7. Garrett
CHAPTER 7
Garrett
With Owen grounded, my mom or one of my brothers had been picking him up from school and taking him to my parents’ place. I was pretty sure I’d be relenting on the grounding sooner rather than later. At the very least, I wanted to give him a chance to earn back trust. If he ditched school again—especially to shoplift—he wouldn’t be using anything with wheels until he was a legal adult.
It wasn’t exactly a punishment for him to spend his afternoons with his grandparents. That had been the norm for a lot of his childhood, especially after my ex and I had split up. I felt guilty about that, but also grateful to my parents for stepping in and helping me out so often.
I did hope my dad had been making him do chores while he was there, though.
The past several days had been typical. I worked a lot. Had to put in some overtime, but that wasn’t the end of the world. I’d been able to break away for Owen’s final parent-teacher conference of the year. His recent poor judgment aside, he was doing fine in school, which was a relief. The shoplifting incident didn’t seem to represent a downward spiral in behavior .
I hadn’t been lying to Harper. He really was a good kid.
Despite plenty to occupy my mind—work, single fatherhood, my son’s recent bad choices—none of those things were in my head as I drove out to my parents’ place to pick up Owen. All I could think about was Harper Tilburn.
That smile. Those eyes. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Her face was burned into my memory, like the afterimage of the sun. I’d stared at her too long—and too awkwardly. I couldn’t get her out of my head.
I’d never had that happen before. Sure, I’d crushed on girls when I was younger. Hell, when I was barely older than Owen, I’d been convinced I was in love with a girl at school. I’d cut her picture out of a yearbook and stuck it in the back of my binder. Until one day I saw her kissing Theo under the bleachers by the football field.
It hadn’t been Theo’s fault. He had no idea. And she probably wasn’t the only girl he’d kissed under those bleachers. I’d tossed her picture in the garbage and never looked back.
Even then, when I was young and basically an idiot, I’d never been so consumed by a woman. Especially a woman I’d only met once, and for all of five minutes.
I took the turn up my parents’ driveway, determined to think about anything but Harper. I’d missed a date with her. So, what? She’d said it herself, it was for the best. She wasn’t in a place to start dating anyone. And neither was I. Dating was not on my agenda, even if she was the most mesmerizing woman I’d ever laid eyes on.
Did she smell as good as her bakery? Were her lips as soft as they looked?
I needed to stop.
My parents lived up a long, gravel driveway. Their hand-built log home had views of Tilikum through the pine trees and I had countless memories of long days spent roaming the woods around their property.
I was one of seven kids—six boys and a girl—and we’d grown up in a kind of semi-controlled chaos. Small-town living had probably helped. We’d been a little bit feral, but there were always neighbors and extended family members around to help keep us corralled.
There were worse ways to grow up.
I parked behind my brother Theo’s truck. Next to it was a sixties-era black Chevelle. I didn’t recognize the car, but it was probably Luke’s. He restored classic cars for a living and tended to swap them out pretty regularly. It wasn’t unusual to find one or two of my brothers there at any given time. Mom’s cooking tended to attract us.
I went in without knocking and followed the sound of voices and laughter to the dining room.
My dad sat in his usual spot at the head of the table, dressed in a green flannel. His brown hair was streaked with gray, as was his thick beard. He had a solid presence, with his wide shoulders and well-muscled arms.
Whereas Paul Haven was all hard edges, my mom, Marlene, was soft—kind of like the blankets she was always knitting. She had a warm smile and kind eyes behind her blue-rimmed glasses. My sister-in-law Marigold had recently cut her hair, giving her a chin-length bob.
Rounding out the table were Owen, dressed in a blue hoodie despite the warm weather, Luke, and Theo.
Luke and I looked alike. Although his hair was a lighter brown, we had the same blue eyes and square jaw. The Bailey Customs T-shirt he wore was jarring, although the feud with the Baileys had ended years ago.
It did make me wonder if he’d lost a bet with Evan Bailey and that was the price he had to pay.
Theo wore a Tilikum High School hoodie. His hair was unkempt, like he’d been wearing a hat and Mom had made him take it off before he sat down to eat. He had broad shoulders and an athletic build. Professional football had been his dream, until an injury had sent him home to an early retirement. He’d channeled his knowledge and experience into becoming the football coach at Tilikum High School, and he was damn good at it.
“Good timing,” Mom said. “Food’s still warm if you want to make yourself a plate.”
