Page 77 of Wasted Memories
He blinked, as if that shocked him. “You do?”
“Jett, I know you’ve done some pretty shitty things to me, but I don’t think you’d want me, or even Wesley, dead.” Wesley gripped my hand harder with the mention of what could have happened had he not shown up to stop Felix.
Jett’s fingers were hooked on each other in front of him as he twiddled them. “I’d never want you dead, Emerson. I’m a shitty guy, but not shitty enough to wish you weren’t on this planet.”
A wave of relief washed over me with his admission. I hadn’t realized I needed to hear the words to truly believe them.
As usual, Wesley was silent beside me as he let me take control of the situation. I’d lost my sense of having power of my life a long time ago, and it felt like I was finally getting a piece of it back lately.
“I’m thinking of moving,” Jett said.
My brows furrowed. “What? Why?”
He shrugged. “No reason for me to stick around. I think a change of scenery might be nice. Disconnect from the memories here. Maybe give rehab a shot.”
Getting out of Oldport didn’t sound like a bad idea, but it would be a while before I was in any position to leave. I didn’t have enough money saved up to buy a house, and I didn’t want Wesley to be the only one contributing to a down payment.
“I hope that works out for you,” I said.
“Me too.” His gaze moved to Wesley beside me. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
Wesley gave him a nod. “She deserves the world.”
Jett’s eyes landed on me, regret shining in them. “I know. I just couldn’t open my eyes enough to give it to her.”
I swallowed the emotion swelling in my throat as I thought back to all the memories, the good and the bad.
My hand squeezed Wesley’s three times, giving him the sign we were okay to leave. I’d said what I had to say.
“I hope where ever you end up treats you well, Jett,” Wesley said.
“Me, too,” Jett replied as he gnawed on his cheek. “I hope you have a nice life, Emerson. You deserve it.”
I nodded. And as he walked away and the sun set, I let myself believe it.
I did deserve a nice life. It was about damn time I started living it instead of just dreaming of it.
With Wesley by my side, that finally seemed possible.
Chapter Forty Seven
Emerson
Istaredoutthewindow of Wesley’s truck, the side of my forehead leaning against the chilled window, my breath fogging up the glass. I didn’t know where we were going. Wesley said he had a surprise for me and before I knew it, we were in his truck heading east.
It’d been a week since the incident, my cheek an ugly shade of yellow as the bruise faded. I was having nightmares more nights than not, the sound of a gunshot echoing in my head before I’d wake up in a cold sweat. Wesley would draw me closer to him every time I awoke from one, his arms my safe space.
Easton said they hadn’t found any traces of drugs in the small cabin when they searched it. Whoever was going to move them must have done so while everything was going on outside.
The police searched through Elijah’s phone, confirming he had been conspiring with Felix the past couple weeks.
Luke was keeping his mouth shut to any and all law enforcement. The police decided to launch an investigation with the possibility of whatever drugs that were in the cabin could be distributed on a large scale.
No one in town was giving the cops much information, giving no indication that Jett was involved. Brendt, Stella, Wesley, and I all knew he was, but for my sake, I asked them to drop it. It was clear Jett was not the only one in on the operation, and with moving away, I hoped he started clean with no involvement in any of that.
Despite no one mentioning Jett’s name, the police already confirmed that they were moving a portion of the drugs through Jim’s Auto Body and arrested Jim and Ray on the account of distributing illegal substances under their business name.
While they haven’t confirmed, I knew as much as anyone that more than half this town was in on it. I wouldn’t be able to rest until they resolved this, but it could take months, if not years, to break an operation at this large of a scale.
