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“Jacob never caught up with us, Brook. Once George was found, we all returned to the campground. The activities carried on as if George had never been missing in the first place. I don’t recall exactly when Jacob rejoined the group, but I do remember that he was with us by the time the counselors let us have a bonfire that night.”
“Four hours,” Brook murmured more to herself than Scotty. Four hours was how long George had been missing. “You never asked Jacob why he didn’t catch up with you that day?”
“No. I’m telling you, Brook. Jacob was fine by the time everyone showed up for the bonfire.”
Scotty could continue to pull the wool over his eyes, but that was the summer when everything had changed. Brook had spoken to everyone she could from back then, and she’d always focused on situations or events that had happenedtoJacob. George being lost in the woods for four hours had never even entered into the equation.
“That’s the thing, Scotty. Jacob wasn’t fine after that summer.” Brook experienced a stirring in her stomach that hadn’t been there since her brother had left the city. She’d just been given another present. “Something happened to my brother during those four hours. Something that will give me the answers that I’ve been searching for my entire life.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jacob Walsh
December 2022
Saturday — 8:57pm
ChristmasEve.
Not his favorite time of year, but tomorrow seemed very appropriate for him to finally be given a gift.
One that would cleanse his soul…for a time.
Jacob stood on the sidewalk across from a modest two-story home. A string of white Christmas lights had been strung across the eaves of the rooftop and wrapped around every beam of the porch. The steady lights couldn’t hold a candle to the twinkling, colorful lights that had been draped around two pine trees in the front yard. To top off the holiday scene before him, the family’s Christmas tree had been placed front and center of a living room window for all to see from afar.
The setting gave off the allure of a perfect family.
One that was nothing but a façade.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the stillness of the evening. It was almost palpable, and the way the snow fell from the overcast sky above was quite serene. The tranquil scene reminded him of the snow globe that his sister always insisted be set in the middle of the coffee table during the holiday season. He came to understand later in life why that snow globe had captured Brook’s attention. The small illusion had held all her hopes and dreams that had never come to fruition...would never come to fruition.
The family who owned the house that he had been monitoring closely for the past few days belonged to a U.S. marshal. He was nothing more than a name among many that Jacob had ascertained from when he’d been in North Dakota.
Duluth, Minnesota wasn’t much different when it came to the cold weather. He didn’t care much one way or the other where his search took him, as long as it resulted in his coming face to face with Sarah Evanston once more.
They had unfinished business.
Movement in the window caught his attention.
A little girl had bumped into the tree as she clearly attempted to hide from her parents. She couldn’t have been more than four years old. The pink pajamas and the high ponytail gave away her parents’ intention, but she was obviously very stubborn. Santa Claus was coming to town, and she didn’t want to miss his grand entrance as he made his way down the chimney.
Jacob recalled having to keep up the Santa Claus ruse with Brook during those few years after he’d figured out the truth until she’d come to learn that there was nothing magical about life. He’d thought of life the same way until that summer.
The summer that had put everything into the proper perspective.
There had been times throughout his life when he wished that he’d joined his friends in the search party. The one formed to find George Rickers when he’d gotten lost one day at camp. Then Jacob could have carried on and pretended life was grand as everyone else believed, but then he wouldn’t have discovered the truth.
He would never have had the precious gift of being touched by evil.
The little girl in the window reminded him of Brook. He was surprised when she turned to stare out at the snow. She’d pressed her hands against the cold glass as she looked out over her front yard. He could sense the second that she’d caught sight of his large, dark form standing underneath the streetlamp. Her body movements had stilled, and she’d tilted her head to the side as she studied him.
The little girl showed no sign of fear.
Whether it was the excitement of Santa’s arrival or her stubbornness at not wanting to go to bed, she wasn’t at all frightened of his presence. She even removed her hand from the window and moved it side to side as she smiled brightly out into the cold night.
Jacob was slow to respond, because it hadn’t been his intention to engage with anyone this evening. He’d simply been conducting his nightly walk, tamping down his eagerness for when the marshal began his usual cycle of meeting with those assigned underneath his care.
Wherever the man’s travels took him, Jacob would be one step behind. If the marshal turned out not to be Sarah Evanston’s handler, that was fine. Jacob would simply turn his attention to the next name on the list.
The little girl waved a bit more eagerly when it was clear that she was about to be found by her mother. Who was he to steal Christmas from a little girl who reminded him so much of his baby sister?
Jacob waved back before he disappeared into the cold darkness.
~ The End ~
