“Wherever I go from here, I’m pretty sure it’s better than where you are going. The whole act with the stairs was pretty evil to begin with, but throwing in those meds to make sure the job would be finished? Your own father. Wow.”
“He wasn’t supposed to die,” Linwood mutter.
“I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it.”
“Yeah, right after you have a doctor look at this,” Derek commented. “Don’t worry about missing anything. They will all be with us for a while.”
“I’ll drive you,” Ellie said, and between the two of them, Jordan didn’t feel like they were giving her much room to argue.
* * * *
With a fresh bandage, after having a quick, strong coffee, she sat across from Linwood Ashcroft about an hour later. Ashcroft’s lawyer was a lot more humble than the last time she’d seen him, and announced that his client was ready to make a full confession.
“You said you didn’t mean for your father to die. What was the plan?”
“Craig and Abby, they got careless and greedy, okay? They wanted everything, and what are they going to do with it? Craig’s going to burn it all with poker and on the race track, Abby will find a new business to work into the ground like all the others before.”
“So you’re the good son?”
“I never took money from my father that I wasn’t entitled to, and I always paid my loans back. You looked at my firm—it was thriving. I deserved more recognition than that, but I assume Dad had some sort of addictive nature as well.”
“How so?”
“All this charity crap? Give a few thousand bucks for starving children in Africa if you must, but you don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! He was just throwing money at those activists, helping them with their agenda.”
Jordan cast a look at Derek whose expression was somewhere between amused, baffled, and put off. She felt the same. She had seen greed before, but the entitlement the Ashcroft siblings were feeling was on a whole different level.
“Killing your own flesh and blood? That’s kind of harsh.”
“I told you, he wasn’t supposed to die. Those meds should have just slowed him down for a bit. If I had power of attorney, I would have seen to it that the reckless spending ended.”
“What you call reckless spending,” Derek said, “benefited hundreds, if not thousands of underprivileged kids, helped others get therapy rather than put them into prison. You didn’t think that was a good thing?”
“Why is it my problem if other people make bad choices?”
“You’re right,” Jordan said. “Your problems right now are your own bad choices. So why frame Aleja and her aunt?”
“Are you kidding me? Santos was taking advantage of my father. She was going through his money faster than those charities did. The niece, she walked right into it. It was too easy.”
“But then, there was the problem with Sandra. That was your plan too, wasn’t it, for her to be seen with Aleja, right?”
“I paid her the money, but everything regarding Sandra was Craig’s idea. You’ll have to ask him.”
“Don’t worry, we will. It just surprises me that you let him have that much control, that you didn’t care about what happened to your mistress.”
He shrugged. “After she slept with Aleja, I didn’t have any use for her anymore. She wanted to go to the police. After everything had worked out, we couldn’t let that happen.”
“I guess not. So you’re telling me that you have no idea what happened to her other than you all agreed that you should kill her?”
“I was working all weekend. You can ask the security guards. Craig said he would take care of the problem, and he did.”
“All right. We’ll see what your siblings have to add to that.”
Chapter Nineteen
“I wasn’t thinking clearly when I did that,” Abigail insisted when Jordan sat across from her. Derek stood leaning against the wall, his expression conveying clearly that he was as fed up with the siblings’ antics as everyone on this case. “I had just learned what they did, and I was too afraid to tell anyone. I was also afraid that if I didn’t, the police might come for me, and see what happened.” She sniffed. “I got hurt for real. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Dad. Linwood was maybe right about the money, but what they did…”
“That’s not exactly what you said back at your house,” Jordan reminded her.
Abby looked her straight in the eye. “You were under a lot of stress that moment, right, Detective? Maybe you don’t remember correctly. Hell, I was stressed with Linwood waving that gun around. I thought he was going to shoot somebody!”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Ashcroft, my memory works just fine. I remember you asked him not to get blood on the carpet. That didn’t sound like you were in so much distress.”
“You don’t understand!” Tears were streaming down her face. “I thought if I played this really cool, I could still get out of it, and no one would know that—”
She broke off, an alarmed expression on her face. “No, it’s not what you think! I didn’t think they would actually kill you…”
“You didn’t. A moment ago you said you were afraid someone was going to get shot. Which one is it, Ms. Ashcroft?” Derek asked.
“I think she’ll have enough time to figure that out,” Jordan said, getting to her feet.
“I didn’t kill anyone!” Abigail claimed. Jordan believed her, but at this point, all of them were in too deep. The only question remaining was who would take the fall.
Craig Ashcroft was still strategizing with his own lawyer. When he finally agreed to make a statement, his story was something opposite of Linwood’s.
“I want to tear my hair out,” Valerie said outside the interrogation room. “They are something.”
“No kidding. I feel a little icky myself.”
“Care for a drink after we wrap it up for today?”
“Yeah, why not?”
Derek cleared his throat, and Jordan hurried to catch up with him.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’m a little surprised, that’s all.”
