If she’d confided the truth back then, what would he have done?
Would he have believed her?
Even knowing the truth now, it was hard to forgive her for leaving him in the dark.
The medics loaded Tynsdale and carried the stretcher out to the ambulance. Ms. Lettie made a low sound in her throat, as if she just realized the depth of the trouble she was in.
Jake took one last look at Sadie and her sister, then had to look away. Maybe he could forgive her for betraying him; after all, she’d acted in self-defense.
But shame filled him. How could she forget the pain and loss his father had caused her and her family?
She couldn’t. It would always stand between them.
He had to finish the case—question his father and find out who else was involved in the experiment.
He unfastened Ms. Lettie from the door and hauled her to the squad car.
He had a daughter at home he needed to take care of. She was his life.
And he had done his job. Sadie knew the truth about her grandfather’s death, and she and Amelia were safe now.
But he and Sadie were over.
Chapter 29
One week later
Jake and Nick took seats at the diner and ordered the lunch special and coffee. Jake glanced at the newspaper, frowning at the article Brenda Banks had written about his father’s arrest. The entire town, even the world, now knew about the ugly experiments conducted in Slaughter Creek.
Nick had been just as shocked as Jake was to discover that their father was alive. But his brother didn’t seem as surprised that he’d been part of something so evil.
They had spent the last week interrogating his father and Ms. Lettie, but both had refused to admit who had been in charge of the experiment.
“I spoke to my superior,” Nick said. “There’s still a question whether the CIA sanctioned the project.”
“Of course they’re not going to admit it, if they did.”
Nick made a sarcastic sound. “That’s true. But my boss thinks that Dad was following orders in the cleanup. That someone in the political arena might be involved, and that his rising political status was another motivation for the cover-up.”
“Where has Dad been all this time?”
“Working undercover. Apparently the CIA thought it would be better to keep him dead. Dad had a place in DC, but they had a plant here to watch Amelia.”
“Ms. Nettie,” Jake said. “And whoever contacted Brenda, maybe. She still refuses to give up her informant’s name.” He assumed it was someone on staff at the sanitarium who’d caught on to what was happening. But it could have been someone connected to the project who’d finally decided to blow the whistle.
Either way, the informant feared for his or her safety, and he could see why.
“We still don’t know who was behind the project, or how many subjects there were,” Nick said. “But we’re definitely investigating.”
“You haven’t located Herbert Foley either?” Jake asked.
Nick shook his head. “We’re on that, too. He could work for the project, or he could have been a victim like Giogardi, trained to kill.”
Jake took it all in, wearily. The fact that his father had escaped the grave still astounded him. Apparently he’d had some kind of tracer on him, and had sent a message to his accomplice before he’d succumbed to unconsciousness.
“What are you going to do?” Nick asked.
Jake shrugged. “I thought about resigning. But the people of Slaughter Creek have been so supportive, I think I’ll stay in office.”
“That article Brenda wrote painted you as a hero.”
He made a sarcastic sound. Brenda had kept her word. “A hero who shot his own father.”
Nick cleared his throat. “Dammit, Jake, cut yourself a break. He deserved worse than a gunshot wound.”
Jake conceded with a nod.
Sadie’s face flashed in his mind. She had been the protective, loving sister. And when she’d left Slaughter Creek, she had devoted her life to being an advocate for other hurting children. Brenda had pointed all those things out too.
Sadie would make a wonderful mother.
To another man’s children.
At the thought, jealousy ate at him, but he had to accept that she was gone again.
Oblivious to his turmoil, Nick kept speaking. “We’re setting up a task force to continue the investigation. We also think that some of the other subjects may be violent, like Giogardi.”
Jake frowned. No telling what else the subjects had been brainwashed into doing, or what effect the experiment had had on them. In the government’s earlier project, some subjects had become violent criminals.
“Does that mean you’ll be in Slaughter Creek more now?” Jake asked.