Page 23 of Ashes of Us
“On the night of the argument, he went to her son's apartment and got extremely high. They got the munchies, decided to walk to a nearby convenience store to load up on snacks and ran into Lucy and her friend there. They got to talking and the cousin - Jimmy is it?” He raised his eyebrow questioningly at her, and she nodded, feeling her heart sink even more. Jasper didn't partake in smoking pot very often; she could count on one hand how many times he had gotten high in the seven years they had been together, but the few times he had, he became very affectionate and touchy with everyone.
“Jimmy invited them back to the apartment.” He continued, looking back at the fire. “Jasper was initially against it, but his cousin was into Lucy's friend and begged him to play wingman, and he gave in. They went back to the apartment and smoked another bowl. Jimmy ended up hooking up with the friend and left Jasper alone with Lucy for a few hours. He came out of his bedroom to get a drink and found them cuddled up asleep and “practically” naked on the couch and freaked out, which woke up Jasper, who saw Lucy and, in Jimmy's words, “lost his damn mind, threw up, and ran out of the apartment half naked.”
“Oh my god.” Danica doubled over, holding her stomach and trying not to throw up. “He actually screwed her.”
“Jimmy thinks they might have kissed and maybe fooled around.” She felt Maverick's hand on her shoulder, and he rubbed it gently. “Which, considering he was a married man, is still cheating, but he doesn't think they slept together. He insisted that Jasper was still in his jeans and was too high to actually have sex. He also said that when Jasper saw Lucy lying on his chest in just her underwear, he shoved her off him so hard that she landed on the coffee table and broke it.”
Danica nodded, pressing her lips together. Jimmy was Jasper's best friend and was extremely loyal to him. He would do everything he could to downplay it. At least now she knew why he hadn't reached out to her since Jasper's accident. “Did Jimmy ask Lucy what happened?”
“No, she apparently burst into tears when she hit the coffee table, so her friend got her dressed and took her home.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?”
“Danica nodded as she began drawing in deep breaths. “I will be.” She forced herself to sit up straight. “I wasn't able to find Jasper's phone. The hospital said it didn't come in with him, and when I tried to find it using the Find My Phone function, it didn't ping. It's been over a week, so it's probably dead.”
“Probably.” Maverick agreed. “Do you know where his car would have been towed to?” Danica slowly shook her head, realizing that she had been so busy with Jasper's family and then the court date, she hadn't even thought of reaching out to the police for information.
“You know, I haven't even thought about his car or where it would be.”
“The police department would have had it towed. I'll reach out to my contacts tomorrow and see if I can find it for you,” he assured her. “Don't worry about it.” He was quiet for a minute, then stood up and stretched, gently nudging Watson with his foot. “Is there someone you can call to come stay with you?”
Danica let out a dry chuckle as she stood up and grabbed the fire poker to break apart the few glowing logs so the fire would burn out on its own. “No, trust me, I'll be fine.”
“So, you're Alex West's executive assistant, huh?” Maverick's face was completely neutral as he walked her to her door, and she couldn't tell what his thoughts about him were.
“Yeah, he said you guys were rivals on the track and field team in high school.” Danica climbed the two stairs and stood on the step, turning to say good night.”
“Is that what he told you?” Maverick stopped and looked at her. “I ran track in high school, but he's older than me, and we didn't run against each other. He hired me a few months ago to look into you and another woman.”
“I'm sorry?” Danica unconsciously echoed Alex's words as she stared at him. “Why did he want to look into me? Did you look into me?”
Maverick held up his hands and shook his head. “I didn't have to. I'd actually forgotten all about it, and I didn't recognize your name when you introduced yourself. You were both beneficiaries in his father's will, and he asked me to investigate your relationships with his father. I started with the other woman, and when I brought him what I'd found out, he told me not to bother looking into you because he was clearly wrong and he owed you an apology.”
That made Danica's brain stop. “He owes me an apology? What did you find out?”
“I can't tell you that, really, I shouldn't have told you anything.” Now Maverick looked regretful and very nervous. “I'd really appreciate it if you'd not mention that to him.” Danica frowned. She didn't want to get Maverick in trouble with Alex, who would probably sue him. She knew why Alex wanted Maverick to look into her relationship with his father. Still, she desperately wanted to know what Maverick found out about the other woman that made Alex back off. Now that shewas thinking about it, it was after he gave her the money from Alexander's estate that he started being nicer to her. She made the connection and let out a gasp.
“Alexander was seeing this other woman!” Maverick let out a deep sigh and reluctantly nodded.
“Had been since his wife died. They met in a support group for people who lost their spouses. She is his age, and their relationship was kept secret because her adult children didn't handle it very well when she told them she met someone and threatened to cut her off, but she claimed they were deeply in love.”
