Rules of Protection(87)

At the mention of his name, I recognized it immediately and gasped. I remembered the large man with the cold, deadly eyes. He was one of the men who’d chased me from the lounge that night, wanting to kill me.

Jake acknowledged the horror in my eyes, but continued. “I hadn’t turned on any lights. Manning couldn’t see me standing in the shadows. But I must’ve shifted my weight or something because the wooden floor creaked under my foot. A wild shot hit me in the thigh as he ran out.”

“You were lucky he was caught off guard. He probably would’ve killed you.”

“No doubt in my mind,” Jake agreed. “He didn’t leave me alive out of the kindness of his heart. People who are caught unaware make mistakes. Like me, leaving my gun in the bedroom and walking out unarmed. It was stupid.”

“What happened after Manning left?”

“I crawled back into my bedroom and armed myself, but by the time I got my gun, he was gone. I called the police. The dispatcher wanted me to stay on the line, but I hung up and dragged myself down the hall to my parents’ bedroom. My mother was on the bed and my dad was on the floor, both with kill shots to the head.”

Though I already knew the story didn’t have a happy ending, it still disturbed me to hear his version of it. The look on his face as he told it reminded me of how I felt when I learned of my own parents’ deaths.

I choked up. “I’m sorry. It was hard when I lost my parents, but I wasn’t there when it happened. I can’t imagine how horrible it would’ve been for you to find them like that.” I paused long enough to wipe my eyes, but couldn’t stop sniffling. “Why did he do it? Did Manning kill them because your dad was an FBI director?”

“No. My father had been investigating Frankie Felts for years. Manning’s a flunky, an assassin, if you will. He doesn’t do anything unless Frankie Felts orders it done, which means Felts has as much of my family’s blood on his hands as Manning does.” His eyes glistened with moisture as he added, “As much as I do.”

“Jake, no.” I reached for his hand as my voice cracked. “How could it be your fault? You couldn’t have known—”

“I should’ve known…I’m the reason it happened.”

“Why do you think that?”

A tear escaped and rolled down the side of his nose. Judging by his lack of eye contact, his emotions made him uncomfortable. “Felts found out that someone received inside information from one of his employees. When he figured out who gave it, he pistol-whipped my dad’s name out of him and killed the man. That’s when Felts put out the kill order on my dad.”

“I still don’t see how…”

“The informant would only talk to someone higher up in the agency. The exchange was over the phone. I let the informant believe he was talking to FBI Director Joseph Keller.”

A light bulb flashed on in my brain. I understood Jake’s reasons for thinking it was his fault. Then the light bulb exploded, making my head hurt, since I knew nothing I said would convince him otherwise. But I had to try.

“When I was fourteen, my parents were hit by a drunk driver.”

“I know,” he said. “It was in your case file.”

“I’ve always blamed myself.”

Confusion took over Jake’s face. “Why? How was it your fault?”

“I stayed over at a friend’s house that night, but my friend, Cassie, wanted to go out without her parents knowing. I’d never done anything like that before. Believe it or not, I was a good girl back then.”

“You followed rules?” Jake asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“First night I’d ever disobeyed one. My parents were sticklers for rules and tried to instill them in me constantly. They slathered on sunscreen religiously, adamantly buckled their seatbelts, and—sometime after conceiving me—must’ve started practicing safe sex, since I’m an only child.”

“They would’ve loved me, then,” Jake said with a grin.

“I let Cassie talk me into sneaking out, and we went to the park to meet up with some friends. As soon as her parents found out we were missing, they called the police. A cop car picked us up and held us at the station until our parents could come for us. Cassie left with her dad, but I sat alone in a room for hours. Until an officer came to talk to me.”

“The one you mentioned before?” Jake asked. “The officer who comforted you until they snatched you away?”

I gave a quick nod, trying to keep my composure. “My parents were on their way to get me when the drunk driver swerved into their car and pushed it off a bridge into the Mississippi River. Their injuries weren’t severe, but my mom’s seatbelt wouldn’t release. According to eyewitnesses, my dad refused to get out of the car without her.”

Jake scowled and shook his head. “All because of a damn seatbelt?”

“Y-yes. And me. All because of me,” I said in a broken whisper before regaining control of my voice. He started to gather me in his arms, but I stopped him. “Don’t you see, Jake? It wasn’t your fault. No more than it was mine. Our parents wouldn’t want us sitting here blaming ourselves.”

“No, they wouldn’t.” He paused thoughtfully. “Actually,” he said, smiling at his thoughts, “my mom would grab me up by the ear and my dad would threaten to take me out behind the barn and whoop my ass.”