33
Cyberhex
Jake
I speed past the office. This late in the evening, everyone will be home by now. It’s time for dinner and bed. As much as I would like to reunite with everyone, I’d rather play a little catch-up to see how Amanda’s weekend went. I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant after Gabe’s D-day.
I haven’t heard a word from any of them, which is unusual. Maybe this is a new normal, with Amanda consuming so much of our attention. Or they’ve broken through the viciously corrupt police and are preparing to shut them down. Either way, I’ll find out.
I arrive in record time. Cade’s car, some monstrosity built for speed, is filthy. He’ll complain about me leaving it a mess, but I don’t care. I did the whole team a solid and managed to avoid any men Matthias sent out to catch me. Not an easy feat. I deserve to be a little spoiled for it.
I let myself into the gate and garage without fuss. Ace’s truck and one of the SUVs are still missing. A late night at the office? It’s 21:01 now, darkness cloaking the surroundings outside. I’ll join them after my relaxation time. If they happen to come home before then, it’s no loss.
The climb to my room is made with quick steps. A shower and change of clothes later I’m ready for a little uninterrupted Amanda time.
The room on the first floor that I have set aside for her is ready for her occupation. No one knows that I’ve been busy with it. She has them all so distracted it’s easy to pass their notice.
I step inside and feel phantom tension leave my shoulders at the faint scent of her preferred laundry detergent. The bed sheets are a replica of what she currently has, with more pillows and a thick comforter. I took the liberty of making them pink since it seems to be her secret favorite color.
The clothes I’ve gotten are folded and put away in a dresser or hung in the closet. A wide-screen TV and gaming console are set up. A testament to how much time I plan on spending here with her. Movies and games clutter the bookshelf.
All things I have seen her enjoy or admire when she goes out, which is too rare. Others she has mentioned in casual, snarky conversation with Cade. With her lack of attention on me it’s laughably easy to learn about her without asking a single question.
I pace to the closet and open the lockbox inside to retrieve my spare phone. Relaxing on the bed, I take another breath of her scent and open the app for the cameras.
The opening screen is a still shot of the current conditions. My brows furrow in confusion at the jumbled mess of static. It’s on every screen.
I rewind a bit to see if I can locate the cause. A few seconds later, her room comes into view again, all the screens sparking to life as if someone had switched the on button. My breath halts in my lungs as I tap pause.
Someone trashed her place. Violently. The amount of destruction displayed in front of me fills me with anger. My hand holds the phone so tight the joints ache.
Not yet. I can’t lose it and run off half-cocked. I need to see more before I act.
Instead of rushing, I carefully close out of the window and go back a few days. Today is Monday, late afternoon. I left Friday morning.
It seems I have quite a bit to catch up on.
I see Amanda get home Friday looking mussed and ashamed. Her lips are swollen. I can see the faintest trace of beard burn on her delicate white neck. My brows rise when I think it through. She had sex with someone. One of us, I’m sure. Ace wouldn’t allow anything else. My eyes narrow as I think about it. She slumps on the mattress and drops her face in her hands to cry. Now, whoever could have slept with our imp and left her sad?
Gabriel. I’d place money on it. His day may have turned for the better, but hers did not.
Meine Seelie , the other half of my soul, should not ever have a reason to cry.
The room is as spotless as it usually is. Nothing out of place. I notice a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. More names? The typing seems too small for it.
I skip forward on the feed.
Amanda doesn’t eat and sleeps fitfully. She still gets up, too early in my eyes, and dresses to exercise in sweatpants and a plain short-sleeved shirt with many holes. The time indicates she will be forty minutes early for class.
Seventeen minutes after she leaves, the door opens, and Ace walks in.
Odd. Why not simply go in when she was there? Or did Gabe fuck it up so phenomenally this is damage control, and he ran late?
He hunts around for something a bare second before his eyes land on the stack of papers by the sink. His pace is hesitant as he approaches it. As if he’s struggling with himself not to look. As soon as he stands over them to read, he begins to shake. He hunches over as if he got gut-punched. Then he takes pictures of each page, four in total, and resets everything. Two tickets were revealed under the stack. He takes pictures of that, too. Hesitates then swipes them to rip into minuscule pieces he pockets.
He stands still, staring at nothing for several minutes before he glances around, his fists clenched tightly. He takes a step toward the closet, shakes his head, and leaves in a hurry. Wanting a piece of her clothing I’m sure. Something to keep him company while she’s apart from him. Why not take something? I did. It’s a balm to me while I wait for her.
Whatever he was hunting for is in those pages. He didn’t bother looking anywhere else.
I skip ahead again.
Hours later, she comes back and has Manny with her, along with a small white envelope. He goes into the bathroom while she locks the door and blocks the exit. I straighten up as she pulls out a few photos and sneers in disgust. Manny comes out in a panic, and they argue. She begins hitting him with the pictures. A few moments later, they leave.
