lurking around Talmage's house. Now that I live at the coffee shop, I haven't seen her once. Why?”
“Just looking into a few things.”
“Have you seen Talmage?”
He shook his head. “Not recently.”
“Me either.” I chewed on my bottom lip. Perhaps I could solve two problems at once. The problem of Talmage's silence, and the awkwardness of asking Benjamin to go over with me while Ben was . . . floundering. “Would you . . . would you be willing to help me out?” I asked.
“With what?”
“I want to go to Talmage's and check on him, but I'm not sure it would be wise to do it alone. No one in my family has heard from him and I don't have a car that I could just drive by. I work non-stop so there's no time to ride my bike over there.”
Jayson nodded once. “Let's call it a welfare check. When do you want to go?”
Overhead, the clock moved slowly toward noon. I reached for my apron, then called to Dagny, “Can you cover for me while I take my lunch?”
She gave me a thumbs up. I reached for my apron strings and said to Jayson, “Right now?”
He swept up his cup. “Let's go.”
Riding in Jayson's truck with him was intimidating at first. His canine, Odin, whined gently in the back as we pulled out of the Diner parking lot. Low-level radio chatter rang in the background, and equipment cluttered every available spot. As we started to drive, I didn't need to direct Jayson anywhere.
“Do you know where everyone lives?”
He grinned a quick smile. “Pretty much. Perks of small town deputy life.”
I tucked my hands under my legs as we rode, feeling an acute sense of fear. Whether it was just nerves, or something more, I didn't feel right. A nagging something was eating at me, and I felt deep in my bones that it was about Talmage.
“So,” Jayson drawled. “You and Benjamin, huh?”
Heat leapt to my cheeks. Stupid. Cheeks. They always gave me away. I didn't look at him, but wasn't about to deny it either.
“Yep.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught his grin. “You got a good one. Tough one, but good.”
Whether he meant tough in physical or emotional terms, I wasn't so sure anymore. For his steel-like exterior, Benjamin was a mess of a man. Tonight would give me a better idea of where things lie between us. He'd had some space and time to work through the Sadie revelation, which couldn't have been easy.
Now, I had to face my brother.
Or so I hoped.
Less than three minutes later, Jayson pulled to a gentle stop in the road just outside Talmage's place. My hands felt weak in my lap when I peered out on the unkempt lawn and weeds spiraling onto the grass from the field behind the house. A note fluttered on the door, and I wondered what it said. The inside was dark.
“This is it, right?” Jayson asked, but I could sense he already knew the answer. Of course he knew. Jayson had responded to my call the last time Talmage freaked out. But an awkward silence had started once we pulled up, and I realized he was waiting for me to make the next move. My ribs still ached from my last experience here every now and then. I put a hand on that spot from the memory and managed to nod.
“Yeah.”
“You good, Sera?” he asked.
“Fine.” I swallowed. “I just . . . I don't have a great feeling about this.”
Jayson popped his door open. “How about I go in first? Unlikely he's going to try anything while I'm here.”
That wasn't what worried me.
“I'll follow,” I said.
Jayson's boots thudded lightly on the pavement as he walked around the car toward me. He spoke into a radio at his right shoulder. “Dispatch, we're going inside for a welfare check,” and a monotone voice responded, “Dispatch copy.”
Numb, my legs carried me up the path and onto the front porch, where dust collected on the furniture. Jayson rapped on the screen door, which bounced under his knuckles.
“Hey, Talmage,” he called. “Hernandez here. Just checking on you, man. Your family is worried about you.”
A creak followed, and then silence. Jayson glanced at me in question and I shrugged. When I peered past him, a sliver of light caught my attention.
“The door is open a little,” I said. “Let's go in.”
He pulled the screen and called inside, “Talmage? Oh, shit.”
I peered around him and my entire body went cold. Talmage