Silent Is The Heart

CHAPTER 41

Easton

I’m grateful for the detail of the sleeve I’m working on for this customer. It’s a lot of line work that requires focus and has kept me engaged for the last two hours. It still hasn’t stopped me from glancing at the door each time I hear it open, but at least my mind is more devoted to work than it has been of late.

It’s barely after lunch, so I shouldn’t even be expecting Aaron to bring the SUV by yet. I don’t know how long it takes to make arrangements to have a dead person transported across state lines, but I doubt it’s a speedy process. I want to believe that he’s simply worried about me freezing my ass off on my motorcycle, but after the shit I said the other day, paranoia is kicking my ass.

He was so subdued on the phone yesterday, almost vacant. Maybe it was just the shock over what happened to Jason, but returning my vehicle the day after doesn’t bode well. It feels like it would be a loss of connection to him. I don’t revel in him needing anything from me, but I would really appreciate excuses to see him in the near future. Was he just being polite yesterday on the phone? Will I represent memories of Jason for him now that Jason’s actually gone for real this time?

Worse yet, maybe he could only deal with so much in one day. Yesterday was to process that his husband was found dead—again. Today is for returning the vehicle to the unstable boyfriend he wants to get rid of to reduce the rest of the drama in his life.

I didn’t mean it… Any of it.

Well, I believe the part I said about me being no good, but I didn’t mean the rest of what I told him when he found me the other day. I’ll never love anyone but him. If there is such a thing as love, Aaron is it for me.

Two quick knocks resound on the wall of my station. I look up to find Wolf not looking like a crab ass for once. He’s left me a wide berth since the robbery. Right now, though, he looks like he’s about to tell me someone died.

“What?”

“Aaron asked me to give these to you.”

Watching his arm extend, I stare at the keys to my Suburban in his hand. Why would he give them to Wolf? Excusing myself with the customer, I rise and take them from him, glancing around the shop.

“Where is he?”

“He pulled in out back when I was getting out of my van. He got in a truck with some guy and just asked me if I could give these to you.”

He didn’t even come in to talk to me. Something tells me I won’t need to worry about glancing at the door anymore. I blew it. It’s over.

I’m not sure what this sleeve looks like by the time I finish, but the man doesn’t complain. Hopefully, there was some sense of autopilot engaged in my brain from years of tatting that allowed me to create something presentable for him. I try to sound cordial, explaining the aftercare process to him and about making arrangements with Shannon to schedule his color work, but it all sounds like a monotone mumble.

My phone rings, making my pulse jolt, so I excuse myself quickly. Please be Aaron. Please.

It’s some number I’ve never seen, sending my heart right back into the pit of my stomach.

“Hello?”

“Is this Easton Bennick?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, this is parole officer Dobbs. I’m looking for Leonard Bennick, and he had you as his point of contact for his last known address.”

Like I needed another reminder of Leonard right now. Sighing, I rub the bridge of my nose. “Yeah. Well, I was when he was staying here, but he checked into the Siever Halfway House a few days ago.”

“Well, that’s the problem. He didn’t show up for work yesterday or today, and I checked with Siever halfway. He hasn’t been there since yesterday afternoon according to their sign-in logs. I was wondering if he might have gotten in contact with you since then.”

‘I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a thief.’ The adamant declaration doesn’t sit the same with me now as when I left that tired building full of men with broken dreams. Did he put that picture up on the wall locker just to throw me for a loop? More of his father of the year facade? Because he had to have known he would be the first person I came looking for once I found out my safe had been emptied.

“No,” I try not to laugh. “I haven’t seen him.” And now I doubt I ever will again.

◆◆◆

“You sure you’re all right here? I don’t mind closing,” Wolf says, sounding as tired as I feel.

“I’m fine. Go on. You’ve got enough shit to deal with. You done packing up the house yet?”

Frowning, he shakes his head and fidgets with the business card display on the reception counter while I zero out the register. “I got sidetracked.”

Oh, boy. Here we go again. It’s good, honestly. I need something to distract myself from what’s going through my mind.

“What’s her name?” I tease.

The frown becomes a full-on scowl. “Nothing. Her name is nothing.”

“Hm. Sounds foreign. Is she exotic?”

Rolling his eyes, he flicks a business card at me. It lands inside one of the money slots in the drawer. Sighing, he stuffs his hands in his pockets and stares out the front of the shop.

“ His name…is Jasper,” he grumbles. “And he’s back, apparently.”

“Wait…Jasper’s back in town? That’s awesome!”

Isn’t it? He was the coolest boss I ever had, one of only two, but still the coolest. Wolf looked up to him like a big brother. Why the hell doesn’t he look pleased about this?

“He moved back three months ago.”

