Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Nick
I was pouring myself a mug of coffee when JJ came into the kitchen and stood so close to me, I couldn’t put the pot back on the hot plate.
“Uh, good morning, JJ.”
“Nick,” he whispered and I peeked over my shoulder. There wasn’t a single person in the room. I gently pushed him out of the way so I could put the coffee pot on the burner.
“Why are you whispering?”
He handed me his cell phone. I placed my mug down and took it. It was a text from Matt.
Hey, JJ, sorry I won’t be able to come there today. Another therapist named Darnell who I trust and is aware of your routine will come by to do yoga and some massage. If that’s a problem, let me know.
JJ responded: Are you ok?
I saw there was a two-minute break and then, I’m fine.
“Something happened, Nick, I feel it in my bones.”
“When is this Darnell guy supposed to be here?”
JJ looked at the clock. “Like half an hour.”
“Okay, you do your therapy thing and see what you can get from that guy.”
JJ nodded. “And what are you going to do?”
I winked. “What I do best, sneak around the wires.”
JJ stared at my coffee on the counter. “I’m worried, Nick.”
I was too, but I didn’t want to say that to JJ when he was all up in his feels. I patted his shoulder and put on my best smile.
“We got him, JJ. After your therapy, meet up with me, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
“Yeah.”
I went to my room and immediately hacked into Matt’s Ring. I didn’t know what Matt had adjusted his erase time as, but it had to be at least thirty days. I only needed to go as far as Friday afternoon. Something had happened in that time.
I watched as he got home Friday, leaving shortly afterward with his messenger bag. Then he returned and had a conversation with his landlord. The next time he left his apartment was Sunday morning.
A few people passed his door but never stopped. Mostly it was his landlords and an older lady. He went out with reusable bags in hand, and I assumed he was going food shopping. I kept watching. Nicole exited her apartment, stared at Matt’s door, but didn’t knock. A couple of hours later, Matt came home with groceries.
Nothing appeared out of sorts. A man came to his door at about six and knocked. I’d seen him before. He was very good-looking with deep dark skin, hair cut close to the scalp, brown eyes, and when he laughed it only enhanced his handsomeness. This was Darnell. The man coming today.
As I watched further, I saw that Darnell never left the apartment until Monday morning, bag in hand. Matt was in view, and he said thanks to Darnell and shut the door.
“What the fuck am I missing?”
I dug into the CCTV cameras that faced Matt’s fire escape and rewound them back to Friday and watched. Nothing.
“Shit.”
I had promised Noel, but I’d also told JJ we’d help Matt. I knew I’d get reamed out, but I went one step farther and hacked into the garage cameras to Matt’s complex. It was trickier than I’d thought it would be, but eventually I did it.
I scanned all the screens, stopping as soon as I saw Matt’s car arriving Friday, leaving, and returning. Nothing happened for the rest of the night. However, Saturday afternoon, someone in a hoodie and black pants, their head dipped as if they knew there were cameras and didn’t want to be seen, placed a note on Matt’s windshield.
“Motherfucker.”
Sunday, Matt went down and saw it. There was no hiding the fear in his body language. He took a picture of the note and got into his car and drove away.
I saw him return with the grocery bags, and nothing happened following his return.
I tried to get a good angle of the stranger who’d left the note but they never looked up, not once. So, they were aware of the cameras and the building. I couldn’t discount them being an amateur, but they did know Matt’s comings and goings, and how to stay hidden.
I scanned the screens one more time, searching for the red-and-black bagger bike but never saw it. The stranger had entered from the street, and they’d exited the same way. Maybe that was where they’d parked.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any visuals for that area. “Shit.”
I went digging as best as I could with the information I had until there was a knock on my door, and JJ popped his head in.
“Hey.”
I waved him in, he entered and shut the door. “What did Darnell say?”
“I tried to play it off and asked if Matt wasn’t feeling well. All he told me was that Matt had a family emergency and had to deal with it. But I know for a fact Matt doesn’t have family. He was raised by his grandparents, who have both passed away, and he’s an only child.”
“Yeah, I think I know why he wasn’t here today.”
“You do? Why?”
I hit play where I’d recorded Matt finding the note and showed JJ.
“A note.”
“It’s not the first time, as you know, JJ.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
JJ knew quite a bit, but I filled him in on the parts he may not have known. The more I told him, the angrier he got. Realizing I’d seen Matt twice at The Alibi, something he hadn’t been privy to, and how I’d lied somewhat about the Friday I wasn’t there for family night, and things he may have known—I spilled it all. When I was done, JJ smacked me on the arm.
“Ouch, what the fuck?”
“You broke the rules!”
“I know, Noel ripped me a new one.”
JJ’s eyes widened. “He knew?”
Fuck . “No, it’s not his fault. He told me to stop, and I did until this morning.”
I could tell JJ was torn. He was upset with me, but in the end this was exactly what he would’ve done. We both knew that.
“Here’s what we need to do. We have to have a family meeting. We vote.”
“What are we voting on? Matt said he didn’t want our help.”
JJ huffed. “We vote that if we can convince him, we help him. We show them and tell them everything we know—then maybe we get Matt here and explain how we can assist him with this.”
“You know that means telling him things we aren’t supposed to.”
JJ nodded. “It’s why we need the vote, Nick, and you know it. Matt’s moral compass is true north, that’s for sure. It’s risky divulging everything, but maybe he’ll see that we’re equipped to find out who this is and protect him.”
“We’ll vote.”
“Wasn’t he going to go to the police on Friday?”
“He may have—between that and the note, it could be why he’s upset. We both know the cops aren’t always our friends, or they’re tied up in so much red tape, they have to wait until Matt’s almost dead to intervene.”
“I don’t want that.”
I squeezed JJ’s hand. “Me either, so let’s get a family meeting set up.”
JJ stood. “I’ll send out a group text.”
I hoped my brothers would agree to get involved, because I knew I’d end this for Matt on my own if I had to.