“The Garrisons.”
Jonah’s hand stilled on the envelope. His connection to the brothers had bonded them for life. But Jonah never spoke of it.
“We’re friends.” It was a simple and honest answer. And the only one he’d give his brother.
“Must be kind of close, right?” Cord eyed him suspiciously. “I mean, you hang out with Bogs. Kenzie comes over. Now, you’re having dinner with all of them? You went to a barbecue not too long ago. Then Roxanne shows up?”
Jonah snorted. “Roxanne showed up for your ass, not mine.”
Cord smirked. “True, but you’re tight with them all, right?”
Where was Cord going with this?
“Yeah.”
Cord slowly nodded, but Jonah knew the wheels were turning in his mind.
“You still got all the police reports on the accident?”
What the fuck?Jonah settled back in his chair, steeling his features. This had come out of nowhere, and he was unprepared. While he made a point of talking about his parents and his brother with Cord and Holden over the years, they rarely spoke of their deaths. There had been questions over the years, and Jonah had done his best to answer truthfully. But he was always careful. Something was different about Cord’s inquiry, and it was unsettling.
“What’s going on?” Jonah asked.
“Remember that class I was telling you about? The course about cold cases?”
Cord was closing in on his junior year of college. In a matter of three years, he’d changed his major several times, progressively delaying his graduation date. Jonah had been concerned he wasn’t taking it seriously. He’d been wrong. Cord just hadn’t found his passion. Until recently. Criminal Justice. He didn’t share much about school unless Jonah asked, but he remembered Cord mentioning the class.
“Yeah. You liking it?”
Cord nodded. “It’s interesting. You know, the longer a case goes cold, the less chance it has of ever being solved. You hear about the ones that do, but for every one solved there’s thousands that aren’t.” Cord circled his food with his fork. “A lot of times, the police will bring in outside investigators to look over them. Fresh set of eyes.”
“Makes sense.”
“Yeah.” Cord glanced up. “You ever think about doing that? With T and them?”
Jonah felt a chill race down his spine, and he scowled. “Do what?”
“Ask them to help find Rueben Pryor?”
Jonah froze. This was a part of his past he didn’t want to revisit.
Their families deaths had been ruled accidental. But there had been red flags leading to an investigation. It was easier to protect Cord and Holden when they initially lost their parents and brother. His brothers were so young. They accepted the simple truth at the time. It wasn’t something Jonah had ever considered sharing with them back then. But as they got older with access to the internet, it was harder to shield them. There wasn’t much information except for the initial news report and a follow-up a few days later.
Rueben Pryor had only made the article as a person of interest. Two months later, he’d gone missing.
“This is not an open case. It was ruled an accident, Cord.”
His gaze darkened. “If it was an accident then why’d they investigate Pryor?”
Jonah grasped the back of his neck, inhaling a deep breath. “Being named as a person of interest doesn’t make him guilty of anything.”
Cord’s jaw squared. “Doesn’t make him innocent either, Jonah. You still got all the police reports, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I want to take a look at them.”
Fuck!There was no way around this. Cord would push until he got what he wanted, and Jonah couldn’t blame him. There was suspicion surrounding their deaths. Handing over the reports was inevitable, but Jonah could stall.
