Chapter 9
NINE
JACKSON
When we roll up to Sophia’s house, Ellis’s car is in the driveway along with an unmarked car that I know belongs to Detective Patel.
“That woman sure knows how to break up a party,” Leland mutters while he hurriedly hides his weaponry. “Tavish, look alive.”
“I am alive!”
“Ah, the expression on your face looked so grotesque that I got confused.”
“Here,” I say as I take my outer shirt off and hand it to Tavish to pull on. It doesn’t fit him too well, but it hides the dried blood. The look Leland gives him tells me that he’s not overly pleased by Tavish wearing my shirt.
“You remember the story?” Sophia asks her son.
Cam seems anxious but nods. “Yeah.”
“Stick with it, okay? We’re sticking with it.”
He nods again, but he looks a bit lost and confused, and I’m pretty confident he’ll break easily.
Leland leans into me, likely noting the same thing judging by the way he’s staring at the teen.
“We just have to hope no one questions him too hard. He really is so inferior to our son,” he whispers.
“Our son knows how to look the police in the eyes and lie away. He even lied really well to us. You remember that?”
“Why do you act proud about any of that?” I ask, quite uncertain.
“Are you not proud of our child?” Leland asks disbelievingly.
“Yes, I’m very proud of him when he brings home all As and tells us that he had the highest score on his mock exams.”
“And how exactly is knowing pi going to protect him in the real world?”
I just raise an eyebrow because when it comes to Leland, I’ve found that’s the best reaction.
We step out and Detective Patel is immediately there. “I see you’ve found Cameron. We’re so glad to have you safe and sound,” she says as she smiles at Cam.
He doesn’t really smile back. I think he’s still too shaken up to do much.
“Can you tell me what happened?” she asks.
“Y-Yeah. These people grabbed me. Did Waylon already tell you that part?”
“He did, but I’d love to hear it from you.”
“Okay,” he says before reciting pretty much what Waylon had told them.
“Then they crammed me in the back of this SUV. They tied me up and started driving. It felt like they were driving for hours, but at some point, they pulled off for some reason. I don’t know why.
It was in the middle of this field. I think…
I think they were waiting for someone else.
Maybe someone else was going to take me from them?
I don’t know. I was still able to sit up, and when I did, I saw that the entire group was standing at the front of the vehicle.
When they tied my feet together, I think it got stuck on my shoe, so once I slipped my foot out of my shoe, I got my legs free.
I pushed open the hatch and took off running into the marshy area.
The weeds and, I don’t know… cattails? I don’t know what they were, but they were tall enough I could kind of hide in them if I crouched down. I was so scared they’d find me.
“But I managed to run across there and ended up in some park where I borrowed a lady’s phone and called my mom.”
I notice that she examines Cam the moment he says he ended up in the marsh.
And I’m glad that Leland had us stop at that very marsh and forced him to run from one end to the other.
Leland was so particular that he made us stop and buy shoes that didn’t fit us before we tramped around in the marsh as if we were looking for him.
I think Cam was put off by the idea, not wanting to leave his mother, but it left his clothes dirty in the right places, and if Detective Patel stops to check it out, she’ll find his path through the marsh.
Cassel even sent a fake call to Sophia’s phone so if Patel checks, she’ll see the call.
“That must have been so scary for you. We really want to figure out who took you, so let’s get you somewhere you can sit down and tell us more details.”
Nathan comes running out of the house and grabs Cam hard, squeezing him tightly.
“Oh, buddy, you’re okay. You’re okay.” He kisses the top of his head and squeezes him again as I see Waylon and Ellis come out after him.
Waylon looks extremely relieved to see Cam as well, and then he throws a huge smile at us.
Leland freezes when he sees it. “Why is he looking at us with such adoration? It’s… strange, Jackson.”
“Well, hon… you did just save his best friend,” I say.
“Ew.”
I’m forced to stifle a laugh as Waylon walks over to us.
“Uh… thanks… a lot… I knew you guys would find him,” he says quietly.
“You owe me so much,” Leland demands. “I’m going to make you train until your bones ache.”
“Please, no.”
“You’re going to be invincible. You’re also required to wear full body armor at all times. Just… not near any pools.”
“Jackson, please talk some sense into him,” Waylon begs.
