Free Fatal Divide by Jamie Jeffries

love.
    Dylan was looking at her as if he were about to burst with something. Fine hairs stood up on her arms and her heart began to beat faster as she waited for what he would say next.
    “There is something. I can tell you this, but you have to keep it quiet until it’s certain,” he said.
    Just tell me, I’m dying here.
    “Wanda says my parents were married, and my dad was O’odham. As soon as we can prove it, the last barrier to the adoption is gone. She’s going to help me, if...” Dylan stopped abruptly, fear overcoming the joy that had been in his face before.
    Alex didn’t know which to address first. “I’m glad for you, baby,” she said. That didn’t come out right. It was hollow and didn’t sound glad at all. She pasted a smile on her face, unaware that it was more of a ghastly grimace. Dylan’s look of fear turned to real alarm as he stared back at her. What was wrong with him?
    “Baby, what...?”
    “If, what?” she interrupted. “She’s going to help you if... you said. If, what?” Alex was trying to act normal. Dylan couldn’t know his news had devastated her. She thought she was prepared for the day she would hear the boys were coming home. It seemed she wasn’t, but she was fighting for control.
    Her heart sunk further as she watched him struggle with his answer. What could Wanda have asked of him? She sat and mutely waited for him to come up with the lie he was about to tell her.
    “Lexi, I need some space. I have to help her, and then she’ll help me.”
    Bile filled her mouth and Alex ran for the bathroom. Dylan followed her, but she shut the door in his face. When she came out, her expression was bleak. He needed some space. She knew what that meant.
    “Baby...” he began.
    “Don’t baby me! If you won’t work with me, I’ll find out on my own. You know I will, Dylan. And you can have all the space you need. Give me some too, and see yourself out.”
     
     
     
     
    FOURTEEN
     
    4:45 p.m.
     
    Dylan stared at Alex in dismay. Something was terribly wrong with her, but he didn’t know what it was. He couldn’t keep her safe if she was going to tag along with him while he did what Wanda asked of him.
    He had to do something fast, but he really didn’t want to reveal Wanda’s secret. Fuck it. He had to get Wanda to tell it herself.
    “Lexi, I can’t... Listen, let me make a phone call, and then we’ll go talk to the person involved. Okay? Will you be okay here for a minute?”
    She’d put both arms around her waist and was hugging herself tightly. She gave a slight nod. He’d have to make it quick, because she looked like she was in shock. Dylan didn’t understand what he said to produce that reaction, but he needed to fix this, and fast. He went into the kitchen and out the back door, while dialing Wanda’s number. She answered on the first ring.
    “Wanda, I need to bring Alex over and give her something. She’s freaking out on me. Please, Tia, I need your help with this. I can’t lose her.”
    Wanda answered with a sigh he heard through the phone. “All right, Dylan, bring her over. She’s a good girl. I’ll just have to trust her to be a friend instead of a reporter right now.”
    Dylan hoped she could. Alex was relentless in her own way. She would get to the bottom of a story, even if it put her in danger. Maybe Wanda could talk sense into her, and if he promised to tell her everything when it was over, maybe she’d back off and let them do what they had to. Of course, he couldn’t tell her everything. He couldn’t tell her where he was taking Jimmy.
    “Thanks, Wanda. We’ll be right over.”
    Dylan walked back into the living room. Alex’s eyes were glassy and red, as if she’d been crying, or trying not to.
    “Hey, baby, what’s this? It’s all going to be okay.”
    “Is it?” she asked, her voice sounding dead, like a robot or something.
    “Sure it is. Right now, we’re going to Wanda’s. She’s going to answer your questions.”
    Hector