“I’ll grab a room at the hotel,” he declined the potential offer. “You can find me there, or call.” He waited only for Hector’s nod and left feeling that his return to the real world hadn’t gone nearly as well as expected.
CHAPTER THREE
Jayden slept fitfully and was not quite able to shake nightmares of Stella in some terrible situation, or worse, already dead.
When he woke to birdsong, he decided it was late enough to justify getting out of bed, even the light let him know that it was only just dawn. He tensed and loosened his muscles as he moved through a few basic, gentle exercises to help to clear his mind. He was no stranger to hard investigations with little information to go on, but he was not used to having to tackle them without his usual resources to hand.
He finished his mental and physical exercise and went to go shower and dress, back into the same clothes he’d been wearing the day before. He shook his head at his reflection. He had trusted everything about his return from prison to Stella. Now she had vanished and left him in the lurch.
Sighing, he scooped up his wallet and car keys.
At least the car was already waiting.
The thought struck him hard, and he automatically turned to look for his treasured laptop. That laptop was no doubt in the evidence storage of the police department.
Or destroyed as the case is firmly shut.
It was a long shot, but he would still ask and see if there was any chance of getting it back. It wouldn’t be hard to get a new one, but it would take a while to track down the right person to set it up as seamlessly as the old one. He only knew of one man he trusted to do the job.
He moved quickly through the still-silent hotel and stepped into the outside world. Stella had managed to get him a car, and had obviously left orders for it to be delivered on the right day at the right time.
Jayden entered the car and pulled open the glove compartment, finding the usual manual and such. Mixed in with these was the receipt from the tow company, dated a week-and-a-half ago, and the owner’s registration he had signed, attached to a document from the retailer. There was no date on it, and he muttered under his breath looking at the opening hours and then at his watch.
It would be another four hours until they opened. He leaned back in his seat, letting his mind run with the bits of information, enjoying, despite the circumstances, the rush of chasing a lead again. The dealer was situated a good three-and-a-half hours’ drive away at Shreveport.
Jayden shrugged. He would still get there before they opened, even if he stopped for breakfast along the way. He can buy some clothes and a new laptop when he arrives, as well as get the information he wants.
***
By lunch, he had a trunk full of new clothes and a laptop. He had winced when he went to the bank to ensure that his assets had been unfrozen and realized exactly how little he had left himself with. He had given most of what he owned to Ruby and Stella. He had never really believed that he wouldn’t be locked away for life. He had expected Ruby to fight hard for his sentence to be as long as possible. After all, he had betrayed her trust.
He made a mental note to call her after he had spoken to someone at the dealership. She and Stella had become good friends, too, so perhaps Ruby had heard from her.
He entered the dealership and was immediately assaulted by a salesman. The salesman blurred past two of his colleagues, greeting him with gratingly false cheer.
“Can I see—”
“All our show cars are through here, sir. Just come with—”
“—your manager,” Jayden blurted out. He threw the man a glare as he made to steer him towards the showroom floor by grabbing hold of his elbow.
The salesman wilted and quickly let go. “My manager?”
Jay resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes. Now, if it isn’t too much trouble.”
The man seemed to debate something in his head, then sighed in a despondent way and led Jay over to a desk. He hit a few buttons on his phone and spoke into it, “A customer would like to see you, sir.”
He disconnected the call with such lightning speed Jay almost laughed and let his eyes drift to the name tag. “Thanks, Dave. I bought a car from this branch a while back. A friend of mine handled most of the transaction on my behalf, so I just have a few questions.”
This seemed to cheer the young man up a bit.
A burly man with combed-back, black hair and dark eyes came out of a back door and descended upon them like a raptor spotting prey.
“I apologize, sir,” he spoke at once in a greasy voice. “Dave here is new and still learning. I can call one of my more experienced personnel—”
“No, no, no,” Jay replied back. “I’m afraid that I must talk to you directly. Dave here has been remarkable. If I hadn’t recently purchased a car from your branch, he would absolutely have convinced me to do so.”
The manager did a double-take, then smiled in what he supposed was meant to be a friendly manner. “Of course, of course. What can I help you with then, Mr.…?”
“Roe. Jayden Roe. I’m here about this car,” Jayden presented, holding out the papers. “I want to know when it was bought.”
Dave glanced over his boss’s shoulder, and his eyes widened as he read the