Owen’s eyes pleaded with me not to make him go home yet. That probably meant there was dessert.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Mom.”
The kitchen was homey and familiar, with slightly faded cabinets and dishes cluttering the counters. I got a plate, dished up a healthy serving of chicken and vegetable stir fry, and took it to the dining table. There was a spot next to Owen, so I sat.
“Get your homework done?” I asked.
“Yeah, Grandma made me finish before dinner.”
I tipped my chin to her, and she smiled back.
“Thanks for picking him up from school,” I said.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “Although tomorrow might be a problem.”
“Are we talking after school?” Theo asked. “If you want to walk over to the high school, I can take you home. Is your bike in the shop or something?”
Owen slumped in his seat. “No. I’m grounded.”
“Bummer,” Theo said. “What’d you do?”
I watched my son, wondering if he’d confess in front of his uncles. It was clear from Theo’s nonchalant tone that he expected Owen to admit to something minor, like a bad grade on a test.
He took a deep breath. “I cut class and stole stuff.”
“Whoa,” Theo said. “What’d you steal?”
“Cookies, mostly.”
My parents already knew the story, of course, but my brothers looked at me, eyes wide with surprise.
“Little dude, that’s not good,” Theo said. “Was it from the Quick Stop? ”
“No, Angel Cakes,” Owen admitted.
“I mean, at least he went for the good stuff,” Luke said.
Dad snorted.
I shot them both a glare. “That’s not helping.”
Luke put his hands up. “Sorry.”
“I’m taking him to school in the mornings and he needs to come here in the afternoons for the foreseeable future,” I said.
“Sure, I can drive him here,” Theo offered.
“How long is the foreseeable future?” Owen asked.
“I don’t know.”
His brow furrowed. “Washington is a determinate sentencing state. That means punishments have a set length.”
Dad’s mouth twitched in the hint of a grin. So did Theo’s. Luke coughed in an attempt to conceal his chuckle.
I glanced at Owen and raised my eyebrows. Smart kid. “It ends when I determine I can trust you again. How’s that for a determinate sentence?”
“That’s not what it means.” Owen’s tone took on a note of defiance. “It means you know the length of your sentence. It’s not arbitrary.”
“And if I’d arrested you and subjected you to state law, that would be applicable. But I didn’t, so it’s not.”
“Dang it.”
“Ever thought about going to law school?” Theo asked. “You’d make a good lawyer.”
He shrugged.
“We can talk about this more at home.”
“What about Saturday?” Mom asked. “Does he need a ride?”
“What’s going on Saturday?” Theo asked.
“I have to go work at the bakery,” Owen said. “Pay off my debt to society.”
“I don’t know about your debt to society,” I said. “But your debt to Harper, yeah.”
“Wait, who’s Harper?” Luke asked .
Note to self: Luke doesn’t know her, so he isn’t the reason she said our missed date was for the best. My eyes moved to Theo. No recognition. He hadn’t met her either.
Good to know.
“She’s the lady Dad likes,” Owen said.
Luke and Theo—who I have to point out are not biologically related to each other—somehow donned identical smart-ass grins.
“Ooooh,” Theo said, as if we were all eighth graders. “Garrett likes a girl?”
“Is she cute?” Luke asked.
“I don’t—”
Owen cut off what would have been a lame attempt at denial. Or at least deflection. “She’s really pretty. Even prettier than Ms. Fallbrook. And basically every guy at Tilikum Middle School has a crush on Ms. Fallbrook.”
That was kind of alarming. “Do you have a crush on Ms. Fallbrook?”
He shrugged. “I’m a guy, aren’t I?”
Luke and Theo both laughed.
“She’s an adult.” I shot yet another glare at my brothers.
Owen rolled his eyes. “So?”
“Can we go back to the lady Garrett likes?” Luke asked.
“Luke, don’t cause trouble,” Mom warned.
“I’m not.” He laughed. He was so causing trouble. On purpose. “I’m just curious what’s going on in my brother’s life.”
Theo leaned forward and rested his chin on his fists. “Yes, Garrett. Tell us what’s going on in your life.”
“He was supposed to go out with Harper, but something came up and he wasn’t able to make it,” Mom said.
I looked over at her. “Now who’s causing trouble?”
“I’m just providing context.”
“You went out with the bakery lady?” Owen asked. “When? ”
“I didn’t go out with her.”
