Chapter 2 - Shadows in the Sunlight
The heavy silence that followed Jax’s accusation hung in the humid air like an approaching thunderstorm. Sarah’s face turned an ashen gray, her fingers digging so deeply into the fabric of her light cardigan that her knuckles turned white. She pulled Leo behind her skirts, shielding the boy from Jax’s intense, unblinking gaze. The other men standing near the driveway shifted uncomfortably, murmuring among themselves, clearly wishing they had chosen any other day to visit the property.
“You have no right to poison his mind with your twisted lies,” Sarah snapped, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and absolute rage. “Mark is gone. We buried an empty casket ten years ago, and you know that damn well.”
“An empty casket?” Jax stepped forward, his massive frame casting a long shadow over both of them. His jaw was clenched so tightly a muscle twitched near his dark goatee. “You think I don't know what was in that box, Sarah? You packed up and left town forty-eight hours after the accident, refusing an autopsy, refusing to let anyone from our family near him.”
Leo peeked out from behind his mother, his hazel eyes wide with confusion and rising terror. “Mom, why is he saying those things? Didn’t Daddy die on the bike?”
“Hush, Leo, don’t listen to a single word he says,” Sarah pleaded, her voice cracking as she knelt down to look her son directly in the eyes. She gripped his small shoulders tightly. “We are leaving right now. Get in the car.”
“Wait,” Jax commanded, holding up a large, calloused hand. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a worn leather wallet, sliding a folded piece of yellowed paper from behind a plastic ID slot. “You didn't bury Mark, Sarah. And I didn't stop looking for him. Look at the date on this receipt from the state police archive.”
Sarah refused to look, turning her head away with a sharp jerk, but Leo’s sharp eyes caught the bold lettering at the top of the page. It bore a date three weeks after the official funeral, stamped by a precinct two states away.
“What is that?” Leo asked, slipping past his mother’s defensive grip to reach for the paper.
May you like
Before Jax could hand it over, a loud metallic crash echoed from inside the dilapidated garage behind them. Everyone jumped. The rusted side door, which had been securely padlocked for over a decade, slowly creaked open on its own, revealing pitch blackness inside.
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