Manny has been delivering the envelopes to her. A teenager. Something isn’t right about that. How would a young man know anything about Blake’s infidelities? And why haven’t we gathered the photos yet? Are they that dismal? Gabe seemed to think so, and Ace and Mikael agreed. I’ve seen many actions in pornography and in person. None of it has fazed me. Then again, the thought of seeing something that caused our imp pain revolts me.
Another few hours go by. She comes back. It’s obvious she’s stressed. She’s pacing and scowling, muttering to herself. I see it when she breaks and starts making phone calls. It seems no one answers her. The longer she goes without any answer, the more still she gets. There’s no sleeping that night. She has yet to approach the papers Ace found so disturbing. Again, she doesn’t eat.
Amanda dresses in jeans and a shirt and leaves again before the sun comes up. Time passes as I skip forward. I stop when the door shudders and breaks open, hanging by a hinge. Then, a stranger walks in. Covered from head to toe in black with a baseball cap. How subtle.
He destroys everything, relishing in it. The window above her mattress gets shattered. He especially enjoys her underthings. With every cut of his knife, my anger rises. Far beyond what I’ve already built up. He’s good at keeping his eyes covered, and he’s wearing a covid mask. He goes through every cabinet and drawer. When he finds the photos of Blake he gathers them up with a small celebration dance. It isn’t until he happily picks up and pockets the papers on the counter that I recognize him.
One of the punks living in the building with her. I wonder how much he got paid? Enough to cover his hospital bills if he survives me?
He startles, answers his phone, and rushes out. He doesn’t bother to try closing the door.
All of my soulmate’s things are ruined. There’s so much in pieces spread everywhere that it looks as if her closet had been full instead of mostly empty. My hand is clutching the phone so tightly I might break it. He won’t survive after this. It’s decided.
Amanda comes in a few moments later, looking filthy. Tears streak through the dirt coating her features, and she looks unwell.
She takes a single step inside and then turns to run.
The call was his lookout. Two people. I’ll find the second after I’m done with the first.
This will never happen again. Never. I’m bringing her home today. If they haven’t brought her already. They don’t know about this room I’ve made up in preparation for her.
The feed runs in fast forward but the destruction stays the same. She doesn’t come back. It eventually stops and flickers for a moment before falling to static at 21:23. While I was showering, someone or something cut my feeds.
I close the app and call Cade.
It rings several times, making me frown. He never takes this long to answer me. Something is definitely wrong.
“Jake.”
I pause at the dark tone of his voice. He’s in a killing mood. I haven’t heard that in a long time. His voice echoes as if he’s in a restroom.
“Cade,” I keep my voice casual.
“Did you just get home?”
“I did. Is everyone at the office?”
There’s a long hesitation. Too long.
“Wakey wakey, Cadey,” I remind him I’m still here to make him focus.
“I’ll come get you,” he tells me firmly. My eyes narrow in response.
“I can drive myself, thank you. What’s been happening in my absence?”
“Don’t make me tell you over the phone, Jake,” his voice turns ragged. The darkness makes way for pain to reveal itself.
“Where is Amanda, Cade?” I get off the bed and stroll out. I don’t know what I’m doing. My body is suddenly on autopilot. I’ve gone into a state of blank shock as I wait for his answer.
“Jail.”
My body stops. Sadly, I can accept this answer better than any other. Not the hospital. Not the morgue. In jail.
“How quickly will Gabe be able to get her out? I’ll pick her up.”
Another pause.
“Cade,” my jovial act drops as if it was knocked out of me. I’ll pick it up later. Right now, I can’t find it.
“Fuck, fine. She slept with Gabe on Friday and then stole three million from him. The techs found a trace of a hacker that shifted the amount into her account. We got the evidence of it, and first thing this morning, our cops were here waiting to take her away.”
A simplified version, I’m sure. He hasn’t included how enraged Ace became or how Mikael would have threatened her for harming Gabe. Gabriel would have shut down and crushed her ego under his slick-soled shoes. And Cade.
“What did you do to her?” I twist in place and slowly make my way up the stairs again. I’m not going into the office tonight. I’ll kill them all if I do.
“Nothing,” he snaps back in surprise. “She’s in jail waiting for us to come to question her. Gabe can’t decide when he wants to let her out.”
“How heartwarming,” I comment without inflection. She came in at eight in the morning, fresh from whatever befell her on Sunday and is still in a holding cell. I’m sure she’s ecstatic about it. Not to mention how much joy she’ll have when they show up.
“Did any of you ask her anything while she was in front of you?”
“No. She was too busy defending herself and playing innocent. It started as soon as she walked in. She asked about you first thing. It pissed us all off.”
