Chapter Thirty-Three - Jason Havelock
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jason Havelock
JASON AND ASAKO walked in silence towards the student union. Their shoes crunched on the frost walkway that cut across the central quad. The dusk sky shaded purples and pinks as the sharp winter air stung Jason’s cheeks. He caught Asako’s sideways glances from the corner of his eye. He tried to ignore them, but Asako’s nosey energy practically buzzed in the air around them.
Ethan had warned him about her when they first entered the Henderson building. She had been crouched down behind a shrub near the entrance, her thoughts so loud Ethan had picked up on them as they approached.
“She’s determined,” Ethan had said, “Like a dog with a bone, that one.”
Jason smirked remembering, he glanced at her now.
Well, she’s definitely not subtle.
Jason studied her for a moment, the words “walking chaos” came to mind. Her scarf was askew and her hair was pulled back in a loose messy bun, her glasses fogged as they slipped down the bridge of her nose, but behind those glasses were sharp eagle eyes.
It was kind of endearing .
“How’d you know it was me?” Asako finally asked, breaking the silence. Her demeanor was casual, but Jason had a probing tone when heard it.
Smirking, Jason shrugged, “You’re not exactly covert. I could see you from behind the bush.”
Asako stopped short, her cheeks flushed. “ I was observing . It’s called investigative journalism.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jason muttered, jamming his hands into his coat pocket. He tugged his jacket tighter. Having a telepathic boyfriend definitely helped, but he was not going to tell her that.
They reached the student union and walked through the breezeway, their steps echoed through the corridor. After grabbing their coffees — Jason’s black, Asako’s with enough sugar to manifest a cavity out of thin air — they scanned the seating area. Asako grabbed a blueberry Danish on impulse, and they found a small two-person tabled tucked in an alcove away from the crowd..
Asako took a sip of her coffee, the plastic fork in her hand poised over the Danish, ready to attack, “So,” she started feigning nonchalance, “that Ferris wheel incident at the carnival — pretty wild, huh?” She scooped up a bite of the Danish and crammed it in her mouth, watching Jason closely.
Jason leaned back, his hands wrapped around the warmth of his coffee cup. “Yeah. Wild.”
“I talked to one of the carnival attendants that night,” Asako said, gesturing with her fork. “He said it was a mechanical issue. Something with the power, the whole place glitched out.”
Jason raised an eyebrow but said nothing, having learned from Ethan’s brooding, that silence often made people over-explain.
Asako took another bite, her eyes narrowing. “But here’s the thing — power glitches don’t make Ferris wheels nearly fall apart in mid-spin. I mean, what are the odds? It’s almost like something else was going on.”
Jason sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “You think we know something about that?”
Asako leaned forward, Danish tucked in the corner of her cheek, “You were there, Jason. You and Ethan both. Right in the middle of it. Now…Ethan’s sick, missing classes, hiding out…”
Jason took a sip of his coffee and looked away. “Ethan isn’t feeling well. It’s got nothing to do with the Ferris wheel or the carnival.”
“Maybe, “Asako said, chewing deliberately. “But, then, there’s Naomi Halston. Also connected to Bellamy’s lab. Also dead.”
“We didn’t even know her. She was in the lab before we started. Besides those graduate students don’t talk to us undergraduates. If you wanna know about her, question Bellamy,” Jason said, his jaw clenched. It was clear his patience was starting to fray.
“Look,” Jason said, glaring at her. His auburn hair caught the light, and his features looked sharper, more angular, “Ethan is going through enough right now without your conspiracy theories. Whatever you think is going on, it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Asako opened her mouth to retort, but just as she did, something strange happened. Again, for a fleeting moment, Jason’s figure wavered like a mirage in the desert. Asako blinked, her heart skipping a beat. As she refocused, he was sitting there, perfectly solid, staring at her with a mix of frustration and unease.
“What?” Jason, asked, noticing her surprised expression.
