Bones
“Ijust got word from Stitch,” Cotton announced. “They’ve gone to the addresses you gave them. His shit is still at the apartment, but there’s been no sign of the kid. Same for his folk’s place.”
“Fuck.” Big turned to me as he said, “We can try tracking his phone.”
“Gotta have a number to do that.”
“What about Elsie?” Cotton asked. “You think she has it?”
“Maybe, but if I ask her for his number, it’s only gonna bring up more questions—questions I can’t answer.”
“She’s not new to this kind of thing.”
“No, but this is different.”
“What if I tell her I need her phone?” Big suggested. “I can say it’s an update or something. For that matter, I can give her a new burner and tell her we’re trashing the old one.”
“That could work. Just hate lying to her.”
“You won’t be the one lying. I will.”
“Yeah, whatever. Just get the damn phone and let’s find this guy.”
Big nodded, then grabbed a new burner phone from the lockbox and started out of the room. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cotton stepped over to me and asked, “How you holding up?”
“I’m good.”
“Word is that you and Else are finally making a go of it.”
“Yeah, I finally pulled my head out of my ass.”
“Good to hear. She’s a good girl, and her father was a hell of a man. I owe him a lot.”
“I’ll do right by her, Prez. You’ve got my word on that.”
“I have no doubt that you will, son.” Concern marked his face as he asked, “You handling this thing with her?”
“I’m doing the best I can. It’s tough keeping stuff from her, but I know it’s for her own good.”
“It is tough, and it only gets tougher. But, in the end, you’ll be saving her a whole lotta heartache. Trust me on that.”
“Understood.”
Before either of us could say anything more, Big rushed into the room and announced, “I got it.”
“She suspect anything?”
“Nah,” Big tossed me the phone. “I took Lacy’s too, so she didn’t think anything of it.”
“Good deal.”
I opened her phone, and a tinge of guilt prickled over me as I started looking through her contacts.
I hated invading her privacy, especially after the conversation we’d just had, but I didn’t have a choice.
I started with the basic alphabetical search but didn’t find any contact information under the name Ben.
When I started searching for Bruton, I noticed that she had created nicknames for each of her contacts.
They ranged from Papa Bear and Twinkle Toes to Boss Man and Fashionista.
Some were easy to pick up on like Cotton was listed as Prez and Lacy was Queen B, but others, like Lil’ Grumps and Tater Tot, weren’t so easy.
For those, I had no choice but to look through her messages and try to decipher who they came from.
I started with the first message, Stud Muffin, and was pleased to see it was from me.
I might’ve even smiled at the fact.
Noting the change in my demeanor, Big cleared his throat and asked, “Something we need to see over there?”
“Nope.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Now, pipe down,” I fussed. “I’m trying to work over here.”
“Um-hmm.”
Knowing I didn’t have time to mess around, I turned my focus back to the messages and skipped down to the next name I didn’t recognize.
It took me a few lines to figure out that Lil Grumps was actually Makayla, and Tator Tot was a girl from one of her classes.
I continued down the stream of messages, but none seemed to be from Ben.
I was beginning to think that they’d never actually texted until I scrolled down to the name Donnie Dipshit.
I’d never heard her speak of anyone named Donnie, so I was a bit intrigued as I opened his message.
It didn’t take long to realize that Donnie the Dipshit was actually our boy, Ben.
I felt a sense of unease as I continued down the thread and saw that it wasn’t just a couple of messages. They’d spoken often.
Even though they dropped off after their last day, I felt a tug of jealousy when I saw the various flirty exchanges.
I hated the idea of her even looking at another guy, much less flirting with him, and I hated it even more that the asshole had used her to make a move against the club. It was something he would soon regret.
“I got it.”
Big stepped over to his laptop and ordered, “Give me the number.”
I called it out to him, and within minutes, he turned to Cotton and said, “We got him.”
“Where the hell is he?”
“Just over two hours from here,” Big answered. “At an apartment in Tacoma.”
“Damn.” Cotton whipped out his phone as he ordered, “Send me the exact location.”
As soon as Big gave him the address, Cotton forwarded it to Stitch and Wrath.
Ben might’ve been farther away than we’d hoped, but it was only a matter of time before his nightmares became his reality in Stitch’s playroom.
As soon as he was certain Stitch had received the message, he stuck his phone back in his pocket as he said, “We’ll need to keep an eye on his location and make sure it doesn’t change. ”
“Won’t be a problem.” Big turned to me as he asked, “Have you checked out Bruton’s financials?”
“Not yet, but it definitely needs to be done.” I stepped over to his desk. “Shouldn’t be hard to find his banking information. Just need to see where the city deposits his check.”
“Already on it.”
Big started typing away at his keyboard, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he had access to all of Bruton’s accounts.
Cotton and I were watching him work when there was a tap at the door.
I walked over and opened it, and I was surprised to find Elsie standing in the hallway.
She was wearing jeans and a hoodie, and she had her backpack on her shoulder.
A warm smile crossed her face as she said, “Hey. I hate to bother you, but I wanted to let you know I was heading out. I have to get to class.”
“You got a prospect or brother going with you?”
“Yeah, Torch and Alto are following me over.”
“When’s your class?”
“I have one at eleven and another at two. We should be back around four.”
“And these are classes you can’t miss?”
“No.” Her brows furrowed. “I’m too close to the end of the term to be skipping.”
“Understood.” I stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me. “Go straight to class and stay close to Torch. I don’t want you taking any chances.”
