess stepped back and he could see the
walls rising again. That pissed him off even more. “Don't retreat on me, Tess.
Couples disagree. They argue. That doesn't mean it's over.”

“I don't like having to listen to you
defend an old lover.”

“We simply don't agree.”

“It's more than that. You just chose her
story over my instincts.”

Jack stepped away, cursing as he ran his
fingers through his hair. “You've caught me off guard. I just can't see that
she'd kill anyone.”

“Fine.”

“But that doesn't mean I don't believe
you or don't think you aren't a good lawyer. I just think you're mistaken.
Maybe all this time off has—”

“Stop! Please don't tell me my skills
are compromised because I've taken a little time off. I have no proof and I may
be wrong, but I'm telling you, her story doesn't measure up.”

He shook his head. “Let's just let it
go. We did our duty and had dinner. Now it's over and we're back to us.”

“And how about when the police call and
want to talk to you? Because they will.”

“Why? I don't know anything. It's been
over a year since I last talked to her.”

“Because two days after her husband was
murdered, she called you.”

~~~~

The chirping of Jack's phone woke Tess.
Rolling over, she reached to his side of the bed  to find emptiness. Popping
open one eye to make sure she didn't miss him, she verified that his side was
vacant. She started to muster the energy to reach across the bed to grab the
phone on his bedside table when he walked into the room with only a towel
draped low around his waist. Water dripped from his chest and hair. He looked
delicious. Tess would have considered divesting him of the towel, if it weren't
for the scowl on his face.

Jack picked up the phone and checked the
caller ID. He gave Tess a knowing look before answering. “Daniel.”

Tess flopped back on the bed. She didn't
try to listen in because she knew what this call was about.

“Why do I need a lawyer? Am I a suspect?”

Or did she? She was certain the police
would want to talk to Jack about Liv, but not as a suspect.

“Or do you just want to delve through my
sordid past?”

Whatever it was, Tess knew she was going
with Jack to talk to the police. Not that she would have ever let him talk to
them alone, but now it sounded like Daniel wanted her there.

“Nine-thirty, then.” Jack tossed the
phone on the bedside table, his scowl growing darker.

“I can be ready in forty-five minutes,”
she said.

“I don't want to give him the satisfaction
of  making you hear about Liv and me again.”

“But he won't get any satisfaction,”
Tess argued. “I already know. I do know everything, right?”

He gave her a disappointed glare, then
stalked to his closet. Tess tried not to feel his dismissal as rejection, but
it was hard. She went to the bathroom and showered, reminding herself that
disagreements were part of relationships, and that Jack being mad didn't mean
he was done with her.

When she finished, she popped open the
door to reach for her towel, but it wasn't there. Poking her head out, she saw
Jack standing outside the stall with the towel hanging from his fingertip. He
was fully dressed, including a tie.

“I'm sorry,” he said as she took the
towel and wrapped it around her. “I'm not proud of my behavior with Liv and I
don't like the idea of parading it out for everyone to see. But I shouldn't
take it out on you.”

“No, you shouldn't,” she said moving to
the sink to brush her teeth. “I don't suppose it occurred to you that I would
want to go, not as a lawyer, but as someone who loves you. You know, to stand
by my man?”

She saw the tension ease on his face and
his lips slightly tilted upward. “No.”

“Well, maybe it should.” She brushed,
spit and rinsed.

“You want to stand by your man and
listen to me tell about Liv while Daniel gloats.”

Tess suspected Daniel might gloat, but
that wasn't why he wanted her during the police interview with Jack. “As I
said, what's there to gloat about? I already know.”

She turned to him and he reached out to
wipe the edge of her mouth. “You missed a spot.”  His thumb brushed over her
lips. “That towel doesn't hide much.”

“Sorry, champ. You had your chance. Now
we don't have time.” She patted his hand away from the edge of her towel.

“What chance?” he asked as she walked
away.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Your
towel didn't hide much either.”