Page 140 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Atticus’s body was found in an alleyway behind an old gas station a few blocks from here. Nobody knows how long he was there, but I don’t think it was too long. I was the one that identified his body, and he didn’t seem too…” I trail off, not able to sayit.

“Decomposed,” Wyatt says for me. “Gotit.”

“He was shot,” I say quickly hurrying on. “Shot and stabbed a bunch of times, I’m not sure how many. He still had his wallet and all the money in it tucked into his jeans. They also found drugs on him, a small amount of heroin.” I finish speaking and look athim.

“Okay,” he says. “That’sgood.”

“That’s good? That’s nothing. I mean, I know basicallynothing.”

“There’s actually a lot in there.” Before he can explain, our food comes out. He picks at his eggs and I nibble at mytoast.

We eat in silence for a few minutes, and I keep glancing up at him. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I can tell he’s concentrating on something. He’s sipping his coffee, eating his eggs, almost with purpose. I suddenly realize that I barely know this man anymore, that the kid he used to be is totally gonenow.

And the girl he used to know is totally gone, too. I’m a new person as well. I can’t really deny it. Sometimes I wish I were still the same naïve girl I was when I was younger, but having a brother like Atticus forces you to grow upquickly.

Although of course it wasn’t always like that. Atticus protected me when I was young, took care of me when he could. I tried to do the same for him, but I couldn’t, not really at least. I gave him money sometimes, which was probably a mistake, and I even checked him into one of his many stints in rehab. I posted bail once, checked him out of the hospital once, and even cleaned up the puke from a night of baddetox.

But he never learned, and so I grew hard, harder than I wanted. Now here we are, my brother dead, and his old friend sitting across fromme.

“We need to find some people,” Wyatt says finally. “Do you know his ex-girlfriend?”

I nod. “Of course.Kristi.”

“Right. We should find herfirst.”

“I’ve been trying,” I admit. “I think I know where she might be, but I’m not sure. She skipped town right after Atticus wasfound.”

He nods. “That could be good. Might indicate guilt.” He hesitates for a second. “And then there’s the issue of thegang.”

I bite my cheek. “TheNiners.”

He sighs. “You didn’t tell me aboutthem.”

“No,” I admit. “I didn’t know it wasrelevant.”

“It’s very, very relevant. Was Kristi involved withthem?”

“I think so,” I say. “But I’m not reallysure.”

“Okay, we can find thatout.”

I stare at him for a little bit while he eats, not touching my food anymore. “So does thismean…”

He shakes his head and meets my gaze. “No, it doesn’t,” hesays.

“Do you need…” I hesitate a second. “Do you needmoney?”

His eyes narrow like I just insulted him. “No,” he sayscurtly.

“Okay,” I say, nodding. “Iunderstand.”

He sighs, softening a little bit. “No, you don’t. Listen, I’m not supposed to get involved here, okay? I’m supposed to get back to work on Monday back in Chicago. It’s Friday morning now, which means we have just a few days before I have to head back,okay?”

“Okay,” I say. “I guess that’s better thannothing.”

He winces. “Don’t make me feel bad, Cora. I have alife.”

“I know youdo.”

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