Remember When

parties with girlfriends to having sex with men."
    "Please." Jack pressed a hand to his heart. "Let's just say you had a friend spend the night. This is the sort of thing a father needs to take in stages. Coffee, darling? That's a good girl."
    "All right, all right, but there are things you need to know about... my overnight guest." She got out her bag of beans, poured some into her grinder.
    "I already know the most important thing. He's not good enough for my baby. Nobody could be."
    "This is so complicated. He's working for Reliance Insurance."
    "So, he's got a straight job, a nine-to-fiver." Jack shrugged his broad shoulders. "I can forgive that one."
    "Dad-"
    "And we'll talk about this young man in just a bit." He sniffed the air as she measured the coffee grounds into the filter. "Best scent in the world. While that's doing what it's doing, could you fetch me the package Willy left with you? I'll keep an eye on the pot."
    She stared at him while all the thoughts, all the words, circled around in her head and coalesced into a single horrible certainty. He didn't know.
    "Dad, I don't... He didn't..." She shook her head. "We'd better sit down."
    "Don't tell me he hasn't been by yet." The faintest flicker of irritation crossed his face. "Man would get lost in his own bathroom without a map, but he's had more than enough time to get here. If he'd turn his damn cell phone on I'd have gotten in touch, told him there was a change in plans. I hate to tell you, Lainie, but your uncle Willy's getting old and absentminded."
    No easy way, she thought as the coffee spilled into the pot. No easy way. "Dad, he's dead."
    "I wouldn't go that far. Just forgetful."
    "Dad." She gripped his arms, squeezing while she watched the indulgent smile fade from his face. "There was an accident. He was hit by a car. And he... he died. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
    "That can't be. That's a mistake."
    "He came into my shop a few days ago. I didn't recognize him." She ran her hands along his arms now because they'd begun to tremble. "It's been so long, I didn't recognize him. He gave me a number, asked me to call him. I thought he had something to sell, and I was busy so I didn't pay much attention. Then he left, and just after, just seconds after, it seemed, there were these horrible sounds."
    Jack's eyes were filling, and hers did the same. "Oh, Dad. It was raining, and he ran into the street. I don't know why, but he ran out, and the car couldn't stop. I ran out, and I... I realized who he was but it was too late."
    "Oh God. God. God." He did sit now, lowering into a chair, dropping his head into his hands. "He can't be gone. Not Willy."
    He rocked himself for comfort while Laine wrapped her arms around him, pressed her cheek to his. "I sent him here. I told him to come because I thought it was... Ran out into the street?"
    His head came up now. Tears tracked down his cheeks, and she knew he'd never been ashamed of them, or any big emotion. "He wasn't a child who goes running into the street."
    "But he did. There were witnesses. The woman who hit him was devastated. There was nothing she could do."
    "He ran. If he ran, there was a reason." He'd gone pale under the tears. "You need to get what he gave you. Get it and give it to me. Don't tell anyone. You never saw him before in your life, that's what you say."
    "He didn't give me anything. Dad, I know about the stones. I know about the New York job."
    His hands were on her shoulders now with a grip strong enough she knew there'd be bruises.
    "How do you know if he didn't give you anything?"
    "The man who's upstairs. He works for Reliance. They insured the gems. He's an investigator."
    "An insurance cop." He came straight out of the chair. "You've got a cop in your shower, for the sake of Jesus!"
    "He tracked Willy here, and he connected him to me. To you and me. He only wants to recover the stones. He's not interested in turning you in. Just give me what you have, and I'll take care of this."
    "You're sleeping with a cop? My own daughter?"
    "I don't think this is the time to go into that. Dad, someone broke into my house, into my shop because they're looking for the stones. I don't have them."
    "It's that bastard Crew. That murdering bastard." His eyes were still wet and swimming, but there was fire behind them. "You don't know anything, do you hear me? You don't know anything, you haven't seen me. You haven't spoken to me. I'll take care of this, Laine."
    "You can't take care of it. Dad, you're