“Really? Well, that’s cool, man. I know how much you missed him. I bet he was happy to see you. Tell him to stop in sometime. We can all go out for drinks.”

I don’t feel like going out anywhere, but for Jasper, I might make an exception. He’s a friendly face from one of the better parts of my past and reminds me of Nancy.

“Yeah. Sure,” he grumps. “If he’s not too preoccupied.”

What the fuck is that about?

I don’t get a chance to ask. He tells me goodnight and heads out the door. Fucking hell. When it rains, it pours.

Now that I’m alone, I don’t have to worry about getting a side eye from him for checking my phone for the millionth time tonight. Drawing it out of my pocket, my last message still has no reply.

Thanks for dropping off the car, but you can use it whenever you need. I hope you’re okay today.

I feel like a puppy who bit its owner’s hand one too many times. My words are sad puppy dog eyes that have no impact on getting me petted.

A rapid succession of thump sounds echoes softly through the shop. I turn in the direction of the noise and squint through the darkened room toward the lit exit sign above the back door. The thumping grows louder, although it’s soft and muffled by the exterior wall. I know that distinct sound. It’s the sound my feet have made hundreds of times padding down the stairs from my apartment.

I saw Wolf pull away out front. It wouldn’t be him. He knows I’m still in the shop. The lovesick part of me wants it to be Aaron, but lovesick me has shit judgment. Hurrying to the back door, I wrench it open to the frigid night just in time to see a figure hop inside the passenger side of a beat-up old pickup truck. It’s a figure that looks a lot like the shape of one Leonard Bennick.

What the fuck now?

The driver, another male figure from the looks of it, spins out quickly, but I don’t think they even saw me. It’s like they planned on leaving in a hurry ahead of time. That can only mean one thing, and it’s not a good thing.

I curse under my breath and book it up the stairwell. Bursting into my apartment, I flick on the lights, expecting the worst. I don’t know why I’m panicking; it’s not like I have much up here that’s worth stealing in one go. There was nothing in the pickup’s bed. What the hell did he take now?

My gaze lands on the coffee table in the living room, and my blood runs cold. There’s nothing missing. Just the opposite. The new addition to my apartment sends gooseflesh over my skin. Why does that look just like the sports bag Jason had?

Hedging forward, I swallow hard, as if the boogeyman will pop out of it. If Aaron were here, he’d probably tell me that if I touch it, I’ll be dead. I have no choice, though. There’s a note folded on top of it with my name on it. What does the horror movie code say about that?

Son,

We both know I was no good. I’d really have liked the chance to show you I’d changed that. I can never make up for what I did to you and your mother. God knows I don’t deserve your—or His—forgiveness. I had eight years to try to forgive myself, and I still can’t.

This won’t forgive me either; it only adds another black mark to my soul, but you’re worth it. Con men know con men... I can live the rest of my life at least, knowing you and your fella have the chance you deserve at happiness, and that’s enough for me. If he is who you say he is, then you can sleep now, knowing he’s safe and what’s yours is yours again.

All my love,

Leonard Bennick

PS—Be mindful of your neighbors in the future.

I have no idea what he’s talking about. With a shaky hand, I pull the zipper tab back and peel the flap open. The bag is filled with money, my money. I know because it’s bundled the way I bundled it and some even have my deposit slips still affixed to them.

Reaching inside, I draw out a manilla folder and scan the documents inside. There’s a passport with Jason’s face on it, but not his name. It says Tomás, the name he gave me when I first saw him at Aaron’s. There’s another with Aaron’s face on it, looking a bit younger than he does now. The signature on it doesn’t look like his. I’ve seen it.

The next document doesn’t make much sense to me because it looks like it’s in Spanish, but the longer I study it, I’m certain it’s a marriage certificate. It was dated eight months ago. I’m not even going to entertain that Aaron knew about this. I already doubted him once. He wouldn’t have been in contact with Jason for that long and not told me. He wouldn’t have gotten married again in another country and not told me.

The next document convinces me I’m right. It also makes my knees go so weak, I drop to the floor. It’s an insurance policy for a one-million-dollar payout—an insurance policy on Aaron’s alias. Hand rattling, I flip to the last paper in the folder. Nothing can be worse than what I just saw.

I stare at a lease. I know for certain that it is because this one is in English. It’s a month-to-month lease for an apartment across the street, above the liquor store. The tenant listed on it is Jason’s alias name.

I read Leonard’s cryptic letter again, and it all hits me like a left hook out of nowhere.

‘Another black mark to my soul.’

‘Be mindful of your neighbors in the future.’

A tear falls onto the letter as I gasp for air. There’s only one reason Leonard would have Jason’s bag, a man he’d never even met.

Con men know con men… He figured out what I couldn’t and saved the person I love because I was too blind to see what was happening.