JoJo watched as Nancy’s hand dropped steadily through her explanation until it rested at her side, the gun now barely gripped in her hand.
JoJo took a step closer. “Drop the gun, Nancy. Let’s end this. Once you tell people how sorry you are, you’ll see how it will be. They’ll understand everything. Yes, you hurt Sophie, but you also brought justice for Sally. For your sister. Think about her. Wouldn’t she want you to live? Live the life that she never got to.”
The thunk of the gun hitting the carpet was the sweetest sound JoJo had ever heard. “Take a few steps back for me, Nancy.”
The woman did even better and went to sit in the single chair provided in the hotel room. JoJo picked up the gun and pocketed it. “I’m going to open the door, okay. The police are going to come in and take you away. You’ll need to get a lawyer.”
Nancy nodded but JoJo didn’t know if she really heard her.
“I didn’t want to die, I guess. Not really.”
“Nobody does.”
JoJo opened the hotel room door to find four, five maybe six SWAT team members armed and ready to take the room. “She’s unarmed and compliant. Go easy, okay, guys.”
JoJo handed Nancy’s weapon over to one of the officers and walked a bit down the hallway. She listened as Nancy screeched, knowing she was forcibly being taken to the floor, her arms jerked behind her, then cuffed, then lifted from the floor as the officers read her rights.
She didn’t watch as they took Nancy down the hallway toward the elevators. There was nothing left to see but a broken woman who had a broken life. There was no satisfaction to be had from anything that had happened tonight. Unless she counted Nancy’s survival.
Would the woman have killed herself if JoJo hadn’t intervened? She didn’t know. She only knew she would wake up tomorrow after sleeping with a clean conscience tonight. JoJo put her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.
It did raise a very good question about exactly where she would be sleeping. Forget letting her back into his bed, would Mark even let her back into the hotel room? He would probably leave her stuff outside in the hallway and let her make her own way back to Philadelphia. Was she supposed to believe what he said? That he hated her now.
The sudden fear of that, the fear of losing him, was shockingly intense.
“See, this is why I avoid relationships. There I was in the deserts of Afghanistan hunting down Taliban tribal leaders, no fears or worries. Not a care in the world. Then I come home and these women enter my life and it’s danger around every turn.”
JoJo opened her eyes to find him leaning against the opposite wall of the hallway. The police had taken Nancy away and were processing her room as a crime scene. JoJo wouldn’t have much quiet time before they started to question her about what had happened. It was going to be a really long night.
“She was Jack Anderson’s daughter.”
“Yep. Ben called me.”
JoJo shook her head. “How sick do you have to be to give away your youngest daughter because you know your husband is molesting your oldest?”
“Very sick. Now it’s clear she didn’t protect him because she was in denial about what he was doing. Jack Anderson was a monster, but Regina was worse because she let the monster thrive.”
JoJo looked at him then, not asking the question she really wanted to. Until finally, she couldn’t hold it back. “Do you hate me?”
“For talking her off the ledge, no. For aging me ten years while I stood outside the door, a little.”
“I had to do it. Had to try.”
“Debatable. But as she’s alive, I’ll concede the point.”
“How’s Sophie?”
“She was freaked-out, which made me ache even more. But the doctors say she’s going to fully recover in a few days. Then Bay came to visit and when he left she had this really goofy smile on her face. I didn’t tell her what you were doing. She didn’t know to be scared for you.”
JoJo would have to find out what that was about tomorrow. A goofy smile equaled a positive conversation. That is, if there was a tomorrow for them.
No, that was already determined. There was going to be a tomorrow for her and Sophie. It was nonnegotiable. Sophie was part of her life now, and JoJo was part of hers. That wasn’t going to change, no matter what happened between her and Mark. She would need to make sure Sophie understood that.
“Ms. Hatcher. Do you have time to talk now?”
“That’s Detective Milton,” Mark said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the man approaching them. “He’s handling the case on this end.”
“Yeah. I’m ready.” She pushed herself off the wall. Suddenly, she seemed to weigh three hundred pounds, but there was no putting this off. Nancy’s story had to be told.
She started to walk and saw Mark kept step with her. “You’re coming with me?”
“I am. When we’re done you can come back to the hospital with me. Sophie’s got a private room so we can move in two cots.” He stopped walking, which forced her to stop, as well. She didn’t want to miss anything he had to say. “If that’s what you want.”
She smiled. Strange, when only a few minutes ago she didn’t think she would ever smile again. “That’s what I want.”
“Good. Then let’s get this show on the road.”
As they started to walk again, JoJo reached into her pocket and handed him his gun. Mark took it without a word, put the safety on and shoved it into the back of his pants, mostly hidden by his suit coat.
“I guess you don’t hate me.”
“I guess I don’t.”
“That’s good because the whole time Nancy was talking and I was hoping she didn’t kill herself or try to kill me, something occurred to me.”
“What was that?”
