“Dawson said they want to dispose of the evidence Jack compiled that proves they’re dirty, but they’re looking for something else—something that’s contained within the file.”

“So, we go to my parents’ house, figure it out and get rid of it. Toss it off of a bridge or something.”

“That wouldn’t help us, Nina,” Jared said, shaking his head.

“Why not?” I grimaced.

“Whatever it is, it was worth going after Jack Grey. No one does that unless it’s…it’s something big, Nina. Something we don’t want to be caught without.”

“What are you talking about?” I was frustrated with the circles we seemed to be talking in.

“I shouldn’t tell you this.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger.

“Do it, anyway,” I snapped.

A heavy expression settled on his face. “Jack didn’t die from the car accident. He died of complications from a gunshot wound to the chest.”

It took a moment for my brain to wrap around what he’d said, but once I processed the words, I was instantly angry. “What?”

Jared put his hand on mine. “Gabe did everything in his power to try to save him, but Jack was in over his head.”

“I thought Gabe was indestructible. Wasn’t he one-hundred percent angel?”

“They threatened the only thing more important to him than Jack.”

“More important than his own life?” I asked, skeptical.

Jared nodded; the severity in his face was a bit frightening. “My mother. They were in my home the day Jack was shot. Claire and I had taken Bex to the airport, so Gabe had no choice but to leave him. My father knew what would happen if he left Jack alone, but his life meant nothing without my mother. Jack was shot en route to his office downtown. He did crash into a guard rail, but it was the bullet that led to his death.”

“You’re saying the men that want this package murdered my father?” Jared confirmed with a nod and I felt heat burn from every pore in my face. “I don’t care what it is. We’re getting rid of it. They will never get their hands on it.”

“Nina, I know you’re upset, but we need to think about this. They want something in that file so badly they went up against Jack and my father, and they knew what Gabe was capable of. I’d rather have it in our possession so we have something to barter with if need be.”

Tears filled my eyes and Jared wrapped his arms around me. I mourned once again for my father. I kept losing him over and over again, with one horrible truth after another.

I cried myself asleep, and when I awoke, Jared comforted me once again when the news from the night before replayed in my memory.