Jason (Blue Halo Book 2)

Voices hummed around Courtney. Voices of family, of elderly friends of her grandmother, of strangers she’d never met before. She wouldn’t say there had been a lot of people at the funeral and burial, but definitely more than she’d expected for a ninety-five-year-old woman who’d spent a large chunk of her final years at home. And almost everyone had come to the afternoon tea.

She searched for her parents. Her father was taking the passing of his mother well, but then, everyone had been expecting it to be soon, what with the woman’s age and everything.

For a moment, she wondered if it brought back memories of his sister’s funeral… Jessica’s mother. Courtney had been too young to remember that day, but it had to have been tough.

Her dad caught her gaze, smiling at her. She returned the smile before flicking her attention to the front door. Where was Jessica? She’d expected her cousin to be the first person here.

Courtney fiddled with a button on her dress. She hated the distance that had grown between them the last couple of years. It didn’t feel like that long ago when they’d been inseparable. Growing up in each other’s backyards. Always in the same classes at school. Always at each other’s houses.

Guilt heated her cheeks. The distance made it hard. Richmond was an eight-hour drive from Jacksonville, and with the long hours they both worked, it made visits rare.

Courtney’s eyes were still on her late grandmother’s front door when it opened, and Jessica walked in. Her bloodshot eyes were red-rimmed, bottom lip slightly trembling. And behind her was the man Courtney had only been introduced to that morning. The man she hadn’t even known her cousin was dating. Ryan.

Tattoos spidered along his arms. A jewel pierced his bottom lip. It wasn’t the tattoos or the piercing that had Courtney feeling wary of him though. To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was. There was just something about him that made her… uncomfortable. Like if he was there, she didn’t want to be.

It shouldn’t have surprised Courtney. Both she and Jessica had always had terrible taste in men, their relationships never ending well.

Courtney moved across the room to her cousin, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

“How are you doing?” she whispered. She’d stood beside her at the funeral. Held her hand at the burial. But there hadn’t been enough words spoken. Not really.

Jessica’s breath shuddered out of her chest. “I’m okay.”

Courtney leaned back but kept her face close and her voice low. “You don’t need to pretend with me, Jess.”

“Okay. I’m shit. I feel like I just lost the parent who raised me. Like I lost the only woman who fully understood me.”

She leaned closer, forehead almost touching Jess’s. “That’s because you did lose the parent who raised you.” Technically, she was a grandmother, but in every important way, she was definitely a mother. “But she wasn’t the only person who understood you, Jess. I do.”

And it killed her that her friend was going through this pain. Courtney was devastated too, but it couldn’t be anywhere near what Jessica was feeling.

“If it’s too hard being here, you’re allowed to leave. You don’t owe anyone anything.” Courtney had no idea what Jessica would prefer, but if it was to get out of her childhood home, she should do it. And Courtney would follow.

Jessica looked around. Her bottom lip continued to tremble, new tears shone in her dark eyes. Jessica opened her mouth, but before any words were spoken, a tattooed arm wrapped around her waist.

“Come on, Jess, let’s get a drink.”

Courtney’s gaze clashed with Ryan’s, and an immediate chill swept over her skin. His eyes were hard. Like he’d seen things that others hadn’t. Bad things. Or maybe he lacked basic empathy.

He tugged Jessica the other way, completely disregarding Courtney.

Courtney placed a hand on her elbow. “Jess—”

Jessica stopped for a second, then she leaned down, talking quietly into Courtney’s ear. “Don’t. You’re too late. You didn’t save me. So leave me alone.”

Courtney shot up in bed, the pounding on her front door almost in sync with the pounding of her own heartbeat. Grabbing her phone, she saw it was already past eight in the morning.

The dream had been a memory, almost exactly how her grandmother’s funeral had really gone. Except the ending, of course.

Thoughts scurried through Courtney’s mind. Peters had said it was possible that Jessica had been murdered at the hands of the Mafia. But what if it hadn’t been a random home invasion or the Mafia? What if it had been Ryan?

Courtney dropped her head into her hands, the sweat that had beaded her forehead slicking her palms.

She’d known he was no good. Felt it as strongly as she’d felt anything. Yet she hadn’t forced her cousin away from the guy. Why?

