Free Mania by J. R. Johansson

to stop pounding, and listened inside my head for any indication that he was back. For any sign that Darkness had somehow separated from me and we’d become Divided again.
    There was none.
    It was only me … and my fear.
    I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. Everything was normal.
    He was gone—and I seriously needed to get a grip.
    I caught my breath as I walked back down the hall. When I rounded the corner, I saw Jack kneeling down by Chloe’s recliner. They were speaking quietly enough that I couldn’t make out any words.
    My eyebrows shot up. This conversation already looked more juicy and personal than anything I’d ever seen from Jack. I felt like I was eavesdropping on something even though I couldn’t hear them. Still, I couldn’t help smiling a little to myself. Wasn’t this kind of what younger brothers were supposed to do? Find ways to gather dirt on their brothers for blackmail purposes down the road? I could totally use some blackmail on Jack. Although I suspected he would be impervious to anything so … mortal.
    Jack’s eyes caught mine. He stood up immediately and walked over to the table to meet me.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” His brow was deeply furrowed and he watched me close.
    â€œThis came in the mail today.” I held the wallet out toward him, but he sucked in a quick breath of air and a couple seconds passed before he reached out and took it.
    â€œDad’s wallet?” He slipped down into his seat and touched the worn leather gently, reverently.
    I sat down next to him, somehow relieved his reaction to the wallet wasn’t much different than mine. Maybe deep inside we weren’t so different after all. I reached out and turned the wallet over, exposing the opposite side where the NWS symbol was embroidered. It was strange to be staring at it with Jack, when “Blind Skull” had been the nickname I’d given him when he kept following me, before we’d officially met. That felt like a lifetime ago.
    â€œâ€˜The second’s skull’?” I smiled, hoping the wallet was somehow tied to the clue like my gut was telling me it was. “Maybe this is the one he meant.”
    â€œGood,” Finn said. “This option sounds much better than trying to dig out something that’s been hidden in Parker’s head. It seems like a mess in there.”
    â€œYou’re one to talk … ” I barely heard Chloe’s words from her spot in the recliner, but I hid my grin when Finn threw a slightly offended glance in her direction.
    Jack grunted with the slightest hint of a smile, checking the various pockets of the wallet for any kind of clue or hint that this was what we were looking for. “It just showed up today?”
    â€œYes. It’s empty now, but there was something in it … ” My words trailed off. Reading the message from Dad could hurt Jack, and I really didn’t want that. Maybe I should just tell him what it said?
    â€œShow me.” Jack put the wallet gently down but kept his eyes on it.
    There went that option. Reluctantly, I reached into my back pocket and carefully pulled out and unfolded the note before handing it over.
    Jack read through it carefully. Except for the slightest muscle twitching in his jaw, there was no indication that it bothered him.
    â€œHe must have had this set up and ready to send. Some sort of last resort plan in case he … he … ” Jack stopped, looking embarrassed for a second before even that flash of emotion and weakness was gone.
    My voice shook, sounding frail next to his strength. I hated both of us for it. “Yeah, that’s probably how it got mailed, but why send the wallet? Why not just the note? Is it something to remember him by?”
    â€œNo … he wasn’t ever what I’d call sentimental.” Jack studied the stitching in the wallet for more than thirty seconds. I was almost ready to rip it out