Chapter Nineteen: Distractions
Danica woke up late on Tuesday, not hauling herself out of bed until well after eleven. The first thing she did was reach out to Doctor Cuthbert and ask if what Emilia had suggested regarding having Jasper's sperm harvested was possible. There was a long moment of silence, and then the doctor cleared her throat. “Actually, I think that would be the best possible thing we can do for everyone involved.” She was quiet for a minute, and Danica could hear her typing. “I’ll write a letter for your lawyer to present to the judge and his parents' lawyer with a breakdown of everything, costs of collecting versus the cost of keeping him alive for three weeks. The judge will probably ask that a neutral third party do the extraction and store it in their facilities, so I'll also send some suggestions to your lawyer to present as well.”
Danica thanked her profusely and then called David, who was also pleased with the idea, and said he would get on it right away and let her know what he found out. He also let her know he had filed with the court, notifying them that she had changed lawyers.
After a quick shower and pulling on a pair of old sweatpants that she had made into shorts the previous summer and a t-shirt, Danica filled her travel mug with coffee and made her way out to the garage, determined to reclaim the space. Rebuilding cars had always been a way for her to destress; she liked the methodical nature of taking things apart, figuring out what was wrong, and rebuilding. When she met Jasper, it became a way for them to spend time together and connect, a pattern that continued throughout their relationship. Hours spend in the garage, discussing life and their plans over an engine or transmission or Jasper attempting to teach her how to weld, something she really sucked at, while teasing her about her shaky hands.
While everyone was telling their favourite Jasper stories around the fire the night before, Danica had come to the conclusion that if they hadn't avoided the garage after their fight, their marriage wouldn't have been on such shaky grounds. Standing shoulder to shoulder while they worked on something had always been when they had their deepest, most meaningful conversations. It was during one of those moments that Jasper first told her he loved her and saw her as his future. During another, they decided they wanted to start trying for a family, and there were many conversations about starting their car restoration garage.
Danica reached the door and unlocked it before taking a deep breath to steady her shaking hands and pushing it open. As her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, the sunlight barely breaking through the layer of greasy dust on the windows, she let out a gasp; the travel mug of coffee slipped from her hands and landed with a thud on the concrete floor. The Charger they had been working on when they had the argument was covered with a tarp, something they did to keep the vehicles they worked onclean after they were done the rebuild while they found a buyer for it. She automatically reached out and flicked on the lights, her heart in her throat as she stepped over the travel mug and reached out, tugging the tarp off. “Jasper.” She whispered his name like a prayer and felt her eyes tear up as she looked over the finished car. He had fixed it up following her notes to a tee, with light blue poly paint on the exterior, dove white mouldings, and a buckskin tan interior.
Moving to the bench, she found the keys on the hook and unlocked the door, popping the hood eagerly. Sure enough, the rebuilt 440 Magnum V8 had been finished and was so shiny it looked brand new. After a quick look at everything, she climbed in and put the key in the ignition. The engine caught immediately, roaring to life, then settling into a smooth purr. Jasper must have been working on the car whenever she was out of town; she knew for a fact he didn't set foot in the garage when she was home. She ran her hands over the leather-wrapped steering wheel and became aware that tears were streaming down her cheeks. Shutting off the engine so she didn't fill the closed garage with carbon monoxide, she sat for a long moment, wondering how he had pulled off building the car in six weeks. His distance while she was gone with Alex to do the audits was suddenly explained. He had been wholly focused on rebuilding the car.
Getting out, she walked over to his tool chest and began opening drawers, looking for his notebook. She found it in the bottom drawer and flipped to the last page, where she found his final notes for the car, including the cost of the rebuild, along with a breakdown of each part. Danica wondered where he'd gotten the money for the more expensive parts and realized she was going to have to start dealing with his accounts, estate, car insurance from the accident and burial planning. She saton the driver's seat sideways, her legs hanging out through the open door as she flipped through the notebook. Jasper wasn't someone who journaled or a letter writer, so she wasn't sure what she expected to find, but she didn't stop until she had gone through the whole thing.
Frowning, Danica looked around the garage, then stood up, walking over to his tool chest and starting to go through each drawer systematically. Not finding anything there, she moved on to his half of the garage, going through his storage bins, shelves and his work bench with the same carefulness that she had gone through his tool chest with, once again not sure what she was looking for, just hoping to find something that gave her insight into his thought process. Almost three hours later, she was sitting at the small table they'd sat at when she told him about the money, sipping her coffee from her travel mug, disappointed that she hadn't found anything because there hadn't been anything inside the house either.
Logically, Danica knew that Jasper hadn't known he was going to get in the accident, hadn't considered he was going to leave her in a state where she didn't have closure, and didn't know his parents were going to turn out to be complete and utter assholes in their grief, but that didn't stop the anger from flaring up and making her seriously consider taking the sledge hammer to the car in front of her. She actually got to her feet, walked over, picked it up, and approached the car determinedly, but then, as quickly as the anger had come, it was gone, and she just felt sad again. Sighing, she put the hammer back and put the tarp back over the car. She had come to realize the stages of grief weren't linear; they were all over the place, and sometimes she went through all five in a few hours. Collecting her things, she left the garage, locking it up tightly behind her.
