The Set Up (73 page)

She takes another sip of her coffee. “Do you want me to go on?”

I stare at my food. “Yes.”

She nods, resigned. “When Tom’s wife died, we formed a bond, and that bond grew stronger and stronger every time we were together. I fell in love with him, and he fell in love with me. He made me happy. So when he asked me to run away with him, I said yes. I knew I couldn’t bring you, Charlotte, I was too broken to take care of you.”

“But you took care of Tory,” I say indignantly, and wish I could take it back.

“She wasn’t mine, don’t you see, I wasn’t responsible for her. Tom was. I could deal with that.”

“But you couldn’t deal with me.” It’s not a question.

That slender hand is on mine again. “But not you.”

I jerk my hand back. There isn’t much left to say. I take a final sip of my tea and start to stand.

“Don’t leave yet,” she pleads.

“Why?” I ask, holding my breath, waiting, mentally pulling myself together.

She hesitates, and then says, “Because there is more you should know.”

I open my cheese stick. “I’ll finish my food, but then I need to get back.”

“Thank you,” she breathes.

I take a bite and wait and say a silent prayer that I made the right choice to stay.

“When I saw you, I told you to be careful of Hank Harper, but I didn’t tell you why. I want to now.”

She leans forward. “Tom had been taking payoffs from Hank Harper to turn down new work at the plant for years.”

Choking down my food, I toss the rest in the container on the table. “Why would Tom do that to Dad?”

“His wife’s illness had left him in a pile of debt and he needed the extra money.”

“Then why not take the extra work?”

“If the parts would have been taken on by the plant, he wouldn’t have seen the money. It would have been reinvested in operations.”

An audible intake of breath is my only response.

“I’m not saying it was right, Charlotte. But it happened. Still, despite that, the plant was doing well and taking over more and more business from Hank. Hank then offered Tom a big chunk of money to slow things down. When Tom said no, Hank blackmailed him. Told him he’d tell Adam everything. That’s when Tom decided it was time for us to go. He’d saved enough money that we could leave.”

“Did he do what Hank wanted?”

“No, but he knew someone else was going to.”

Horror prickles my skin. “So he left knowing he was going to kill all those people?”

“No!” she cries. “No one was supposed to be working that night. Tom had made certain of it. The lines should have been shut down. Whatever was done was supposed to cause a mild fire. Enough just to shut down operations for a short time.”

“But Luke added a shift,” I mumble in disbelief. “He wanted to help Dad and Tom.”

She nods. “After that, we could never go back.”

I stare at her, trying to figure out if she can possibly be telling me the truth.

She takes another sip of her coffee. “The story isn’t over.”

I nod. Knowing this.

“Tory turned out to be a wild girl. She hated rules and moved to Windsor right after she graduated high school. Sometime last year she came to visit us and started asking a lot of questions about the past. She was so young then she really didn’t remember much. Anyway, she started talking about looking you up and moving back to Detroit. Tom asked her not to do that. To leave well enough alone.”

“She came to the Butterfly House,” I tell her.

Her face goes blank. “Did you talk to her?”

I shake my head. “She never introduced herself.”

“She never told us. All I know is she kept asking her father questions about that time, and his nerves were showing, he said a few things to her, and warned her to stay away from Hank Harper. He was paranoid that Hank was out to get him, even after all those years, for taking off like he did, and then of course for the aftermath he was left with.”

I’m sipping at my tea, now cool, when she says that. “What do you mean aftermath?”

“The cover up. The explosion couldn’t look like Hank had caused it; he was afraid if it did, fingers would be pointed at him, and rightfully so.”

“So what did he do?”

“I’m sorry, Charlotte, I honestly don’t know. In fact, until the night Tory called and told her father she’d made a deal with Hank Harper and now feared her life, I did everything I could not to remember that time.”

I twisted my water bottle in my hands, ready to spring the million-dollar question. “So why was Tom in my apartment? And why did he attack me?”

My mother looks down and twists her fingers in her lap. “I wish I knew. I really do. And that is why I’m worried about you. The last I spoke with Tom, he couldn’t find Tory and he was headed to Hank’s office. After that, I never talked to him again.”

I gather my things. “Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”

Again, she takes my hand. “Please be careful. He’ll mow anyone down who tries to take business from him. He’s ruthless, Charlotte. He’ll do anything to stay on top. Anything.”

The word rings in my ear.

Anything.

Sabotage?

Murder?

When I stand up, so does she. “I meant what I said earlier, Charlotte, I’m so sorry for who I was back then. I know that isn’t nearly enough, and I don’t expect that you will ever be able to forgive me, but if someday, you think you might, I’ll be here.”

I can’t even call her mom. I can’t call her anything. And I can’t say I accept her apology because she’s right, it’s not nearly enough. So I nod and as I turn to leave, I pause and then reach for her hand, giving it a little squeeze. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

Tears spring to her eyes and to mine.

And I leave.

Walk out into the night and inhale the air.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

I let it fill my lungs with air before exhaling a long cleansing breath.

Slowly, I make my way to my car, and when a breeze blows by, I raise my arms up high above my head and clutch fistfuls of air as it weaves it way through my fingers.

It wasn’t me—it was her.

Her.

She was the broken one.

Not me.

