Ignoring the man’s claim, Grant rested his hands on his narrow hips and continued sharing his theory. “Then when she was standing by herself next to the mailbox, you saw your chance and tried to run her over. Hell, you damn near killed us both.”
The older man continued to adamantly deny the accusation. “It wasn’t me! I told you, I was in chemo.” He looked to Brynnon, pleading for her to believe him. “That’s why I talked to you when I did. I was already going to be near the hospital for my treatment. I saw that you’d be there, too, so I went to see you. But I never tried to hurt you. I give you my word.”
“Your word?”
“Grant,” Brynnon tried to intervene, but the angry warrior didn’t back down.
“No.” Shaking his head, her angry bodyguard took a step forward and glared down at the agitated man. “You cornered an innocent woman in the hallway of a children’s hospital and then lied about who you were. Sorry, but your word doesn’t mean jack shit to me.”
“I swear, I didn’t—”
“It was me,” Jessica blurted loudly. All eyes turned to her, the young woman’s shoulders sagging with defeat. To Brynnon, she admitted, “I did it.” She looked at Brynnon. “I’m the one who sent the threats to your dad. I took the pictures and...I-I was the one driving the car.”
Brynnon grabbed Grant’s hand when she felt him stiffen in anger in an attempt to keep him calm.
“Jessica.” Her father looked up at her, stunned. “Why?”
“Why?” the other woman gave her father an incredulous look. “Because I’m so sick of this! The stress and anger. Watching you get your hopes up every single week when you call that worthless P.I. only to be let down again and again. Your heart can’t take it much longer, Dad. Not with the added strain from the cancer and chemo.”
Jessica knelt down in front of her father’s frail form. Tears fell from her eyes when she took his hands in hers and continued on.
“I just found you, and now...” Her voice broke. “I’m going to lose you, soon. I did what I did because I couldn’t stand to see you spend one more precious second, the seconds we have left together, being consumed by this hateful, anger-driven need for what you think may be the truth.”
Jessica had been stalking her. Had sent threats to her father, and just today had come damn close to killing both her and Grant. But despite all that, Brynnon felt her heart breaking for the poor woman.
She watched as Jessica stood. Wiping her tears away, she faced Brynnon again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get that close to you. I swear. I only meant to scare you. And the pictures...” she looked chagrined. “My dad has spent nearly every penny of his savings trying to find the truth about my brother’s death. Not knowing is tearing him apart, and I—”
“Jessica.” Charles shook his head. It was obvious he’d had no idea what his daughter had been up to.
Tears formed in the woman’s pleading blue eyes again. “I-I didn’t know what else to do. I thought maybe if your dad believed one of his own kids was in danger, he’d confess. My father could finally be at peace and live his last days focusing on other things.”
“Like you,” Brynnon surmised.
“Yes.” The torn woman nodded. “As selfish as it sounds, I want us to be able to appreciate the time we have left instead of chasing ghosts.” When Jessica took a step toward her, Brynnon squeezed Grant’s hand to keep him from charging the other woman. “I really am sorry for what I did. I swear, I won’t do anything like that again. I just...” She looked at Charles again, the love she felt for her father unmistakable. “I can’t bear to see him like this. You know?”
A tear escaped the corner of Brynnon’s eye before she could stop it. Using her free hand, she wiped it away. “I do know. And, I’m not going to say what you did was okay—”
“No,” Grant interrupted. “It sure as hell wasn’t okay”
“But...” She looked back at Jessica. “I understand your need to protect your father.”
“Mr. Wright”—she drew her focus back to him— “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you to, anyway. Or, at least to trust them.” She tipped her head toward Grant and Derek. “Please. Let us talk with your private investigator so we can see for ourselves what evidence he thinks he has.”
“What if you don’t like what you find?” he challenged her. “Are you really going to stand there and tell me you’d sell out your own father for the sake of my son? Someone you never even met?”
Straightening her spine, Brynnon looked Charles Wright in the eye and told him the God’s honest truth. “I promise you, if I find out someone at father’s company was in any way responsible for what happened to Jordan and the others, I will tell you. And if that’s the case, I’ll hand over every scrap of evidence to you. After that, you’ll be free to use it however you deem fit.”
The broken man studied her a few seconds longer before giving up the name. “Hank Mitchell. He’s the one who’s been working this case for me. Lives in Phoenix, but I’ll call him and let him know it’s okay to talk with you about what he found.”
“Thank you for trusting me.” Brynnon looked up at Grant before adding, “Trusting us.”
Wright’s jaw muscles bulged. “Just don’t make me regret it.”
“You won’t,” Grant assured him. “But cancer or no cancer, you or your daughter ever come near Brynnon without a personal invitation again, I guarantee that’s a decision youwillregret.”
With his final warning given, the three of them left Charles Wright and his daughter and headed back to the condo. Without a word to either man, Brynnon went upstairs to her office, shut the door, and called her father.
Hours later while lying in bed, she found herself struggling to shut her mind off enough to sleep. Along with the day’s emotional roller coaster of events, the conversation with her dad played over again in her head.
