Lean on Me (22 page)

Troy gestured again toward the door.

“
Get out,” Troy
said.

Elizabeth Jasper sat frozen in her seat. She
looked like a doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming car –
frightened, angry, and unable to move. He turned away from her to
catch his breath. Looking out the door, he noticed Alex standing in
the hallway. She smiled.

“
I see you’ve broken the
ice,” Alex said as she came into the room. She sat down across the
table from Elizabeth.

“
Alexandra…” Elizabeth
started.

“
Oh you need me here,” Alex
said in such a way that Elizabeth swallowed hard. “Where were
we?”

She reviewed the food on the table. Not
finding anything appealing, she filled a coffee cup from the
thermos. With matching looks of overwhelm, Troy and Elizabeth
stared at her.

“
Now that’s funny,” Alex
said. “I’ve seen Troy give that look. I didn’t realize you do it
too.”

Troy and Elizabeth continued to stare at
her.

“
Close the door and sit
right here, Troy,” Alex patted his place at the head of the table.
Troy did as he was told. “Sorry, I need one more
second.”

She got up, picked up Troy’s plate, and went
to the kitchen door. While they stared, she had a brief chat with
the cook and returned to the table.

“
They have the nicest
people here,” Alex smiled. “Now where were we?”

“
I was yelling like a mad
man,” Troy’s face flushed with a mixture of anger and
shame.

“
I’ve seen you blow
harder,” Alex looked him full in the face. “Did you say anything
that wasn’t true? At least for you?”

Troy shook his head.

“
Then you don’t have
anything to clean up,” Alex smiled at him. “Now Elizabeth, what do
you think of what Troy said? Please note that I used the word
‘think’. We’re all upset here. Adding more emotion will only make
this process worse.”

There was a knock at the door from the
kitchen.

“
Just a second,” Alex
said.

She got up and took a plate with a vegetable
egg white omelet, a few pieces of bacon, and dry toast from the
cook. She thanked the woman and turned into the room. She set the
plate in front of Troy.

“
How many muffins did you
have this morning?” Alex asked.

“
A lot,” Troy
said.

She gave him a slight smile.

“
You see, Elizabeth, I’ve
seen your son keep his cool in the middle of combat,” Alex said.
“Bullets flying everywhere, bombs blowing nearby, command screaming
in our ears, and Troy here is cool as a cucumber.”

Alex gave her a slight smile.

“
Unless he eats sugar,
white flour, potatoes…”

“
Tequila,” Troy smiled at
her. Even though he’d seen her do this before, he couldn’t help but
be amazed at her ease in diffusing his tense emotions.

“
Tequila!” Alex laughed.
Their eyes held for a moment. “I’m going to talk to your mother for
a moment. Eat your breakfast.”

“
Yes sir,” Troy took a bite
of his omelet, looked at her, and began wolfing down his
food.

“
Now Elizabeth,” Alex said.
“The question on the table is what do you think of what your son
said?”

“
I think he’s got a right
to his opinion,” Elizabeth sniffed.

His mouth full of food, Troy’s eyes went
wide. He hopped to his feet again. Alex patted his place.

“
I’ve got this,” Alex
said.

He shook his head. She gave him a “sit down
and shut up” look. He dropped to his seat.

“
Eat,” Alex
said.

He returned to eating. Alex turned back to
Elizabeth.

“
You sure know how to piss
someone off,” Alex shook her head. “Did you come here to piss off
Troy?”

Elizabeth sat back in her chair and crossed
her arms.

“
Answer the question or go
home,” Alex said.

“
No,” Elizabeth said. “I
did not come here to make Troy angry.”

“
Then let’s go through them
one at a time,” Alex said. “Did you and your husband plan the
execution of Dahlia Jasper?”

“
Execution?” Elizabeth
asked.

