Page 83 of It's a Wonderful Knife

“Weird how?” Royce asked patiently.

“Like, at night. There have been strangers on the property.”

“Recently?”

“Before the river washed out the bridge.”

“Okay.” Royce sat on the edge of the mattress, studying the nervous boy. “Take a deep breath, and tell me what you know.”

Dakota swallowed hard. “I think Jax is involved in something. Something illegal.”

“Why do you think that?” Royce asked.

“Because he’s there when the strangers come at night.” Dakota winced. “I feel bad talking about him like this. Jax is cool sometimes. Like, he’s kind of protective of me when Dad gets out of line.” Dakota frowned. “But he has a real mean streak too. He’s kind of a bully. I… I think he’s bullying my mom.”

Royce frowned. “Mona isn’t someone easily pushed around.”

“No. I know. That’s why it’s weird that she’s letting him do stuff she’d never let anyone get away with.” He glanced up, his eyes dark with concern. “After that stuff he pulled with Chloe, sheshouldhave fired him. She’d have fired anyone else, busy season or not.”

“Well, it was just one infraction,” Royce said. “If she needs him, I can’t say I blame her for letting him off with a warning.”

A muscle jerked in Dakota’s cheek. “It wasn’t just one infraction. He’s done a bunch of stuff. He and Leo had a fistfight a week before you guys came. Jax started it too. I thought Mom was going to murder Jax, but she just let it go.”

Royce rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “You say people have been coming on the property at night. Can you give me more details?”

“It started about six months back. One night I was stargazing because there was a meteor shower.” He frowned. “I saw a truck come down the road and stop at the reindeer barn.”

“And that was unusual?” Royce’s gaze was alert.

“Trucks come and go all the time on the farm, but it was close to midnight. There would be no deliveries that late at night.”

Royce nodded. “Okay, go on.”

Clearing his throat, Dakota said, “Two men got out, and they started loading stuff from the barn into their truck. I couldn’t see what it was they were taking. I was about to go get my parents when I noticed Jax was there too.”

Royce narrowed his eyes. “So he didn’t try and chase the guys off?”

“Nope. He was laughing with them and smoking a cigarette.” Dakota scowled.

I frowned. “What could the farm have that would even entice thieves?”

Dakota glanced at me. “We have a lot of stuff: generators, extension cords, power saws.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess that’s true.” I wasn’t into power tools, but I knew they were pricy.

Dakota sighed. “The weird thing is, when I did inventory with Leo the next day, everything was still there.”

“Is it possible you simply didn’t notice things were missing?” Royce asked, looking thoughtful.

Dakota shook his head. “No way. Leo is meticulous.”

“So, you told Leo about the night visitors that you saw?” I asked.

Nodding, Dakota said, “Yeah. I tell Leo everything. He told me to forget what I saw and to let him handle things. I… I think that’s why he and Jax don’t get along anymore. Leo is very protective of the farm and our family.”

“Did you tell your parents about the night visitors?” I asked.

Dakota shook his head. “Leo didn’t want me to.”