Jessie was nothing if not stubborn. So even though she felt like her bones were about to crumble into dust while her stomach tried to flip itself inside-out, she had to prove her brother wrong. Which is how she found herself still sittingbehind the desk an hour later, finally rewinding the security tapes from the week before.
God. She really needed Lach to talk to Hawk, or maybe Gunner, or Gage—someone at Montgomery Defense—about going digital with his security system. They were using technology from before she was even born. And she was losing her mind, because as she watched clients come in and out of the frame like little dancing dolls, she made up scenarios about what could be going on in their lives.
Oh, Mrs. Palmer? Well, of course she had to get her oil changed! She’s going on a cross-country trip with her son in a few weeks. And Mr. Burgess? Well, he needed his tires rotated and breaks replaced because he was getting ready to teach his daughter, Amy, how to drive.
Dakota came into frame after a long spell of the shop being closed with no activity. What was he doing there on a Sunday? Jessie stopped the tape and let it play forward. Something tugged at the back of her mind as she watched him move on the screen.
“Would you please get out of here?” Lach stomped into the room and huffed. “I’m going to be using some cleaner and you probably shouldn’t be here when I do. You know… the fumes and all now that you’re?—”
“Don’t say it out loud! God, what if someone overheard you?!”
“Cat’s gotta come out of the bag sometime, right? But first… skedaddle.”
“Okay. I am going, but only because I need to get ready for my shift.” Jessie stood and grabbed her bag. “Hey, are you letting Dakota come in here after hours?”
Her brother’s eyebrow quirked up and he crossed his arms. “Yeah. I mean, you know he works on his car here all the time. Why?”
“I was erasing the tapes and I just… something seemed off.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look.” Jessie pressed rewind on the VCR until the spot in the video she’d just watched came one to the screen. “Here. He had his car in the last bay, but he wasn’t working on it. He was just standing there, typing on his phone. Then he looks up, walks to the overhead door, opens it, and takes something from a guy standing outside.”
“Who was it?”
“We can’t see. They were standing in front of the pillar. Dakota literally takes this box, shoves it in his car, and takes off.”
“That’s weird. But I don’t think it’s a crime to just hang out at the garage and then take off. He probably got here, ordered food and then decided to go home and crash instead.”
“It was a box, Lach. Not a to-go bag.” She wasn’t going to let it go. Her gut was screaming at her that something was going on.
“Maybe they ran out of takeout bags at Davney’s. Why are you so on about this?”
“I don’t know.” Jessie rubbed her hand over her stomach. “Something just feels wrong.”
Her brother looked panicked. “With the baby?”
“No, idiot. With Dakota. Those guys from Oklahoma were weird and I got the grossest feeling from them. You need to make sure he doesn’t work with them.”
Lach held up his hand. “We already talked about it. He’s not interested in working with them.”
“That’s good. Probably for the best.”
“Jess.” Lach’s hand landed on her arm. “We haven’t really talked about last year. When you and Mae?—”
“That is not what this is about.”
“But hyper-vigilance can be a sign of post traumatic stress.You can talk to me if you need to. If things feel like they’re out of control, especially now with…” His head dropped as he nodded towards her belly.
“I am fine. If you say it's nothing with Dakota, then fine. It’s nothing with Dakota. I’m erasing the tapes right now.”
She pressed down on therecordandplaybuttons, the sound of the machine writing over the video filled the silence between her and her brother.
Seven
“Good shift today, sugar. I appreciate you taking over for Dawn again.” Jessie’s mom smiled as she opened the pie display and began shuffling around what was currently available.
“I feel like we can just figure on one of her kiddos being down for the count this entire winter, Dolly.”