“I think I’m in love with you.” She didn’t think it. She knew it. But it was best to hedge her bets with a man like Mark. Not let him hold all the cards at once.
“Yeah. I figured it out when I was shouting at you that I would hate you. I could only be so mad at someone I loved.”
“That’s pretty messed up.”
His brushed her tattoos. “Yeah, because you are a ringing endorsement for normalcy.”
“We all have our issues.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her close to his body. It felt really good.
“So, do you think two messed-up people can make a relationship work?” he mused.
“The chances are fairly slim.”
“I thought so, too.”
*
SOPHIE OPENED HER eyes slowly. She waited to see if the dizziness would still be there but fortunately it was gone. Sitting up, she actually felt fairly normal. Maybe that meant she could get away with only two days in the hospital instead of the three the doctor had predicted. Then she was going to have to talk to the show’s producer to reschedule the performances. She hoped he agreed that included rescheduling her crappy collapsing performance. Not an impression she wanted to leave in the minds of those who had attended.
Looking around the room, she could see the cots filling up the open space. Mark was on his stomach snoring and JoJo’s hand had fallen off the side of her cot. Sophie smiled; she bet the nurse loved having to tiptoe around these two to take her vital signs.
“Hey, guys. Wake up.”
Mark’s head jerked and as soon as he moved JoJo woke up. She ran her hand through her cropped hair and immediately stood. “What is it? Do you need anything?”
“A toothbrush,” Sophie said. “But that can wait. What happened with Nancy? Dad told me she was responsible when they came in to take the polish off my nails. Is she like totally sick?”
“Totally,” JoJo agreed. “The police have her in custody.”
“Nancy. She was so normal. So nice and plain. The whole time she wanted me dead. I’m sorry, that’s completely freaky.”
“She’s gone,” Mark said coming to stand on the other side of the bed. “That’s all you need to know
about her.”
“Won’t I have to testify and stuff?”
“Not if she pleads guilty, which I think she might do. She didn’t run when your father blew it and tipped our hand. I think she wanted to be caught. What she did was horrible, but what’s crazy is that I really believe she is sorry she did it.”
“Do I have to get another tutor? Mark, I can make a case for having been traumatized.”
“Clearly.” Mark snorted. “Yes, you will have another tutor, but the next one will have top-level government-security clearance.”
“So what happens now?”
Neither Mark nor JoJo said anything and Sophie had this sense that they probably didn’t know.
“I guess we go home,” Mark suggested.
“We’ll need to come back for the makeup dates.”
“Not until you’re completely well, but then sure. I guess you can go back to your routine.”
“What about you two?” Sophie wanted to know. “Are you going to date?”
“No,” Mark said. “She’s going to move in with us.”
“I am?”
“No way,” Sophie said. “That’s way too fast. You have to date for at least three months.”
“Three months!”
JoJo nodded. “Yeah. I like the idea of that. And you have to do nice stuff like bring flowers.”
Mark looked perplexed but eventually he conceded. “Fine, three months, then she moves in. When can we get married?”
Sophie considered that. “Well, you are kind of old—”
“Hey, I am not.”
“Maybe like six months if things are working out,” Sophie said.
“Fine,” Mark agreed.
Sophie thought JoJo looked pretty freaked-out, but she didn’t say anything. “So if everything works out and you guys get married, then we’ll be, like, a family.”
“Oh, wow. I think I’m going to be sick,” JoJo muttered.
“Suck it up,” Mark demanded. “If I can handle it, you can handle. We should consider what we’re all going to bring to this family of ours.”
“I’ll bring my uncanny knack to pick the perfect restaurant.”
“That’s a good one,” Mark agreed.
They looked at JoJo, who was kind of pale. Sophie reached out and took her hand. “It’s okay. I know we’re freaking you out.”
JoJo squeezed her hand back and smiled. “I’ll bring my risotto.”
Sophie and Jojo both turned to Mark.
“I’ll stay.”
Sophie could see his face was suddenly really serious. He met JoJo’s eyes, then Sophie’s. Like he was making an important vow.
“Forever. I’ll stay with both of you forever. I’ll never leave.”
JoJo shook her head. “You can’t promise that.”
Mark reached over the bed and took her free hand. Then he took his daughter’s hand and Sophie could feel the power of his words. Could feel what the three of them might actually become someday. It was a risk. She and JoJo knew it, because she and JoJo knew that people didn’t stay forever. Even when you wanted them to.
“Try me.”
Sophie nodded. “It’s okay, JoJo, I think he means it.”
“Forever,” she whispered. “Okay.”
“Great, now let’s seal the deal with Sharpe on the three.”
“My last name isn’t Sharpe,” Sophie pointed out.
“Yeah, and I don’t know how I feel about taking the man’s name. It seems a little archaic—”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
“And are we really the type of family who cheers together?” Sophie asked.
“I agree. I think we’re more of a noncheering bunch.”
“Forget it,” Mark grumbled.
