Page 120 of Tear Me Apart

He finishes his lunch, tips his waiter well, and is just stepping off the restaurant’s deck when his cell rings. Juliet’s number shows on the screen.

“Hey, what’s up?”

He can hear tears in her voice.

“We have a problem.”

His heart begins to race immediately, his muscles tense. “Is it Mindy? What’s wrong? Is she rejecting the transplant?”

“No. It’s...oh God, Zack, I don’t know what to do. I’ve been trying to track you down. I didn’t realize you left the hospital.”

“I needed some air. Take a breath. What’s wrong?”

“Jasper let slip to the media you used to be a government assassin.”

Zack feels a calm steal over him. So this is the play. “He let thatslip, did he?”

“Were you?”

“Would it matter if I was?”

“I’d say so, especially considering Jasper is planning to use it to mount a court battle against you. At the very least, he’s trying to turn the tide against you as far as the media is concerned. Public opinion can be very influential in these high-profile cases, you know that.”

He blows out a breath. “Well, he can try to ruin me all he wants. I was not an assassin. Did I kill people? Yes. I was a soldier in an active war zone. But I never killed someone who wasn’t trying to kill me or my troops. And the Army will confirm that.”

“He claims...”

“Juliet, he’s desperate. He’s going to say anything right now.”

“You’re being too nice about this, Zack. He’s trying to ruin your reputation.”

“I think it’s something else. I think he’s trying to draw attention away from him and Lauren.”

“What do you mean?” He hears the wariness in her voice. Wariness, but not surprise.

“I just mean... I don’t know what I mean. I’m getting a weird vibe off your sister, that’s all.”

She floors him by saying, “You too, huh?”

“It’s not just me? I was worried...”

Juliet coughs a laugh. “No. I’ve never seen her like this. Half the time she is so distracted she doesn’t seem to be in the room, the rest of the time she’s hovering over Mindy and Jasper like they’re gold nuggets.”

“I see that as well.”

“And I’m a traitor for even thinking something negative about her. She’s a damn saint. She always has been. And with Mindy... Zack, you don’t understand. Mindy is her world, her life. Of course she’s stressed and things are weird. She’s half expecting her daughter to die. I think she’s trying to distance herself a bit, thinking that might somehow lessen the blow if it does happen.”

“Mindy’s noticed it, too. We talked about how uncomfortable everyone is about her cancer. It’s bothering her, not being treated normally.”

“Mindy told you that?”

“Yes. She hates that everyone’s being so optimistic and upbeat. She’d like, for once, and I quote—‘someone to get pissed off and rail against God or something.’”

Juliet laughs for real this time. “She trusts you. That’s good. She’s complained to me as well over the past few weeks, especially about how her parents are pretending everything is going to be peaches and roses when there’s a good chance she won’t make it.”

“Totally understandable. Are you sure Lauren isn’t holding something else back? Maybe something she admitted to Jasper, and now he’s trying to pull up the drawbridge and save her?”

“I don’t know, Zack. I really don’t. I told you before, we aren’t close. I’m the last person she confides in, and then it’s only out of sheer need, not a desire for comfort or even advice.” The bitterness and hurt come through loud and clear.