Page 71 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

The settlement for his false incarceration had been done last week, and Craig had been downright giddy with how much Dwayne had gotten. Of course, I wasn’t privy to such information—it was Dwayne’s business and no one else’s. But he’d lost his house and car because of the arrest (no one to make payments on either), and he’d confided in me that he could buy whatever he wanted outright. And that was what he planned to do.

I personally couldn’t be more pleased with how it had all shaken out. Craig had already submitted the paperwork to start the civil case against Solomon, which was just icing on the proverbial cake. The beatdown was a very long, long time coming.

I was a bad person because I not only wanted him locked up for all this, but I also hoped he got shanked in prison.

Today, on this glorious Saturday, I sat upon the couch with my niece and apprentice while Donovan was out playing basketball with his brother. It was a rare moment when Brandon and Mack were in town, so I didn’t begrudge Donovan the fun. Right now, the girls and I were chowing down on some Chinese food and trying to come up with the right costumes for my wedding.

Easier said than done.

“You sure I can’t just wear a tux and slap a silly bow tie on it?” I asked again.

Both girls rolled their eyes so hard, they went off into the street. If you see them, they’re blue and green, one’s a little near-sighted. I’ll pay for shipping.

“No, that’s boring,” Skylar informed me again. “Why have a costume party for a wedding if you’re not going to take advantage?”

She had me there.

“I think I’m going as a psychic after all,” Abby muttered, scrolling through images on her phone. “I’ve got half this costume already. It wouldn’t take much more than a crystal ball and a hooded cape to do the rest.”

I was jealous of my apprentice right now. She’d found the right thing in ten minutes. Meanwhile, Skylar and I were still on the struggle bus.

“Did Uncle Donovan settle on something?” Skylar inquired.

I did a double take. “Since when do you call him uncle?”

“Well, he will be really soon, right? I call you Uncle Jon, so it’s only fair.”

“Please, please call him uncle for the first time when I’m there. Just so I can see his reaction. He’s going to besohappy.” I’d need to get someone poised with a camera too.

“Done. But what is he going as?”

“A knight.”

Both girls wentooooohat the same time.

I nodded along because, yes, that costume was absolutely appropriate and he’d look insanely good as a knight. No doubts about that.

“Maybe I should coordinate with him?”

“You could be the prince he’s protecting?”

“Or king,” Abby tacked on. “Or do whatever is your favorite instead.”

Now, I had to admit the prince thing was very tempting. I’d run it by Donovan first, get his take on it, but I did see how that would look really fun together in pictures.

My phone rang on the kitchen wall. Setting my plate aside, I popped up and skedaddled over there to answer it.

“Hi, this is Jon.”

The sound coming through was a bit choppy but understandable.

“Hey, Jon. Marc and Javier here,” Marc said. “We got a situation on our hands. Could really use you in the field, buddy.”

“Oh shit, is this a now thing?”

“Pretty much. Let me read you in. You know how I’ve got this one Materializer I’ve been trying to lay hands on, and he’s been evading me?”

I’d first heard of this the day of Dwayne’s court hearing. They’d been frustrated even then, as this guy was on the list of Materializers, but he’d lost his license due to stupidity. Now, he worked all over the place in any job he could land, which made him hard to track down. They were relying on the good old-fashioned method to trace his location. Namely, searching for hints of him through databases and socials.

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