Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Hendrix
Sitting at work while Maisie hid out at my house was the equivalent of torture. I was kicking myself for not having enough forethought to have cameras inside my house. Then I could've at least checked on her periodically.
Or constantly.
Constantly was definitely more like it.
Now that I had the chance to taste her again, I was going to need it daily. Like an addict, I routinely needed a hit. I had to find a way to get her on board with my way of thinking.
"Uh-oh. That evil grin means trouble for the rest of us." Nolen straddled a chair across from me and crossed his arms over the backrest. "What are you up to?"
"Just thinking about some security measures I need to add to my house."
The crinkles around Nolen's eyes grew deeper the longer he studied me. "Nope, I'm not buying it. I know that look and things never end well when you wear it."
My friend wasn't wrong. I didn't hide my level of crazy from anyone. I wore that shit like a badge of honor.
"I'm serious. My reasons are just a little . . . unconventional."
"Now that sounds like the Hendrix we all know. What are you working on anyway? Last I checked, your plate was clear."
Because this was such a small town, it was rare we all needed to work on the same assignment. To be honest, we probably didn't need seven of us here either but we were a tight-knit group and where one went, we all followed.
"It is. This is more of a personal project."
Nolen shook his head. "By personal, you mean it has to do with Maisie. Come on, man. Stalker is not a good look on you."
All my friends liked to joke about my obsession with Maisie. They just didn't realize how deep it really ran.
"It's not stalking if she knows what I'm doing."
"Okay, I'll bite. Tell me what you're doing and I'll see if I can be of some assistance."
I thought about it for a minute. Nolen was much better at computers than I could ever be. It would take me hours to do something that would only take him minutes. On the other hand, I didn't want to betray Maisie's trust. It was bad enough that she reconstructed some of those walls again this morning before I left the house. Given sufficient time alone today, she’ll probably have them all the way back up, and much higher than before.
I finally decided that having information about her brother sooner rather than later was my best bet to win some brownie points.
"I need help finding Maisie's brother . . ." I went on to explain some of what she told me last night but left out the part about her killing a man. The less people who knew about what she did, the better. Plausible deniability and all that. My friends would lie for her in a heartbeat but it was best not to put them in that kind of position to begin with.
After I was done explaining everything, Nolen pushed off from the chair and walked over to where I had my computer sitting in front of me. "Slide over and tell me as much as you can about him."
I didn't have much more than a name and a location from twelve years ago, but I did as I was told and relinquished control of my computer. I watched in fascination as Nolen's fingers flew across the keyboard like a prized pianist. He practically became one with any computer he touched.
I sat there quietly and let my friend do his thing in peace. I doubted even if I had spoken, Nolen would've paid me any attention. He was known to go into a zen state when his fingers connected with the keys. He once described it as “time disappearing” when he was in the zone.
It was nearly thirty minutes later before Nolen spoke again. "Okay, based on the information you gave me, I've found a few potentials."
"Any way you can get me pictures of them?"
Nolen scoffed like my question was absolutely absurd. And maybe to him it was, but computers weren't my thing, and I wasn't sure where he got the information to know what was available to us.
"Already done. Do any of these guys look like her brother?"
I didn't have the first clue who I was looking for since Maisie never gave me a picture or described her brother, but one certainly stuck out amongst the rest. He was the male version of Maisie, right down to the same vibrant green eyes and pitch-black hair color.
"This guy might as well be her twin." I pointed at the picture I was pretty sure was Matty.
"I was thinking the same thing as soon as he popped up."
I looked at the name on the screen. Matthew James O'Brien.
That was strange. He was going by his birth name. I thought for sure after what happened with Atlas, he too would've been on the run like his sister.
"What can you tell me about him?"
"Thirty-five years old. Lives in the same town he grew up in. No employment on record but owns a home worth three-quarts of a million-dollars.” Nolen’s brow furrowed and he leaned in closer to the screen. “Well, isn't this interesting …"
I rolled my chair closer so that I could lean over Nolen's arm to read what was on the computer screen.
"Our boy Matty took over for Atlas Decker after he went missing twelve years ago. Presumed dead after seven years even though no body was ever recovered. Atlas was a leader of a group called The New Beginning. Kind of doomsday-y if you ask me. Their website still shows Atlas as their leader, but according to local news articles, Matty is standing in until their rightful leader returns."
That was going to be kinda hard considering Maisie said the last time she saw Atlas, he had a knife sticking out of his neck.
There was definitely something hinky going on and I had the feeling Maisie was going to be pissed when she learned about this particular development.