Page 154 of Five Mountain Daddies

“She was so strung out, hell, so was he. I could tell, but I didn’t say anything. At the end of dinner, Atticus asked for money likealways.”

I nod, not surprised. “What was she like?” I press. “Did they seem like they gotalong?”

She shrugs. “She was fine. Not the kind of girl I wanted him around, but what could I do?” She takes a big drink of herwine.

I decide to change tack. “There’s someone else, a guy he was friendswith.”

“Honey, do we really need to dothis?”

“Yes,” I say. “The guy’s name isJaxson.”

Her face clouds over at that name. “I remember him,” shesays.

“Atticus didn’t tell me anything about his life. I think he tried to hide it all from me, except for when he asked for money, ofcourse.”

She nods at that. “Probably wanted to protect you. He’s your olderbrother.”

“What do you know about Jaxson?” I askher.

“Nothing good. He’strouble.”

That part’s pretty clear to me already, but getting her to open up is like pulling teeth. It’s always been like that with my mother. She’d rather drink than talk about anything important, and for the most part, that’s been fine. I can ignore things just like she can. But this, we can’t ignorethis.

Atticus is dead, and his killer is still outthere.

“What’s he like now?” I askher.

She shrugs a little. “How should I know? Your brother didn’t tell me anything about his life.” She takes another drink. “Except for when he wanted money. And the occasional visit, which usually ended with him asking for money.” She makes a face. “I wish I hadn’t given him adime.”

“He would have found other, harder ways,” I say softly. “So he never mentionedJaxson?”

Mom shakes her head. “Not once. But I do know his parents, and they’re no good. They live over in the trailers on Maple, you know theones.”

I do know the ones. That’s this area’s infamous trailer park, the place that kids talk about with awe. It’s where all the bad people live, but really it’s just like any other trailer park. It’s funny how ideas can grow so big in the minds ofkids.

“Are you sure you don’t know anything about him?” I press a little harder. “Anything atall?”

She sighs. “What can I say, honey? Other than that dinner with the girl, he barely talked to me.” She suddenly makes a face and cocks her head. “Actually, he did say something thatnight.”

I lean forward in my chair. “What?”

“When he asked me for money, he said something about having a big job soon with a friend of his, a guy I might remember.” She blinks, and looks at me. “Could that beJaxson?”

I frown. “Maybe. What kind ofjob?”

“He just made it seem like he’d be able to pay me back as soon as the job was over. And the girl said that ‘J’ was going to take care of them. Whatever thatmeans.”

I finger my can of Coke, staring at the tabletop. Kristi talked about a “J,” could that be Jaxson? And this job Atticus was talking about, could it have been withJaxson?

It’s flimsy, and I probably would have overlooked it entirely if Jaxson hadn’t pulled that shit last night. He was clearly trying to scare us away. I assumed that was just because we were sniffing around the Niners, and he didn’t likethat.

But maybe it’s personal for him. Maybe he had some job with Kristi and Atticus, and the job went wrong. That could be why Kristi ran off to hermom’s.

I stand up suddenly. “Thanks,mom.”

She looks surprised. “That’sit?”

“Sorry, I gottago.”

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