Chapter Twenty-Two
Jackson
Lily had completely fucking lost it.
A gun?
A life insurance policy?
I had no clue what the fuck she was going on about, and I wasn’t happy about whatever the hell it was she was insinuating about me. In fact, I was pissed as hell. She’d lost her damn mind.
She squealed and tried to break free of my grip, and I leaned down. “Lily, for fuck’s sake. I’m not hurting you. I’m taking you to the attic so you can show me this goddamned stuff you’ve apparently found, because I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about!”
She didn’t reply, and I frowned at her wide-eyed, trembling visage. “You’re frightened of me, aren’t you?” I said, softening my voice. “Lily, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just want you to take me up there and show me what the hell is going on.”
“I…want to go home,” she mumbled, not meeting my eyes.
I let go of her arm and crouched down so that my eyes were directly level with hers. “Okay, I understand. You don’t trust me right now, because you found something you think is incriminating in some way. So why don’t we just stay right here in this hallway, and you run me through it?” I said. “Then at least I’ll have some idea of what we’re dealing with.” I rose to my full height and put my hands on my head. “And here, I’ll keep my arms up so you know I’m not about to grab you and do god knows what. You might not believe me right now, but I’m not the sort of guy who hurts women.”
Lily nodded, body still trembling, and she began to run me through what she found in the attic earlier. What she thought it could all mean. I listened, frowning the entire time, because I still wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
“And I just…I thought that if you lied about these things, then there’s obviously a reason for that. And I could only think of one main reason you’d lie—because you’re more involved in what happened back then than you ever let on,” she finished. She couldn’t meet my eyes.
I sighed. If she really had found these things, then it certainly did look bad for me, but there had to be a simple explanation. “Lily, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never owned a gun, and I certainly never received any money from a life insurance payout after Jenna died. I didn’t even know she took a policy out so close to her death. Believe me, if I did, the cops would’ve been all over me after her murder, accusing me of collaborating with your mom, or even setting her up like you’re thinking right now. But I didn’t get a single dime. I can prove it, too. I can show you my financial records for the last decade if I have to.”
“Then why did I find those things in your attic?” she asked, an accusatory gleam in her eyes.
“Look, Jenna used to keep all sorts of shit up there in boxes. After she died, I obviously went through the house and cleared out all her stuff, but honestly, I forgot about the attic. I barely ever go in there. So there’s probably a few boxes of her stuff still up there. I’m sorry, Lily, I honestly had no idea it was there. I guess she hid things in those boxes. Gun and paperwork included.”
Her gaze shot up to meet mine. “So you think it was her gun?”
“Has to be. Like I said, it’s not mine. And as for the policy…well, I had no idea about it. She must’ve decided to take it out all by herself, and I wasn’t informed at all. I’m not sure why I was never informed, but I’d damn well like to find out if it means getting to the bottom of all this.”
Lily nodded and rubbed her arms, where goosebumps had begun to crop up. I leaned down again and tentatively reached out to stroke her. “Lily, I want you to know—I blame myself for this.”
“What do you mean?”
“I planted an awful, silly idea in your head while we were cooking dinner. This idea that maybe your mom was innocent and was actually killed in order to be framed for Jenna’s murder. But I didn’t mean to; I was simply spit-balling about alternate explanations for the letter you got, and why there would be jewelry indentations on it when she never wore any jewelry. I didn’t mean I thought that’s what actually happened. I thought you knew that. But I feel like it’s gotten in your head, and you’ve started to think that’s what really occurred, and now you’re looking for criminal masterminds anywhere and everywhere. Even me.”
Lily shook her head. “Jackson, I already thought it might be a possibility before you ever mentioned it,” she said quietly, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Why, baby?”
“Because of what the police said. They said it could be other stuff, but the most likely explanation for the indentations on the letter is jewelry. And it just made me think…Mom never wore any, so someone else could’ve written it. And there’s only one reason why that would be the case. So don’t worry; you didn’t give me that idea. The cops did, inadvertently.”
I frowned. “Listen to me, baby girl. Your mom is still out there, and I bet she’s changed her entire identity to stay hidden. She’s dyed her hair, probably got herself some glasses, and she’s given herself a new style. Maybe part of that new style includes wearing jewelry. She could’ve found some that works for her skin and doesn’t give her allergic rashes, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Occam’s Razor, Lily. Simplest explanation is that your mom did it. Remember that.”
“I’m trying. It’s just…”
Her voice trailed off, and I reached out to hug her. “It’s hard. I know. Especially when you’ve been having all these confusing nightmares. But let me tell you again, baby, they’re just dreams. That’s all. I wasn’t here that day when Jenna died, and neither were you. The things you’re hearing in the nightmares are all figments of your imagination. And hell, you know what? I can even prove I wasn’t here that day.”
“How?” she asked, eyes wide as saucers.
“I have a private investigator. He’s helped out with certain aspects of the campaign, like opposition research. I can call him right now and have him look into that date six and a half years ago. There’s security cameras all over your dad’s construction company offices, and if I left the premises at all that day, they would’ve captured me on film. Same with any traffic light cameras in the area. So I’m gonna give him a call right now and have him start looking into that, just to give you some more peace of mind, okay? I want you to trust me, Lily.”
