A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 36• Spotted in Plain Sight

The two detectives followed the car. Inside, they were rambling like chickens in a small cage. "Are we sure it's not someone else? Maybe it's someone who looks like him." Hayden asks. Lucas shakes his head. "No, that was definitely Salvini." He responded. "They had a funeral for the man. We saw it happen. He went six feet under." Hayden said. "We saw the casket go in. We didn't see what was inside. We never checked it." Lucas reminds his partner. Hayden rolled his eyes. "Do you hear yourself? What did you want us to do? Ask the poor kids, 'Hey would you mind if we check inside to make sure he's actually dead'." Hayden suggested. Lucas glared at his partner. "I'm just saying. Maybe we should have." He said. "And I'm saying that you're losing your mind. Bill Salvini is dead. The hospital confirmed it and they had a funeral. This is probably some guy that happens to look like him." Hayden shrugged it off. Lucas turned back to the road. The car was suddenly gone. He started looking around but it was nowhere to be found. "What the hell? No! Where did it go?" Lucas cursed. "It was right in front of us," Hayden muttered. "Well, it's not anymore!" Lucas exclaimed as he looks out the windows.

He started tapping his partner's shoulder. Hayden looked in the same direction. "What?" He asked and followed his eyes. On their right was a fast food restaurant. A car pulled up. Jade and Casper stepped out of the vehicle. She was skipping excitedly as they went inside, making the young man behind her smile. He opened the door for her as they stepped inside. "Maybe we should ask her if she knows something," Lucas says. Hayden looks at him in shock. "You're not going after her to ask her if she's sure her father's dead." He replied. But before he knew it, Lucas, recklessly, went after them. Hayden sighs and shuts off the car. He went after his partner. He spotted the two standing by the counter to order some food. Lucas approached them, ignoring Hayden's calls to stop him. Jade turns around and furrows her eyebrows when her eyes met the detectives. "What do you want from us now?" She asks. Lucas cleared his throat and tapped her shoulder. "We have a couple of questions we'd like to ask you." He said. She looks at Casper, not turning to the detective. "We are ordering something to eat. Would you mind doing this later?" She suggested. "I'm afraid we cannot wait that long, Miss Salvini," Lucas tells her.

Jade groans slightly. "What did your mommy write your essays for you and thought of some new questions or something?" She asks them. Hayden placed his hand on Lucas' arm. "We don't have anything on her." He muttered. "But we can ask questions, right?" Lucas gritted between his teeth. Jade looks at Casper. He grasped her wrist and pulled her away from the detectives ever so slightly. "Where did your uncle go when he left town?" Lucas asks the girl. "I already told you, I don't know," Jade tells them. "Oh, yeah that's right. Could it have anything to do with your father being alive?" Lucas asks despite Hayden's protests. Jade slips out a little glimpse of fright. But it quickly turned into sadness. Mostly fake, of course. "What?" She says. Hayden pushed him away. "You've gone too far this time, Brown." Hayden said, "I told you not to mention this to her. We're not even sure if it was him. You can't just ask people this stuff because you want to." Hayden points out to him. "My dad? My father is dead." Jade muttered. Hayden turned to her. Casper wraps his arms around her protectively. "I am so terribly sorry." He tells her, "He doesn't know what he's talking about. He thought he saw your dad pass us earlier.  I'm sorry for all this." He apologized. He grabbed his partner's shoulders and pulled him away.

Jade briefly looked up at Casper. "Is your father alive?" Lucas asks her. Hayden tries to push him away from the poor girl. She was actually starting to feel a bit frightened. What if he was already here? As she was briefly lost in her thoughts, the voices and arguments around her faded away slightly. "Answer the question, Salvini, is your father alive? Huh? Well, is he?!" Lucas yells at her. "Are you out of your mind?" Hayden said. All the yelling and arguing caused her nose to start bleeding again. Casper's eyes widened. He reached for a tissue and held it under her nose. Jade hadn't even noticed her nose started bleeding again. Hayden caught onto what was happening pretty quickly. "I am so sorry. We'll leave you alone, Miss Savini." He apologized. He pulled his partner by his arm harshly. Hayden and Lucas left the two with a lot of arguing. Lucas started yelling again. They waited for them to leave entirely. "What the hell was that all about? Did he say he thought he saw your dad?" Casper asks. "You don't think he is here, do you?" She questioned. Casper gently daps the blood from under her nose. "He shouldn't be." He said. Jade looks at him. "Can I borrow your phone?" She asks. "Hey, wow, wow, you need to slow down. You're bleeding." He reminds her. "I need to call my brothers," she says. "Before you call them, I want you to stop bleeding. Please?" he says. She sighs and nodded slightly.

"So, are you planning on killing him yet?" Jack joked as he patted his brother's shoulders. "I'm planning on murdering both of you. There's three of us, we can handle it if one of us disappeared." Jerry replied. Jack looked up at Megan and Liz. "He doesn't mean that, right?" He asks them. "We've all thought about it. And out of the two of us, you've been getting on his nerves a lot more often lately." Jayden tells his brother while flipping through some old papers. Jack turns to him. "Is he actually gonna kill me? He's been acting weird." Jack says, still sitting behind his younger brother. Jayden finally glances up at his brothers. "Maybe that's because you keep talking." He said. Suddenly, a phone started buzzing. Megan pulled her phone from her pocket and held it to her ear. "Yes? Megan speaking." She answers. "Megan, we have a problem." Jade's voice sounded on the other side of the line, "Can you, please, hand the phone to Jayden." She tells her. Within a few seconds, she heard a familiar 'sup?' on the other side. "The detectives came by. One of them thinks they saw Dad pass by. Probably in a car. I don't know for sure. They just left, but Dad might be here. Warn Louis and Ian. We need to be ready." She tells him. Jack lifts his head. "Is that Jade? Can you ask her to hurry up? I'm hungry." He complained. Jayden waved away his brother's comment. "Are you serious?" He asks. "I wouldn't call you if I didn't." She replied.

"Call me if you need anything. And stay away if you see him." Jayden tells her. Jade hangs up the phone. "What's wrong?" Megan questions. Jayden looks at her. "Bill is here. In Hill City." He answers. Everyone looks at the boy. Jayden looks up at Louis and Ian who stood a little further away from them with Andrew. "She told us to get ready. Someone thinks he might've spotted him. One of the detectives." He explains. Louis runs his hand through his hair. "Shit." He cursed under his breath.