“
The current findings of
the Fredericksburg police are that you, your husband, and Hector
planned the execution of Dahlia Jasper in order to obtain full
control of your only grandchildren. When your contractor came into
full knowledge of exactly
who
his target was and her
affiliations
, he fled. Hector was
forced to execute the contract himself.”

“
There’s evidence to this
fact?” Elizabeth asked.

“
Plenty,” Alex
said.

As if she was thinking it through, Elizabeth
squinted at Alex. Her head jerked to Troy. He nodded. Her eyes
flitted around the room. Her arms never moved from their protective
position over her heart.

“
I believe your flesh and
blood deserves to know the answer to the question,” Alex
said.

Elizabeth turned to look at her. She gave a
slight nod.

“
He deserves an answer,”
Elizabeth said. “I’m not sure I have one to give.”

Troy opened his mouth, but Alex put her hand
over his and shook her head. He gave a slight nod. They let the
silence lag.

“
Did I plan to get custody
of the boys?” Elizabeth asked. “Yes. I don’t have excuses to make.
I didn’t understand what was happening. I love those boys and all
of a sudden we were blocked from seeing them ever again. Forever is
a long time and...”

Troy and Alex continued to let their silence
do the interrogating for them.

“
I had breakfast with your
mother and the General, Alex,” Elizabeth said. “Yesterday? No, was
it the day before? I don’t remember. I haven’t slept much since.
She shared the police photos from Hector’s home and… I didn’t know.
I
should have
.
You’re right Troy. I should have. I didn’t. When the boys were
taken, I was told Alex used her government connections to create
lies about Hector. I asked why…”

Staring off in the distance, Elizabeth
wagged her finger at no one.

“
I couldn’t figure it out,”
Elizabeth said. “Why would Alex do that? I asked, more than once.
It’s not enough, but I knew it didn’t make sense. I’ve known your
father, Alex, for… ever. I could have asked him. I didn’t. And it
didn’t make sense. I should have asked more questions but I missed
the boys and I…”

Elizabeth shrugged.

“
I can’t decide if I didn’t
want to know or I’m just stupid.” Elizabeth’s eyes filled with
tears. As if to deny the emotion a foothold, she shook her head.
“We weren’t allowed upstairs, Homer…”

“
Troy,” Alex
said.

“
I’m sorry,” Elizabeth
raised her hands and dropped her head. “Troy. Dahlia was the one
who always insisted. ‘The upstairs is a mess,’ she’d say. ‘You know
how boys are. They need a place to play without worrying about
cleaning up.’ I knew
that
didn’t make sense. Hector never tolerated even one
thing out of place. And… you’re right. I didn’t
do
anything.”

“
I always hated the name
Homer,” Elizabeth turned to look at Troy. “I didn’t want you to
bear that name but it started with an
H
.”

Unwilling to give in so easily, Troy
continued to stare at her.

“
Did you know Dahlia was
the love of Troy’s life?” Alex asked.

“
Yes,” Elizabeth said. “I
was angry that Troy loved her so much and she married Hector.
Patrick told me you were very happy in your little house. I believe
it. You were meant for each other. And…”

Troy’s mother sighed.

“
Oh, I don’t know. It
sounds like an excuse…” She glanced at Alex. “Rebecca told me that
if I had a chance to talk to Alex about this I shouldn’t make
excuses. ‘Alex hates excuses,’ she said. I do too.”

Alex nodded.

“
But that’s all I have,”
Elizabeth said. “I knew Dahlia was unhappy. I knew her parents were
dead and she had no one. Knowing what I know now, I feel horrible
saying it but… I kind of thought she deserved it. She chose Hector.
She should live in the bed she made.”

“
There was a lot of that
going around,” Alex said.

“
But the boys…” Elizabeth
started. “Hector was gay. I thought he was
gay
. I knew they were your children,
Troy. Who else could have fathered them? But… I didn’t know he was
a
pedophile
. I
should have. I look back on his life… my life… And… my guess is he
had other victims.”

