The Truth of Yesterday (5 page)

     These days, her look was much more low-key. She wore her straight blonde hair cut off bluntly just above her shoulders and tucked behind her ears. She was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and looked like she'd come from working in her garden, which she probably had. She took a great deal of deserved pride in the tiny, but exquisite flower gardens she had created in just the few short months she and her son Jake had been living in the small house she'd bought after she moved here from California. She had another son named Dash who was currently studying abroad in
Australia
. To look at her, you would have never guessed she was the mother of two.

     “Hi Judy,” I greeted her. “Novak is out on his case.” Judy and Novak, a widower, had been dating for a few months now and she occasionally dropped in to see him unexpectedly.

     “I know. Actually, I'm not here to see Shane; I'm here to see you,” she said.

     “Me?”

     
“Yes, you.
I need to talk to you about Jake.”

     For a brief time, way back before Asher and I started dating, Jake and I had almost become boyfriends. I'd ended up choosing Asher and Jake and I ended up as just friends. We were barely even that these days, though, so I couldn't imagine why Judy wanted to talk to me about him.

     “What about Jake?”

     “Well,” Judy grabbed one of the chairs that sat against the walls and dragged it over to my desk. After she settled into it, she went on, “I'm worried about him. I think he may be doing drugs.”

     “Oh, well, I really wouldn't know. We don't talk that much anymore.”

     “I didn't expect you to know. That's not why I'm here. I want you to find out.”

     “Huh?”

     “I want to hire you to find out what's going on in Jake's life.”

     “Hire me?”

     “He won't talk to me. I've asked him, he won't say a word. I know things have been hard for him since Tom and Janice died, but we've always been able to talk, at least we could before we moved back here. I'm beginning to think that it was a mistake.”

     Tom and Janice were the people Jake had grown up thinking were his parents. They'd both died a couple years ago and Jake had gone to live with his birth mother, Judy, in
California
. They'd moved back to the Shore earlier this year. My mind was still on the fact that Judy wanted to hire me.

     “But wait,” I interrupted her, “What about Novak, why don't you just hire him?”

     “I think that would be make things just a little too awkward. I mean, I'm seeing Shane and there's already enough tension between the two of them as it is. Shane thinks I let Jake get away with too much, but he is almost 17, I can't baby him anymore.”

     “But you can hire someone to follow him around?”

     “Oh don't sound so judgmental, Killian. If he'd talk to me, I wouldn't have to do this. He's my son; I'm worried sick about him. I've been having…feelings-premonitions, whatever you want to call them-
that
he is in danger. I don't know what sort of danger but I need to know something. Please, will you do this for me?
As a favor?
Not that I won't pay you.”

     “I don't know…”

     “Please, Killian. It would mean a lot to me.”

     “I just don't feel comfortable following my friend around. I mean, I'm not even that good at this. I'm still learning.”

     
“Poppycock.
Shane says you're a natural, that you're the best he's ever seen even without training. I know you can do this, and I know you'll do it well because you care for Jake too. If he's involved with drugs, or something else illegal, his life could be in danger. If you refused to help me and something happened to him, how would you feel?”

     Great, now I get a guilt trip. She was right, though. I knew if anything happened to Jake after I turned her down, I'd never forgive myself. I sighed.

     “Ok, I'll do it.”

     “Thank you, Killian. But there's one more thing.”

     “What's that?” I said warily.

     “I want you to keep this quiet.”

     
“Of course.”

     “I mean from Shane.”

     “You don't want me to tell Novak?”

     “No. Not yet. Let's see what's going on first.”

     “It's not good to keep things from the person you're dating,” I said stubbornly. I didn't like the idea of trying to hide an investigation from Novak.

     
“Killian, darling, as much as I appreciate your concern, I don't really need dating advice.
I mean that in the kindest possible way. I know you don't like keeping things from Shane but you'll have to trust me that it's best for now.”

     “Fine,” I agreed rather grouchily. At least now I knew why'd she'd come into to talk to me while she knew Novak would be out.