I hesitate because… I’m kind of with Leland on this. I want him to be able to protect himself. I want to make sure that no one can ever hurt him again. Because there are people out there who know what he can do. And what happens when they come for him? We can’t be around him all day every day.
“Maybe just until his muscles ache, not his bones,” I say.
Waylon looks shocked. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I think we both like you too much,” I tell him.
That seems to fluster him a bit.
“Cameron, what if Waylon takes you inside so you can decompress for a minute while I talk to your parents?” Detective Patel suggests.
Waylon urges us to come with him—leaving the rest of our party behind—so we head into the house where Cam turns to face Waylon, opens his mouth, then proceeds to stare at him, like he’s not sure what to say now that he’s facing him.
That’s when I realize that he’s not sure if Waylon is in the category of someone he’s supposed to lie to.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” Waylon says.
“It’s not your fault,” Cam replies. “Did you… know…” He stops and stares at us again.
“Did I know…” Waylon repeats.
“Am I supposed to do a magic trick?” Leland asks.
“The only magic trick I know is how to pull a knife out when it doesn’t look like I have one.
Like ‘Woooooo, knife is here… now knife is gone.’” He shows this with a knife, which doesn’t appear to reassure Cam in the slightest. Like imagine Detective Patel walking in at this very moment.
“So what really happened?” Waylon asks. “You were lying, right? Did those people take you because of your mom?”
“You knew?” Cam asks.
Waylon looks a bit hesitant now, since I’m sure he’s afraid that Cam is going to be upset with him for hiding the truth. “Yeah.”
“And your parents… you said they were PIs who did boring things like ‘cheating cases.’ That wasn’t boring or a cheating case!”
“They do cheating cases… among other… things.”
“I think it’s very different!” he cries.
“Just be careful. I have a feeling Detective Patel is extremely nosy,” I warn.
“That woman is out there sniffing around,” Leland says. “She’s going to try to break you down, Cam. You hold strong.”
Cam looks uncertain about that. “Why can’t we tell the police? Can’t they do something?”
Waylon turns to him. “If Leland and Jackson encouraged you to lie to them, you should listen. They… okay, maybe Leland is really strange, but they seem to know what’s best. So I wouldn’t fight it.”
Cam hesitates but seems to actually be reassured for the first time as he nods. “Okay. Yeah… I will. I… I won’t tell them.”
After they’re done with us, the three of us get into the van and head for home, since the rest of our party has already left. Ellis was not pleased to see Tavish’s wound, no matter how much Tavish reassured him that it was nothing.
When we pull into the driveway, Leland is just finishing up telling Waylon a very dramatic version of what happened.
I’m pretty sure Waylon knows which parts to listen to and leaves Leland to it.
When I stop the car next to another that’s already in our driveway, I’m confused who it might be, but it looks familiar.
I haven’t even put it in park before I see Micah step away from the front door of our house and start our way.
“I thought I was done looking at annoying humans for the day,” Leland mutters before he opens the door and looks over at the man who points at Waylon.
“I came. I conquered. I found the child,” Micah says as he gestures at Waylon. “It won’t be cheap.”
“You’re like hours too late. I’m not giving you shit,” Leland retorts.
“You didn’t specify a time to save the child,” Micah reminds us.
“Weirdly enough, saving children is probably like ‘Let’s do that first and go grocery shopping after,’” Leland says.
“I mean… most of the time. I have come across a few children in my old age that I’d go shopping first, and maybe even to bed, and then maybe stop for ice cream on my way to save them, but this isn’t one of them. ”
“You probably shouldn’t announce that,” I tell Leland.
“Hey, if a child wants to be a little shit, I will treat it like a little shit. Keep that in mind, Micah.”
“You’re now comparing me to shitty little demon spawn?” Micah asks.
“Pretty much. We’re headed to bed. You can sleep on our floor if you want. That way if someone breaks in, I can use your body to shield Jackson. Here, stand next to him so I can make sure you cover all parts of him.”
“How tempting,” he says as he follows us into the house. I assumed he would be like “ha!” and leave, but he seems prepared to curl up on the floor before he glances at the couch. “This will do.”
“Why are you staying with us?” Leland asks.
“You’re not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“You think you’re the gift in this situation? Because if you are, I’m more than happy to look you in the mouth and see if you’re old enough to be put down,” Leland says.