“
And now?” Alex
asked.

“
Now?” Elizabeth asked. “My
eldest son is dead. My daughter is acting like an insane person. My
husband tells me that if I don’t come home, he’ll do to me what he
did to Dahlia.”

“
Has he said that?” Troy
asked.

“
Not is as many words,”
Elizabeth said. “But you know how he gets his message across
without saying the actual words.”

Troy grunted in acknowledgement.

“
I’m sorry I’m so
horrible,” Elizabeth said. “I… want things to be better between us,
Troy.”

“
Because I’m all you have?”
Troy asked.

“
No,” Elizabeth said.
“Because you’ve always been my favorite. You were always smarter
and stronger than any of us combined.”

“
You never gave any
indication that…” Troy said.

“
I never stood in your
way,” Elizabeth said. “I packed you up and sent you off to that
camp every single summer. I signed the waiver for you to enter the
army. And trust me, there was hell to pay for my
efforts.”

“
Dad?”

“
Dahlia’s not the only
Jasper woman who has been under a man’s tight control,” Elizabeth
said.

Troy looked away to process the
information.

“
It’s not enough,”
Elizabeth said. “I would understand if you didn’t want anything to
do with me. I have failed you. I certainly failed Dahlia and the
boys…”

There was no mistaking the look of sorrow
and remorse on her face.

“
And…” She spoke to gain
her composure. “If my husband planned her ‘execution’ as you say, I
paid for it.”

“
Paid for it?” Troy
asked.

“
He has no money in his own
right,” Elizabeth said. “We’ve been living off my salary for a
decade or more.”

“
What about your
inheritance? His book sales?”

“
He’s spent every penny,”
Elizabeth shrugged.

There was a tap at the door.

“
The DCPD is here for you,
Elizabeth,” Alex said.

“
When?” Troy
asked.

“
They called while you were
in here,” Alex said.

“
But…” Troy stood from his
seat. “That’s my mom!”

“
Glad you finally
remembered that,” Alex smiled at him. Shifting to business mode,
she turned to Elizabeth. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re
going to go with the DCPD. They will book you for participating in
a conspiracy to commit the murder of Dahlia Jasper and the
attempted murder of Hermes and Hector James Jasper.”

“
But I didn’t know
anything…” Elizabeth said. “I…”

“
Here’s what you’re going
to do,” Alex said. “You’re going to go with the DCPD. You’re going
to sit down with the detectives. You are going to tell them,
without hesitation, every single thing they want to
know.”

“
What about your parents?”
Elizabeth asked.

“
They spoke with the police
last night,” Alex said. “Shall I continue?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“
We are not sending an
attorney because we think you are better served with a public
defender,” Alex said. “Don’t ask for one immediately. It makes you
look guilty. Only call for an attorney if you feel like you’re
being treated unfairly. One of my team will be there at all times
to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“
Are they arresting my
husband?” Elizabeth asked.

“
They already have,” Alex
said. “Now, this has been so much fun that I’m due at the Pentagon
to do the same thing. I’m going out through the
kitchen.”

She smiled at Elizabeth.

“
Good luck,” Alex said.
With a nod to Troy, Alex turned to leave.

“
Wait,” Elizabeth
said.

Alex turned around. Elizabeth held out a
disposable phone to her.

“
Will you keep this for
me?” Elizabeth asked.

Alex took the phone from her.

“
But…” Troy
said.

Alex winked at him and left the room through
the kitchen.

“
You have good friends,”
Elizabeth said.

“
I’m lucky to have such
friends,” Troy’s eyes reviewed Elizabeth’s face for what she knew
about the disposable cell phone.

“
Friends change
everything,” Elizabeth said. “And the boys? We probably only have a
minute, but I would like to know how they are.”

“
They’ve been in counseling
for the last six months,” Troy said. “I don’t know how we will get
over the loss of their mom, but… We’re moving to Denver as soon as
we’re free to go.”