Page 152 of Pieces of Her (Andrea Oliver 1)

Troops?

“They’ve already captured that idiot woman from San Francisco. She stole a car and shot at a police officer.” He loosened his tie as he paced the tiny room. “You have to talk before she does. They’ll give a deal to the first person who squeals. If we’re going to save your life, we have to act fast.”

Jane watched her brother’s nervous pacing. Sweat was pouring off of him. He looked agitated, which for anyone else would be a typical response. But Jasper’s greatest gift was his ability to always keep his cool. Jane could count on one hand the number of times Jasper had really lost it.

For the first time in hours, she let go of Andrew’s hand. She stood to tuck the blanket around him. She pressed her lips to his cool forehead. She wished for a moment that she could see into his mind, because he had clearly known so much more than her.

She told Jasper, “You called them troops.”

Jasper stopped pacing. “What?”

“You were in the Air Force for fifteen years. You’re still in the Reserves. You wouldn’t dishonor that word by using it to describe the members of a cult.” In her mind, Jane could see Nick clapping together his hands, preparing to deliver one of his rallying speeches. “That’s what Nick calls us. His troops.”

Jasper might have called her bluff, but he couldn’t stop himself from nervously glancing at the cop across the hallway.

Jane said, “You knew about it. Oslo, at least.”

He shook his head, but it made sense that Nick had found a way to pull him into their folly. Jasper had left the Air Force to run the company. Martin kept promising to step aside, but then the deadline would come and he would find another excuse to stay.

She said, “Tell me the truth, Jasper. I need to hear you say it.”

“Stop talking.” His voice was barely more than a whisper. He closed the space between them, his face inches from hers. “I’m trying to help you out of this.”

“Did you give money?” Jane asked, because a lot of people had given money to the cause. Of all of them, only Jasper would personally benefit from Martin’s public humiliation.

He said, “Why would I give that asshole money?”

Jasper’s haughtiness gave him away. She had watched him use it as a weapon her entire life, but he had never, ever directed it toward Jane.

She told him, “Taking the company public would’ve been a lot more lucrative if Father was forced to resign. All of his essays and speeches about the Queller Correction made him too controversial.”

Jasper’s jaw worked. She could tell from his face that she was right.

“Nick was bribing you,” Jane guessed. The stupid metal box with Nick’s trophies. How smug he must have been when he told Jasper he’d stolen the forms right under his nose. “Tell me the truth, Jasper.”

His eyes went back to the cop. The man was still across the hall talking to a nurse.

Jane said, “I’m on your side, whether you believe me or not. I never wanted you to get hurt. I only found out about the papers before everything went to hell.”

Jasper cleared his throat. “What papers?”

She wanted to roll her eyes. There was no point to this game. “Nick stole the intervening reports with your signature on them. You verified billing for patients who were dead, like Robert Juneau, or ones who had already left the program. That’s fraud. Nick had you dead to rights, and I know he used it to—”

Jasper’s expression was almost comical in its astonishment. His eyebrows shot up. The whites of his eyes were completely visible. His mouth opened in a perfect circle.

“You didn’t know?” Even as she asked the question, Jane knew the answer. Nick had double-crossed her brother. He hadn’t been content to take his money. Jasper had to pay for snubbing Nick at the dinner table, looking down his nose, asking pointed questions about Nick’s background, making it clear that he was not one of us.

“Christ.” Jasper pressed his hands to the wall. His face had gone completely white. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“I’m sorry, Jasper, but it’s all right.”

“I’ll go to prison. I’ll—”

“You won’t go anywhere.” Jane rubbed his back, tried to assuage his fears. “Jasper, I have the—”

“Please.” He grabbed her arms, suddenly desperate. “You have to support me. Whatever Nick says, you have to—”

“Jasper I have—”