Free Hunter by Adrianne Lemke

Jase?” I knew it wasn’t, but I
always gave him the option of telling me what happened.
                The
brown eyes that met mine were haunted. They normally held only a hint of the
pain he’s been through, but the depth of emotion in them now was fresh, and not
yet hidden. “What happened?” I asked, losing all semblance of distance. “Can I
do anything?” Jake watched in silence. He didn’t know my brother well, so he
was unsure how to handle seeing Jason as he was now.
                Jason
shook his head sadly. “Not really.” His voice was rough, and I knew he was
struggling to hold back tears.
                “They
found him.” It wasn’t a question, but Jason nodded anyway.
                “Yeah.”
He ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. “I couldn’t help. Nothing I did
made a difference.”
                I
allowed my gaze to drift away from Jason for a moment, giving a silent shrug to
Jake in apology for the awkward moment. “You tried. That’s all you can do. No
one in their right mind would blame you for what happened. Especially
considering you came in a week after his disappearance.” My voice was low,
urging him to believe what I said. “Go get cleaned up, and I’ll get something
ready for you for supper.”
                He
silently did as I said, and I turned to Jake. “Sorry about that. He normally
isn’t home this early. Give him a little time to relax, and he should be able
to take you home.”
                Jake
gestured toward the stairs where Jason disappeared. “What happened today?” he
asked softly, apparently a little apprehensive about Jason’s state of mind.
“Did it have anything to do with Shawn Henderson?”
                I
looked up at him, my eyebrows raised in surprise. “You know him?”
                He
nodded. “Most of the kids know each other here. He’s a nice guy. Did a little
assistant coaching for my baseball team last summer. Everyone in town knew
about his disappearance.”
                “I
didn’t know him at all, but his mother hired my brother to help find him. They
found him today.” My voice was soft. Even with our experiences, it was hard to
deal with death. Jason especially would have a hard time, but I wouldn’t have
thought finding the body would be enough to cause the kind of meltdown I felt
earlier.
                “Will
he be okay?” Jake’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. He was trying to stay
strong, but I could tell the news had hurt.
                My
lips twitched upward at his concern. “Jason is strong. He’ll grieve for a
while, but he’ll bounce back. So will the town. I’m going to go make something
for him for supper, or he won’t eat. You can watch some TV if you want.” He
flicked through the channels a couple times before joining me in the kitchen,
obviously uncomfortable, but wanting to help.
                When
Jason came back down he looked a little less traumatized, and a lot more fired
up. “I’m going to the station tomorrow,” he informed me. “Detective Nickels is
going to talk to his captain about letting me in on the investigation on a more
official level.”
                His
drive was obvious, but I frowned. “What will you be doing?” And will it be
dangerous? I wanted to add, but couldn’t. Hunting down a killer always held
risk, especially without the protection of a badge. I knew helping people made
him feel empowered, and more confident. After being a victim for so much of his
life it was understandable, but, as his little brother, I had no desire to see
any more harm come to him. Physical or otherwise. And I knew he took a huge
emotional blow today.
                I
also knew, even if Jake hadn’t been there, Jason wouldn’t have shared any more
about the experience today. Showing as much raw pain as he did today was
strange for him. He