“I’m gonna be fine, Wyatt. It’s just a couple of classes. And they are on campus with tons of people.”
“Yeah, well, the tons of people isn’t exactly a positive.”
“It’s the same people who are always there.”
“Again, not exactly a positive.”
“Well, Torch and Alto will be there to keep an eye on things, so stop worrying.” She eased up on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss. “I’ll see you when I see you. Don’t work too hard.”
With that, she turned and started towards the back door. As soon as she was out of sight, I stuck my head back into the office and announced, “I’m going to grab a cup of coffee. You guys need anything?”
“I’m good,” Big answered.
“I’ll take a refill.” Cotton reached over and grabbed his empty cup from the table. “Black. Two sugars.”
“You got it.”
I grabbed his cup, then headed to the kitchen. When I walked in, I was pleased to see that someone had just brewed a fresh pot. I refilled Cotton’s cup, then filled one of my own. I was about to head back to the office when I heard Lacy say, “Hey, Bones. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. You?”
“The same.” She stepped over and started pouring herself some coffee. “You seen Elsie?”
“She just left for class.”
“Oh, she went?” she asked, sounding surprised. “I wouldn’t have thought you guys would let her go with the lockdown and all.”
“She didn’t go alone.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Lacy studied me for a moment, then asked, “So, you and her are kind of a thing now, huh?”
“You could say that.”
“Good.” A somber look crossed her face as she said, “I always thought you guys would end up together.”
“Seems you aren’t the only one.”
“I wouldn’t figure so... You know, she deserves someone who will be good to her.” Lacy’s eyes narrowed. “So, be good to her 'cause we know she’ll be good to you.”
“I plan on it. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” She lifted her cup and smiled as she started out of the kitchen. “Have a good one, Bones.”
“You too, Lace.”
As soon as she was gone, I grabbed Cotton’s cup of coffee and mine, then started back to the office. When I walked back in, I found Cotton and Big staring intently at Big’s laptop screen. As I started over to them, I heard Prez grumble, “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“He’s gotta have another account that we aren’t seeing.”
“You’d think, but where?”
“It’s gotta be an offshore account,” I told them as I made my way over to Big’s desk. “It’d make sense seeing that most of his clients are overseas.”
“But it doesn’t explain how he’s paying his folks here.”
“He could be using the same offshore account.” I walked over to my desk and turned on my computer as I continued, “But we won’t know for sure until we find those accounts.”
I pulled up the files I’d gathered from Interpol and started searching for Carl Davenport’s tax id, thinking it might help us locate those offshore accounts.
I knew it was a long shot. He’d already taken the measures to change his name and even took on a new identity.
It only made sense that he would get a fake social security number and everything in between, but I hoped there might be some connection between the two.
I was busy searching for something that might help us locate his offshore accounts when I heard Big announce, “The kid is on the move.”
“Where’s he headed?”
“Not sure.” Big was silent for a moment, then added, “Looks like he’s headed north.”
“I’ll message Stitch. Keep an eye on him, and let me know when you have a better idea of where he’s going.”
I was too wrapped up in finding Bruton’s accounts to think much about Ben and his shenanigans. Besides, I knew it was only a matter of time before Stitch and Wrath had him in their clutches, and then, it would be over for the douchebag.
I kept hammering away, and it wasn’t long before I found a possible lead. After some cross-referencing, I knew I’d found something. I became solely focused on what I was working on, ignoring Big and Cotton talking behind me until I heard Big say, “Looks like he’s headed to the university.”
“What?”
“I might be wrong, but it’s looking like he’s headed for campus.” Big turned to face me as he asked, “That’s where he met up with Elsie, right?”
“Yeah, they have some classes together.”
“Then, we need to get in touch with Torch and give him a heads up.”
“On it.”
Cotton took out his phone and dialed Torch’s number. As luck would have it, he didn’t answer. He tried again, but nothing. “I’m sending him a message. You call Elsie and give her a heads up.”
I nodded, then grabbed my phone from my pocket. I dialed her number, but it went straight to voice mail. I tried two more times, but she never picked up. I was becoming anxious when Cotton told us, “I got him. They are at the student union, and all is good. There’s been no sign of Ben.”
“Tell them to bring Elsie home.” I could feel myself becoming unhinged and tried my best to remain calm as I told him, “The last thing we need is this guy fucking with her.”
“That’s not gonna happen.” Cotton was staring down at his phone as he told me, “Stitch and Wrath are close on his trail.”
“I don’t want her anywhere near this guy, Prez.”
“Then, tell her to get her ass home.”
I nodded, then sent her a message.
Me:
Come home.
Elsie:
I’m on my way to class.
Me:
Don’t care.
Need you to get home.
I waited a moment but got no response.
So, I messaged her again.
Me:
Elsie, no fucking around.
I need you to come home.
Me:
Elsie?
I tossed my phone down on the table as I grumbled, “Fuck.”
“No luck?”
“Fuck no.” I ran my hand over my face with frustration. “She’s either already in class, or she’s fucking ignoring me.”
“Torch just messaged and said she made it inside.”
“Fuck.”
“He’d have to be a real dumbass to pull something on that campus.” Big was trying to reassure me, but it wasn’t working—not even when he added, “And Stitch and Wrath are right on his tail. You don’t gotta worry. He won’t get the chance to get close to her.”
I wish that was the case.
Sadly, it wasn’t.