“I’m done here; you can come back. He didn’t see you?”
“No. He was just working. I doubt he’s that paranoid.”
Dex scoffed. “I’m going to head off before anyone spots my truck. Contact me if anything happens.”
“Sure,” I sighed. The line went dead.
Dex had given me strict instructions that I shouldn’t just approach Jonah, because his rabbit would run away. I had to try and meet him “organically.” Who knew how long that would take, but in a town this small? I was betting it wouldn’t be long.
I’d never had to do my own laundry before being on the run. My family always had maids, and once I moved in with Benny, he or Matthew had been doing it for me.
Why was every single washing machine so different? Every time I needed to clean my clothes, I had to figure out how to use the machines all over again.
Almost all the buttons were faded on these ones, so I had no idea what setting my clothes were currently on or how long it would take for them to be cleaned.
I took a seat to watch the machine, convinced I’d potentially done something wrong and it would start spraying water at any moment or something.
I missed Benny all the time. And Matthew, and just…home. I missed my snakes, who I knew Benny would find a way to care for. I missed my family. My real family: Benny, Matthew, Ginny, Rachel, and the boys. I missed the way my clothes smelled when Benny washed them. The scent of home had completely washed away and that, at least today, was the thing that set me off.
The void in my chest grew bigger, the dull throbbing in my bruised eye increasing as I tried to keep my frustrations from leaking out.
So of course it wasthatmoment the door opened and Jonah walked in.
forty-five
Benny
HUNTING HARPER.
I’d lost him again.
It had been weeks, and I couldn’t find him.
He’d left me. Abandoned me. Even though we’d saidalways.
I understood why. After my ma’s accident, he was doing what he thought he had to. But he’d still abandoned me.
We were supposed to deal with this together.
I’d begged Rikky for help, begged him to use his family’s resources and networks to find Harper. He’d told me he couldn’t. His father was too closely connected to Leon, and he was sure there was no way for him to locate Harper without his family knowing and Leon finding him as well.
But I couldn’t do it alone.
There was only one other person who might be shady enough to get involved with this. It was right there in his name. Shady.
Pale eyes took me in from his side of the desk. I never thought I’d be back in this office, especially not to ask him for help. I had no evidence he evencouldhelp me, but when I’d told him everything—and I had told himeverything, all Leon had done and just what was at stake, in a rambling mess—he hadn’t turnedme away. He hadn’t questioned why I’d come tohimof all people. It gave me faith that he really might be able to help.
“I’ll find him for you.” He spoke at last.
Relief.
“I umm… I don’t have a lot of money, but I—”
He held his hand up to stop me. “I’m not interested in your money.”
I swallowed. “What do you want, then?”
He smiled. “For this? Nothing.”
