The Passenger by Jacqueline Druga (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📗

This journey was mine and I have to tell you, I can’t believe what I am seeing in my son.”

“He’s gone through a metamorphosis since the accident,” Haley explained. “He was angry and not very nice.”

“Yes, well, that sounds like Jonas.”

“Jonas.” Haley smiled. “That’s his name? It’s so fitting. I think he may not have remembered who he was, but he held on to how he always felt. Then that faded because he didn’t know why he was so angry.”

“Haley,” Pastor Rick drew her attention. “You don’t seem shocked Grant didn’t immediately tell Chip who he was.”

Haley shook her head. “He was with Maw-Maw, and she knows Chip doesn’t want to be told who he is, he wants to remember himself.”

“Do you agree with the decision not to tell him yet?” Pastor Rick asked.

“Absolutely.” She nodded. “Mr. Truett, I don’t know who Chip was before that accident, but I’m sure he is nothing like the Chip we have now. That’s because he is free from the burdens that bound him to that personality. He needs to know who he is eventually, yes. But he needs to remember who he is. That’s what he wants. For one month, he wants to try to remember and I think we need to give that to him.”

“Then it’s settled,” Pastor Rick said. “We hold off. It’s going to be difficult for me, but I will do it.”

“In the meantime.” Marge grabbed Grant’s hand. “This time you will spend with him, talking, playing music. It will be a joy for you getting to spend time with him, seeing him healthy, without the ‘walking on eggshell’ feeling or worry he will erupt at any time.”

“How do you know this so well?” Grant asked.

“Joe and I have been there. Only you have a happier ending,” Marge said. “And since I have been there, I need you to resist thinking once he knows who he is, he’ll just relapse or this is just another cycle he goes through. It’s not, I believe with all my heart it is not.”

“You say that with such certainty,” Grant said.

“I do and I can. He has a chance to see and experience life through fresh eyes without any preconceived notions or prejudice,” Marge explained. “And that … is a gift.”

◆◆◆

“Are you convinced?” Doc Jenner placed a coffee down in front of Russ as he joined him at a table outside Roasters Café.

“Convinced of what?” Russ asked. “Thank you.”

“That’s he’s not faking it.”

“I never said he was.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I suggested it and …” Russ picked up his coffee. “I believe it’s real. Old Joe told me he watched Chip. Watched him for signs and Chip didn’t even flinch when he saw his father. Not one iota. And Joe knows how someone like Chip can manipulate.”

“What now?”

“I think it’s wrong not to tell him who he is, but it’s the collective decision to hold off for the one month mark, which is in another two weeks. I can hold off.”

“I talked to my son,” Doc Jenner said. “He’ll be calling you. He’s going to talk to the state police. But there’s very little we can do unless he admits it.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we can connect him to that guitar …”

“Russ …”

“Hear me out. I’ve been thinking about this since Grant Truett arrived.”

“Go on,” Doc Jenner said.

“Now … we know Chip’s last drink of the night was drugged. More than likely this Doug guy was the one who did this. A bit of revenge for fighting with his buddy.”

Doc Jenner nodded. “Sounds like a motive.”

“This guy Doug knows what kind of drug this is and follows Chip. He follows him. Sees him get into the wreck. Now, Chip has told Joe, Marge, you, everyone about this passenger who spoke wisdom, he said, ‘I got you’ and pulled him out of the wreckage.”

“Yes, he did. But what does the passenger have to do with Doug?”

“Doug was following him. You said yourself this drug was hallucinogenic. What if there really wasn’t a passenger? What if the guy he thought was in the car was a hallucination of this Doug? The words of wisdom, his own thoughts and remorse. Doug, seeing the crash, pulled him from the wreckage, saw the guitar and took it.”

“Why take it all the way to Fremont?”

“Chip went missing in Iowa. Why not another state? Is it far-fetched?”

“The only thing far-fetched is making Doug the passenger,” Doc Jenner said. “Everything else, Doug following him, pulling Chip out, taking the guitar, it all fits. Now, all you have to do is prove it.”

“Oh, I will. Nothing ever happens in this town. Trust me …” Russ lifted his coffee. “I’m on it.”

◆◆◆

Where was Cate?

It had been hours since Grant left the Rat-Tat-Tat and told her he was on his way to Williams Peak to follow a lead. He sent her a text when he arrived at the police station and called her immediately after they left the pastor’s office.

No answer.

At first, he thought she was mad at him for not calling right away. But that wasn’t Cate’s style. He didn’t leave a message, he just waited a few minutes and called her again.

After his third call, Grant realized she probably went into work and they weren’t allowed to have their phones on the floor. Hating to do so, he sent her a text,

Cate, call me. I found Jonas. He’s fine. No, he’s better than fine. He’s fantastic.

This was not the way to deliver the news, but he didn’t want to not let her know.

He went back to the hotel by the bar and checked out. Boasting to the manager he found his son, before returning to Williams Peak, he called the bar and told Chelsey and he thanked her.

Grant decided he was going to stay in Williams Peak. They had a Motel Six just on the outskirts and he got a room there. Jonas had given himself a month’s time limit to get his memory back, and since Grant