Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen - Jessica

Jacob was on one tonight.

As if showing up late and ignoring my calls for hours after work wasn’t enough, he wanted to do everything but answer my questions when he did show up.

I watched him from the kitchen doorway, opening every cabinet and spraying WD-40 on every hinge. They didn't even need it. The first one did when he poured himself a cup of water, but the others were just a waste of time.

“Jacob,” I said exasperatedly. “Leave the hinges alone. They’re fine. You got the squeaking one. I'm sure there is no way it'll squeak after that spray down."

He snorted. “Yeah, it sounds like a haunted house in here. I’m almost finished."

I clutched the notebook full of questions between my fingers out of annoyance. This was a deliberate way of avoiding my questions and I wanted to know why. Stalking over, I shut the cabinet in his palms and glared at him. “Is this a stupid way of avoiding my questions for The Eagle? They aren't that bad, swear!"

He rolled his eyes and braced his elbow against the kitchen cabinet. “I’m not avoiding your questions, Jess. The house needs some TLC. You make a list and I’ll send the boys over here to help you with it.”

“Sure. I'll jump right on that. Now,” I said, waggling the paper in front of him. “Come on. Mrs. Jamie and I have some questions about you and the Scooby-Doo Club.”

He stopped. “What? You did not call us the Scooby Doo Club? Do you think the Scooby Doo Club has muscles like these?" He flexed making me blink at him.

I shrugged as he followed me toward the couch. “Yeah, I did call you that. Who else goes chasing monsters in the woods?”

He plopped down beside me on the couch and stiffened. He sniffed the air like an animal and looked over at me. “Has Mason been over here recently?”

My heart thumped wildly in my chest. How did he know he’d been over here? What was up with the smell in this town? Mason had an excellent scent of smell, too. Not to mention, he smelled like a walking men's magazine with hundreds of test strips.

“You smell him?” I asked.

“His cologne,” Jacob mumbled.

I knew that Mason did not want to tell Jacob and I didn’t want to incriminate him or start a fight.

“That’s not weird,” I mumbled. “You know your best friend’s cologne like that?”

He gave me a look. “I’ve been friends with him for years, Jess.”

I didn’t buy that. It was weird. It made this entire thing with Mason even more creepy.

“Not since this morning when he took me to work. I don’t smell anything. You’re weirder than you used to be.”

He sighed heavily and swung his arm around the back of the couch. “Are you going to ask me these questions or not? I’d like to get home and eat soon.”

I snorted while opening my notebook. “Says the WD-40 King. You wasted fifteen minutes doing that.”

“Just ask the questions!” he said, hurrying me along.

“Okay. Okay.” I cleared my throat. “What did you find out about the monster while on your hunt?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. We searched for about thirty minutes and then gave up. We’re not superheroes.”

I watched his gaze shift toward the left and then above my head. He was lying through his teeth. I knew enough about him to know when he was lying. Why would he lie? I couldn’t pinpoint a real reason why he would need to. Mason had texted me back hours after he left my house. They were out there for more than thirty minutes.

But I couldn’t say how I knew unless I told him about Mason and me. The truth lingered on the tip of my tongue. Would Jacob seriously be that mad about it?

“Okay,” I said. “Have you ever seen a monster in Slade Springs?”

He swallowed heavily. There were so many emotions that his eyes couldn't hide despite the stern look on his face. “A giant wolf once or twice. Like the one, you saw on your way here. Besides that, it’s always been normal wildlife for Louisiana. A big gator once in the bayou behind the house. Be careful if you venture into the woods. It wasn’t that long ago.”

I scribbled everything down. “What did the witness say she saw?”

He shrugged, rubbing his palm over his hair. “I dunno. A giant walking wolf.”

I blinked at him while writing down the information. “Did it talk?”

“Not that I know of. It was ready to kill them until she started screaming,” Jacob said.

I lifted a skeptical eyebrow at him while moving to the next question. “Did the drunk man see anything?”

“Nah,” Jacob said. “He was throwing up apparently. When I got there, Rosie was pretty shaken up. Her boyfriend was half-drunk in her car.”

Sliding to the next question, I looked up at him. “What made you want to chase after some monster in the woods? Sounds like you’re looking for trouble to me.”

Jacob gave me a lazy look. “Are you going to put this in the paper, Jessica?”

“Jamie asked me to ask you these questions. She or I will put it into an article, most likely.”

Jacob stood abruptly. “I didn’t agree to any of this. I don’t want my business put in the paper.”

I groaned. “None of this is news to the town. You gave me nothing. Jacob. Maurice knew more information than you're giving me right now."

“And it’s going to stay like that.”

I folded my arms across my chest as I stood to face off with him. “What crawled up your butt crack, Jacob? Why is this such a big secret…”

“Because it is,” he spat.

I watched his dark eyes hardened and he seemed to recoil inside of himself. “I don’t understand why this made you so mad. You knew you were coming to answer questions.”

Jacob sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and hungry from work today. We just like to keep the town safe.”

I pursed my lips together. “Are you sure that’s it? You know I would never tell the newspaper anything you wanted to tell me.”

Jacob stopped and thought about it for several minutes. There was something in his eyes that screamed he wanted to tell me something. His mouth opened

but he shut it. “There are a lot of strange things that happen here. The boys and I keep an eye on things. It’s nothing more than that.”

I shifted, knowing he wanted to leave. “What kind of strange things? Monsters in the forest? Or more? Giant wolves?”

Jacob sighed heavily and ran his palm down his face. “All of the above. It’s the bayou. It draws in some crazy creatures. I’ll tell you about it another day, maybe once you’ve committed to staying.”

“What does that matter?” I asked.

“It matters,” he said, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “I’m going home to eat and shower. I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He left before I could get another sentence out. Sighing, I rubbed my temple with my fingers. That did not go the way I wanted it to go. Maybe I’d hoped he had more information, but now I knew he did, but didn’t want to share it with me.

I nibbled on the end of my pen. Maybe I could persuade Mason to give me more information. Putting a wedge between the two of them wasn’t my plan.

I just needed to know what was going on around me. Or maybe, if he doesn’t want to help me either, I could pull out my Nancy Drew hat and find out myself.

I’d done plenty of digging in my life. Stealthy was my middle name. I walked toward the kitchen, hearing scratching at my door.

I opened it, letting the tabby jolt into the house with me. He made me feel safer. Not that cats were good protectors but they were around.

He walked toward the empty milk dish, and I refilled it for him. Maybe he’d want to stay the night since I would be alone again.

I pulled up The Eagle’s website on my phone and read over the article posted about Maurice’s. It was signed by Joey Smith who I assumed was the other girl from the office.

Maybe I could find a friend in her.

The feeling of being watched tingled up the back of my neck and I glanced out of the kitchen window.

Nothing but the forest stared back at me.

This place had been plucked from the depths of a Stephen King novel. I just needed to get to the bottom of the hysteria before I decided to make it my home.