Page 56 of Fortress
“Why do you say that?”
“Uh... you gotta ask him that. Just, bad stuff’s been happening to people who piss Justin off.”
“Did something happen to your brother?” Toby asked, shading his voice with just the right amount of concern.
“Maybe. I can’t talk about it. He’s all freaked out, though, and won’t go see a doctor.” Isobel sounded indecisive and anxious, a tone Jake knew well when a witness was on the verge of spilling everything. “I, I just—have you talked to Antoine Gallot, who runs the hardware store? Justin worked there a little while. Antoine might be able to tell you something too.”
“What do you think he’d tell me?” Toby asked, nice and gentle. Jake gave him five stars for interviewing skills.
Isobel was silent for a long minute. When she spoke, her voice came closer, dropped to a whisper. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“No,” Toby agreed immediately. “We don’t want that either.”
“And I don’t know if—” She took a shuddering breath. “It’s a big fucking deal, I know that. I don’t want—I don’t want trouble. I know what they do to—to people who play around in that shit.”
Toby was silent. Jake said, “We won’t call them, I promise.”
“I don’t want to be the one who did that to him,” Isobel continued nervously, picking up speed, “even if... I saw him with this book, once. In his backpack, I mean.”
“What kind of book?” Toby asked.
“The kind no one’s allowed to have. Like, it looked... wrong.Alive. I was completely whacked out.”
“Did he know you saw it?”
“No, I—but I think hewantedme to see it. Like maybe he thought it wouldimpressme or something.” Her voice caught, equal parts anger and tears. “He scares the shit out of me.”
“Okay,” Toby said. “Don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out.”
“Why?” Isobel sounded suspicious again. “Why would you do anything? What’ve you got to do with it?”
“He, uh—” Toby hesitated. “He may have hurt someone we know too.”
“Well, be careful,” she said. “And look, I didn’t make any accusations, okay? I won’t testify to the ASC about anything.”
“We’re not getting them involved,” Jake repeated. “You’re smart to steer clear of that kid. Your brother, uh—there’s nothing wrong with his eyes, is there?”
“What?” Isobel was startled. “No, it’s, uh—a shrinkage issue.Down there.” Jake couldn’t see her gesture, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice. “Like guys get taking those sketcho steroids, you know? So it could be nothing. But talk to Mr. Gallot, see what he has to say.”
“Thank you, Isobel,” Toby said.
As Toby backed out of the parking space, Jake said, “Well, I guess there are worse things than being blind after all.”
Toby didn’t answer, and Jake wanted to say,C’mon, that was a little bit funny. He wanted Toby to laugh, even that little huff that he gave at Jake’s lousy jokes. But without being able to catch the crinkle of his eyes or the twitch at the corner of his mouth, Jake didn’t have the smallest clue how Toby felt, despite being two feet away from him.
All Toby said was, “I think we passed the hardware store earlier, back toward the motel.” His voice sounded far more distant than it actually could be.
Toby spent half an hour inside the hardware store, returning with a lengthy report of accidents and bad luck that had plagued the store since Justin quit, storming out one day. He also had a lead on possible locations, including a barn outside town where Justin had asked Gallot to drop him off one time.
“Sounds like he’s the one,” Toby said, tone flat as a dead lake.
More than he wanted to be able to aim his gun, check for threats, or dig under the Eldorado’s hood, Jake wanted to see Toby’s face.
Taking the lead on a hunt still didn’t feel natural to Tobias; still more unnatural was Jake’s total dependence on him. It made his skin itch, made everything feelwrong, unbalanced. Jake had always been able to take care of himself. Tobias had known that as a core truth since the first day they’d met, when ten-year-old Jake had swaggered alone into the monster pen.
In the last year, he’d seen Jake more vulnerable than he’d ever dreamed Jake could be. Tobias had once assumed that Jake had a worldly expertise that meant he wasn’t really in danger when he threw himself into situations, whether they be hunts or volatile interviews or bottles of alcohol. Tobias had been forced to reconsider that theory the first time he’d hauled Jake out of a bar fight.
Drunken nights didn’t happen so often anymore. Maybe that had made Tobias out of practice dealing with a Jake who relied on him completely. But Tobias was going to use everything in his arsenal to fix it—his way.
