Chapter 15

When he and Jason were about three strides apart, they both stopped. Silence fell, as if everyone stopped talking at once and held his breath. Perhaps they did.

“Jason? Jason, is it really you?”

Jason nodded, unable, for the moment, to speak. He felt like an over-wound watch, tight, tense. As if he teetered on a chasm’s brink. He wouldn’t swing first this time, but if the other man did…When he found his voice, the words came out rusty and dry. “Yeah, kid, it’s me—your ornery ole big brother. You can kick my ass now if you want to. I’d probably even let you. It’s been a fuckin’ long time.”