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Elijah’s giggle had Jace peeking around Lucien, and he felt his heart skip a beat. The dog was every bit as big as Jace remembered, but he was literally eating out of Elijah’s hand.
The dog inhaled the bacon, then stared at Jace like he was considering eating him next.
Jace was too scared to look away. “Is he dangerous?”
“He’ll eat you if you hurt Elijah,” Lucien said.
“I won’t,” Jace whispered. “I promise.”
Val pointed to Jace’s plate. “Eat, Jace. It’s not our aim to starve you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jace resumed eating, watching the huge dog from the corner of his eye. “Would he really eat me?”
“If you try to hurt me or Elijah?” Val nodded. “You betcha.”
Jace swallowed his mouthful of eggs with a loud gulp. “I wouldn’t have anyway.”
Once again, her smile was kind. “I’m mostly sure I believe you.”
He found himself smiling back, then dropped his gaze back to his food. Don’t talk. You’ll say something stupid. They already know you’re stupid enough.
“Can I ask you a few questions?” Val asked casually.
“Yes, ma’am. But can I ask one first? Did that cop from last night find Corey’s camp?”
“I don’t know. The people he sent during the night couldn’t find it, but it was dark. Burke went with them this morning because he knows the bayou.”
“My dad went with them, too,” Elijah added.
“Don’t get any ideas because everyone is gone,” Lucien warned. “I’ll take you down just like Burke did.”
“I know,” Jace said quickly. “I just hope I did the map right.”
If they couldn’t find Corey’s camp, they’d think he was lying about everything and he’d go to jail. There wouldn’t be anything Elijah or Val could say that would stop it from happening.
“Thank you,” Jace whispered. “For sticking up for me.”
Elijah regarded him with eyes that looked bigger than they really were, because of his glasses. “You told me to run. You were scared, but you still let me go.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you. I swear it. Can I ask one more question? Is my brother out of the hospital?”
Something passed over Val’s face. It looked like sadness. “I’m not sure. He... he had some serious injuries.”
Jace fought panic. “Will he die?”
“No,” Val said, and he relaxed, because he believed her. “My turn now. Our background check showed that your mother died six years ago, and Aaron and Corey got custody of you and Rick. How did your mother die?”
Elijah looked up from sneaking more bacon to the huge dog. “My mom died, too. I was five. She had cancer.”
Jace’s heart hurt for the little boy. Five was really young to lose a mom. “She was in a car accident. I was nine. My mom was...” He sighed, missing her so much. “She was really nice. She worked so hard to take care of us, but she was always good and patient, even with me.”
“Was Aaron nice?” Elijah asked. “He didn’t look nice when he was killing the doctor.”
Jace winced. He knew what Elijah meant. “He was nice back then, but he’s been different for a while. I think he started doing drugs after his son Liam got sick.”
“With leukemia,” Elijah said. “I read about it in the paper.”
Once again, Jace was ashamed. Elijah was a lot younger than him and he read the paper. Because he’s not stupid. “Liam died six months ago. He was really sweet,” he added sadly.
