Page 92 of Now and Then

I gather my jacket from my desk and stop by Chris’s on my way out. “You busy?”

He looks up from his computer. “Just entering paperwork. What’s up?”

“Grab your stuff. We’re going to pay another visit to Jack.”

Chris’s face instantly lights up, and he pushes away from his desk. “Yeah, man. Let’s go.”

Jack’s trailer is on the outskirts of town. I never knew anyone owned the land, let alone lived out here anymore. At least not since the old lumber mill closed a few decades ago.

“So,” Chris says, reaching for his coffee. “How are things with you and Sutton?”

Our wish that the town rumor mill would leave us alone was always a far-flung fantasy. “Why are you asking?”

Chris chuckles. “Because Grandma Betty won’t leave me alone about it, and if I don’t give her some insider information soon, I think she’s going to write me out of her will.”

I turn down the road to Jack’s house. Our department-issued SUV proves a smooth ride. “Sutton and I are good.” My phone feels heavy in my pocket, and I long to text her back.

“Heard y’all made quite a splash at the party.” Asshole tries to hide his smirk.

Jack’s trailer appears in the distance. Thankfully, his truck is in the yard, so I hope we’re in and out. I push any thoughts of Sutton to the back of mind, hardening my facial features and preparing for anything. “Don’t let Jack out of your sight,” I say.

“You thinking he’s involved?” Chris adjusts his ballistic vest.

I pull up alongside Jack’s beat-up old Chevy and put my Suburban in park. “Not sure, but it’s strange that his brother’s in town, especially after he just got busted in Sunset Cove. Can’t be too careful.”

“Shit, look.” He gestures with his chin to the trailer’s front window. Standing, arms crossed, looking out is none other than Bill Daley.

“Fuck.” I suck in a large breath and double-check I’ve got my pistol strapped to my side. Not that I anticipate anything happening, but we know next to nothing about this guy except what little details we’ve gotten from Sunset Cove PD.

We step from my SUV and approach the trailer. We stop ten feet shy of the small front porch. I want to solve this case more than anyone, but there is no way in hell we’re entering that trailer. It’s not lost on me that Jack’s nowhere in sight.

“Watch your six,” I tell Chris.

Instantly, Chris takes a few steps back and posts up behind my right shoulder. The minutes tick by slowly as we wait Bill out. Finally, he uncrosses his arms, disappears from sight, and the front door slowly creaks open.

Bill steps out first, boots thudding against the warped porch boards. He comes midway down the porch steps, making it clear we’re not invited any closer.

Jack appears in the doorway behind him, thinner than I remember. Like sleep hasn’t found him in days.

“Well,” Bill says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Y’all sure are popular around here lately.”

“Funny,” I answer. “Was about to say the same about you.”

Bill’s mouth twitches, but his eyes flick past us, scanning the horizon like he expects someone else to be watching.

Chris shifts subtly behind my right shoulder.

“Jack?” I call out.

“Right here,” Jack mutters, stepping fully onto the porch. His hands tremble slightly, and he shoves them into his hoodie pocket. “We already talked.”

“Yeah,” I say, “we did.”

Silence settles between us. Wind drags dry leaves across the dirt. Dark and heavy storm clouds stack along the horizon.

“Your brother’s timing’s intriguing though,” I say. “We start seeing movement at lake properties, and suddenly Bill Daley shows up in town. The same man who was busted for moving drugs in Sunset Cove.”

Bill steps in front of Jack. “Family can’t visit?”