How could they miss all the obvious signs that something happened to her?
“None of you have any idea how she spent her weekend?” I press as I enter my bedroom.
“Probably buying a whole new wardrobe along with the two tickets out of town. On a fucking bus, of all things. And rolling around in the dirt collecting bruises to make herself look pitiful. I never would have thought she’d be able to do something like this.”
“Perhaps because she isn’t,” I answer him.
“Jake, don’t start,” his voice gets soft enough that I can hardly hear him. “Nobody is taking this well. If you come in here trying to save her, Gabe might leave her in there longer. Shit, maybe he should.”
I take out a familiar pinstripe suit and toss it onto the bed as he speaks. A few weapons and my favorite tie get added to the pile.
“Is that really what you think, Cade?”
“I don’t know. I just know this fucking hurts. Bad. I thought… and it was a lie. And Gabe. On that fucking day. Jesus, Jake, his face when he heard. And Ace was losing his mind in denial. Just don’t come here. Pretend you came back tomorrow. We aren’t leaving here tonight.”
Feeling the raging guilt of their mistake even if they aren’t fully conscious of it yet. They’re waiting for her to come back as if it were all a nightmare they can wake from.
“If I could prove her innocence-”
“Leave it alone, Jake. I’m not listening,” Cade interrupts me, his deadly tone returning. “I’ve had all I can take.”
“All right, Cade. All right.” I hang up and redress more comfortably.
The suit fits like a second skin. It always does. I haven’t worn this since we moved to this town. It’s like greeting an old friend. I stash my weapons in familiar locations and pull on my work boots. They’re exotic enough that they fit well with the suit.
I call for a ride and leave home, walking down the driveway to be picked up. I won’t take any of the vehicles here. I planted tracking devices on them all. And I’m not in the mood to drive one of their cars as I never chose one for myself to purchase. I’ll rectify that soon.
A stranger pulls up, and I slide into the backseat with a wide smile.
“Anders Spring Police Station, please.”
The man blinks at me in the rearview mirror and says, “No problem, man.”
A few moments go by in silence while I pull the app up again. The papers. It was proof enough for Ace to believe. What were they? Amanda certainly didn’t look at them.
“Uh, are you a spy or something?”
I catch the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror and give him my friendly smile.
“No,” I scoff. “I’m in a hurry to see if a rumor is true. I forgot to change my work clothes. My boss supposedly called the police on a coworker of mine.”
“Oh shit, office drama?” The driver goes back to his job, and I go back to the video, making up things on the spot to entertain the man. I weave a tale of a woman stealing highlighters and her subsequent arrest. We debate on the idiocy of it. This explains why I’m stopping at the station to see if my friend was really arrested for something like this and bail her out if needed. An interesting story he can tell his significant other over dinner tonight. Nothing important.
There. I tap pause.
Friday afternoon, while we were all busy bees, the same man who destroyed her apartment broke in and left behind the paperwork and two tickets—in full view, as if Amanda wouldn’t see them.
I’m certainly going to enjoy our chat later.
We pull into the station's parking lot, and I ask the driver to wait in case this is a false alarm. He happily agrees in the hopes of having an ending to his story. Inside, they tell me Amanda left a few hours ago. It seems no one can remember why she was here in the first place.
I keep my expression even as I straighten my tie and pace away from them.
Cade seems to think she’s still here waiting. She simply walked out and disappeared.
This mystery smells like Shade’s expensive cologne. I don’t have his number or location to verify.
I get back into the car and mutter explanations to the driver as he drives aimlessly, giving me time to collect my thoughts and advice on quitting my job. Strangely, executing the boss and his henchmen is not on his list. It’s quickly moving to the top of mine.
He drops me at a diner with a pleasant farewell. I order food as I scour through any police feeds for the front of the building. None of the cameras out front are working. All I get is white fuzz. It begins at precisely 20:13.
I double-check my times.
At exactly 21:23 every single camera I set in the apartment shorted out.
An hour and ten minutes. If Amanda was released and she took a taxi, it would take less than that to get home unless she wandered a bit first. Or she’s walking and hasn’t made it there yet. If Shade is involved, he wouldn’t let her walk.
The cameras shorting can’t be a coincidence. I don’t believe in them.
Why didn’t Shade set them on a loop? He’s getting sloppy.
My meal arrives as I toss cash on the table with an apologetic smile. I make sure to leave a tip and make up an emergency call as an excuse. I can’t eat while she’s missing. The only reason I ordered anything was to keep up my normal facade.
She’s in danger. It isn’t Shade’s place to guard her. It’s mine .
I call for another ride. Even if I don’t find anything in the apartment, I will definitely find the man who broke in and his accomplice. If Amanda is still in the wind, it will give me time to question all of Gabe’s oh-so-smart techs.