Cry Mercy

TWENTY-FOUR

He heard her on the steps and in the hall, knew she was now standing in his doorway, but didn't bother to turn around.

“What?” he asked.

“You have a problem.”

“Yeah? What?”

She crossed the carpeted floor to his desk and slid something under his nose. He glanced sideways, studying it, then raised his eyes to meet hers.

“Where did that come from?”

“It was on the table in the front hall.” Hand on hip, she stood as if waiting for his response. When one didn't come, she poked him in the back and said, “You have a problem. What are you going to do about it?”

“I have a problem?” He snorted and spun around in his chair. “We have a problem. This is just as much me as it is you.”

“You have got to be kidding.” She scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulders. “I haven't raised a finger…”

“Who are you kidding? This was all your idea.” He stood and faced her down. “Who found the folder in his desk drawer? Who did all the research on this donor sibling stuff? Whose idea was it to go online and see if anyone was looking for Donor 1735?”

“Whose idea was it to eliminate the competition?” She lowered her voice. “What did you do with them, J.J.? Before you killed them, I mean? Did you play with them? Did you rape them?”

He turned away from her, feeling the hot flush rise up above his collar.

“You did, didn't you?” She smirked. “You had sex with your own half sisters. You're a disgusting, perverted-”

“They're not our half sisters.” He grabbed her by the arm and squeezed it. “Do not dignify what they are.”

“Did you tell them that while you were putting it to them?” She was still smirking, even though he knew his grip must be hurting her arm. “Did you make it clear to each of them that you were not fucking your sister?”

“Don't make me hurt you,” he said. “And don't pretend that your hands are clean in all this. We have a legacy to protect, a name that used to mean something, and don't ever forget that. Besides, don't pretend for one minute that you'd be happy about having to share all geat-grandmother Gardner's china and silver with all your half sisters.”

She yanked her arm away and took a step back. “So what do we do now?”

He shrugged and sat back in his chair at his desk. “You tell me. You're the idea person. I'm just the grunt who carries out your every whim.”

“Stop it, JJ.” She exhaled and looked almost defeated for a moment.

He knew better. His sister-his real sister-was never to be counted out.

“The investigator has been here. She talked to Dad.”

“How do you know he talked to her?”

“I found that card on the table when he was leaving just now. When I asked him about it, he said she was someone who was looking for a missing person that she thought he might know something about.” She sat on the edge of his bed. “He said it was a conversation for another time because he was in a hurry and didn't want to miss his tee time.”

“You really think he's going to explain how he got his rocks off years ago for a little cash, and how all those chickens scattered up and down the east coast are coming home to roost?”

“I didn't press him. The important thing is that she knows that Dad is Donor 1735. How do you suppose she figured it out?”

“Easy. One of the donor-sibling boys gave Belle some of their DNA.” With a few strokes on the keyboard, he pulled up Emme's email asking who the DNA donor was. “Read it and weep.”

He turned the screen in her direction.

“Swell,” she muttered after she'd finished reading. “That's just swell. Who do you think it was?”

“My first guess would have been Henry.”

“Well, then, let's just email Henry and ask him… oh, right.” She snapped her fingers. “We can't. You killed him. I guess we'll have to go to plan B.”

“Very funny. He and Lori were going to meet Emme Caldwell and Belle's uncle. They would have told them everything they knew.”

“Who are you kidding?” The smirk was back. “You have no idea what they knew or what they didn't know. You just wanted to get your hands on Lori.”

She leaned closer and whispered in his ear. “Was she worth it? Was she that good?”

“Actually,” he whispered back, “she was.”

She rolled her eyes. “So how many are left?”

“The twins and Hayley.” He held up three fingers, then he added two more, and grinned. “And Ava and Justin.”

“Leave Hayley alone.” Her eyes went hard.

“We'll see.”

“No, she's just a kid, J.J. You leave her out of this.”

“And when she figures out she's the last man standing? Then what?”

“You leave that to me. But you give me your word, you don't touch her.”

“Fine.” He held up both hands as if in surrender. “Hayley's untouchable. Not that I would have. As you say, she's just a kid. I really do have some standards, you know.”

“Right. I seem to recall those standards going right out the window when it came to Jessica. She wasn't much older than Hayley.”

“Jessica looked like she was twenty.” He waved her off.

“Yeah, well, that's what started this whole mess. You couldn't keep it in your pants, and the next thing I know, you're coming back from Florida with a dead girl in the trunk of your car.”

“She was the one who insisted that we get together,” he reminded her. “I wouldn't have thought of-”

“Spare me. You couldn't wait to get your hands on her once you saw her picture.”

“She was pretty hot, you have to admit.”

“I bailed you out of that one. Now I'm wondering if I should have.”

He laughed out loud. “I have to admit, ‘My dad just got transferred to France and we're moving to Paris’ was a pretty good cover. Which of course would not have worked if I hadn't brought her laptop back with me so that she could occasionally check in with the group.”

“That's quite a collection you've got, isn't it? Jessica's, Belle's, Lori's.”

“And Ali's. Don't forget Ali's. You have to admit, they've come in real handy.” He smiled. “It's sort of my version of keeping my friends close and my enemies closer.”

She pushed at his chest and walked to the door. “When you get serious about figuring out what we do next, you let me know.”

“I already have it figured out,” he told her calmly. “Sit yourself back down and listen. I'm going to need you to set this up…”