“A relationship with her is out of the question.”
Uncle Sam walked over and slapped a hand on Jax’s shoulder. “Son, I know that place brought back some bad memories for you, but Seyla is not your mom. Stop cutting people out, searching for some…marker…that they’re gonna become her. Or that you’ll become her if something happens to them.” He caught Jax’s gaze and held it for a minute, sadness in his countenance. “You’ve been through a lot, and I am unbelievably proud of the man you’ve become. Be that as it may, I’m worried that you’re gonna end up with a lot of regrets if you live your life in fear like this.”
Jax hugged him. “Don’t worry, Uncle Sam. I’m okay. I don’t need therapy or anything. I’m dealing with it.”
His uncle clapped him on the back and let go of him. He eyed Jax, a sly grin on his face. “Therapy. Ya know, son, I think God might have some desensitization therapy in mind for you already, whether you like it or not.” With a smirk on his face, he hiked up the stairs. Rock followed behind him.
Jax frowned. Living in fear? He’d thought of it as being smart. Although, if he was smart, he wouldn’t have agreed a minute ago to spend the day with the one person he planned to stay away from. There was no future there. He needed to remember that.
Maybe this was a good thing. He could catch her off-guard with some questions. Determine what she was hiding and how deep her lies went. And maybe, just maybe, rid himself of this desire to be near her and get to know her altogether.
He ground his teeth together. A good thing. Sure.
CHAPTER NINE
Jessa rewound the feed from the cat colony cameras. “That is seriously creepy, Seyla.”
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re seeing it, too,” Seyla admitted, feeling less crazy now that she had proof of the person who’d scared her. “No other cars were around. However, I know I heard a quad somewhere in the woods while I drove along the service road to get there.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Of course, the Willard kids ride their quads around there a lot. It’s not like that sound is unusual in the area.”
Jessa frowned at her. “You know who else owns a quad?” She paused, chucking her chin forward. “Travis Yoder. Ethan would have access to it, too.”
A shiver crawled up Seyla’s spine. Ethan. Was he behind any of this?
Jessa’s eyes widened. “Wait, Allen Withers does as well. Did I tell you I had a rather heated conversation with him a few days ago?”
“No. What happened?”
“A volunteer informed him of two dangerously loose boards on the raised walkway over the new animal enclosures. Not only did Allen not fix them, they were in worse shape the next day. She believed they were loosened on purpose, which is why she came to me. I confronted him.”
“What did he say?”
“Not much. Judging by the way he turned red from the neck up and his eyes narrowed, I’m guessing he was mad. I will say they were fixed within the hour, though.”
Seyla sat back in the rigid plastic chair. What motive would Allen have to sabotage the walkway? Was he hoping she would go that way? It sounded like a flimsy plan.
Or perhaps it didn’t matter who walked there, as long as they fell into the animal habitat below.
She growled and dropped her hands to rest on her knees. “I don't know. None of this makes any sense. When I got back from the colony that day, Janet hadn’t returned from lunch yet. That’s not normal for her. She had dirt and leaves stuck on the bottom of her boots when she did return. Those boots were clean when she left. I know, because she stepped right on a treatment sheet I dropped on the floor, but there weren’t any marks. Believe me, it wasn't for lack of effort.”
“You think Janet is behind this? Wow.” Jessa leaned forward and stared at the shadowy clown figure frozen on the video feed, eyes narrowed. “Yeah, it could be her.”
Seyla groaned. “Honestly, it could be anyone, and knowing that is making me even more paranoid. I actually felt like somebody was following me the other night.”
“It’s not paranoia if you have proof.” Jessa pointed to the screen. “This is proof. You need to be careful.”
“The thing is...I know it’s Ethan.” Seyla retrieved the pictures she had on her phone of the carabiner clip she’d found. “It has to be. I found this on the ground next to my SUV. I’m sure I’ve seen the same thing on his key chain.”
Jessa studied the pictures for a minute. “Not necessarily. I’ve seen that before.” Her eyes squinted. Seconds later, they opened wide. “Chase! He has one on his key chain. I mean, he had one years ago.”
“You think it belongs to Chase?”
Jessa waved it off. “No, nothing like that. He has to use a cane to simply walk. Besides, he loves the sanctuary. It’s his dad’s legacy.” She studied the pictures for another couple of minutes.“This is no ordinary carabiner. I can’t be sure without seeing it in person, but I think it’s carbon fiber.”
“How do you know?”
“My brother and I did a lot of rock climbing prior to his enlistment in the army.”
Seyla gave her a playful shove. “What? I can’t believe you were a rock climber. Why didn’t you ever tell me? Wow. You learn something new every day.”