“C’mon. You don’t think…Stop it right there,” she said, shaking her head. “Once we’re done here, I’m going to find Ellie, head home, take a shower, and we’ll hang out at the Night Shift for a little while. That’s all.”
“You’re sure that’s what she meant?”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s what she meant.”
Derek shrugged. “You must know.”
“I do know. This conversation is over.”
* * * *
Craig Ashcroft finally admitted that one of his keys belonged to an apartment building in the city, formerly his father’s, where he had taken Ms. Ryan. However, he claimed Abby and Linwood had asked him to take care of the situation.
Entering the dark apartment, Ellie gasped for breath, the memory drawing her in. She’d been trying to argue with her captor to no avail, eventually finding a small window to escape.
Given the ruthlessness of the perpetrators, she dreaded what they would find inside. She breathed a sigh of relief when they located the young woman in one of the rooms. She was scared and crying, her wrists and ankles tied together with duct tape, one strip over her mouth.
“It’s over,” Ellie assured her as she carefully removed the tape. “They can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Thank God! I thought he was just going to leave me there. Thank you.” She slumped forward into Ellie’s arms. Ellie let her cry for a moment, realizing that her own memory was giving way to reality and the certainty—they had won. It was perfect timing for Jordan’s text message to arrive, asking to meet her at the Night Shift when she was ready.
* * * *
When Ellie entered the bar, Jordan, Kate, Casey and Derek were already there. The latter sat at a table, while Jordan was standing at the bar, talking to the A.D.A. Ellie guessed Esposito owed Jordan an apology for not believing in her theory that Aleja San
tos had been framed. They were both having a beer. After the scene she’d just left, no matter how victorious, Ellie felt like something stronger. Not for the wrong reasons.
She ordered a Martini, then went over to them and clinked her glass lightly against Jordan’s bottle. “Congratulations, Detective.”
“Oh, I earned them. I went through a whole day with no one trying to sue me. Instead they’re all going to go away, and Aleja’s name is cleared.”
“Sounds like a reason to celebrate.”
Ellie assumed the A.D.A. would make her retreat, but she remained standing in the same spot, looking amused.
“You guys still have some business to take care of?”
“No.” Esposito chuckled. “No more business. Thanks for your time, Jordan.”
“What was that all about?” Ellie asked when Jordan followed her to their friends’ table.
“Nothing. Like you said, this was a big deal.”
Ellie waited, but Jordan didn’t elaborate.
“You worked together before, right?” She had heard that Esposito had returned to her old job after three years out of town.
“A few times, yes,” Jordan said. “Let’s forget about work for a bit. That getaway you were talking about? Let’s do it soon.”
“Sure.”
Ellie pulled herself a chair, realizing that the A.D.A. was still watching them from her spot at the bar. Perhaps she was wondering about all the changes that had taken place in her absence.
“Are you nervous about meeting Kathryn? I could still come.”
“No, thank you.” Jordan finished her bottle, setting it down on the table with an audible sound. “I’ll call you when we’re done.”
* * * *
Jordan couldn’t believe that she had actually set this date—or that she had told Ellie not to come. Both seemed like a bad idea now that she had cleaned her house compulsively in the past hours, resisted the urge to crack open the vodka bottle she knew was in the cabinet, and now had nothing left to do but wait.
There had been no further message from Kathryn, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t changed her mind or wouldn’t simply forget. Jordan didn’t remember a time when she’d been able to count on her. It was hard to believe that this time might be different—even harder to figure out what it would mean.
At five o’ clock sharp she jumped to her feet when she heard the sound of a car, but it passed by her house. 5:05. 5:10. Why should she expect anything else?
At 5:25, the doorbell rang.
“I’m so sorry.” Kathryn said. She sounded out of breath. “I didn’t find it right away. I went a few streets too far, so I had to go all the way back and then—”
“It’s all right. Come on in.”
Was this what it would boil down to? Excuses?
Kathryn followed her into the living room, taking in the surroundings with interest.
“You have a nice place,” she said. “A bit far out of town, but it’s beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Jordan didn’t think Kathryn would be interested in knowing what history she had with this house, and that most of the furniture was from the former owner. “You want coffee? I made some.”
“I’ll have some. Thank you.”
At least, that gave her something to do. Now that the moment had arrived, Jordan found it rather anti-climactic. The revelations about her biological father had stirred up a lot of emotions and uncomfortable truths, but the fact remained, she didn’t know these people all that well, except from vague memories—Kathryn, Jim Larson, TJ Pratt.
She filled two cups and set them on the table. “You wanted to talk. I have to admit I’m still not sure what about exactly, but here’s your chance. Talk.”
Jordan hadn’t missed Kathryn flinch.
“First, I want to say, whatever you might have been made to believe, I’m really proud of you, and the life you built for yourself.”
“That’s good to hear…” Until she reminded herself where this was coming from, and that put those words into context. “You didn’t send me all those texts just to tell me that.”
“No. Jordan, I want to be honest with you. I’m just still not sure how much either of us can handle.”
“It’s not a pretty story. I know that already.”
