“If that were all, I wouldn’t have.” Jon motioned to the bodies. “There’s some shit going on. The local law would rather arrest me than hear my side of this, and I don’t have time to clear out overgrown land and start building while there are so many missing people around. Life has to come first.”
Stasya arched a brow. “And you’re asking me to…?”
Jon ground his teeth, agitated more at the situation than her question, and finally replied, “I need these bodies to disappear, and I would appreciate if you could clear up this property. I’m not looking to keep the old house, either. I’ll be building something larger here once the paperwork’s lined up. But that jumpstart would be a big help.”
Stasya finally turned toward the corpses and let out a low hum. “Interesting.” She returned her haunting stare to him and planted a hand on her hip. “I take it you don’t want to live here?”
“Correct. I’m going to start a search and rescue company.”
Amusement danced across her face. “Ever the hero.” She flicked a wrist at him. “All right, if this is helpful to you, I’ll do it. A debt is a debt. But after this, you’ll have to pay for my services.”
“Thank you, Stasya,” he said, choosing not to comment on the fact that he had no intention of calling for whatever services she might charge for. She’d been insistent on the debt thing, but he never had been sure she was someone he could trust in a more general sense.
Instead of waiting around to watch her do whatever she might do, Jon gave the sorceress-of-unknown-origin a nod and joggedback to his truck. He didn’t get cell signal again until he’d formally reentered Misty Glades, but as soon as he did, he pulled into the nearest parking lot and dialed Lance.
The line rang long enough for Jon to hope he hadn’t wasted his favor repayment on the wrong thing before the asshole picked up. “Is this when I get to learn why my first lunch date with my future bride got cut short by the ladyyou’resupposed to be—”
Jon groaned and cut him off. “I could tell you about that, too, but only if you don’t make my mood worse.”
Lance chuckled. “Funny that they’re friends, though, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not laughing.”
Jon let his head drop back. “You doin’ okay? Other than missing your new obsession?”
“Uh, I mean … I’ve been worse. I’ve been better.” Lance paused and Jon pictured him squinting sideways at the phone. “Something wrong with you?”
“I’m just checking in.” Equal parts truth and not, but he intended to say the rest, too. “The guys who put you in the hospital circled back for me. Tying up loose ends. You seemed objectively like the easier target, and I’ve been distracted.”
Lance laughed again. “No shit, you have. Not that I blame you.” He nearly choked on his own words, tone immediately changing. “Wait, you didn’t.”
“Sorry, man. Didn’t have a choice. They cornered me out on the property I fucking inherited from my grandpa. One of them even had a damn attack bird.”
Lance snorted. “Awhat? Like, a magic bird? Did it shift, talk, what?”
“Goddamn blue jay.” Jon rolled his eyes and waited a beat while Lance laughed that image out of his system. “I know I owe you,” he said, “but I did get a lead. Apparently, the bird belonged to some guy they called PJ, who wasn’t there.”
“PJ?” Lance repeated. “As in the short-hand for ‘pajama’?”
“Yep.”
Lance was quiet a moment. Then, “Suppose I’ve heard worse. So, you’ve got a pissed off pajama-boy to worry about, and I need to keep my eyes open for shady fuckers. Sounds like a normal day.”
Jon felt his lips twitch. “Just wanted to give you the heads-up, man.” He drummed his fingers over the steering wheel. “While I’ve got you, how do you feel about helping me launch a private rescue company?”
“Okay, Lilia’s going to dive into this for us. You might want to give Martha a heads-up, because they’ll definitely need to talk, too, but she’s completely on board with smacking some sense into those assholes.” Lynnette finally drew a quick breath and her smirk broadened. “Or taking this all public as a platform to launch an emergency impeachment. Either way.”
“Oh my God,” Jenna exclaimed, a strange combination of excitement and terror rolling through her. It was reassuring to at least have one person with some degree of power on their side, but the notion of inadvertently causing such an upheaval was unsettling. There would be people who didn’t approve, people who would blame her.It really never needed to come to this at all.She gave herself a shake and lifted her phone. “I’ll let Martha know real quick.”
Lynnette bobbed her head and leaned against the sidewall of her truck bed.
Jenna swept her gaze outward, absently watching the road beyond the old parking lot while she spoke to Steph’s mother.They had swung into the lot for an old county church that had been converted into a movie theater when Jenna was young, and inevitably been abandoned outright before she’d even graduated high school. To make conversation easier, Lynnette had dropped the tailgate on her old pickup—though, Jenna had done most of the sitting. Lynnette was prone to pacing.
Martha was sobbing by the time Jenna ended the call, but she seemed to recognize what they were trying to do. The sound of the woman’s pain and fear fractured Jenna’s heart and she held tighter to her phone.
Lynnette leaned into her. “You’re doing everything you can,” she said. “Hell, you’re doing way more than most bosses would. Try not to beat yourself up.”
