Page 26 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

She really hadn’t changed. I put the call on speaker so I could pull up my calendar, and we conferred about dates and times, finding an evening that worked for us both. Then we just chatted, talking about everything and anything, and it was nice. So nice, to reconnect with a friend who had changed my whole world. To hear she was doing so much better herself after that disastrous event.

While talking, Jon sneaked my list out of my lap, and I watched as he wrote down “Simin and Eshaal.” For that, I high-fived him and got a grin in return. I might be a bit nervous still about seeing them in person, but right now? Right now, I couldn’t think of ignoring them after Simin had reached out likethis. I didn’t want to. If seeing them triggered anything, I’d make sure I had a therapy appointment lined up for the next day.

I wasn’t going to let fear make decisions for me. Fear was a bad advisor. I wanted to reconnect with these two. I wanted to fold them into my life moving forward. And hopefully, after we met in person, that was precisely what would happen.

For now, though, I was going to enjoy talking with a long-lost friend.

9

Interviews for Dwayne’s case were very easy to set up because the people in his life were eager to help. I appreciated it, as they bent over backward to be accommodating.

Dwayne’s parents lived right outside Murfreesboro, so it wasn’t much of a drive to get to them. Abby went with us, and honestly, at this point? I didn’t think I could stop her. She was fully invested in proving Dwayne innocent.

We pulled up to a horse ranch—it had a large red barn and everything. It was a sprawling place, with old trees, a white farmhouse, and several dogs that greeted us with barks. Any kid would love growing up here.

Maybe this was what Donovan and I should do in our retirement years. Live in a farmhouse and raise dogs. Sounded like heaven to me.

The dogs were excellent doorbells for their owners, and people came out quickly to stand on the porch.

Getting out, I waved to them. “Hi? Mr. and Mrs. Evans? I’m Jonathan Bane.”

“Oh!” Mrs. Evans rushed off the porch, and for a woman in her sixties, she could sure give a track runner competition. She had her dark hair buzzed short, makeup on, and she clearly worked hard because this woman was all muscle. I wouldn’t take her on in a dark alley, that was for sure.

She latched onto my hand, looking me right in the eye, and I could tell I was a harbinger of hope for her. She glowed with it. “Thank you. Thank you so much. My husband and I will do everything in our power to help you.”

I gripped her hand firmly, smiling back. “I know you will. First, the person you must thank is Abby. She’s the one who spotted your son and sent up the alert. Abby’s a Reader like I am.”

Mrs. Evans immediately switched to Abby. “Girl, I want to give you a hug.”

Abby laughed and threw her arms open wide. She got hugged tightly, rocking back and forth, and the happiness in that moment was something I wished I could bottle and keep.

The father wasn’t far behind his wife, and he shook hands with me too. “Cassius, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, sir. This is Donovan, my anchor and fiancé.”

Cassius shook hands with him, too, getting his measure. Donovan was used to this; everyone did it upon first meeting him.

“You all call me Serena,” Mrs. Evans encouraged, ushering us into the house. “I’ve got iced tea and warm blueberry muffins waiting inside.”

If we were getting fed, we were definitely on this woman’s good side. I didn’t doubt that.

“We asked our daughter’s best friend to stop by,” Cassius informed me as we walked toward the house. “Nina and Tylesia had no secrets, so I think she’ll be more helpful to you than we will be.”

“I actually wanted to talk to her next, so that’s extremely helpful. Thank you.”

“We’ll do everything we can,” Cassius reiterated. “Anything to get our boy out of prison. We never believed he killed his sister.”

I could see that, the strong belief pulsing in him. In this case, it was warranted. “We’ll help you.”

He smiled, and I had a feeling such a smile was rusty, but then again, he hadn’t had anything to smile about in the past year.

The farmhouse looked very comfortable. It was country style, with the quilts hanging on the walls and the lived-in furniture. We were taken through the living room and to the outer patio area, where the tea and muffins were set out on a long glass table. Phew, I could relax here. I wasn’t sure if I could’ve stayed inside their house without nuking something.

We settled at the table, the branches overhead swaying in the light breeze, and it was so incredibly peaceful. Especially with a dog promptly using my foot as a pillow. My cats were not going to be happy about that later tonight.

“First.” Donovan pulled out paperwork and offered it to Cassius. “It’s hard for us to see Dwayne right now. He’s beingtransferred out of max security to another section of the prison—”

Serena interrupted, confused. “I thought he had to be in max because he’s a psychic.”

---