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“We found him walking toward town. He’s safe now.” But was this the beginning of something else I’d have to watch for? I pressed a hand against the table as the weight of everything felt heavy on my shoulders.

Across the table, Lane went perfectly still. Ready. Just like he’d always been whenever my world cracked apart. For the first time since coming back to Kennedy, I wasn’t afraid of seeing him. I was afraid of needing him.

Thirty-Three

Lane

Islipped my phone out of my pocket and called Jonah. He wasn’t exactly a fan of helping in this way, but once he knew what was going on, I could get him on board.

“Yeah.” For as long as I’d known him, this had been his standard answer.

“Hello to you too, my little ray of sunshine!” I exclaimed, because he loved my ribbing even if he acted like he didn’t. Jonah was one of those people who was genuinely good, even if he preferred pretending he was made of stone most of the time. I quickly talked him through everything I’d seen before asking for the one thing I knew he’d hesitate to do.

“Can you do some hacking for me and see what you can figure out?” Was this invasive and intrusive and even slightly illegal? Perhaps.

“I don’t hack, you moron. I just know how to use the internet.” He huffed.

“Well, can you ‘use the internet’ and find out what is going on with Cali’s finances?”

“Uh, no. I don’t look good in orange.”

“I bet there are some women in Kennedy that would highly disagree with that, you sexy beast. But for real. I need to know why collectors are harassing her and how I can help.” I added just a little pleading to my voice.

“Uhhh. Fine, but you owe me. I’ll send you a link.” That “link” would probably cost me hundreds of dollars and be some kind of first-edition or special-edition tome for his library.

“My Amex is ready!” As if his own black Amex wasn’t sitting in his wallet.

“Fine. I’ll send you what I find.” Click. Two minutes later, a link to a book that looked dusty and old appeared on my phone with a price tag of $483. I paid for the overnight shipping too. At this point, Jonah should probably name his library after me for all the favors I’d called in over the years and for my contributions to fill each of his shelves.

Four hours later, I got a phone call back that Jonah had printed off some stuff for me and I needed to swing by his house for it. My truck rumbled to a stop as I parked. Jonah was already outside, sitting on the steps with a manila envelope at his side, sipping on a glass of iced tea. He nodded for me to take a seat.

“What’d you find?” I asked. Jonah looked out over the rolling hills of his property.

“Lane, I think you should talk to Cali. I’m not sure how I feel about handing this over.” Jonah turned to me, and the raw honesty in his dark eyes stopped me.

“What is it?” I asked, because I’d never seen Jonah like this.

“Sometimes there’s more to the story than what’s on paper. All I’m asking is that if you choose to open that envelope, you take everything with a grain of salt and trust the Cali that you used to know.”

The jokester part of me disappeared. Jonah didn’t speak like that unless something mattered. In my head, this was simple. A bill she’d missed while juggling motherhood and taking care of her grandpa. Something my bank account wouldn’t even notice. But one look at Jonah’s face told me there was more. Told me that if I opened that envelope, there was no going back, and for the first time, the intrusiveness of the information gnawed at me. Jonah was right. I just needed to talk to Cali, and back then I would have, but there was no way Cali would tell me what was going on in her private life. How could I help if I didn’t even know what the problem was?

“Okay. I’ll think about it,” I promised. We talked for another twenty minutes before I drove away. The manila envelope sat beside me, untouched.

Thirty-Four

Cali

“Where’s Jimmy?” I asked as I closed the front door. Today had been slower than normal, which made it seem ten times longer. I dropped my purse and water bottle on the table by the door.

“He’s asleep in the chair,” Jace whispered. He was buried under a stack of school books while making notecards for his upcoming history test. I rounded the entryway to see Grandpa with his head leaned back in the recliner, mouth slightly agape.

“He’s been really grumpy. So I’m kinda glad he’s out,” Jace remarked.

That was unusual. Grandpa had his moments, but for Jace to say that, it had to be beyond the typical. I glanced at my phone. 6:12. If I didn’t wake him up soon, he wouldn’t sleep tonight. I tucked my phone back in my scrubs and laid my hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Jimmy.” I gently patted his shoulder. “It’s time to wake up.” His eyes flashed open for just a second before the back of his hand connected with my face.

“What the hell!” he bellowed, moving to stand as I instinctively raised my palm to my face. It throbbed from the unexpected impact, and a trickle of blood ran down it. I couldn’t tell if the blood was coming from my forehead, brow, or cheek. It was impossible to tell because everything hurt.