Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

ZANE

An annoying buzzing sound vibrates against my leg. I instinctively swat it away and I hear a thunk somewhere by my feet.

My eyes burst open and I squint at all the harsh sunlight streaming through the windshield. Swiping at the side of my face, I raise my good hand to stretch and stop abruptly. Muscles I didn't even know I had are sore. My back is killing me.

"Whose idea was it to sleep in the car again?" I grumble.

"Yours," Finn says, eyes steady on the prison entrance.

"Oh, right." I grunt and rub the side of my cheek, sitting up a little straighter. My wrist is itching like crazy. I grab a pen and try my best to reach the spot. "Nothing yet?"

Finn nods.

I feel around for my phone.

"Down there," Finn says, pointing.

I reach to pick it up. The thunk I heard earlier must have been the phone skittering beneath my chair.

"Is it on?"

"No." I turn it around to inspect it. "But I'm sure I heard it buzz."

" Catch Grey Before She Sneaks Out For School. "

I glare at my brother. "How did you…"

"Your phone alarmed and then it died again."

I run a hand through my hair. "The hell?"

"Phones do that sometimes." Finn speaks matter-of-factly. Like he knows all about phones and batteries. And honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if he did. Sometimes, I'm not sure if my brother is part android.

Sitting up straighter, I peer through the windshield at the dawn. Grey must be sleeping still. Probably in my hoodie. I picture her curled up on the bed, her hair in a bun and her mouth parted slightly.

Damn. I should be there beside her, cuddling her to my chest, stroking her hair. Kissing her awake.

My chest aches and it temporarily distracts me from the itching in my cast.

"Gimme your phone. I need to call Grey."

"Take it." He juts his chin to the cell in the console.

I wrap my fingers around the device.

"She's going to divorce you the minute she can," Finn says matter-of-factly.

I stop and glare at him. "You trying to start a fight?"

"Maybe you shouldn't hang on so tight to her." Finn shrugs. "Maybe backing off will help. Might even make her miss you or something."

"Since when did you give marriage advice?"

"Since when were you a fan of marriage?"

"You sound really single right now, Finn. Maybe don't butt your head into the relationship between me and my wife."

He laughs.

I want to strangle him more now than ever before.

Finn's still got that smirk on his face as he stakes out the prison and I decide not to choke him because I'd rather not kill my brother in front of jail.

The silence stretches.

I stare at the phone. Grey's number is right there, ready for me to press ‘CALL'.

I shut the phone off.

Finn glances at me, an eyebrow arched.

I'm irritated, hungry, and horny because, once again, I got Grey naked and didn't even get to taste her. So even if I know Finn doesn't give a rat's behind about this conversation, I still push it because I want a fight.

"Be honest. You think this ," I shove my hand with the ring on, "is all a joke?"

"Who cares what I think?"

"Just answer the damn question."

"Everything with you is a joke."

I scoff, genuinely irritated.

"You're not proving anything by being all over her. "

"If you're asking me to back off, I don't know how to do that." It's full speed ahead or nothing with me. There's no in-between. If I like something, everyone will know.

It was the same with girls.

With booze.

With the drums.

I throw myself 100% into what interests me.

"You know what you want. Everyone knows what you want. What does Miss Jamieson want?" Finn challenges.

"Vengeance for Sloane."

"That's it?"

I wrack my brain. I mean, if I go by last night, Grey has other desires, but none match up to what she's willing to do for Sloane. Hell, she married me to solve her best friend's murder.

"That's it."

"Okay then," Finn says in that way that sounds like he disagrees.

"Yeah, okay then," I growl, feeling more upset now than I did before this stupid conversation.

The back door of the prison opens at that moment.

Finn and I notice at the same time.

"Get ready." I slap him on the chest.

He starts the car.

The cleaning lady steps out and glances both ways. With quick steps, she opens the dumpster behind the prison, tosses something inside and then waddles away.

"Go, go!" I hiss.

Finn drives up to the dumpster. I hurry out and throw the lid open. An awful smell assaults me. It's enough to make my eyes water.

Pushing through, I fish inside for the bag all the way at the top.

Finn takes a giant step back when I swing the bag around. "You're not taking that in my car."

"Hey, I could have ridden here on my bike. You're the one who insisted on tagging along."

"You think you could ride with one hand, plus hold that thing?"

He's right. But I'm still upset about our earlier conversation, so I don't want to admit it.

