Silently pressed against each other, Sara and Jared didn’t have to say a word. For too long, they had been at each other’s throats. Now, finally, they were in each other’s arms. And that was all that mattered. As reality slowly returned, Sara could feel Jared start to tremble. Moments later, his eyes welled up with tears. “It’s okay,” she reassured him as she struggled to fight back her own tears. But it was already too late – as was always the case, once Sara heard Jared sobbing, she wasn’t far behind. Soon, both of them were overcome with emotion. “It’s okay,” she repeated as tears ran down her cheeks. “It’s really okay.”
“I know,” Jared said, wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve. “Until you were safe, I couldn’t-”
“I know exactly how you feel,” Sara said, wiping her own eyes. “But we have to keep the catharsis short. Neither of us is really safe unless we get out of this mess.”
“No, you’re right,” Jared said, composing himself. He rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. “Okay, now what’s the next step?”
“Work the facts. Is there anything else that Rafferty or Kozlow might’ve said? Anything that might explain why Victor wanted the case? Or who Sunken Cheeks is? Is he a former employee? Does he have something against Rafferty? Has Kozlow mentioned any old grudges?”
“The only thing that caught me off guard is that Kozlow once said he was in the military.”
“Really? Which part?”
“Army. Lenny told me he got kicked out, but that’s all I know. Think there’s something there?”
“Maybe. Victor’s got a military background also. I’ll look into it first thing tomorrow.”
“Great. And can you also do a search on Rafferty’s phone bills? I tried already, but you’re the only one who can get his local calls. If your theory’s right, we should see tons of calls to Claire and to Kozlow.”
“And maybe to our mystery man with the cheeks.”
“Hopefully,” Jared said. “Maybe they’re all working together.” Looking up, Jared stared at the shimmering New York City skyline. It was beautiful, he thought. As beautiful as the first time he saw it from this spot, during a midnight biking tour he and Sara had taken at the end of their first year of law school. Jared took a deep breath and smiled. Finally, he was getting his life back. At that moment, he heard Sara laughing. “What’s so funny?” he asked, turning back to his wife.
“Nothing,” Sara said, her laughter a perfect mixture of nervousness and relief. “I just can’t believe this happened to us. I mean, why us?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe it was just meant to be.”
“Uh-uh. This problem didn’t find us – I found this problem. If I hadn’t been so worried about myself, I wouldn’t have grabbed this case in the first place. And if I’d never grabbed it, you never would’ve been approached to-”
“Okay. That’s enough. We don’t need to play this game. You’ve had enough self-pity for one year.”
“It’s not self-pity. This is just me facing reality. If I’d never grabbed this case, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“You can believe whatever you want, but I’d never blame you for this. Now let’s get back to the real question: What do we do with the case?”
Pausing, Sara eventually said, “I’m not sure. Obviously, we can’t take it to trial.”
“Maybe we can go to the judge and ask him to remove us because of a conflict of interest,” Jared suggested. “Or maybe we can force a mistrial.”
“We can do either, but that doesn’t solve the problem.”
“I really don’t care about solving the problem,” Jared said. “I say we get off the case and get our lives back. Let someone else play superhero.”
“No way. This is our problem. Rafferty, Doniger, Kozlow, Sunken Cheeks, they’re all our problem. And no matter how much you’d like to believe otherwise, they’re not going to leave us alone until they get what they want.”
“Fine, then all we need to do is figure out a way to stop the psychopaths from chasing us. How about we both bow out, and then we tell them that if anything happens to us, our lawyer will send out a letter that fingers Rafferty?”
“Jared, you’re missing the big picture. Even if they leave us alone, we can’t let them do the same thing to someone else.”
“So now we have to forward Rafferty’s E-mail to the entire firm?”
“Don’t make fun – you know I’m right.” As she let the logic of her argument sink in, Sara added, “Like it or not, it’s our responsibility.”
Jared nodded his head. “What do you propose?”
“I’m not sure. I want to talk to Conrad tomorrow. He knows his way around this world better than anyone.”
“And what other worlds is he familiar with?”
“Oh, c’mon, Jared, why do you have to bring that up? I swear it was nothing. We kissed and I pulled away. That was it.”
Jared didn’t say a word.
Studying her husband’s reaction, Sara felt awful. Without a doubt, that fleeting kiss would haunt her forever. As she tried to figure out what to say, she realized no apology would ever be enough. But if she expected to move forward, she also realized she had to start somewhere. “Jared, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to-”
“Actually, this is exactly what I need,” she replied. “I really am sorry, honey. I’m so sorry I did this to you. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could just wipe the whole thing from existence. And while I know that’s no excuse, I just hope you know one thing: The worst thing I can do in this world is hurt you. Nothing, absolutely nothing, causes me more pain.”
“So you’re not in love with him?”
“In love wi – Are you nuts? It was a moment in time – a misstep. You’re my whole world, Jared. Nothing means more to me. I trust you with everything.”
“If you trust me so much, why’d you spy on me with your briefcase?”
Sara reached over and tickled the back of his neck. “Baby, I was dead asleep the entire time. I only said that to test your reaction. Obviously, you failed, but I still trust you. And love you.”
With a sly smile, Jared said, “You’re ruthless, y’know that?”
“What can I say? Play with the best, you’re bound to get beat.”
“Sara, I swear I only did it because I was worried about-”
“I don’t care about that,” Sara said, taking Jared’s hand. “Let’s just have our make-up kiss and be done with it.”
“Here?” Jared asked, looking around at the completely deserted Promenade. “In front of all these people?”
“Of course here. It’s our perfect Hollywood moment. The intrepid heroes, the striking landmark, the windblown hair. It’s all in place. All we have to do is-” Interrupting herself, Sara leaned forward, grabbed her husband, and gave him a forceful kiss. For a minute, they stood there, lips locked and arms wrapped around each other. Once again, everything else faded away. When they were done, she asked, “How was that?”
Jared smiled. “It’s good to be home.”
“Couldn’t agree more. So you ready to get out of here?”
“Depends what we’re doing.”
“Well, right now, we’re putting together a puzzle. And the moment the picture is crystal clear, we’re going after the bastards who took it apart in the first place. If Rafferty thinks he’s got problems now, wait until his ass meets my foot.”
“I hope you’re right. Because if Rafferty gets wind of this, he’s not going to hold back – even if you are a DA.”
“That’s ADA to you. Now let’s go home.”
Standing behind a thick patch of overgrown shrubbery and shrouded by the low branches of an oak tree, he silently watched the couple leave the Promenade. He knew this would happen – he’d said it from the beginning. When the pressure got too high, they were going to snap.
He watched them walk up the concrete path toward Clark Street. They were coming directly at him, but in the darkness he wasn’t at all concerned. He didn’t even duck when they got close. He just leaned against the tree, his eyes tracking them as they passed right by him. He was tempted to reach out, but he fought the urge. Holding hands and swinging their arms, Jared and Sara walked with newfound confidence. They knew just about everything now. That is, everything but the fact that their secret wasn’t safe.