Asako shook her head, “Nothing. I think I need real food — blood sugar is lower than I thought.”
Jason stood, clearly done with the conversation. “I need to get back to Ethan.”
Asako put her hands up in defense, “Wait. Please.”
Jason eyed her suspiciously but sat down again.
“Look, I’ll turn off the journalist-mode. I realize I can get a little intense,” she said earnestly, as she grabbed her coffee, “I found a connection between Ethan, Naomi, and…my sister.” She finished and took a long gulp of her scalding coffee, immediately regretting it.
“Shit! That’s hot. Did they use boiled lava in this Americano?” She said examining the paper cup and looking back towards the coffee kiosk.
Jason’s blue eyes scanned her as she regained her composure, his piercing blue eyes watched, “What’s your deal?”
“Look, my sister was committed to the foster care system when I was really young. She would have been Ethan’s age, I don’t remember. But, when I was doing some digging on Naomi Halston, I found a link between her and my sister. Dug deeper — found a connection between the three of them.”
“Which is?” Jason asked, his tone lingering.
“They had the same case worker when they were in foster care, Sill Clearwater. I’ve tried finding her and she’s basically a ghost online. But, there were a few mentions of Ethan and my sister’s name in an article interviewing her. I did get her contact information and reached out, but nothing yet. I’m planning to try again but..” She said, gesturing towards Jason.
“…you’re busy stalking me and my boyfriend?” Jason said, finishing her sentence.
Asako sat, her mouth gaping, “When you put it like that…”
Jason shifted in his seat, he drained the last of his coffee, “ So what do you want from me and Ethan?”
“Does he ever talk about his time in the foster system? Do you know much about his past?” She asked, her fork hovering over the last bit of Danish.
Jason hesitated, he tapped his fingers on the paper coffee cup nervously. He glanced away, his gaze fixed on a group of students sitting a few tables away hunched over textbooks. “Not really,” he admitted, “It’s not something he likes to talk about.”
Asako crammed the last bite of Danish in her mouth, “So you don’t know much, then?”
Jason frowned, his presence became guarded, “I know enough,” He said defensively. But even as the words left his mouth, he wasn’t so sure. Did he know enough?
Most of what Jason knew was piecemealed together, fragments of Ethan’s story. An occasional mention here and there — Ethan had once said he had been shuffled through at least five different foster homes from four until high school graduation. He rarely gave details and Jason never pressed. The system, the instability, no real family to speak of — it wasn’t something Ethan liked revisiting.
His mind drifted for a moment. Ethan mentioned offhandedly, spending Christmas in a different home nearly every year. His tone was light, rather dismissive — as if it was something all kids endured. “He’s been through a lot,” Jason said finally. His tone was firm but Asako sensed his sadness. “I think it’s easier for him to just leave the past in the past.”
Asako studied him for a moment, and she softened, “I get that,” she said quietly. “But sometimes the past doesn’t want to stay there and sometimes it's the key to what happens next.”
Jason’s stomach tightened, Ethan’s walls had never made it easy for him to share about those times. Their new apartment was the first real home Ethan ever had — Jason knew that. If he was going to build something real with Ethan, maybe he needed to start scaling those walls. Maybe, he needed to know.
“All I’m saying is, consider asking him about those times. I need to know if he knows anything about my sister’s death. If there is a connection to Naomi’s disappearance. There is something that connects them all. I can feel it,” Asako said, her voice tense.
“I’ll think about it,” Jason said, standing.
Asako reached into her crossbody bag, pulling a business card out, “Here, take this. If you want to talk more, let me know. I won’t bother you two anymore.”
He eyed the card as he took it from her.
Asako could feel him on the fence, she just needed to pull him over to her side. Jason zipped his coat and gave Asako a tight smile before stepping away.
Asako watched him before calling out, “How well do you know him, Jason?”
Jason paused his back to her, he didn’t look back. “Better than you ever will,” he said quietly, before walking away.