The Photograph Beneath His Hand
Chapter 02 - The Photograph Beneath His Hand
Jax did not open the note immediately.
He studied Noah instead—the narrow shoulders, the hazel eyes, the stubborn little lift of his chin. He searched for Lila in the boy’s face and found her everywhere.
The truth frightened him more than any threat ever had.
Mae came around the counter and set a glass of milk in front of Noah. Her hand trembled against the tabletop.
“Where did you come from, sweetheart?” she asked.
“The Crestview Motel.”
“Alone?”
Noah nodded. “Mom said to wait until the sun came up. Then I had to take the number twelve bus here.”
Jax’s eyes hardened. “She sent a child across town by himself?”
“She said it was safer than staying.”
That answer silenced him.
Jax unfolded the paper.
There were only four lines, written in hurried blue ink.
Jax—
If Noah reaches you, Daniel found us.
Do not let him take Noah.
Ask Mae about the summer of 2017.
Jax read it twice. Then he looked at Mae.
The color had drained from her face.
“What happened in the summer of 2017?” he asked.
Mae glanced toward the other customers. “Not here.”
Jax folded the note and placed it in his vest. “You knew Lila was back.”
Mae’s silence answered him.
Nine years earlier, Lila had been the only person who could make Jax laugh before noon. She had worked the early shift at the diner, saved every extra dollar for nursing school, and believed Jax was better than the life he had built around himself.
Then Jax’s younger brother died in a highway accident. Jax blamed himself, started drinking, and pushed everyone away.
Lila had come to him one final night with the newborn in her arms.
She had asked him to hold the baby while she warmed a bottle.
Someone had taken the photograph.
When she returned, Jax handed the child back and said words he had regretted every day since.
“I can’t be what you need.”
By morning, Lila was gone.
Jax had assumed the baby belonged to another man.
Now that baby was sitting across from him, hungry and afraid.
A dark sedan rolled slowly past the diner windows.
Noah dropped beneath the table so quickly his knee struck the metal base.
“That’s his car,” he whispered.
Jax looked through the glass.
May you like
The sedan stopped at the curb.
A man in a gray suit stepped out.
