“Let’s go back now,” Larson said.
Dina shook her head. “I wouldn’t if I were you. He saw me looking at the tires. He pretended not to, but he did.”
“Would he know about the tracks he left?” Larson said.
“Our people have been all over the county asking about those tires.” Cork thought it over. “Let’s see if we can get a warrant and go in after dark.”
32
Ben Jacoby pointed toward a bright pinpoint of light in the sky just above the horizon.
“First star on the left,” he said, “and straight on till morning.”
They were seated in a booth at Lord Jim’s, a restaurant at the exclusive North Lake Marina near Evanston, looking east over the inky evening blue of Lake Michigan.
“Neverland,” Jo said.
“That’s where I’d love to be headed.” Jacoby sat back. “Rough day.” He wore a gray suit, white shirt, blue tie. He’d come from the office, he said, although he looked freshly shaved. “But it’s better now. And thanks.”
“For what?”
“Agreeing to have a drink with me. How did it go at Northwestern? Did you like your guide?”
“He was quite a surprise.”
“A pleasant one, I hope. He did it as a favor for his old man. A good son.”
Jo noted that he spoke of Phillip with more enthusiasm than Phillip had shown when speaking of him.
“Did Jenny like the campus?” he asked.
“She was thrilled.”
“Great. Look, if she needs anything, a recommendation, help with her acceptance-”
“She doesn’t.”
“I’m just saying that a word from me wouldn’t hurt. And I’d be happy to.”
“Jenny will get in or not on her own merit.”
“Just like her mother.”
He’d ordered Scotch for himself and for Jo a chardonnay. He drank and looked melancholy.
“Halston,” Jo said, noting the scent of his cologne. “You still wear it.”
“You bought me Halston on my twenty-seventh birthday. It’s all I wear. Like Proust says, smells transport us in time.” He sipped from his drink. “You ever miss Chicago?”
“Some things.”
“Like what?”
“The blues bars.”
“Blues bars? We never went to the blues bars.”
“Cork and I,” she said.
“Oh. Sure.”
“Ben, my life in Aurora is good and I don’t regret leaving anything behind.”
He looked hard at her face, searched her eyes. Finally he said, “I’m happy for you, then.”
A passenger jet flew overhead, banked south, circled back toward O’Hare, high enough that it caught the rays of the sun, which was already below the horizon, and for a few moments it glowed like a giant ember.
“I never told you why I left you,” he said.
“No, you never did.”
He shifted uncomfortably, watched the plane slide out of sight. “When I met you I was already promised to someone else.”
“You were engaged?”
“Not exactly. It was an arranged marriage. There are still such things. I knew from the time I was very young that I would marry Miriam. My father had arranged it, an agreement with his business partner, Miriam’s father. It was conceived as a union of great fortunes, and it was. Her family, my family, everyone wanted it.”
“So, was I a complication or simply a diversion?” The acid in her tone surprised her, and she saw Jacoby flinch.
“You were love,” he said. “I wanted to tell you, to explain everything, but there never seemed a right time. I always thought that in the end I might make a different decision. When I walked out that night, I knew I was turning my back on happiness. I told you I didn’t have a choice, but I did. I chose family.” He breathed deeply, his broad shoulders rising. “Sometimes when my father stood up for Eddie, protecting him after the schmuck had done another stupid or cruel thing, I’d shake my head and wonder. I have a son now, and I understand. People fall out of love, but family is different.
“You told me about your mother, the Captain, about how awful you had it growing up, all the moving and the drinking and the fighting. That was your experience. Mine was different. My father isn’t perfect, but I grew up knowing he loved me, knowing my family loved me. The idea of turning my back on them…” He shrugged. “I just couldn’t do it. So I gave you up. I gave up love.”
“You could have told me all this then instead of just walking out.”
“Would it have made a difference? Would it have hurt you any less? Would it have made me any less a bastard in your eyes? I’d seen you argue on behalf of your storefront clients. I didn’t want you to dissuade me from what I believed to be the right thing. And you found happiness. You met Cork. Me, my whole life I’ve loved one woman, and I didn’t marry her.”
“People fall out of love, you said. But love also fades, Ben, especially if it isn’t nurtured.”
“That’s not been my experience.” He finished his drink and signaled for another. “I have a confession. When I found out that Eddie was dealing with you in Aurora, I imagined for a little while that I might be able to step back into your life, still somehow create everything we might have had together. Then I saw your family and Cork and how happy you are, and I knew it was stupid and impossible.” He looked out the window, stared into the distance above the cold lake water. “In the end everything fades but family, doesn’t it?”
His cell phone bleated and he answered it, listened, and smiled. “I’m at a bar, actually. You’ll never guess who with. Nancy Jo McKenzie.” He laughed. “No, really. Would you like to talk to her?” He glanced at Jo with a welcome humor in his eyes. “I’ll ask but my guess would be no.” He said to Jo, “It’s my sister Rae. You remember her?”
“Of course.”
“She’s at my father’s house. We’re sitting shivah tonight for Eddie. Rae wants you to drop by so that she can say hello in person.”
“I don’t think so, Ben.”
“We’re just fifteen minutes away. Stay fifteen minutes and leave. It would be less than an hour out of your life.”
“I’m not dressed-”
“You look fine. It would thrill Rae no end. Please.”
Jo thought it over. “All right. Fifteen minutes.”
Along Lake Drive in Lake Forest, the homes became palatial. Jacoby pulled through a gate and into a circular drive that was lined with cars. Jo, who’d followed in her Toyota, parked behind his Mercedes, got out, and joined him.
“Very rococo,” she said, looking at the house.
“My grandfather had it built to remind him of Italy, where he studied as a young man. The happiest time of his life, he used to say. He came to America to seek his fortune, something that didn’t make him very happy, I can vouch for that.”
“Looks like he succeeded in making the fortune.”
“He was a harsh man in a lot of ways, but he knew how to handle money.” He took her arm and gave her a brave smile. “You ready for this?”
