Page 65 of Cold Case Discovery

“The problem is, I married a man whose last name is Daniels.”

Jack didn’t quite follow. “Why is that a problem?”

“I could hardly name my son Jack Daniels,” Mary replied, looking lovingly down at the newborn in her arms.

“Why would...” He wanted to shift uncomfortably. “You don’t have to name anyone after me.”

Her eyes were full of tears. “Of course I don’t have to. But I wanted to—Walker and I wanted to name our son after the best men we knew. You’re at the top of that list, for both of us. I want that legacy for my son. I wanted him to have someone he knew, someone he’d spend his life looking up to. So he always knew what was right. Because his namesake would be right there, showing him.”

Jack was completely and utterly speechless. “Well.” But he remembered Chloe talking about legacies, and ghosts and how being sad is not all that bad. It felt like a million years ago.

“So, we did the best we could, all things considered,” Mary said with a little sniff. She used her shoulder to wipe a tear off her cheek. “This is Jackson Dean Daniels. If we end up shortening it, he can go by JD. But it’s after you, it’s because of you. His name. Who we all are.” She started crying again, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Okay. That cave. Today. This whole thing. “Chloe? Ry? I... I don’t remember exactly...” Chloe had been okay. She had been. Had to be.

“They’re both fine. Carlyle and Zeke got to you guys just in time. Jen Rogers and her two accomplices have been charged with the murder of Mark Brink and our parents. I knew you’d want the details, and they’re still wading through them all. But everything with the bones, with the snake and Detective Hart, it was all part of planning to murder Mark without Chloe getting any wind of it.”

Jack closed his eyes. His mind was whirling in too many directions. He wanted to see Chloe. Wanted to see for himself she was okay, but she wasn’t here. Mary was and...

And after sixteen years, they finally knew. “We’ve got answers now, Mary. Who killed Mom and Dad. Why... If you can call it a why. Everything we tried to find all these years.”

“It’s so strange,” she said, her voice a creaky whisper. “I just don’t care.”

He managed to open his eyes, and she was gazing down at her son, those tears still on her cheeks. She kept talking. “You’re okay, and I have him. We all have...so much. It’s a tragedy to have lost them. It’ll always be a tragedy. But answers didn’t change anything. Us all living our lives on the foundations they gave us. That’s the only thing that matters.”

It was such a strange thing, to agree. After years of thinking having answers would change something in his life, he now had those answers and nothing changed. Not really.

“Mary, where’s Chloe?”

“She’s fine.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“She... We aren’t sure where she went. She got checked out by doctors, answered all the police’s questions, but we kind of lost her in the fray. It’s okay. Carlyle and Anna are out trying to track her down, but we know she’s okay.”

He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t. He cursed his own weaknesses. Cursed everything. “She’s going to blame herself. She can’t seem to help it. I just—”

“Don’t worry, Jack. We’ll find her, and we’re all going to make sure she knows just where she belongs.”

Here. She belonged righthere.

CHLOEKNEWSHEcouldn’t just sit in the hospital parking lot forever. She had to act. She had to... She didn’t want to see him, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to breathe again if she didn’t see with her own two eyes that he was okay.

He wouldn’t blame her. He’d be irritated she blamed herself. She understood all these things rationally, but she could not seem to move past all the swirling things she knew about Jack and who he was and the horrible things she felt about herself.

Hey, this is why we go to therapy. Well, she’d have a doozy of a session at her next appointment.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Chloe looked up to see Carlyle stalking up to her, Anna not far behind.

“We’ve been looking all over for you,” Anna said.

Chloe shook her head. “You should be with Jack. You should—”

“And who do you think Jack wants to see?” Anna returned. “Come on. Get up. Let’s go.”

They stood on either side of her, taking her by the arms and hauling her to her feet. But she didn’t let them pull her to the door.

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