“It’s okay. I can come back.”
“You sure?” She leaned back on her heels. “I feel bad. You’d think she would leave me with something to work with. I could probably mix something together, but it won’t be the same. My mom won’t give me all her secrets. Says no two herbalists are the same. That I have to find my own way.” She rolled her eyes.
“No, it’s fine. I have to work tonight, but I’ll come back another time. No biggie.” I slid my satchel off the counter and flung it over my shoulder. “It was nice meeting you, though. I had no idea Julian had a sister.” My eyes widened once his name rolled off my tongue. “Not that we’re close or anything,” I corrected, remembering Julian wasn’t supposed to be near me.
Jolie smiled, interested. “So, you’re not close?”
“No, I mean, I’ve met him. We’ve crossed paths. I just … didn’t know—”
“That the Heathens could have a family? A mother? A sister?” She crossed her arms and leaned into her hip. “You think the way the rest of the town does? That they were just what?Monsters? Born from a curse and not a family?”
“No, no, no. Like, of course Julian has a family.” This conversation was turning, twisting, and I was starting not to sound like myself. Jolie wore a blank face. Her mouth closed, her eyes waiting.How do I climb out?“I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant—”
Jolie’s cackle slipped between her lips. “Fallon, I’m messing with you.” She sucked in a deep breath and let it go. “I overheard Jai talk about you to Beck, so I already know about you two.”
My breath caught in my chest. “Jai?”
“Yeah, it’s Julian’s middle name. My mom used to always pull the first and middle name combo anytime we got in trouble.‘Julian Jai get your hiney back inside!’”—she laughed, remembering—“Anyway, our baby brother called him Jai. It was his first word. So, Mom and me got used to calling him that too.” She shrugged.
“You have a baby brother?”
Her expression fell. “Well, he passed on a long time ago.” She tilted her head. “I’m surprised you don’t know the story. People in this town love to hold it against the Hollow Heathens. They use the death of my brother to keep people afraid of them and away from Norse Woods. Sick if you ask me. It was an accident. My dad wasn’t a bad man.”
My chest shook. Julian’s dad accidentally killed their brother?Jai,Jai, Jai, I remembered. The little boy in the red and white striped shirt—the spirit that had led me to Julian twice. I’d been so wrapped in my feelings for Julian that I was blind to the ghost crying out for help, not putting two and two together.
I began to feel light-headed, seeing the little boy’s face again in my mind, and I shook my head to right myself. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s not like Jai would’ve brought him up, anyway. He doesn’t like to talk about himself. That’s the thing you have to know about him, he’s … he pushes people away. But he’s not who everyone says he is. He’s not.” She shook her adamant head. “He’s not a monster. Jai and Beck and them, they have to act like that so people stay away. It’s to protect them. It’s really sad. People don’t see the sacrifices they had to make, what they’restillmaking, and what they had to give up.” Her eyes watered, as did mine. “Sorry, I just …”
“It’s okay,” I reassured. “You care about them.”
A laugh bubbled from her tears. “Jai always said I never know when to shut my mouth.” She nudged her head. “You have any brothers or sisters?”
“No, only child.”
“Jai may as well be one. He’s basically been living alone in those woods since I was five. Don’t really remember anything before that.” She released a long breath and relaxed her shoulders. “Just don’t give up on him, okay?”
“I won’t,” I promised with an honest smile.
In these five short minutes, Jolie confirmed everything I knew of Julian. It was reassuring and a breath of fresh air, hearing someone else defend him when the rest of the town looked down on the Heathens.
I wanted to hug her, but the counter between us only left us with smiles on our faces. Before exiting the shop, I flipped back around to face her. “Hey, Jolie? What was your baby brother’s name?”
“Johnny,” and her smile was weak, transported into the memory of him, “Johnny Blackwell.”
It was four past midnight, and the night shift, who we called theskeleton crew, had left hours ago.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Jolie’s words. The nameJairang in my head. Johnny was the name of the ghost. Johnny was their little brother. My heart tightened with the possibility of what could have happened, what their father had done.
I promised myself I wouldn’t dig or ask any more questions, but the truth was already sitting all around me in this dark and dimly lit funeral home. I pushed the chair back and walked to where Monday’s desk was. She always kept an extra set of keys underneath. The bobbleheads bounced up and down, mocking me.
“You better not say a word,” I whispered, eyeing one of Jordan Knight as my hand swiped back and forth across the wood. My finger landed on the skeleton key, and I peeled the tape back. “Finders keepers.” I winked at Jordan.
All paperwork was locked away in Jonah’s filing cabinet. I turned off the desk lamp and shut down my monitor before climbing the spiral staircase. Jonah’s office was on the main floor, and guilt perched on my shoulder the entire walk there. I was digging into a little boy’s death. But it was a ghost who had tried reaching out to me—twice now. Johnny needed me, was trying to tell me something. I could finally bring him peace. I had no choice but to do this.
In Jonah’s office, I squatted before the filing cabinet and jammed the key into the lock. The yellow files rolled out, the tabs faded, their edges frayed. I filtered through them in search ofBlackwell. Jonah didn’t organize them alphabetically like the average person would. Come to think of it, he had nothing in this building organized. His mind was chaotically in place.
Jonah dressed as if he were from the Eastside, but openly had no ties to anyone. His mind was a puzzle, but every piece made sense to him. He only allowed me and everyone else to see what he wanted us to see, all his pieces purposely scattered so no one could crack his code. There was no doubt he would know I was here. Jonah always seemed to know everything. Jonah always seemed to be watching.
