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I ran back to the kitchen, which was getting cloudy, the room filling with…exhaust.

Chapter 27

Jude

I passed Deja Brew on my way through town. Lena wouldn’t be there yet, but she wouldn’t be far behind me. The front of the building still made me see red, the giant word “POISON” in red and black. If I found out who did it, I would report it to the sheriff, because I didn’t know if I could trust myself confronting them.

As much as I was committed to keeping Lena out of jail, I had to keep myself out of there too. The idea of being without her for any length of time was unthinkable.

When I came home tomorrow, I was telling Lena I loved her. This morning, it was there between us as it always had been. But I found I couldn’t say the words and then walk out the front door like it was nothing. When I told her, I wanted to be able to carry her to bed and illustrate those words on her skin while I loved her.

But it felt good to feel it in my chest. I loved her, and I was going to make sure she knew. Tomorrow.

Grabbing my phone, I found the call from Ellen last week and dialed. When I’d responded to her email, I’d told her I’d call her when I was on my way, just to confirm. Now that I was well out of town, I figured it was a good time.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ellen. Jude Williams. Just calling to let you know I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few hours and check in to the hotel in plenty of time for the memorial.”

“Oh, good.” I heard the relief in her voice. “How far are you out of Garnet Bend?”

“Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes. Why?”

Ellen paused and then sighed. “If it’s not too much trouble to go back, would you stop by and see if you can convince Isaac’s brother to come? He said no, but I’d really like to see him.”

It felt like lightning was about to strike me. My hairs rose on end, the sudden, urgent feeling of wrong hitting me more strongly than in weeks. “What are you talking about, Ellen?”

“What am I— You didn’t know?”

“Know what?” I tried to keep the growl out of my voice and wasn’t successful.

“Isaac’s brother lives close to you. In Garnet Bend or just outside of it? I’m not sure. I don’t know his exact address. Moved there over a year ago now. We’re not exactly close, so I assumed he moved out there to be near you and maybe do some stuff with Resting Warrior. But he’s been cagey about coming to this, and if anyone might be able to convince him, it’s you.”

“I didn’t even know Isaac had a brother, Ellen.”

“Oh.” The silence was full. “Well, they’re half brothers. They had a hard time with each other. I mean, they loved each other, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. He didn’t come to Isaac’s funeral, and I think he regretted it. This would be a perfect opportunity for him to fix that.”

My instincts were screaming. Isaac and I had been friends, and I thought I’d known most people in his life before I cut everything off after his death. If he and his brother were close at all, then his brother would have known who I was. Isaac lived and breathed the unit. We were his friends, and even when we were all together, he was the one constantly telling stories about what idiots we’d been or bringing up inside jokes.

If his brother moved this close to Resting Warrior and didn’t reach out, there was a good chance it was because he didn’t want me to know he was here.

“What’s his name?”

“Benjamin Phipps. I can give you his address if you want.”

The world narrowed, everything suddenly making sense and relieving the constant itch I’d been feeling these past weeks. Fucking Ben. He’d always been around, conveniently everywhere Lena was. He even helped with the ventilation, and he was the one doing this to her? I didn’t know why, but I was going to find out. I needed to turn the hell around.

This wasn’t about Lena. This was about me. He’d lost Isaac, and—

“No need. Ellen, I need to call you back.”

“But—”

I ended the call, glad the highway was empty because I pulled an incredibly illegal U-turn before I dialed Lena. No answer. I tried to swallow down my fear. She wasn’t expecting a call from me for hours, and she could have put her phone down and walked away.

It was fine. She was fine.

Dialing Daniel, I kept the phone on speaker so I could focus on driving faster.