Chapter 17 #2
Mr. Zarin was in the living room. The man looked awful, but she supposed he had every right.
Jenna’s chest ached just looking at him.
How was he still standing, let alone holding Lilly’s weight?
Jack’s little sister was in Mr. Zarin’s arms, looking so small in the large man’s arms. She had herself draped around his neck with her legs hanging limply down.
Mr. Zarin had one arm around her back and the other under her butt to keep her to him.
Chief Cunningham was speaking with him. It didn’t pass Jenna’s notice that the Chief had herded them into the corner of the living room, where neither Lilly nor Mr. Zarin had a line of sight into the kitchen or the backyard.
Mr. Zarin spotted Jenna coming out from the hallway. He must have seen the anger on her face because his eyes narrowed. “What is it?” he asked her, his question stopping what the Chief had been saying to him midsentence. “Where’s Jack?”
“Packing,” Jenna told him honestly. Maybe it was throwing Jack under the bus slightly, but the man had a right to know.
“Packing?” Mr. Zarin demanded. There was something off about his usually gruff voice, like he’d swallowed a harmonica. “Why?”
Jenna crossed her arms over her chest. She understood that the man had just lost his wife, but she had her priorities.
This man had once opened his home to Jack and Lilly, and Jenna needed to ensure that that hadn’t changed before she left.
“He thinks you’re going to kick him out.
Or,” she added in deference to Jack, “he fears you will, so he’s leaving before you can. ”
Lilly’s head popped up. She sniffled. “What? We have to go?”
“No,” Mr. Zarin snapped, turning his head towards her. Then more gently added, “No, sweetie. You’re staying right here. Nothing,” his voice cracked. He cleared it. “Nothing has changed.” He looked back at Jenna. “They’re not going anywhere.”
The grief in his voice was second to the conviction.
Jenna nodded. “Thank you. I’m going to go. Jack,” she winced slightly. “He doesn’t want me here right now.”
“No, Jenna!” Lilly cried. “You can’t leave too!”
“I’m not,” Jenna reassured the little girl.
“I promise, Lillypad.” She used Jack’s nickname for his sister in hopes that it would bring her some form of comfort in this trying time.
“I’m just giving you guys a little space.
” She turned to Mr. Zarin. “Maybe you should go talk to Jack before he finishes packing.”
Mr. Zarin nodded. He turned slightly to face the Chief. “Tim, do you mind? I need to get to my son before he does something stupid.”
“Go,” Chief Cunningham encouraged. “If it helps, I have his keys. They were in…” He stopped speaking before he finished that sentence.
Mr. Zarin nodded, wincing slightly as if he knew where Jack’s keys had been. Jenna didn’t understand, but it wasn’t her place to ask.
Without another glance back at Jenna, Mr. Zarin carried Lilly down the hallway.
Jenna watched them for a moment before letting out a long sigh and dropping her arms. She knew Mr. Zarin would get through to Jack.
She’d come back in the morning to help with whatever the three of them needed.
None of them would be going to school for a bit.
Jenna took a step forward, intending on getting her coat by the door to leave, when she noticed that Chief Cunningham was watching her closely. She blinked, not really familiar enough with the man to guess what he was thinking. “Sir?”
“How did you get here so fast?” the Chief asked her. “Even if Jack called you before he called the station, how did you get here as quickly as you did?”
Jenna shifted her weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable with the man’s questioning. It felt like an accusation, though she wasn’t sure what he was accusing her of. “No one called me. I was already on my way.”
“Rumor has it that your parents had you locked up tight in Seattle. What changed?”
She swallowed hard, but nodded. “My mom changed her mind. She… She said I could leave my school if I wished. I bought a car and came straight here.” Her eyes glanced to the kitchen window before she added, “When I pulled up, there were police cars everywhere and I found Lilly crying on the couch. I didn’t even know what had happened until Jack came inside. ”
The Chief nodded once, but there was something in his eyes. Like the wheels in his head were turning. “Are you aware of what happened last fall, Ms. Scanlon? Between Jack and his father?”
“Yes,” Jenna said honestly. “But I was already restricted to Seattle by the time Jack’s father went to jail. My parents have been doing their best to keep our communication to a minimum, so all I know is that he was released. I don’t know why.”
“We were unable to hold him for more than a drunk and disorderly,” the Chief explained, his voice somber.