The rational side of her brain knew that you couldn’t force someone to leave their partner, no matter how close you were. But she could have done more, couldn’t she? She could have visited her cousin in Richmond. Checked in more.

More banging. “Courtney, are you awake?”

Helen.

Courtney pulled herself out of bed and walked to the door slowly, shaking her head to rid herself of the dream that tangled in her mind, threatened her conscience.

The second the door was open, Helen was stepping inside her apartment, holding Bernie tightly in her arms. “Dear, I’ve been thinking about your visitors, and I think you need to tell me who those men were. I can’t have felons coming into this building.”

Courtney closed the door, rubbing her eyes. She was way too tired for this. “Felons?”

“The men were either felons or cops. I could tell.”

Hm, the woman might be wiser than Courtney gave her credit for. “They were cops, okay?” Kind of. They were in law enforcement. “They just needed to ask me about someone I knew. I’m not in danger, and you’re certainly not in danger. I don’t anticipate them returning.”

The older woman seemed to digest that information before giving a curt nod. “Good. Do you have the key?”

Walking to an accent table, Courtney pulled open the drawer and grabbed the spare apartment key. After handing it to the other women, she went into the kitchen, lifting the instructions she’d prepared. “I wrote down everything. When to feed him, how much he eats, and where to find the food.”

She handed the note to Helen before heading to the cupboard. Helen followed closely behind, watching as Courtney grabbed a bag of dry cat food and pointed out the cans.

She heard the murmurs of disapproval. “Hm. My Bernie only has the premium meat from Ruben’s Pet Food Store.”

Courtney almost groaned out loud, knowing what was coming next. She had way too much on her mind to hear—

“Feeding your pet higher-quality food will lead to better health for them. They’re family members, after all. It’s a small price to pay to keep them in your life for as long as possible.”

Lord, she didn’t even eat organic food.

Courtney scooped some dry food into Eddie’s bowl, giving him a stroke as he came over to eat, all while Helen continued to talk.

“Well, at least think about what I’ve said.”

Courtney nodded. “I most definitely will.” Not. “Thank you so much for looking after Eddie while I’m gone.” This time, she was genuine. She was grateful for the help, even if the woman ground her gears sometimes.

Helen huffed again, already heading back to the door. “I can’t pet him. You know that, don’t you? Bernie gets very jealous.”

“It’s only one night. He’ll survive.”

Eddie was extremely low maintenance. In fact, usually she was demanding cuddles from him.

Helen stopped at the door, clearly waiting for Courtney to open it. She almost laughed as she reached around the woman and pulled it open.

Her neighbor stepped into the hall and turned. “You’re sure you won’t be getting any more visitors this weekend? I really don’t want to talk to any strangers and explain that you’ve gone away.”

“No. There will be no more visitors.”

“Hm. Well. Have a nice weekend, dear. Please don’t be late getting back.”

Courtney nodded as she closed the door. Eddie immediately pressed against her legs. She lifted him into her arms, pressing her face into his fur. “Sorry, buddy. It was her or the old man who lives across the hall, and he smells like fish.”

Putting Eddie back down, she stepped into the bedroom. Her backpack still wasn’t packed yet. Not even a little bit. And she one hundred percent blamed her visitors from the night before. There was no way she’d felt like packing after they’d left. Instead, she’d sat on the couch, on her phone, going through old pictures of her and Jessica while stuffing her face with hazelnut ice cream, which Jason had been right about. The stuff was amazing.

Sighing, she went to the bathroom, stripping then stepping into the shower.

She hadn’t dreamed about Jessica in a long time. Agent Peters had brought everything back to the surface. The regret that she hadn’t spent more time with the woman. The weight of her loss. The soul-crushing “what ifs”.

She was just stepping out of the shower when the doorbell rang. Ah, hell. That had to be Grace and Logan. She’d never checked the time. And she still wasn’t packed…

She was throwing clothes on her damp body when Grace’s voice called, “Courtney?”

“I told you, she’s in there,” Logan said.

Crap, crap, crap.

She ran to the door and tugged it open. “Come in. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be five minutes.”

Or ten.

She barely looked at them. But she heard the chuckle from behind as she ran back to the bedroom.