     “Please don't be upset with me. You'll understand later.”

     “Whatever. How do you want me to start? Stalk him?”

     She sighed. “He gets out of school at two-thirty. I don't know where he goes after that. He doesn't come home some nights until eight or later. There've been a few nights when he didn't come home at all. When I ask him where he was, he just tells me not to worry about it. If I get angry, he tells me to mind my own business. I grounded him but it didn't faze him in the least.”

     “Can't you take his car away from him?”

     “I could, but I know he'd just find another way and at least this way I know he's the one driving. If he is into drugs, I have to say I've never seen him high or out of control when he gets home.”

     “So what makes you think drugs? You said earlier that it could be something else illegal. Like what?”

     “I don't even know. I just had a feeling it involved drugs. I have no real evidence besides his erratic behavior, which could, I guess, just be teenage rebellion. Although God knows I didn't have any problems like this with
Dashel
.”

     “Was Dash the perfect son?”

     Judy snorted. “No, Dash wasn't perfect, but we could talk about anything. And he was never openly rebellious, never really into drugs or drinking. He's Gifted too, you know. Very much so, in fact, and quite in control of his Gifts-at least as much as one can control them. Sometimes I think he's in better control than I am. How are you coming with yours?”

     “I'm not,” I said tersely. “Back to Jake…”

     “Killian, you know you really should learn more about your Gifts. I think they are very strong.”

     “I'm not interested.”

     “But you simply must! They can be dangerous if left untrained, but they can be a marvelous tool if you know how to use them. You were given them for a reason, you know.”

     “You sound like Seth,” I snapped crossly.

     “Is he still coming to see you?”

     “I hadn't seen him for a few months but he showed up the other night.”

     
“Relationship problems?”

     
“Actually, yeah.
But he also said I should deal with my Gifts. Like I told him though, I'd doing just fine without them.”

     “Are you?”

     “Yes! I am. Now, is there anything else I need to know about Jake?”

     “You know what he drives, right?”

     
“A dark blue jeep?”

     “Yes. That's all I can think of right now.” She stood up and pushed the chair back to its original position. “You'll let me know as soon as you know something?”

     I looked into her eyes and recognized the pain and fear that she was making an effort to hide. I nodded. “Yeah, I'll let you know as soon as I know something.”

     She bit her lip in a most un-Judy-like fashion. “Thank you.”     

Chapter 3

     I was still feeling uncomfortable with the idea of investigating Jake when I woke up the next morning. I had slept fitfully the night before; my conscience wouldn't allow me a peaceful night's rest. I tumbled out of bed and sleep walked through my morning routine of shower, dressing, and a quick breakfast. I arrived at Mr. Knox's house a little early and settled down behind the wheel of my car across the street and down a little from his house to wait for him to come out. We weren't doing a full-scale surveillance on him for several reasons. His wife was convinced that if he was cheating, then it was during the day while he was at work or on business trips, because he didn't do anything once he got home except sit in front of the TV and fall asleep. Between the wife, his receptionist/secretary, and me we pretty much had all the bases covered and it allowed me to go to school and still have some semblance of a social life. Not a bad set-up in my opinion.

     I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I turned on the car radio and tuned into a dance music station but even “It's Raining Men” couldn't keep me awake. At some point, my eyes must have slipped shut because I was awakened suddenly by the sound of a car door slamming. I jerked up-right, blinking my eyes in the bright light like a startled owl. For a moment, I couldn't figure out where I was and then I remembered what I was doing. Knox's Ford Ranger roared to life and he began to back out of his driveway. I waited a few seconds for him to get a little ways down the street before I started my car and pulled out after him.

     Novak had given me a few lessons in tailing someone, but he said it was mostly common sense. You stayed far enough back that the average Joe would never realize you were following them, but not so far that you could easily lose them. He had suggested I should trade in my brand new black Mustang for something a little more inconspicuous like his beat up old Buick, Bessie.
That was about as likely as me getting a sex-change operation, and let's just say
I'm a little too attached to a certain something for that to happen.