Dropping the trash bag on the ground, I prepare myself for the stink bomb that's about to explode and undo the knot at the top. Trying not to puke, I stick my hand in and fish around.

"Anything?" Finn asks, hovering from a safe distance away.

"I'm looking."

"You're sure you heard the cleaning lady right?"

I stop and whip around to pierce him with my stare. "I'm not deaf, Finn."

Last night, Finn and I drove all the way to the prison. We got here just in time to see the hospital truck transporting Slavno's corpse to the local morgue.

I wanted more information and the warden wasn't picking up, so we stuck around, asking him to meet us when he had a minute. It wasn't until two am that I could talk to the warden face-to-face.

"Heart attack," the warden said as we all huddled in the shadows behind the prison. "Found him dead in his cell sometime between ten and midnight. His cellmate alerted the guards. If you ask me… I think there's something fishy. Slavno hasn't been eating since that day you first visited. But he finally caved and ate lunch today after the stomach cramps got to him. Hours later, guy was blue in the face.

Our only lead… gone.

But as we returned to the parking lot in defeat, an old cleaning lady was there waiting.

"She told me Slavno left something for me. Said he called her aside and gave it to her after watching the news early last night." I return to fishing through the trash. "What do you think that means?"

"That Slavno had a crush on a cleaning lady," Finn mumbles, brushing invisible lint off his pants.

"No." I glare over my shoulder. "That he saw the news about the fire at the nursing home, saw headlines about his grandmother's ‘death' and had confirmation that she was safe."

"That's a pretty big leap," Finn says darkly. He covers his face with a hand, shading his eyes from the sun.

"Maybe it is but I'm desperate."

Finn hangs around while I search some more, but there's nothing in the trash. No box, no letter. Nothing.

"Dammit!" I hiss.

My brother approaches me, two fingers clipping his nose. With his free hand, he squeezes my shoulder. "It's okay, man."

"Damn it all."

"She didn't say it was in the trash. Maybe she'll come back with it."

"When? We don't even know her name."

"That's easy enough to find."

"Even if we do, you saw how terrified she was just to tell us about Slavno. She's not going to say anything, man. She wants nothing to do with this."

"True," Finn allows.

"What am I going to tell Grey?" I rant. "How the hell do I fix this?"

"Maybe this is a sign that Miss Jamieson needs to move on from the case. Heal. Maybe see a therapist. Have you noticed she's seemed a little strange lately…"

"No. No. I need to look again." Rather than just shove my hands in the bag, I empty the contents on the ground so I can see each item individually.

Finn takes a giant step back as the smell bombs the air. "Nothing's here, man. Look, we're tired. We've been out all night. Let's call it a day and regroup?—"

"There's no regrouping, Finn. You don't understand. Without Slavno, we've got nothing. Nothing ." Aggravated and hopeless, I pick up an empty beer can from the trash pile and toss it. "This was my last chance to help Grey and I blew it. Ruined everything. I'm the family screw up. Just like dad said."

Cling. Cling.

I stop.

Finn glances over.

We both catch sight of the beer can that I slammed against the wall. It's rolling on the ground next to the dumpster.

"Did that just…" I point.

Finn swings his gaze between me and the can.

Abruptly, we both rush after it.

He gets to it first.

I swipe it from him and shake it. Cling. Cling. Cling.

"Something's in there," I gasp.

"My ears are working."

Fingers trembling, I turn the can upside down and try to dislodge whatever's inside. An object falls against the opening, but it's too big. I can't maneuver it out.

"The tab. Bend the tab," Finn says, an unexpected note of anticipation in his voice.

I snap the tab and a key slithers into my palm. It's attached to a cheap, red plastic fob.

"This is it," I whisper, holding it up like it's a sparkling diamond.

"How are you sure it's from Slavno?"

"It feels right."

"Feelings aren't reliable," my brother lectures. "We need to confirm it. Maybe we should go talk to the cleaner again."

"Wait." I notice something carved in the fob. Lifting it so the sun shines through, I note the shape. "Look at that."

"A plus sign?"

"No." I look up with determination. "A cross."

Finn snaps the key from me. "The label is from a self-storage facility."

I grin, excitement rushing through my veins. The evidence he promised must be in there. "Slavno, you sneaky son of a?—"

"Dad," Finn says on a quiet breath.

"Actually, it's a female dog…"

"No." Finn looks up soberly, showing me his phone. Our father's face fills the screen. "Dad is calling."