“I know that there are some things that can’t be undone, but…I want to be in your life.”
“Why? You don’t know me.”
“You saved my life. And I know you said it’s your job. I understand that. For me, it meant more. It meant I was given a chance I didn’t even know I could have, to get to know you better.”
So far, it was everything Jordan had expected and feared. It could only get worse.
“It took you a long time to come to that conclusion. Why not a year, or five after I’d been living with a foster family? It didn’t occur to you then, that you might want to get to know me better? Oh wait. You had other things to do, like figure out where to get the dope for the next party.”
She took a deep breath, uncomfortable with her own words. She understood addiction on an intellectual level. Neither Kathryn nor Jim had been mature enough to be a parent, and there was no doubt that living with Jack and Pauline had changed her life to the better instantly. All of which were reasons why she couldn’t go easy on Kathryn right now. It would have been so easy to just leave it alone.
“Yes, that was pretty much my life back then, but I swear, it’s not like that anymore. I never forgot about you, I never stopped wondering. I just knew you’d be better off anywhere else than with us, and I wanted you to have that chance at a future—so you wouldn’t end up the way I did. I decided to let you go because I loved you. I still do, and I hope you’ll give me a chance.”
This was the reason she had asked Dr. Burns to weigh in, out of fear that the truth she’d held on to for so long might be ripped from her. As long as she was still angry, that truth held.
“Just like that? You’re asking a lot.”
“Not just like that, I promise. If we could meet every once in a while, talk. You’d see I am different from the person you remember.”
“Remember?” Jordan laughed bitterly. “You were barely present. Physically, yes, but that wasn’t much of a help. Let’s talk about the person I remember. How did we end up in this place anyway? You weren’t pregnant with me when you married Jim.”
Kathryn looked like somebody readying themselves for a blow. This was all wrong, an alternate world. She would not be tricked into sympathy. People made hard choices everyday without producing casualties along the way.
“No, I wasn’t, but I was pregnant. I lost the baby—late, and I got…depressed, I guess. That’s when TJ and a few other people moved into the neighborhood. Neither Jim nor I really knew how to deal with the situation, and we couldn’t ask our parents for help either. The new neighbors brought lots of drugs. I was drinking on a regular basis by then, and everything else was only a matter of time. I thought it would help with the pain, but it only masked it for a while.”
Jordan wasn’t sure what to say, unsure whether this had been a terrible mistake. She didn’t feel much in control now.
“I’m sorry about the baby,” she said.
“Thank you. I didn’t tell you this to make you feel bad though.”
Too late.
“What happened with TJ?” From the moment the truth came out, Jordan hadn’t given this question much thought, a puzzle she had forced herself to stay away from.
Kathryn held her gaze, and Jordan was startled to see her eyes well up with tears.
“Jim wasn’t home one night, and I went to his trailer. There were other people there. We had a few beers, and the next thing I knew we were doing shots. One of the girls had cocaine.”
“Oh God.” She didn’t even realize she’d spoken those words out loud.
“TJ, I know he’s bad, but we were so much younger, and he could be…charming, I guess. I actually don’t remember all that much, but at some point, Jim came to get me. We just
went on as usual, but I think he must have suspected.”
“Why didn’t you give me up for adoption right away? Why wait twelve years until the police knocked on the door?”
“I thought I could do it. I’m so sorry, I really thought that time everything would be different.”
“Excuse me for a moment,” Jordan said. “I’ll be right back.”
Excuses and distractions she could handle, and even now she wasn’t entirely certain Kathryn was telling her the whole truth. However, being confronted with her pain that felt raw and genuine, was more frightening than she’d ever imagined.
She had seen what TJ Pratt was capable of. She wouldn’t put it past him to take advantage of a young neighbor, thirty-something years ago.
Ellie picked up right away. The relief was making her knees weak.
“Hey,” Jordan said, leaning against the counter.
“Hey, how’s it going? Is she gone?”
“No. Could you please come?”
“Is something wrong? I’ll leave right away. If you want me to talk to her, I will. She’s not blaming you for any of this, right? In that case, I’m ready to give her a piece of my mind.”
“No, it’s not like that. I’d just like to see you.”
“You’ll see me in a few minutes, I promise,” Ellie whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Jordan said, but Ellie was already gone.
She went back to the living room where Kathryn hadn’t moved. “When you said you don’t remember…”
“I wanted to get drunk, high, have sex with somebody.”
This time, it was Jordan who flinched at her birthmother’s brutal honesty. “Does that make a difference to you? If he had raped me, would it be easier for you to forgive me?”
“That’s a big word. TJ Pratt hurt a lot of people. He killed a young officer who was a colleague of mine, and another almost died. You want the truth? I’m glad he didn’t rape you. I’m just not ready to forgive you. I’m sorry if you expected that coming here.”
Kathryn was silent for a moment, letting every word sink in.
“I respect that,” she finally said. “I have to. Can I see you again? I’d love to make most of the time I have left.”
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