Joanne was seated in the back corner table of the Life Café when Collins arrived. Her eyes were red with tears. Collins hugged her before sitting down.
"What's goin' on, girl?"
"I can't be with Maureen anymore."
"Why not?"
She shook her head.
Collins sighed. "Joanne, I know we all feel like they should've told us but you can't—"
"I'm not mad. I don't blame them."
"Then why can't you forgive her?"
"I do forgive her…but if she finds out, she'll never forgive me."
"If she finds out what?"
"He's not in jail," she said as another tear slid down her cheek.
"What? Who?"
"The bastard that hit them."
Collins frowned. "Jo, they didn't mention—"
"They didn't have to."
"Well what does that have to do with you?"
"Because I was his lawyer."
Mark walked the city streets until he came to the public library. He paused at the payphone outside.
"Hello?"
"Mom, it's me."
"Mark! I'm so glad you called, honey. You never return my calls. Are you—"
"I'm fine, Mom. I've just been busy. But I'm calling now because I have to ask you something and I need you to answer me."
"Of course, honey."
"Dad's accident—"
"Mark, let's not bring up the past."
"Mom, I need to know when it happened."
She sighed. "March 1986. Why?"
"N-nothing. Nothing. I just…I gotta go, Mom. I'll talk to you soon."
"I love you, Mark."
"Love you too, Mom."
Mark hung up and went into the library. He headed straight to the reference desk.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked.
"I need Pennsylvania newspapers from March 1986."
Two hours later, Mark found the article he'd been looking for. The article he prayed would clear his conscience. It didn't. He stared at the article for a few minutes before turning and running from the library. When he got outside, Mark ducked into the nearest alley and threw up.
"So when you walked out…"
"I went to the office and looked up the case."
"You got files that old?"
"Only four years ago…Besides, it was my first case."
"Joanne, you—"
"Collins, I got him off. You know how long that son of a bitch served? The two weeks it took me to get him a deal. I pled him down to aggravated assault. He got time served and five years of probation, plus loss of license for two years."
"You're a lawyer, Joanne. You did your job."
"My job is to see justice done."
"Joanne, even if you hadn't made that deal, nothing would be different for Roger or Maureen."
"Collins, if they find out, they'll hate me."
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Jo, you didn't know either of them. Why would they hate you for doing your job?"
"Because I blamed them."
"What do you mean?"
Joanne sighed. "The prosecutor didn't want to offer a deal…I did some digging and found out about Roger's drugs and that Maureen was leaving him when the accident happened. I told the prosecutor that if we went to trial, I'd call them both to the stand and make it look like it was their own fault because Maureen was hysterical when she was driving."
Collins took a slow breath. "Damn…"
"I didn't know how old Aaron was until after…That's the one and only case I've ever defended. After that, I switched to prosecution."
Collins shook his head. "You can't leave Maureen over that."
"Over that? That bastard killed her son and I helped him get away with it!"
"Calm down. Why don't you explain what happened to Maureen and let her decide whether she wants to be with you? At least give her that choice."
Joanne looked away.
"Jo, she at least deserves to know why you left."
Mark made his way back to the loft. Benny told him Collins was out talking to Joanne.
"Mark, I'm sorry we didn't tell you," Roger said.
He hugged Roger tightly and leaned down to hug Maureen.
"Why'd you leave?" Mimi asked.
Mark shook his head. "I just had to see about something."
"See about something?" Roger echoed.
Mimi watched Mark for a minute and then stood up. "Ben, let's go see if there's any food at my place."
"But I'm not—"
She sighed. "Benny, come with me so Mark can talk to them alone."
"Oh…"
Mark waited until their footsteps had retreated downstairs.
"What did you have to see that couldn't wait?"
"I had to see the newspaper reports."
"What?"
"About the accident."
Roger's eyes filled with accusatory tears. "What? You didn't believe us? Did you think we were lying?"
"No! No, I knew you weren't."
"Then why did you need to look it up?"
Mark stared at the floor. "I needed to know who did it."
"What? Why?"
"Because."
"Mark, seriously, stop dodging questions. Why did you look it up?"
"I told you. I had to see who hit…who was responsible…"
"And did you?"
Mark couldn't look at them. "It was my dad."
"What?"
"My dad's the one that hit Maureen and Aaron."