Page 109 of The Lieutenant

Four and a half weeks later

Kara

“You were a hit, kiddo.”

I glanced at Jacob, nodding in appreciation. The last few weeks had been exhausting. Between flights to California to talk with the executives from Netflix, and immediately taking the redeye back to New York, I’d barely seen a decent night’s sleep since returning from Greece.

“I think I held my own.” I leaned my elbow on the edge of his car window, staring out the windshield, but not seeing anything. My eyes burned from the late nights. At least I’d stopped feeling sorry for myself, spending a portion of the night in tears.

I’d wanted to contact Havros, but I still had no idea what I’d tell him. The project would soon consume even more of my time.

“You more than held your own. They were impressed with your ideas for the production. Are you still glad you went with HBO?”

“I am.” Part of that reason was because I didn’t need to leave New York every week. The other was all about money and creative control. Havros had spent time with me, providing ideas of what I could expect, including their attempts at shorting me what I was worth. I’d used his words to my benefit, the six-figure deal well worth my time and effort.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he weaved his way through traffic. At least he was driving. I wasn’t certain I could concentrate enough to get us back to the city safely.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re still thinking about him. Aren’t you?”

Him. Since my return, Jacob had been unable to say his name other than once. And that had been done out of anger when he’d realized we’d been intimate. He was now acting more like a father than ever before. At least he was watching out for me. “Not as much as before.”

“You need to think about yourself for a change. This is your ticket. If the project does even remotely well, there will be others. I can bet on that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Why wasn’t my heart into it?

We drove in silence for a few minutes.

“I spoke to your dad last night,” he said quietly.

I slowly turned my head. His face was pensive. “You did?”

“I did. He called me out of the blue. You never told him what you were doing, investigating mafia organizations. Did you?”

“I didn’t want to worry him.”

“You should know he found out. I don’t know how because he didn’t tell me, but he’s understandably worried about you. You need to call him. He gave me an earful about why you doing so was such a bad idea. I guess the US Marshals are having trouble with a group. I was half listening, but you can learn the details from your father. When you call him.”

“Yes, Dad number two.”

Jacob snorted. “I’m serious. I know I’ve been hard on him for a while, but he’s still your dad and cares about you.”

“I know he does and I care about him. I just don’t want to get into an argument with him.”

“I get it. I really do, but he left you two messages and you didn’t call him back.”

A moment of guilt settled in. “I didn’t know what to say. I haven’t been talking to anyone.”

“Including Havros?”

“I just couldn’t. What can I say?”

“I’m glad you’re away from that place. I really am. Everything you need is right here in New York.”

“Not everything.”

Jacob grumbled as he pulled up along the curve. “It might take time, but you’ll see that you did the right thing. Now, call your father before he has a heart attack.”

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