Once your ass is behind bars, she's done with you. My
grandchildren are done with you."
What Harley says gives Jack hope.
Claire plans to stick by him, at least for a while. Based upon the conversation at the house that morning, he didn't think she would. And if she told her dad this, there's a good chance she believes Jack really is innocent.
"I think I'll wait until I hear that from her to believe it."
Jack can't see him, of course, but he knows every vein in Harley's neck is bulging, and his ears redden as Jack talks.
He's not used to Jack fighting back; Jack has never challenged Harley on anything.
There'd never been a need to, really. He's Claire's father, and though Jack has never felt close to him, Harley liked his son-in-law until Jack did the unthinkable. He saved his bullying for other targets.
"You're garbage, Hilliard. She's finally starting to realize it. Even her mother believes it now."
Though Jack is skeptical of this, it still stings. Ruth has always loved him like a son—she forgave him even before Claire.
She's filled a maternal role since Jack's own mother passed away years ago.
Harley knows it.
At a stoplight on Market & 4th, an SUV bearing KMOV call letters pulls up along the right side of the car. Jack knows without looking that their camera is trained on him through the passenger side window. They can't possibly have a clear shot, though, not with the sheet of rain that forms an opaque film on the glass.
"Look," he says to Harley, "I'm about to pull into a parking garage where I'll lose reception. If you'd like to hear both sides before you reach your verdict, I'll call you later from my office, okay? But I've gotta go."
Harley grunts in response.
The reporters are forced to stay behind when Jack uses the keycard Earl gave him to enter the underground parking garage.
As usual, Earl anticipated everything.
But he still has to traverse the lobby from the parking garage elevator to the separate banks that take him to Earl's firm on the twenty-eighth floor. If he's not fast, they'll attack him in the lobby.
The last thing he needs is to get stuck talking to Harley while they claim their stakeout.
"I gotta go," he says again. The words come out a little too loudly now that he left the battering rain behind.
"Your ticket, Jack. You're gonna lose your ticket this time. Your ticket and your family."
Jack drops the phone onto the
passenger seat and searches for Earl's parking spot, all the while trying to convince himself that Harley's threats haven't shaken him.
Four or five reporters ambush him as soon as he steps off the parking garage elevator. But it's Jim Wolfe, the legal reporter for the Post-Dispatch , whom Jack sees first. He leans calmly against a marble column in the center of the lobby.
As the one who first suspected Jack of being Jenny's alibi, Wolfe worries Jack more than the rabid bunch at his side.
You've done this hundreds of times , he tells himself. You've crossed this same stream before without drowning. You can do it now .
"Mr. Hilliard!" the reporter standing directly next to Jack shouts. "Do you have a comment about the charges brought against you?"
Jack keeps walking but says, "I'll have a statement for all of you later this afternoon."
"Are you guilty of the charges?"
"Of course not."
Earl will murder Jack when he finds out he engaged them in any conversation at all, but it's not Jack's style to ignore questions with easy answers.
"How do you intend to effectively represent the city on other matters if you're busy fighting these charges?" says another.
A short blonde in bright red pumps gets more specific: "Will your being a defendant in this case affect your handling of the Bedford case?"
He can't help but glare at the woman who asked that question, and yet they've only just begun. The questions get more personal as he approaches the sanctuary of the elevator.
"Is it true your accuser is your son's girlfriend?"
"What is your wife's reaction to these
grandchildren are done with you."
What Harley says gives Jack hope.
Claire plans to stick by him, at least for a while. Based upon the conversation at the house that morning, he didn't think she would. And if she told her dad this, there's a good chance she believes Jack really is innocent.
"I think I'll wait until I hear that from her to believe it."
Jack can't see him, of course, but he knows every vein in Harley's neck is bulging, and his ears redden as Jack talks.
He's not used to Jack fighting back; Jack has never challenged Harley on anything.
There'd never been a need to, really. He's Claire's father, and though Jack has never felt close to him, Harley liked his son-in-law until Jack did the unthinkable. He saved his bullying for other targets.
"You're garbage, Hilliard. She's finally starting to realize it. Even her mother believes it now."
Though Jack is skeptical of this, it still stings. Ruth has always loved him like a son—she forgave him even before Claire.
She's filled a maternal role since Jack's own mother passed away years ago.
Harley knows it.
At a stoplight on Market & 4th, an SUV bearing KMOV call letters pulls up along the right side of the car. Jack knows without looking that their camera is trained on him through the passenger side window. They can't possibly have a clear shot, though, not with the sheet of rain that forms an opaque film on the glass.
"Look," he says to Harley, "I'm about to pull into a parking garage where I'll lose reception. If you'd like to hear both sides before you reach your verdict, I'll call you later from my office, okay? But I've gotta go."
Harley grunts in response.
The reporters are forced to stay behind when Jack uses the keycard Earl gave him to enter the underground parking garage.
As usual, Earl anticipated everything.
But he still has to traverse the lobby from the parking garage elevator to the separate banks that take him to Earl's firm on the twenty-eighth floor. If he's not fast, they'll attack him in the lobby.
The last thing he needs is to get stuck talking to Harley while they claim their stakeout.
"I gotta go," he says again. The words come out a little too loudly now that he left the battering rain behind.
"Your ticket, Jack. You're gonna lose your ticket this time. Your ticket and your family."
Jack drops the phone onto the
passenger seat and searches for Earl's parking spot, all the while trying to convince himself that Harley's threats haven't shaken him.
Four or five reporters ambush him as soon as he steps off the parking garage elevator. But it's Jim Wolfe, the legal reporter for the Post-Dispatch , whom Jack sees first. He leans calmly against a marble column in the center of the lobby.
As the one who first suspected Jack of being Jenny's alibi, Wolfe worries Jack more than the rabid bunch at his side.
You've done this hundreds of times , he tells himself. You've crossed this same stream before without drowning. You can do it now .
"Mr. Hilliard!" the reporter standing directly next to Jack shouts. "Do you have a comment about the charges brought against you?"
Jack keeps walking but says, "I'll have a statement for all of you later this afternoon."
"Are you guilty of the charges?"
"Of course not."
Earl will murder Jack when he finds out he engaged them in any conversation at all, but it's not Jack's style to ignore questions with easy answers.
"How do you intend to effectively represent the city on other matters if you're busy fighting these charges?" says another.
A short blonde in bright red pumps gets more specific: "Will your being a defendant in this case affect your handling of the Bedford case?"
He can't help but glare at the woman who asked that question, and yet they've only just begun. The questions get more personal as he approaches the sanctuary of the elevator.
"Is it true your accuser is your son's girlfriend?"
"What is your wife's reaction to these
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