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“Only obvious place I saw, but I’m going to contact the state police and have someone come over and dust for prints, take a few samples. Might not find anything, and it could be as simple as some neighborhood kid playing a prank.”
“I just don’t know why anyone would break into my trunk.”
“Hard to say. I haven’t heard about a rash of car break-ins around town, so it’s possible this was a onetime thing.”
“Or a first attempt by an inept thief,” Jackson said.
Bloomberg’s gaze zeroed in on Jackson. “I know you, I think. You work out at Woods Ranch. Seen you around a bit.”
“Yes, sir, I do. Work out there with Wyatt.”
“And you were here at two in the morning because?”
Wyatt’s heart thudded, but Jackson’s cool expression never wavered. “Wyatt twisted his ankle at work today on my watch. I came over to chill and watch a movie. It got late and we both fell asleep.”
All completely true, and Bloomberg seemed to buy it. “Come on with me, Mr. Gibson.”
Wyatt followed him to the car and verified the scrapes in the paint had not been there before tonight. They weren’t awful but they were noticeable. Fantastic. He also opened the car and showed Bloomberg all the paperwork, including his own license.
“You’re a long way from Glasbury,” Bloomberg said as he wrote things down in his notebook.
“I wanted a new start and to try my hand at being a cowboy. Woods Ranch happened to be hiring right when I was looking, and I was lucky enough to get the job. I’m sure when I’ve got more saved up I’ll be able to get my own car and give Jared his back.”
“Of course. I remember what it was like to be your age and struggling.”
He was struggling a bit but not in the way Bloomberg probably meant. Wyatt was okay financially. No, he was struggling emotionally, and tonight’s conversation with Jackson had him doubting so many of his decisions. It challenged the child in him who refused to tell secrets because he feared his stepfather’s horse whip.
A state police officer arrived not long after, along with a CSI person, and a whole new conversation began. Wyatt was exhausted by the time the entire production was over and grateful they didn’t have to impound his car as evidence or any such shit. The officer didn’t seem very interested or hopeful they’d ever find the person, because Ramie had no real description and the neighborhood had no traffic cameras. He seemed to agree with Bloomberg it was likely a teenager responding to a dare, but that they should still keep an eye out.
Wyatt did one better. As soon as everyone left, he asked Jackson to help him take everything out of the car except the spare tire and jack. Everything else went into his bedroom, including some loose change and the emergency roadside kit. The kit wouldn’t do him much good in the house, but Jared had seemed worried about it the last time he called so better safe than sorry.
He felt a tiny bit better when they were finished. Ramie asked him if he wanted to start parking in the driveway for a while, but he said no. If someone was pulling pranks, he didn’t want Ramie’s car damaged, too.
Then their trio was standing awkwardly in the living room, no one speaking. Wyatt had no clue what to say, Ramie seemed to have too much she wanted to say, and Jackson simply looked uncomfortable.
“Okay, look,” Ramie finally said, “I don’t care what you guys were actually up to tonight, because it’s not my business. I won’t say anything to anyone about you being in bed together.”
“We really did just fall asleep,” Wyatt replied.
“In your bed.”
“He was comforting me after an intense conversation.”
“And you’re just friends.”
“Mm-hmm.”
She sighed. “Like I said, not my business. You two do you. Or do each other, I don’t care, I’m going to bed. Lock up after he leaves. Night, Jackson.”
“Night, Ramie,” Jackson said to her departing back.
Once her bedroom door closed, Wyatt could breathe a bit more easily, but his stomach was still an angry ball of acid. “Well, that was a clusterfuck if I ever saw one,” Wyatt said.
“I’m real sorry someone tried to break into your car. There ain’t a lotta crime around here because most folks know each other.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it really was some stupid teenage prank.” He allowed Jackson to fold him into a warm, firm hug that helped ease some of the acid in his gut. He pressed his face into the side of Jackson’s neck and breathed. “This is nice.”
“It is. I didn’t mean for us to fall asleep but I’m glad I was here for all this.”
