Sidecar Crush

“So they haven’t found anything else?” Bowie asked.

“If they have, I haven’t been made aware of it,” she said. “They certainly didn’t find her body buried in the backyard, or we’d all know about it.”

“Hey,” Gibson barked. “No need to be so insensitive about it.”

I met Gibson’s eyes and nodded. He was right. Callie was a Bootleg girl, and we all cared about her. Dead or alive, we stuck up for our own.

Jayme paused before replying. “Apologies. My point is, chances are they didn’t find anything new.”

“What are we looking at here?” Bowie asked. “Dad can’t be charged with anything, right? You can’t try a dead man for murder.”

“No, you can’t,” Jayme said. “Even if there was overwhelming evidence, no criminal charges would be filed. But since it’s a missing persons case, they’ll try to reconstruct what happened to see if they can locate her body and determine if anyone else was involved. The other thing you have to be concerned about is Judge and Mrs. Kendall.”

“What about them?” Scarlett asked, crossing her arms like she was uncomfortable.

“They could potentially file a civil wrongful death suit against your father’s estate,” Jayme said.

“Over a sweater?” Scarlett asked.

“The burden of proof in a wrongful death civil suit is different than a criminal case,” Jayme said. “I don’t know if finding the sweater is enough, but it’s a possibility to be aware of.”

Gibson scowled. “His estate. Not like he had anything worth taking.”

“There’s the house,” Scarlett said.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Jayme said. “For now, keep laying low. And quit starting bar fights.”

I knew everyone was looking at me, but I kept my eyes down.

“That’s it for now,” Jayme said. “I’ll let you know when you can get back into your father’s house.”

“Thanks, Jayme,” Bowie said. “Appreciate the time.”

“Sure,” she said, and hung up without saying goodbye.

“Well ain’t that some shit,” Gibson growled.

“I think it’s all gonna be fine,” Bowie said.

Ever the optimist, my brother. I wasn’t so sure things would be fine, but I kept my mouth shut. Didn’t have much to add that hadn’t already been said.

“We done here?” Gibson asked, already up and halfway to the door.

“Bye, Gibs,” Scarlett said.

Gibson grunted on his way out.

“I guess that’s about as good of news as we can hope for,” Bowie said.

“Y’all want to get some dinner?” Scarlett asked.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and a hit of adrenaline surged through me. Had Scarlett really given Leah Mae my number? Or had she just said that to mess with me?

While Scarlett made dinner plans with Bowie and Jonah, I carefully pulled my phone out of my pocket and peeked at the screen. I had a text, but I didn’t recognize the number. Made my hands shake a little, but I didn’t want to draw any attention.

I flicked my thumb across the screen. Tapped the text.

Hey Jameson. This is Leah. Hope you don’t mind me sending you a message. I thought maybe we could get together and catch up. Tomorrow? What do you think?

I closed the screen quickly so no one would glance at my phone and see it. I didn’t want to answer questions about it right now.

“What about you, Jameson?” Bowie asked. “Dinner? Devlin’s gonna meet us there.”

I stood, pocketing my phone, and kept my eyes on the floor. “Not tonight.”

“Aw, come on, Jame,” Scarlett said.

“You want a ride home?” Jonah asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” I said. “You guys have fun. I’ve been holed up in my workshop so much lately, I could use some air. Gonna walk home.”

“Guess I can’t argue with you getting out a little,” Scarlett said. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Fine, Scar,” I said, smiling at her over my shoulder. “Night, y’all.”

The air outside was finally starting to cool. I hadn’t been making shit up. I did need the fresh air. But not because I’d been working too much. One little text from Leah Mae had my palms sweating.