“Okay.” Lily looked down, her lower lip trembling. “But you don’t need to do that. I feel really stupid. I feel so…”
“Baby, don’t feel stupid,” I said. “Look, these things you say you found in the attic—they don’t exactly make me look great, and when you thought I lied about them…well, that made it worse. I understand why your mind jumped to where it did, even if it jumped too far. You were traumatized by what happened with Jenna and your mom all those years ago, and it’s still affecting you. It’s still on your mind a lot. I understand that.”
“Do you hate me?” she asked, jerking her head up. Her eyes were still shining with tears. “I’d hate me if I were you. I basically accused you of…of…”
I wrapped my arms around her and made soothing sounds as I rubbed her back. “Of course I don’t hate you, Lily. I could never hate you. I just want you to trust me. I don’t want something like this to happen again. Ever.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, chest heaving with sobs now. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Lily. I forgive you. I’ll always forgive you. Just please, trust me the way I trust you. Do you think you can do that?”
She sniffled, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. I trust you, Jackson.”
“Good. Now let’s go to the attic so I can see this stuff for myself.”
She nodded again and accompanied me upstairs. After switching the light on in the attic, I frowned and looked over to the right, where a box had broken. “Is that it?” I asked, pointing.
“Yes. The gun fell out when the box broke.”
“Okay. Stay back. I don’t want you in any danger. God knows if the thing is loaded or not.”
I trudged over and leaned down. It was exactly as Lily said it was—there was a gun on the ground, and a file underneath which had also slipped out of the broken cardboard box. I leafed through the file to confirm what Lily saw, and it was indeed a life insurance policy for a substantial amount of money, bequeathed to me.
Strange. So fucking strange. How had I never known about this?
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, and Lily called to me from where she was standing at the attic entrance. “What are you doing?”
“Simmons Life Insurance is a big company,” I replied. “I’ll bet they’ve got a twenty-four hour helpline I can call to chat to someone about this.” I gestured to the policy folder. “I’ll also call my PI like I said I would earlier.”
I made a quick call to the private investigator to have him start looking into my whereabouts on the day of Jenna’s murder—I knew Lily told me I didn’t have to, but I wanted to do anything I could to give her complete peace of mind—and then I logged onto an internet browser on my phone to look up the number for Simmons Life Insurance.
“They do have a twenty-four hour helpline,” I said to Lily before dialing the number. A help-desk employee answered almost immediately, and I set the call to loudspeaker so Lily could hear.
“Simmons Insurance helpline, how can I help?” the high-pitched female voice on the other end of the line said.
“Hello, I’m wondering if I can get some information about a policy that was taken out a few years ago. I was apparently the beneficiary, but I was never informed.”
“Sure, I can help with that, sir. I’ll just need some details from you.”
I gave her the information she asked for, and then I waited as she tapped away at a keyboard. “Are you still there, sir?” she asked a few minutes later.
“Yes.”
“I’m looking at the records now. That policy was never actually enacted. It seems Ms. Potter began the process of applying, and she definitely nominated you as her sole beneficiary, but there was a clerical error, and the policy didn’t go through the system properly. By the time the error was noticed on our end, Ms. Potter had passed away. And understandably, we can’t enact a life insurance policy for someone if they are already deceased.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew there had to be an explanation. “Yes, of course,” I said. “Thanks very much for your help.”
I ended the call and looked up at Lily. “See?” I said. “I didn’t know about the policy because it never actually went through properly, so when Jenna died, I wasn’t informed of it at all.”
Lily nodded. “I feel so dumb,” she murmured.
“Don’t. You were right about how there’s obviously more to the story of what happened six years ago, even if it’s not what you think it was. She never told me about it, but Jenna obviously had a reason to take out this policy, and she had a reason to buy a gun.”
“She was scared?”
I nodded. “Exactly. She must’ve worried that something was coming. Maybe she thought the gun would protect her.”
“Do you think it was my mom she was scared of?” Lily asked. The heartbroken look on her face made my guts twinge. The poor girl. She’d been through so much.
“Well, your mom wasn’t exactly stable back then,” I said softly. “It would make sense that she was scared of her after that incident when Karen attacked her in the restaurant and accused her of all sorts of bullshit.”
“Yeah. But…I know my mom was a bit crazy. I know she accused Jenna of having an affair with my dad. But is that reason enough for Jenna to start fearing for her life? I mean, sure, my mom threw a drink at her in a restaurant and yelled at her. But if that happened to me, I’d just think ‘ugh, this bitch, what the hell is wrong with her?’. I wouldn’t start fearing for my life and buy a gun, let alone take out a massive life insurance policy for my loved ones just in case. And also, if she was so scared of my mom, why would she let her in the house on the day she died without coming up here and getting her hidden gun first?”
I nodded slowly. “I suppose so. Doesn’t make much sense. So you think there was someone else Jenna was afraid of back then? Someone aside from your mother?”
“Yes.”
“I agree. Like you said, it doesn’t make sense for her to be that afraid of your mother after what happened that night in the restaurant, unless your mother made death threats to her that we never knew about. And honestly, I’d like to know. Just so you can stop thinking about it all the time and worrying. I’d like to know exactly what happened back then, and why Jenna did all this.”
I gestured to the broken box with the file and the gun, then stood back up. “I have an idea,” I went on. “There’s one person who might know if your mother did indeed make death threats to Jenna.”
“My dad?” Lily asked, already on the same train of thought.
“Yep. I think we need to go over there.”
She nodded. “Okay. But please…please don’t fight him again.”
I winked. “I’ll try, baby girl. Just for you.”