Matt pulled him in for a one-armed hug coupled with a clap on the back. “Sure thing.”
Jax said his goodbyes, nodded at Seyla when he passed, and walked outside. He yanked open the truck door and jumped in, hauling the door closed behind him. Alone, he sat in stunned silence.
Why would Uncle Sam give her his number? Sure, he’d been pushing for Jax to contact her for a while now. But he’d never gone this far. It was too far.
Jax leaned his head back on the headrest, eyes closed, as night fell. His father’s compassionate face swam in front of him, lingering for several seconds before it dissolved. Then all he could see was junk surrounding him. Old junk and cats. The towering mountains of candy wrappers, magazines, and newspapers that made up his mattress. That made up his bed.
His eyes flew open at a knock on the window.
Seyla’s brown almond-shaped eyes blinked back at him. Her skin took on a pearl-like glow in the moonlight.
Not what he needed right now.
Already regretting it, Jax pressed the button to lower the window. “What’s up?”
“Um, I have something to show you. And…and I know it sounds weird, but I stopped in town prior to coming here and I felt like I was being watched. Am I crazy?”
He’d be the last person to diagnose anyone as crazy.
He sighed and cocked his head in the direction of the truck’s passenger seat. “Get in.”
Seyla hopped in the other side. Jax forced himself to look away from the bright pink polish that further accentuated her petite, sandaled feet.
“So what’s going on?” He glanced at the front door of the house, waiting for Matt to appear. “Don’t you want to be inside with your family?”
Her gaze dropped to her lap. “Crowds aren’t my thing.”
“Oh. You know they’re gonna worry if you’re gone too long.” From what he’d seen, her family had remained fiercely protective of her. With good cause. “But I did want to talk to you. My uncle learned that, of the whole list of suspects, only Theo has a criminal record. Petty theft involving drugs. Uncle Sam’s best friend is pretty certain Travis and Allen were in the military based on what the officers who remained on the force told him. I contacted some of my associates. They’re digging around to learn what they can about those two.”
“Thank you for doing that.”
He nodded. “As for Hannah, he didn’t find anything unusual that stood out about her death, other than the burglary. But since a rash of burglaries had already been reported in the area around the same time, it didn’t raise any red flags. An ‘open and shut case’, according to him.”
“No foul play. That’s a relief.”
Should he tell her what he learned about the guy in the truck, Ethan Yoder? Would she admit she knew him? Or lie again?
Jax slid a hand down over his mouth to his chin.
It shouldn’t matter how she responded. He should say it and let whatever happened happen. “Yeah. I-I asked…I asked him about Laurel Anderson, too. He couldn’t recall why, but he felt certain some controversy surrounded her death. He’s gonna go through some case notes. After that, he’ll talk to his old partner to see what he remembers.”
Why hadn’t he told her about Ethan?
“I can’t imagine how that would have anything to do with what’s going on now, though.”
Jax shrugged. “I’m sure you’re right, but I like to be thorough.”
Seyla shifted to face him better on the seat. Something crackled under her shoe, setting him on instant alert. A sick feeling crept into his stomach. She inspected the floor for a fewseconds, bent forward, and picked up a clear plastic wrapper. “Candy wrapper. Do you…do you have a…Jax? Are you okay?”
Her words registered, but through a funnel from a distance. Jax stared at the shiny, transparent wrapper. Had his uncle or Matt left it there? Had he? Was this the first sign of his mother’s defect lurking inside him?
He couldn’t hold off the sour memories, the sense of pressure, surrounded by thousands of the crinkled wrappers, their crackling a deafening roar in his ears. Jax rubbed his arm, assuring himself there was nothing there, then released the air stagnating in his chest. Five, four…
“Jax?”
Three…two…one. He shut down the flood of emotions and cleared his throat. “I’m fine,” he answered, popping open the trash compartment.
Seyla hesitated, then leaned over to drop the wrapper in it before closing it again. “Wow. Have you ever used this thing?”