Duskwood: Love's Beginning

48 - Jake

As I listened to Jayna weave her story, I could not help but wonder if anyone had ever tested her IQ. She painted Richy as a misguided but kind-hearted person who was led astray by Marcus. She directed all suspicion to that scum Marcus without outright lying about anything and managed to completely sidestep the issue of Richy being involved in Hannah's kidnapping or Dan being the one who shot Richy.

It was definitely a risk for her to pretend that she didn't know everything that Richy did; however, I soon confirmed it was not an issue. I had not asked Jayna to call me only so that I could listen in for my peace of mind. She had also allowed me remote access to her phone. While she was speaking with Alan, I turned on her WiFi and connected myself to the police station's secure network. This allowed me to more easily infiltrate all of their networked devices without them suspecting. Jayna's thorough accounting of her suspicions gave me adequate time to pull out the data regarding Hannah's case onto my laptop to examine later. But it soon became clear to me that nobody was investigating Richy's death, despite his apparent abduction and gunshot wounds. The coroner had listed his cause of death as excessive blood loss complicated by prolonged smoke inhalation.

I smiled as Jayna asked Alan the question I had texted to her, putting her own sarcastic spin on it. I would never tire of this woman. When she thanked Alan for his time, I knew I must finish. I withdrew from the system and disconnected her from the WiFi.

"Jake?" she whispered to me. I grinned and unmuted myself. It was ridiculous how pleased I was to hear her say my name.

"I'm here, love," I responded.

We had a short conversation before she left to go with her friends. I watched her GPS show her moving to the Duskwood cemetery, where she stopped for a time. My poor Jayna. I hoped this visit would give her some healing. She had agreed to forego the funeral before, but I knew she needed closure.

I decided to start sorting through the records I had copied while I waited to hear from her again. Before long, she texted that she was coming home to me. I smiled at her wording and ordered the food I had promised her. There wasn't much in town; just a tavern that was nearby, and I drove to pick it up as well as some water and other supplies from a small discount store. I noticed as I moved around that I was already feeling much better. I hoped I would heal soon, as I had plans that would work better if I did not have a wound on my back.

I was stocking the small refrigerator with water bottles when I heard the key in the door. Jayna's eyes were red, and her face was drawn, but she still smiled at me, love written all over her face. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hair. There were no words to erase what happened to her, so I simply said, "I love you."

"And I, you," she responded. "I missed you." She looked up at me with tension on her face.

"What is it?"

She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss me. "I'll tell you later. Right now, I have a surprise for you. Well, I should say that Jessy does. She's waiting outside, is it alright if she comes in?"

I winced. Jessica–Jessy–was not my biggest fan. However, if Jayna trusted her, then I would, too. "Alright." I was rewarded with another kiss, and then Jayna went to the door and let Jessy inside.

"Hey, Jake," the diminutive female entered the room. She, too, looked sad, but she still had a tentative smile on her face.

"Hello...Jessy," I replied, attempting to smile back at her. Jayna stood to the side, watching us both.

Suddenly, the little one was hugging me. I let out a huff in surprise and looked at Jayna, who had a soft smile on her face. "Thank you for trying to save Richy," Jessy said, sniffling.