Chapter Thirteen
Jackson was still seething when they got back to the hotel. Meeting with Dan and Ray and recounting what had just happened didn’t really help much. The only saving grace was that Dee ran out for Thai food while Jackson and Park met with the rest of the team, and getting some food in his body took the edge off Jackson’s anger.
After lunch, Martha presented the teamwith a list of press inquiries, trying to decide if Park should appear on one of the cable shows. The campaign staff determined that Martha would act as official spokesperson, so she’d do the circuit and her assistant could start responding to requests for comment.
“I want you to know that I’m counting the amazing haircut and makeup job I’m about to get done as a campaign expense,” Marthainformed the team.
“Let Ray sort that out,” Park said.
Ray started to argue that hair and makeup for the staff weren’t really the sorts of things appropriate to write off as expenses, but he eventually handed Martha a credit card. Probably because she glared at him. Jackson hoped to never be on the other side of that stare.
When Martha went off to get her hair done, the rest of theteam split. Without asking, Jackson followed Park back to his room, though Park didn’t object.
“You’re angry,” Park said as he closed the door to his room after letting Jackson in.
“I’m not. I’m...frustrated.”
“I know you’re pissed about the key thing,” Park said. “But I honestly forgot.”
“I know.” Jackson wiped his chin with the palm of his hand. “What worries me is not that youlied, but more, who else has your keys that you’ve forgotten about. What other unsafe situations did you create because it just never occurred to you to worry about it?”
“I’ve accounted for every key now. I had six sets made when I moved into the apartment. The originals are on the keyring I carry around with me all the time, I’ve got a spare in the kitchen just in case, and then the doorman,Sharon, Fatima, Dee, and Martha. So they’re all accounted for.”
“You’re definitely changing your locks when you go home.”
“I already said I’m moving out.”
Jackson nodded. He tried imagining how he’d react if something violent had happened in his apartment, but found the prospect too gruesome and freaky to contemplate. He sat on the edge of the bed and toed off his shoes. “All right.I just...” He shook his head, unsure of what he wanted to say. He looked down and realized he’d taken his shoes off. He was getting comfortable. And he’d sat onhisside of the bed. What the hell was wrong with him? He looked back at Park. “I think someone stealing the keys from the substitute doorman the night of the murder still seems like the most logical theory. Security in that building isa joke.”
Park smiled. “You’re worried about me.”
Jackson held up his hands. “Yeah, I guess so. Old habits die hard.”
Park sat on the bed next to Jackson. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it on a nearby chair. “You worry about me even now that we’re not together?”
Jackson sighed. He shrugged out of his jacket as well. After he hung it over Park’s, he put his hands in hislap so he wouldn’t give in to his compulsion to touch Park. “Of course.” He sighed. “Remember Tommy Hartford? From down the hall, junior year?”
“Yeah. Friend of yours, right? Another law guy. Weird hair.” Park looked away for a moment. When he turned back, he said, “Didn’t Tommy die in a car crash or something a couple of years ago?”
Jackson nodded. “Boating accident, actually. When hedied, I hadn’t talked to him, or even really thought of him at all, in two or three years. Not for any reason, but we just fell out of touch after college. But his death devastated me. I went to the funeral and everything.”
“Okay. I mean, that sucks, I had no idea you and he were so close.”
“We weren’t super close. Just friends who studied together sometimes. But my point is that the peoplewho come into your life, they never really leave. Tommy Hartford and I weren’t even close friends, but I knew him once, and it upset me when he died. You and I were in a committed relationship for eight years and I loved you. Maybe time and distance changed how I felt, but I never stopped caring. I followed your political career. I about lost my goddamn mind that one time a guy with a gun gotinto the state capitol building when you were still an Assemblyman.”
“I was fine. Never even saw the guy.”
“I know, but I was glued to the news waiting to hear that you were okay. Is that... I mean, do you not feel the same way?”
Park’s eyes went wide. He stared at Jackson for a long moment. “Oh, god. Of course I do. If our positions were reversed, and you were in danger, I’m sureI would have been on the phone calling everyone in the state to find out if you were okay. You’re not exactly newsworthy, though. No offense. It’s hard to get information about you. I found out you started your own law firm from the alumni newsletter.”
Jackson laughed softly. He put his hands behind him on the bed and leaned back a little. “I worry, yes. You’ve lived such a charmed life thatit doesn’t occur to you to look out for danger most of the time.”
“I have Dee and Dum.”
“And thank god for that, because you don’t have a strong sense of self-preservation otherwise. And you’ve always been that way. In some ways, it’s great. Someone you care about needs something? You give it without thinking about the cost to yourself. But at the same time, it doesn’t occur to you towatch where you’re going or not be in the wrong place at the wrong time or to give the key to your apartment to whoever might need it. You know who has keys to my place? Me, and my sister in case of emergencies. That’s it.”
“You were always paranoid.”
