The old bike’s tires were flat and the seat was missing. Jason’s nice bike was destroyed in the fire, but he had one from high-school stored in the shed. He dug out the air compressor and filled the tires. Now if he could just find something to use as a seat. He scanned the shed for a possible substitute.

It had seemed a great idea an hour ago. Parking was nearly impossible now that tourists had flooded into town and business owners were preparing for Strawberry Days, Walden’s official kick-off to summer celebration. He figured he’d ride his bike, which he could park right next to his office, and the ride would help him burn off some steam. Even though Doll had flown out two days ago, she’d left him boiling.

He headed inside the house to find a make-shift seat. His eyes landed on a large package of napkins in the pantry. He pulled them off the shelf, grabbed some duct tape, and headed back outside. As he passed Lotty’s coop, he shook his head. The thing really was hideous. It was lopsided, barely held together, and the chicken wire was bulging out in several areas. To make it worse, now it was full of chickens and their horrible odors. Ty was standing next to one of the hens, who was laying on the ground with her legs sprawled out. Jason had seen chickens do that before, like they were sunbathing or something.

Ty inched closer to the hen. There was no movement. That chicken wasn’t sunbathing. It was dead. Ty reached out to poke it when Jason tried to distract him. “Hey, Ty. Look at the hen climbing that ramp.”

“Dad, this one is really tired.” Ty’s attention would not easily be pulled away.

“Mm hmm, let’s go find Mom. I need to get to work, bud.”

He pulled Ty away while Ty’s head stayed turned around staring at the hen. He led him inside and found Lotty folding laundry. “Mom, come see our tired chicken. It won’t even move.”

When Lotty looked up, Jason put his hands to his neck and stuck out his tongue before Ty looked back. Her eyes widened and she mouthed, “how?”

Jason shrugged. “Ty, can you help Mom put laundry away?” he asked while motioning to Lotty that he’d take care of the hen. He jogged back outside as Ty protested. Now what? He’d never had to deal with disposing of a chicken. It must have been sick, so he didn’t want to touch it. He grabbed some gloves, dug a hole in a corner of the yard, and buried it. It felt callous to run off to work after burying an animal, but it’s not like the family had had time to grow attached. In fact, he was hoping Ty wouldn’t even notice one was missing. He’d just think the sleeping chicken had finished her nap. Still, Jason took a moment of silence to honor their pet of two days before returning to the shed.

He duct-taped the napkins to his bike, creating an ugly, but incredibly comfortable seat. He ducked back inside and told Ty goodbye, but Lotty wasn’t there. “Where’s Mom?”

Ty pointed at the bathroom.

Jason yelled, “Bye, Lotty” to the bathroom door, but there was no response. “Tell Mom goodbye for me, okay?” Jason said as he kissed the top of Ty’s head. Ty nodded. 

Jason hopped on his bike and took off. A childish part of him wondered if Lotty had heard and ignored him. She was obviously upset with him for taking off the night Doll had said such horrible things. It probably wasn’t the best reaction, but it had frustrated him to think of Lotty confiding in Doll. To think that she’d left him and ran off to her mom to complain. Doll said he’d ignored the fact that Lotty had been depressed. He hadn’t even known anything about it. It made sense now, but at the time he thought she just wanted a little space. She’d gone through childbirth, and was taking care of a brand-new baby and a toddler, so when she’d shut herself up in the bedroom constantly, he’d let her be alone. He thought she needed to catch up on rest. Why hadn’t she told him what she was going through? He could have helped if she would have let him in. As it was, he’d been completely ignorant.

He rode past Berry Beach and toward the square. A large banner with the words “Strawberry Days, A Walden Tradition since 1961,” now hung over the street. Vendors were beginning to set up their booths and the road that ran along the north side of the square was blocked off. Strawberry Days was a much smaller celebration than The Huckleberry Festival, which would take place in July, but it still drew most of the community and a large number of tourists. He rode his bike right up to his office and parked it around the corner. He figured the worn-out frame and seat made of napkins would be a better deterrent to any potential thief than a bike-lock would.

He straightened his tie and brushed off his pants as he opened the main door to his firm. Before he stepped inside, his eyes locked with Cade Warner’s. Cade sat in the lobby, hands tapping on his thighs, eyes glued to Jason.

Those menacing eyes took him back seven years to when he’d first met Cade and Lotty. He’d been working down by the marina one afternoon when Cade and his date loaded bags and coolers onto a boat. She had long, dark hair and eyes he couldn’t help but notice. She’d smiled at Jason, turning his insides to mush. However, the feeling didn’t last long when he caught Cade staring at him as if to say, stay away from her. Jason pushed the memory aside and walked passed his lobby. 

“Hey, the garage and mud room look great. We appreciate the work your crew did,” Jason said, wondering why Cade was there. Was he looking for praise? He and Cade had never spoken to each other one-on-one. The few times words had been exchanged between them, they’d been curt. Jason grabbed a bottle of water and offered one to Cade, who declined.

“Oh, right, your garage, good.” Beads of sweat formed on Cade’s forehead.

Things were always awkward between Jason and Cade, but today it was more than that. Jason couldn’t figure out what it was, but he wanted Cade to leave as quickly as possible. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Is there somewhere we could speak privately?” Cade’s voice was barely above a whisper. He nodded toward Gabriella, who was busy reapplying lipstick in a compact mirror.

“Of course, yeah, let’s go to my office.” Jason gulped down the last of his water and threw the bottle toward the trash can. It went directly in. Jason held up his arms in excitement, but quickly stopped his celebration when Cade didn’t crack a smile. Brent would have appreciated the level of difficulty of that shot.

Jason sat behind his desk and motioned for Cade to sit. He perched uncomfortably on the edge of the chair and resumed tapping his thighs. Jason waited for him to explain his visit. 

Cade leaned forward like he was going to speak, but stopped. Then he did it again.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked.

“I, uh, I think I need your help.”

“My help?”

“I know. I hate asking for it as much as you hate giving it.”

“What do you need?” Jason leaned forward, curious what had Cade so upset.

“Well, possibly legal help.” Cade jumped up and began pacing. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think I’m being framed. The stuff going on in your neighborhood...it looks like it’s me, but it’s not.”

“Okay...”

“I mean, they can put me near or at your neighborhood during every event that happened: the robberies, the bodies, the arson. And some of the evidence really makes me look guilty.”

Jason’s eyes followed him.

“But I’m not,” Cade said. “Brent said he’d try to help clear my name, but I don’t know if it will be enough. What if I get arrested? I might need you...to...you know.”

“Cade, I’m a civil litigation lawyer.”

“But you know a lot more than I do about this stuff.”

“I’ll help where I can, but I can’t represent you. It’s not my area, plus it would be a major conflict of interest.” Jason couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d never been a fan of Cade, but not because he was a criminal.

Cade nodded. “Okay, thanks.”

“I’ll help you find a good lawyer if it comes to that, but maybe it won’t. If we could just figure out what’s going on. You know? Like why this stuff is happening, how it involves Lotty, and why you’re being set up.”

“That’s a long list of stuff to figure out.” Cade ran his fingers through his hair.

Jason nodded. It was, but he knew it would all come out. It had to.

“Well, I better take off and let you get to work.”

Jason stuck his hand out and shook Cade’s. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He tried to inject as much confidence as possible into his voice. He hoped he sounded much better than he felt.

Cade gave a weak smile and nodded before walking away.