“Did you find anything more?” I ask, startling them both. They jump, wide-eyed, like I just walked in on them having sex.
Jaxon’s arms fall away from Lea’s shoulders. “Oh, hey, Nova,” he says, giving me a small wave. “We didn’t hear you come in.”
I go over and sit down on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t know you were still here. I thought you went home yesterday.”
“I was going to,” he tells me, discreetly glancing at Lea. “But I thought I’d stick around for an extra day…maybe longer if I need to.”
The two of them have been arguing over the fact that Jaxon is going home to Illinois for the summer and Lea is going back home to Wyoming to a town not too far away from Maple Grove. It’s not the first time the two of them have spent the summer apart, but I guess it’s getting to the point where they’re committed enough that one of them should go with the other, or they should just get a place here. Yet for some reason they won’t. I asked Lea why and she simply said because they couldn’t both agree on where they should go, therefore she’s starting to wonder if they’re even on the same page anymore. It makes me sad because they’re a cute couple. Jaxon plays the guitar and Lea sings and when they get up on stage magic happens because they show so much emotion toward each other. It makes playing drums in the background enjoyable, although playing is always enjoyable.
“He’s headed home tonight,” Lea states, returning her attention to the computer. “He just stopped to say good-bye.”
“How about I take over trying to track Quinton down and you two go spend some time together?” I suggest.
Lea’s gaze travels back and forth between Jaxon and me. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine with staying here and helping you.”
Jaxon shakes his head, looking aggravated as he shifts away from her, drawing his hands back and putting them on his lap. It’s pretty obvious they’re fighting and need a moment and my saving-Quinton mission is getting in the way. “I can take over for a while. Just tell me what you’ve found out and I’ll go from there.”
Lea sighs and then leans back on her hands, while Jaxon stares absent-mindedly out the window at the clouds moving in. “Nothing really. The article just talked about the accident some more, but there’s no information online about where he’d be now. I did get ahold of that Delilah bitch, but she hung up on me when I started asking her too many questions about where they were living—I think she thought I was the police or something.”
I cross my legs out in front of me. “She was probably on something and being paranoid.”
Lea exchanges a glance with Jaxon and then looks at me. “I really don’t like her at all. She called me a skank and she doesn’t even know me.”
I sigh, wishing Delilah would stop being…well, Delilah, and just let me know where she is. “She’d probably be nicer to you if you were a guy. She has this thing with clashing with other women.”
Lea rolls her eyes, and then goes back to the computer, lining her fingers up on the keyboard. “I can totally see that.”
I remove the elastic from my hair, undo the braid, and comb my fingers through my hair for no other reason than that I’m fidgety and need something to focus on other than the thing I really want to do—count. “Could we maybe do a search on her phone number and see what address is linked to it?”
Lea shakes her head as she types something. “I already did and it brings up an address in Maple Grove and we know they’re not there anymore, since they moved and that damn bitch won’t tell you where.” She pauses, musing over something. “But what we could do is call her mother and ask her where she is.” Lea moves her legs around and lies down on her stomach and props herself up on her elbows, putting her feet on Jaxon’s lap. He absentmindedly begins massaging her feet.
I shake my head. “I doubt her mother even knows where she is.”
“What about her father?” Lea asks, clicking the mouse.
“He’s been out of the picture pretty much since she was born,” I say. “And she doesn’t have any other relatives as far as I know.”
“What about Quinton’s father?” she wonders. “You could do a search for him in Seattle where Quinton lived…or did he not live with his father?”
“I don’t know…God, I don’t even know his father’s first name,” I tell her guiltily. “But I guess you could do a search on Quinton Carter in Seattle and see if it pulls up an old phone number or his father’s name maybe.”
“Yeah, but are we even sure his dad would know where he is?” she asks. “Maybe we should just see if we can track Quinton’s phone number down.”
“As far as I know he doesn’t have one,” I reply. “And Quinton Carter is kind of a common name, isn’t it?”
Lea opens her mouth to respond, but Jaxon raises his hand like a kid in elementary school waiting for the teacher to call on him so he can speak. Lea rolls her eyes, but laughs.
“Yes, Mr. Collins,” she says in a fake baritone voice as she rolls to her side.
Jaxon lowers his hand onto his lap and grins as he brushes his hair out of his eyes. “As much as I’d love to sit here and listen to you bounce your brilliant ideas off each other all day, I have an idea that might be a lot simpler.”
Lea flourishes her hand at him and the tension between the two of them appears to have been alleviated a little. “Well, then you have our undivided attention, O brilliant one.”
He covers his mouth with his hand, hiding a grin. “Why don’t I call this Delilah and see if I can sweet-talk her into giving up their location.”
“Because you’re so much more charming than the two of us,” Lea says, playfully prodding him in the side with her foot. “Why would she give up her address to you, if she wouldn’t even give it to Nova, and she knows Nova?”
“Um, because I’m a guy.” He points at himself. “And I can be very charming when I want to.”
“True,” Lea agrees. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.” She looks at me questioningly. “What do you think, Nova?”
“I think it’s worth a try.” I slant to the side to get my phone out of the back pocket of my shorts.
“Let me call her from mine, since she’s been ignoring your calls,” Jaxon says, reaching for his phone in the pocket of his pants.