Then I look down at my still-flat belly and think . . .

Maybe.

Just maybe . . . I can do this.

LICENSE TO DRIVE

Jasper

EVERYONE WANTS TO
do it.

Drag down Hansen Dam, Ogden and Kostner, Telegraph Road, even the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway can be a thrill, but if you’re a street racer, no place is more coveted than Mulholland Drive.

My hands are gripping the wheel.

There is a carpet of shimmering lights below.

Windows open.

I whip through the turns with hair-raising precision.

The stretch of broken pavement that clings to the side of the ridge is nine miles of pure adrenaline.

Vroom!

Tires spin.

The V-8 growls as it rolls down the boulevard.

It’s over way too soon. But just once. That was all I needed. Just once in my lifetime to be able to say I did it.

“Woohoo,” Jake hollers as I pull into our hotel.

“You’re one crazy fuck,” Drew shouts as he gets out.

I grin like a motherfucker.

“Last time you’re driving when I’m in the car,” Will breathes under his breath.

I clap him on the shoulder. “What’s the matter, getting old?”

“Hardly. You’re just a crazy fuck.”

“Come on, I had complete control.”

Will walks ahead of me.

“You’re mad because you didn’t get to ride shotgun. Aren’t you?”

He raises his hand and gives me the finger.

“Love you too!” I shout.

He turns around with a grin and I know he loved every second of that ride. “I’ve got some calls to make,” he tells me.

Guess that means he wants some privacy.

Subtle.

I slow my pace and wait for Jake. “What you did today took a lot of guts.”

He shoves his hands in his pockets. “I did what I had to do, JJ, to save our company.”

“Yeah, you did, man, and you delivered.” I grin.

Once Jake confronted his father, he not only presented him with the legal document Brad had put together, but he told him what he remembered. The dude came clean right away. He told Jake someone had offered him ten thousand dollars to fabricate the story. That was all he had to do. Jake also found out whatever money his father had come into, he lost at the casino tables. After that, we blew out of Vegas.

Shit! Have we grown up or what?

We never even stopped to hit the tables, check out the strippers, or have a drink.

We just rode like the wind.

The lights of Vegas are far behind us, and Jake seems to be finally feeling better. In fact, he insists we make another stop at In-N-Out Burger. This time we eat there.

Fire out.

The hotel is on the small side, and the pool is off to the side. As the three of us head to the lobby, I veer toward it. Unbutton my shirt. Undo my pants. Hop over the small wire fence. And take everything but my skivvies off.

“The pool is closed,” Drew hollers.

“Since when do I care about rules?” I shout and jump in.

A second later there’s another splash.

Then another.

Jake grabs me by the ankles to pull me under.

Drew grabs Jake.

It’s like we are kids again, sneaking into the pool at the YMCA at midnight just because we were hot.

I slide an arm around Jake’s shoulder to knuckle him in the head. He catches it and twists my arm back. The horseplay continues for a long time. It feels good. Drew is the first to head up to the suite. Jake, exhausted, soon follows. I stay behind, put my pants back on, plop on a lounge chair, and pull my phone from my pocket. It’s midnight here, so it’s three in the morning in Detroit. I shouldn’t call her, but I need to hear her voice.

“Jasper,” she answers sounding more than a little groggy.

“Hi,” I whisper.

“Hi,” she whispers back. “I miss you.”

I stretch out on the lounge. “I’m glad.”

She laughs. “You’re supposed to say I miss you back.”

I love the shape her mouth forms when she smiles and I can picture it right now. “Since when do I do what I’m supposed to do? But I do miss you.”

That laugh again. “That’s true. I got your text. I’m glad everything went well, but it’s disturbing to hear that someone paid Jake’s father off to slander Lightning Motors.”

I run a hand through my hair. “Yeah, I know.”

“Any idea who? Competitors out there maybe?”

“I don’t even want to think about it right now. So how’d it go at the doctor?”

She draws in a breath. “Good. Well. Interesting.”

I raise a brow. “Interesting how?”

“I’ll tell you all about my day tomorrow. What time will you be back?”

“Around six.”

“Okay, I’m going to get up early and take a drive out to Mackinac Island.”

Surprised, I ask, “Why are you doing that?”

I can hear the rumple of the sheets and I wish I were there with her. “Remember I told you that Katy Underwood had found some of my father’s things? I’d told her to destroy them, but she said she’d hold on to them until I made it out there, so I thought I’d go have lunch with her and pick them up.”

I look around the empty space and hate that there’s so many miles between us. “Take my car.”

“No, I like my car. Yours is a shift and I’m not good at it.”

I sigh. “It’s not going to make it.”

“Don’t say that. Yes, it is.”

I relent. “Well, be careful driving that far,” I whisper.

“What? Are you telling me I shouldn’t go ninety the whole way?” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“That car could never. But Charlotte Lane, you’re a woman after my own heart.” And then I add sternly, “Besides, that piece-of-shit car of yours needs to be handled with TLC.”

She laughs. “That’s not the only thing that likes to be handled with TLC. And it will be fine.”

She owns me with that laugh. “I’ll give you TLC, trust me.”

“I was planning on surprising you and taking you up there with me.”

“Oh, yeah, why, because you wanted to have your wicked way with me?” I tease.