“Not an alien, I promise,” I said.
“Darn,” he said. “I wanted to see your spaceship.”
“Just eat, Jackson,” Bella said, shaking her head. “And just so you know, I don’t care and I’m not looking for an answer. I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks.”
“But I find it hard to believe you can’t swim. Working on a beach and all.”
I shrugged but didn’t answer. I stayed away from the water, so I could see how people might get that impression. I could swim. I just chose not to.
“What restaurant do you work at?” I asked, looking to change the subject to anything but me.
She made a face. “Stupid seafood place up the highway. Tourist trap.”
“Been there awhile?”
She took another bite of the sandwich and squinted into the sun. “Six months, I think? Seems like forever. But it’s a job and I need one.” She motioned at her son. “He eats like a gorilla.”
Jackson licked ketchup off his fingers, then grabbed another handful of fries.
“I gotta start looking for something else, though,” she said.
“Why’s that?”
She took a long sip from her drink. “Just to make ends meet.” She glanced at me. “It’s only part-time and money’s tight. We’re okay, but I don’t like that it’s so tight.”
I nodded. “Where does he go when you’re working?”
“During the school year, I work during the day when he’s in school. During the summer, he comes with me,” she said, frowning. “I can’t afford daycare and I don’t really want him going to one. My manager is cool. She lets me set him up in a back booth and he’s pretty good.” She smiled. “Actually, he’s really good.”
Jackson lifted up the fry bag and emptied the last few into his mouth.
“What did Colin want, Mommy?” he asked, out of the blue.
“Except when he asks questions,” Bella muttered, her cheeks flushing a little. Louder, she said, “Nothing, Jax. We just needed to talk.”
“About what?” I asked.
The blush deepened and she looked away. “Nothing, really.”
It wasn’t any of my business. I knew that. But I couldn’t help looking at Jackson and feeling that a kid like that didn’t belong anywhere within a hundred miles of that asshole in the parking lot. And if he was asking questions, there was something going on. Something a hell of a lot bigger than nothing.
“It didn’t seem like nothing,” I said.
“He won’t bother you again,” she said quickly. She wadded up the empty sandwich wrapper and dropped it in the paper bag. “I promise.”
“I don’t need you to promise that,” I said. “I can handle him. But it seemed like more than nothing.”
She set her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, staring at her son as he tossed pieces of the hamburger bun to birds on the walk. I finished my food and sat there quietly, watching both of them.
“It isn’t nothing,” she finally said. “But sometimes, we have to do things we don’t want to do. Because we have to. Because there aren’t a whole lot of other options. That make any sense?”
I stared across the highway, watching the sun disappear behind the high-rises. Jackson chased after a bird and tumbled onto the grass next to the walk. I thought about Liz.
“Yeah,” I said. “Absolutely.”
EIGHT
“Do you mind if we make a quick stop?” Bella asked. “I promise it’ll just take a minute.”
“Sure,” I said. “No problem.”
We headed west on the highway, back toward Fort Walton Beach, the sky a mixture of pinks and blues as dusk settled in.
She pulled the car into the lot of a small strip mall and parked in front of a laundromat.
She squeezed the wheel with both hands and her shoulders dropped. “Meet my other employer.”
I could see long rows of washer and dryers on the other side of the dirty front window. “Here?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Couple days a week, Jackson and I sit in a tiny office and wait for people to tell me one of the machines ate their quarters.”
“Not a bad gig.”
She made a face. “Doesn’t pay much and it’s boring. I’m trying to find something else to replace it. I also do the bank runs. That’s what I need to do now, grab the bag so I can deposit it tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
She glanced in the back seat. “If he wakes up, tell him I’ll be right back.”
I twisted in my seat. Jackson’s head hung to the side, his eyes shut tight, his mouth wide open, sleeping soundly.
I smiled. “Will do.”
She got out and shut the door quietly.
I watched her pull the door to the laundromat open and disappear inside.
I liked Bella. I liked how she treated her son and I liked that she didn’t seem to mind working hard to take care of him. She was clearly anxious over her situation, but she also seemed to possess a confidence and determination that most people in her situation might not have.
Jackson stirred behind me and I turned around. He rolled his head from one side to the other and murmured something that I couldn’t understand. His small hands twitched in his lap and he let out a long sigh before lapsing back into an even sleep. He looked like his mom and for one brief moment, I thought about Liz and what a child of hers might have looked like. A child of ours.
I whipped back around, trying to dislodge the image and thought, trying to focus on the building in front of me.
The door to the laundromat swung open.
And my heart stopped.
NINE
Zip had a white plastic laundry basket tucked under his arm as he exited the laundry mat. The mohawk was a little longer than when I’d last seen him, but the skinny build and ugly face were the same. Dirty cargo shirts hung from his waist and a gray tank top showed off his pipe-cleaner arms.
I froze when I saw him. I should’ve ducked. But he caught me by surprise. I was two-thousand miles away from San Diego and the last thing I expected was to see someone who knew me.
I’d gone to Fort Walton because it was a long way from San Diego and because Carter was able to put me in touch with Ike. I knew no one there and no one knew me. It seemed like a world away from everything I’d left behind.
But apparently it wasn’t.
I sat there, motionless, hoping he wouldn’t glance in my direction. Hoping he wouldn’t recognize me if he did look this way. Hoping he would keep moving to wherever he was headed.
But his eyes swept over the car and I read the recognition in them.
Shit.
He squinted at me, ducking his head to get a better look through the windshield. A weird smile crept over his face and he walked over to my window.
My heart jackhammered in my chest and my stomach dropped.
He held up a hand and waved.
I couldn’t roll down the window so I opened the door and stepped out.
“Noah?” he asked, a little disbelieving. “What’s up, man?”
“Nothing,” I said.
We weren’t friends. In fact, I barely knew him. The last time I’d seen him, Carter was threatening him within an inch of his life for ripping off Liz’s brother. We were barely acquaintances.
But he knew me.
His face clouded over and he peered around me into the car. “Carter’s not here, is he?”
“No. He’s not.”
The cloud lifted and he smiled again. “Oh, cool. So. What gives? Why are you here?”
I hesitated. “Just working a case.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? All the way out here? Thought you stayed pretty local.”
“Not always.”
“That’s cool,” he said, nodding. Then he narrowed his eyes. “I remember hearing some shit went down with you awhile back.”
“What are you doing down here?” I tried to redirect him.
He adjusted the basket under his arm. “Heading for Miami in a few days. Staying with a friend while I get my act together.”
I knew that his act used to involve drugs. I had no reason to assume that had changed.