Ask Me For It

Chapter 28 - Just Breathe

JO'S POV

"Where the fuck is she? I know you know, Dan!" We heard James yelling through Dan's cell even though he wasn't on speaker. Brent gestured for Mercy to take Ava upstairs in case she made a noise inadvertently altering James.

"Look, I've told you before, I don't know where she is! I've been searching for her too. But, unlike you, I'm actually worried about her!" Dan lied about knowing Mary's whereabouts.

"You idiot! I love her! I always have, and I always will! But, you know Mary can't be on her own. You don't know what's good for her. She needs me. She needs me to give her meds. She may disagree, but she does need me." It was alarming to hear James go from worked up to eerily calm in a matter of seconds. This man desperately needed a professional psych assessment and quite possibly his license revoked.

"I can't have Mary chirping everywhere. She's too simple and doesn't know what she's talking about half the time!" James continued. "That's because you kept her dependent on you and the narcotics you pushed on her!" Dan bit back.

"Mind your goddamn business, boy! At this point, you'd better pray I don't find her first because if I do, I'll make sure you're out of our lives for good!" With that, the call ended, and Mary began to cry uncontrollably.

"He won't stop looking for me. Dan keeps changing my location every few weeks, but James won't stop his search. He doesn't believe I can hide this successfully on my own and suspects Dan has been helping me." She explains through her tears.

"You need to go to the police about him!" I blurt out without thought.

"If I do, Jack, Dan, and Martha will all get in trouble too. I'm sorry, I don't have sympathy for Martha," Mary glances at George, "... but I do for my son's." I can't have my sons locked up again. Dan was only trying to protect me, and Jack needs professional help. You've seen what his father is like. Jack doesn't know any better." Mary's voice sounds more sure than it did a moment ago. "James, however, can rot in hell!" She adds, and none of us disagree.

"It was him, you know. He was always the mastermind behind Martha. He constantly pulled her strings. It was his idea to attack Brent and scare Mercy. He was convinced Mercy would give up her claim on DFT Group to be with Brent, especially after becoming pregnant." Dan explained, looking at Brent sheepishly. "They had me do it because you would have recognized Jack. When I refused Martha initially, they threatened me by not assigning me shares. I didn't care much about money, so then dad went after mom to get to me. I couldn't have his hands on her again." I may disagree with Dan's tactics, but I did feel terrible for the shitty cards he'd been dealt.

"I did what I had to, to protect my mom. I'm sorry for the pain I caused, but she's all I have." Dan's voice became smaller as he apologized.

"It's in the past. Let's agree to move on." Brent's unexpected response surprised us all. "Forgiving people in silence and moving on from them is a form of self-care. I have no intention of remaining in contact with you, and I need to make peace and move on for the sake of my family." Brent was right. There was no point in crying over spilt milk.

"I do want to know about my mom and dad. Why them? What happened?" Brent may have forgiven Dan, but he wasn't going to let him off the hook just yet.

"Your mother made a point to tell George about Martha. She made a point to go out of her way to tell my mom about dad. She was the mother of the infamous Josephine. The center of Jack's attention and the reason for his insane obsession. She was your mother, the guy who would inadvertently inherit a portion of the fortune through Mercy that James was working so hard to get." Dan explained.

"James hated Liz." It was Mary who spoke up. "I overheard his entire plan and tried warning Liz, but I was too late. James had already injected medication in me, and I was too groggy to function. I called Liz as soon as my mind was clear enough to form sentences, but of course, she didn't answer. Stephen was a bystander, a victim, unfortunately." Mary continued to sob silently, and I wondered how much one person could actually cry until there's nothing left.