3rd Degree - James Patterson [25]
“Because I paid a bill late. Because I splurged on a pair of shoes when we were starting out and low on funds.” She shrugged. “Because he could.”
“This has been going on since we’ve known you?” I said, stunned.
Jill swallowed. “Guess I’ve been holding out on you guys, huh?” The waitress had brought some quesadillas and there was a Shania Twain song in the background. “It’s like you’re bribing me.” She dipped a quesadilla in some guacamole and laughed. “New interrogation method. ‘Yes, I know where Osama bin Laden is hiding, but please, another one of those little cheesy things if you would….’”
We laughed. Jill always knew how to make us laugh.
“It’s never the big things,” Jill said. “It’s always something trivial. The big things, I truly feel we really are partners in life. We’ve been through a lot together. But the small things… I accept a date for dinner with people he doesn’t like. I forget to tell the housekeeper to take in his shirts. He makes me feel like I’m a stupid child. Ordinary.”
“You’re anything but ordinary,” Claire said.
Jill dabbed at her eyes and smiled. “My cheerleaders… I could shoot the son of a bitch and you’d be praising my aim.”
“We’ve already been discussing that option,” Cindy said.
“You know I’ve actually thought about it.” Jill shook her head. “About who would try my case. Hey, I think I’ve let things get a little melodramatic.”
I asked, “How would you counsel a woman who came to you with the same predicament? Jill the prosecutor now. Not Jill the wife. What would you say?”
“I’d tell her I’d slap a suit on him so fast, it would be sticking to his ass the next time he took a shit,” she said, and laughed.
One by one, we all laughed, too.
“You say you need a little more time,” I said to Jill. “We’re not here to make you change your life today. But I know you. You’re staying around because you feel it’s your responsibility to make this work. I want your promise, Jill. He doesn’t even have to close his fist. If there’s one more incident, I’ll come and pack your things myself. My place, Claire’s place, Cindy’s… Well, forget Cindy’s… it’s a dump. But you’ve got choices, hon. I want you to promise, the next time he even threatens you, you’re gone.”
There was a sheen on Jill’s face, a glimmer in those sharp blue eyes. Something made me think I had never seen her look prettier. Her bangs curled a little over her eyes.
“I promise,” she finally said, blushing behind a smile.
“This is for real,” Cindy pressed her.
Jill raised her palm. “The Highland Park Brownies, swear on your sister and never betray; otherwise, your face will break out with huge zits, oath.”
“That sounds sufficient,” Claire said.
Jill took our hands in the middle of the table. “I love you guys,” she said.
“We love you, Jill.”
“Now, can we goddamn order,” she said. “I feel like I just took the law boards again. I’m starved.”
Chapter 36
MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE I didn’t sleep, tossing the whole night because this SOB—who was always the first to dash away when one of his buddies had the urge to go golfing, and pretended to be this fawning, adoring husband in public—was hurting one of the sharpest girls in the city, someone I loved.
Whatever it was, the thought of Steve gnawed at me for most of the next morning, until I could no longer sit there, fielding calls, pretending to keep my mind on the case.
I grabbed my purse. “If Tracchio’s looking for me, tell him I’ll be back in an hour.”
Ten minutes later I pulled my car in front of 160 Beale, one of those glass skyscrapers off of lower Market filled with accountants and law partners, where Steve’s office was.
All the way up to the thirty-second floor I was steaming, nearly hyperventilating. I pushed through the doors of Northstar Partnerships; a pretty receptionist behind a desk smiled at me.
“Steve Bernhardt,” I said, dropping my shield in her face.
I didn’t wait for her to call, but headed straight into the corner office I’d once visited with Jill. Steve was rocking back in his chair, in a lime green Lacoste shirt and khakis, on the phone. Without so