Page 25 of Ashes of Us

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Danica sighed as several people arrived at once.

“Look, you're welcome to hang around, but I have to go be a good hostess and get through this evening.” Alex nodded and walked with her back to everyone else.

She left him to greet the new arrivals and saw him talking to Maverick shortly after, then he came and said goodbye.

His conversation with Maverick had looked like it was light and joking on the outside, but working for Alex for the last four months had made her very aware of his body language, and she could see he was royally pissed off about it.

Danica managed to get through the evening, only breaking down into tears when Heather, who was Jasper's favourite aunt, sang Amazing Grace while everyone lit a tealight and arranged them around Jasper's picture.

When she finished, Reggie said a short prayer, and they had a moment of silence, only broken by sniffles.

They then lit a fire in the fire pit, and everyone sat around telling stories about Jasper and had a few drinks while the younger kids played with Watson behind them.

Danica was mostly quiet, listening to everyone speak about her husband and how amazing he was.

Emilia must have been keeping a close eye on her because she eventually stood up and announced it was time for everyone to leave so Danica could get some rest. They all pitched in and helped her clean up the backyard, then she let them pick up the things they were taking in Jasper's memory, and they all hugged her and told her not to worry about his parents; they would see the error of their ways.

When she went back to the backyard to douse the fire, she was surprised to find Maverick still sitting there, watching the dying flames with Watson sound asleep at his feet.

He looked up and gave her a sympathetic smile as she approached.

“Do you want to know what I learned now, or would you rather I send you an email with the rundown?”

Danica hesitated. She was very curious, but she also wanted to climb into bed and cry herself to sleep. Curiosity won out, and she sat down beside him. “If it's not bad news, please tell me.”

“Well, I guess it would depend on what you consider bad news.” She watched as he stretched his leg out with a low groan and rubbed the front inside of his thigh absently, wondering what had happened to him.

Seeing her curious look, he shrugged. “I was an NYPD officer until I was shot chasing a robbery suspect.

The bullet nicked my femoral artery and lodged in my femur.

It doesn't hurt exactly, it's more like it goes to sleep, if that makes sense.” He nodded at Watson, who was snoring loudly.

“Besides being great for making people relax and tell me things, he's trained to help with my PTSD.”

“Anyway,” He continued, running a hand through his hair.

“Pretty much everyone is on your side because they don't believe your husband would have cheated on you.

Almost all of them waxed poetic about how he worshiped the ground you walked on, and they think Lucy is lying about sleeping with him and is playing on your mother-in-law's grief.”

“Almost all of them?” Danica raised her eyebrow, feeling a small measure of satisfaction that she hadn't been wrong about Jasper and how much he loved her. She knew he did, but having it backed by his family was highly gratifying.

“Emilia and Xavier, while they obviously have your back, both think he at least slept with Lucy, because why else would she have been in the car with him if she was lying about that?” Danica felt her stomach sink. That was a good point. “And Heather pretty much confirmed it.”

“Oh.” Danica knew there was a chance Jasper had cheated but having it confirmed made it feel like she was falling into a deep, dark hole. “What did she say?”

“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 she was 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.”