“Right. He was going to,” Mom corrected. “Owen, how do you feel about your dad dating? Has anyone talked to you about that yet?”
I tried, and probably failed, to keep the exasperation out of my voice. “I’m not dating anyone.”
Owen shrugged. “Kinda weird that he doesn’t. I’m fine with it as long as she’s nice. And the bakery lady seemed really nice.”
“And prettier than Ms. Fallbrook,” Theo added.
I glanced at my dad, hoping he’d change the subject or something. But he just shrugged, as if to say, you’re on your own this time.
“Look, I’m not dating Harper. I’m not interested in dating anyone.”
“Why?” Luke asked.
“I don’t have time. I have enough going on in my life as it is. And Owen and I are fine on our own.”
“Yeah, but you totally like her,” Owen said.
My kid could see right through me. “I don’t even know her.”
“You forgot my name.”
“I told you, it was a blip.”
Owen turned to his uncles. “He forgot my name when we were talking to her. Then he tried to blame it on a senior moment.”
“What? No I didn’t. You said it was a senior moment.”
“If you’re having senior moments, I might as well hang up my tool belt,” Dad said.
“As soon as he saw her, he made this face.” Owen tilted his head, widened his eyes, and stuck his tongue partially out. “Like, uh, you’re so pretty, now I don’t know my own kid’s name.”
My brothers were practically choking, trying to hold back their laughter .
I kept my expression neutral and my voice even. “You’re so grounded.”
“I’m already grounded.”
“You’re grounded longer.”
“How long?”
“Until I say you’re done.”
“That’s not fair. I need a sentence length.”
“Five years.”
His mouth dropped open. “You can’t ground me until I’m nineteen.”
“Fine. Four years. You’re grounded until you’re an adult.”
“Da-ad.”
“He can still play football for me next year, though, right?” Theo asked.
I locked eyes with Owen and watched as his filled with fear. The kid was dying to play for Theo when he got to high school next year. “As long as his crime spree is over.”
“Was it really a spree?” Theo asked. “I’m thinking it was a one-time thing. He was like, crime curious.”
“We’ve all been there, right?” Luke asked.
I was about to say I’d never stolen anything, but that wouldn’t have been true.
And I didn’t need Owen hearing that story.
“When did you steal something?” Dad asked Luke, his voice dangerously low.
“Never,” Luke said quickly. “I’m just saying, we all make mistakes when we’re young.”
Dad eyed him with skepticism. It made me wonder if Dad knew about Luke’s racing days. And whether he’d stopped, as he claimed.
“How about some berry crumble.” Mom stood without waiting for a reply. “Owen, can you help clear the table, please?”
He nodded and got up from his seat. My brothers passed their plates to him, and I finished my dinner while they got dessert.
Mom kept eyeing me with either curiosity or suspicion. I had a feeling she’d be on the phone to Aunt Louise as soon as I left. Conspiring over my love life—or lack thereof.
Owen and I hung out for a bit longer, then headed home. It was a school night, so I didn’t want him up late. He settled on the couch with a video game while I got out my laptop and logged into our system to check on a few things.
The stolen car I’d recovered had been processed. I scanned the evidence list. Everything looked right. The bracelet I’d found in the dirt had been deemed non-relevant. No surprise there. It had probably been on the ground for years.
But something about it was tickling my instincts. My dad had always taught me to trust my gut. I had no idea what I’d find about a bracelet with be kind… of a bitch sometimes engraved on it, but the gut feeling was strong enough I decided to run a search through our database. Fortunately, most of our old case files had been digitized over the years. It would only take a minute.
To my surprise, I got a hit.
A silver bracelet with that engraving came up on the description of a missing person from about a decade ago. It was one of the things she’d been wearing when she was last seen.
But she wasn’t just any missing person. She’d gone on to become one of the most notorious cold case murders in recent Tilikum history. Everyone knew the Jasmine Joyner case.
I’d been a young deputy, working graveyard. I hadn’t been involved in the case at all. Too junior for something as important as a high-publicity homicide. But I remembered it well. It had been the talk of the town for months.
And then… nothing. It had gone unsolved.
Had I found something relevant to the case? I couldn’t prove the bracelet had been Jasmine’s, but it matched the description her family had given of what she’d been wearing when she disappeared. That was probably enough to get my superiors to let me dig a little deeper. See if this led to anything new.
Maybe Jasmine’s case would heat up again—and I could catch the person who’d killed her.