Then the door opened and an aide brought Sophie her breakfast and they all sat together on the bed and teased each other, and laughed, and were…together.
Forever.
EPILOGUE
Six months later
“AHH! OH, MY God this hurts.”
Mark clutched JoJo’s hand. “You’re doing great, babe, hang in there.”
“Sophie, give me your other hand, I need to squeeze on both sides.”
“Uh, no way.” Sophie held up her hands. “I’m a professional. These are my tools, remember?”
“No help,” JoJo growled. “You are no help.”
“Hey, we all have our roles. I’m deciding where we’re going to lunch afterward.”
“Oh, man, please stop!”
The doctor standing over JoJo paused. “You need to stay still or it’s only going to hurt worse.”
“You need to be kicked in the balls over and over again so that you know what this feels like.”
“Okay, that’s borderline abusive.”
Mark waved him off. “I’ll give you a tip, Doc. Just keep going.”
Once more the doctor lowered the laser over JoJo’s neck while she struggled to stay still. Mark tried not to smile in the face of her misery, but it was hard not to. Because he knew what she was doing, she was doing for him. Because she loved him that much.
After three months of dating and three months of living together she had finally accepted his offer of marriage.
But to get the ring, he told her she needed to lose the tattoos.
At first she fought him, wanting to cling to her crutch, but then he showed her the diamond. It was a big one.
“How much longer?”
“They’re almost invisible,” Mark said. “Last side, last wire.”
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
“No more walls, Jo. Not even the symbolic ones. It’s the price you pay for letting people in and having them love you.”
“This is love?” she screeched as the doctor continued to wave the laser over her neck.
Sophie moved around the table so JoJo could see her. “Look at it this way, you don’t want to be walking down the aisle in this beautiful white dress with black tattoos around your neck. It would totally spoil the pictures.”
“We’re getting married in a courthouse and you’re fired as my maid of honor. Done.”
“Please. As if you could get someone at this late date. You’re both taking too many cases. I’ve had to handle everything, make all the arrangements for the reception. If I didn’t force you to go dress shopping, you would be standing in the courthouse naked.”
“Now that might be interesting.”
“Can it, Mark,” JoJo growled.
“All I’m saying is you need me. This wedding is like my baby.”
“Yeah, a baby you are paying for with my credit card,” Mark grumbled. “What was the last five hundred dollars for?”
Sophie dropped her gaze to the floor, a habit that had replaced biting her nails. Not once since they had removed the toxic polish had she ever been tempted to bite them again. Now she conveyed nervousness, and what Mark knew was also guilt, by simply not looking at him.
“Sophie…”
“Shoes,” she admitted.
“Five hundred dollars for shoes?”
“What the hell am I wearing, gold?” JoJo squeaked.
Sophie rocked on her heels. “Actually they are for me. They’re Michael Kors and they are totally cool.”
“No way. Unacceptable. They go back.”
“Daddy, please.”
“Oh, no, you didn’t. You did not invoke the Daddy card.” The shame of it was, it pleased him inordinately to hear it. For the most part he was still Mark to her. But every once in a while, when she wanted him to know that he was okay, she would use the big D word. This, however, was the first time she had ever used it to manipulate him.
Sophie smiled very wide.
Yeah, it would probably work. “Fine, but your dress better be cheaper than dirt.”
“Okay, can we focus on me here? You’re both supposed to be offering me support.”
“Right. You’re almost done. Actually, I have no idea if that’s true. Doc?”
The doc
tor stood and turned off the laser. “Take a look.” He handed JoJo a mirror and Mark watched as she rediscovered herself. She’d dyed her hair back to blond and in the past few months her natural color had taken over. It was a stunning gold-and-caramel blond and it highlighted the blue in her eyes even more than the jet-black color.
This was JoJo Hatcher. The woman she was supposed to be. Mark didn’t know he had this much love in him, until each day he found more for her. More for his daughter. For a man who thought he’d been so content without it, he hadn’t realized he had no idea what happiness truly was.
“I know that girl.” JoJo smiled as she checked out her neck. While red, it was devoid of ink.
“She’s hot,” Mark confirmed.
“Stop, you’ll embarrass me.”
“You mean that hasn’t already happened,” the doctor said, putting away his equipment. “I have to say, you guys are one…unique…family.”
“Yeah,” JoJo agreed. “But they are mine. My family.”
Mark narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to cry again? ’Cause I have to say you’ve been like a faucet. Crying when I propose, crying when you ask Sophie to be your maid of honor…”
“Mark, I love you, but shut the hell up.”
He leaned in to kiss her. “Yes, ma’am.”
*
Keep reading for an excerpt from NOT ANOTHER WEDDING by Jennifer McKenzie.
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CHAPTER ONE
POPPY SULLIVAN STILL couldn’t believe Jamie, one of her oldest and dearest friends, was getting married in a week. She glanced at the pink-striped wedding invitation sitting on the passenger seat of her car and swallowed the concern souring on her tongue.
For the First Time Page 26