“Though Jack said he spoke of going to your house here, nothing specific was mentioned about his purpose at your house. Jack’s assumption that he meant to rob it was just that.
John never stated out loud that that was his intent.
We had to let him go, though he was charged with a misdemeanor. ”
That was unfortunate. If Mr. Duncan had told Jack that he wanted to rob her home, maybe he’d still be in jail. Jenna didn’t know what the charges or jail time were for intent to rob some place, but figured it had to be a couple of months at least.
“Funny thing, though. When John Duncan had finally sobered up last fall, he was talking about how he’d been paid to rob your house. His employer supposedly told him that Jack knew the layout of your house and knew where the safe in your father’s office was located.”
Jenna looked at the Chief, confused but also defensive. Did Chief Cunningham think Jack was behind his father’s actions? “Jack’s never stepped foot in my house. He wouldn’t know something like that.”
“I know,” the Chief said gently. He paused for a second before saying, “Do you mind me asking what specifically your mom said to you this afternoon, Jenna? Why she let you, for lack of a better word, free today of all days?”
There was that accusing look again. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, Chief Cunningham. What does my mom have to do with what happened to Mrs. Zarin today?”
“Well, if I’m right, then I made a huge error a few months back and I mean to remedy that mistake and insure Mrs. Zarin’s true murderer is brought to justice. Would you care to help me, Ms. Scanlon?”
Jack was working on closing Lilly’s overstuffed suitcase when he felt a presence behind him again. “Jenna,” he snapped without turning around, “I told you to leave!”
“Jackie?”
Jack spun. Mr. Zarin was behind him, carefully lowering Lilly to the floor. Jack quickly looked away from Mr. Zarin. He grabbed for Lilly, bringing her closer to him. “Lilly, we have to leave.”
She shook her head, trying to step back from him. “No, Jackie! I don’t wanna go! Mr. Zarin said we can stay!”
Jack did not have the energy to argue with her. “You don’t understand, Lillypad.”
“Actually, I think it’s you who doesn’t understand, son.”
Jack shook his head, still not able to look up. “You don’t… Don’t feel obligated to keep us. We’ll go. I just… Please let me finish packing.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Jack!”
Jack flinched as if he’d been struck. The volume of Mr. Zarin’s voice echoed off the walls. But still Jack did not look at him. He didn’t want to see the accusation, the hatred, in the man’s eyes.
Hands gripped his shoulders. Strong, masculine hands. Hands that had been guiding Jack, teaching him, for over a year. Hands that could be destructive and yet had an aptitude for such kindness.
Boots filled Jack’s vision as he stared at the floor. He’d tried so hard to follow in the man’s footsteps. But those boots were just too big. Jack couldn’t fill them. He wasn’t strong enough. It was too much—
Mr. Zarin shook Jack’s shoulders forcefully. His head snapped up automatically. Mr. Zarin’s dark eyes were beyond sad. There was pain behind his gaze that was incomprehensible to Jack because the woman he loved was still alive.
Yet Mr. Zarin’s voice was steady. He didn’t look away, didn’t back down. “I just lost my wife, Jack. Are you really going to make me lose my children, too?”
Jack’s chin trembled. “Do you really mean that?”
“With every fiber of my being.”
A small hand filled Jack’s. He looked down into Lilly’s tear-stricken face. “Please, Jackie. Don’t make us go.”
Jack squeezed her hand reassuringly. A weight lifted off of his chest as he looked again at Mr. Zarin. “Are you sure? I won’t stay today for you to kick us out later.”
Mr. Zarin’s grip changed from Jack’s shoulders to cup his face. “Never going to happen, son. I swear it. I know where the blame lies for what happened here today, and it’s not with you. I will never blame you for what happened to my Daphne.”
A tear ran down Jack’s cheek. “I blame me.”
Mr. Zarin nodded. “I know. We’re going to work on that.” He dropped one hand from Jack to pull Lilly against his side. “Together. Okay?”
Jack’s nod was stiff. He felt like his head weighed too much for his neck.
He fell forward against Mr. Zarin’s chest, wrapping his arm around Lilly’s back too.
The three of them clung to each other, sharing in their grief and the harsh knowledge that their little family got a little bit smaller that day.
Tonight, he’d grieve.
Tomorrow, he’d fix what his grief had broken. He had to track down his woman and grovel for her forgiveness.
1 year, 1 month, 28 days