Chapter 30
Thirty
Brian
As soon as his phone rang with an unknown number, he answered. ‘Cody?’
‘Bri. I didn’t expect to have our first chat like this but you need to do what I say and we don’t have much time, okay?’
Cody didn’t sound much like Brian thought he would. His voice was much lower. ‘Did they film you, too?’ He had to know if it wasn’t just him.
‘Just meet me and I’ll explain everything.’
‘But you live in Wales. I can’t come to Wales.’
‘I got the train earlier. I’m in Cleevesford. As soon as that weirdo threatened me, I knew I had to see you but I don’t know if they’re listening. Where can we meet? Somewhere quiet but not too quiet, if you know what I mean?’
Brian understood and he felt the same. Neither of them had met before.
They were both running scared and struggling to trust. He could easily be trying to trick Cody and the same, Cody might not be who he says he is but Brian did trust him.
They were friends. He needed to get his aunt’s prescription so maybe they could meet outside the late opening supermarket on Chamberlain Drive.
He blurted out the name of the supermarket in the hope that no one had infiltrated his phone.
He’d never used his phone to log in to OpenMeSmiler. ‘Can you get there?’
‘Just looking it up on Maps. I can be there in fifteen minutes. I don’t want to go inside. It’s too public and I’m not sure if I’m being followed. I’ll take a few extra turns to check.’
Too public, too private. Brian needed the Goldilocks of places to suggest. One that was just right and would keep them both safe.
‘There’s a dog walking park opposite. It’s near the skatepark.
It should still be busyish at this time.
Head down the path opposite the shop entrance.
It’s lit up. There’s a bench to your left after you’ve walked the path. ’
‘Okay, see you there.’
Brian grabbed his black hoodie and pulled it over his head, leaving the hood up. As he ran down the stairs, Tabitha called him from the kitchen. ‘I’ve put the pizza in. It’s pepperoni and I added extra cheese.’
‘Great. I’m just popping out. Won’t be long.’
‘But it’s nearly done.’
The smell of grilled cheese sent his stomach contracting in a bad way. That video had sent his appetite packing. ‘I’m going to get some chocolate and Aunt Claudia’s prescription. I won’t be long.’
‘Okay, can you grab me some salted caramel ice cream?’
‘Will do.’ Before she could delay him any longer, he opened the door and slammed it closed, running off into the night, ready to meet Cody under a cloak-and-dagger situation.
If only he could turn back the clock and never have delved into the world of OpenMeSmiler.
Whoever put that card in his pocket had reeled him in good and proper.
After a few twists and turns through the maze-like estate, past Chez Ursula’s and beyond, he finally arrived at the entrance to the dog park.
In the distance he could hear the skaters rumbling up and down the slopes.
It didn’t matter that it was cold, it was a prize hangout.
He took a left and sat on the bench. Cody was nowhere to be seen.
A boy came up behind him. ‘Cody?’ Brian stood.
Should he try to shake his hand? He felt so hopeless when he met new people.
The boy stared and carried on, taking his skateboard with him.
Oh well, he did look a bit like Cody but it wasn’t him.
He checked his phone. Cody was running late.
His pulse quickened as he imagined his friend running through the streets with someone chasing him.
A couple passed by, giggling and holding hands, then a man with a dog lead jogged past, calling out for his dog. The man ran off up the path, his winter overcoat and football scarf flapping behind him as he went off chasing the runaway hound.
Brian checked his phone again. Cody hadn’t messaged or called and he was now really late. It had been over thirty minutes since they spoke on the phone. He glanced behind, to each side, then deep into the gaps of the trees. The dog walkers had gone and he was alone, in darkness.
The distant rolling of skateboard wheels seemed even further away now.
He shivered as a gust of wind caught the surrounding trees.
He tried to phone Cody again but all he got was a dead tone.
What if they’d caught Cody? They knew he was coming to warn Brian about something and they’d got Cody first, and now they were coming for him.
He stood and went to run but something stopped him.
He turned slowly under a street lamp, trying to calm down and act normally just in case anyone was watching him.
Maybe whoever was behind OpenMeSmiler knew where he’d planned to meet Cody. He stared into the trees again.
‘Hello,’ he said, but the wind carried his feeble voice away.
A rustle here and a rustle there. It was like there were people hidden amongst the branches.
Had his location been leaked? Was he a part of the game now?
How could he have been so na?ve? He went from perfectly still, breath held, to sprinting.
They didn’t know where he lived. They’d never find him and he’d only told Cody his real name.
Heart hammering like it was going to eject itself from his mouth, he headed straight into the supermarket, blending in with the many people coming and going.
What was he doing? What day was it? Prescription and chocolate, or was it ice cream?
He couldn’t let on to Tabby how bad things were.
There was no point scaring or upsetting her so he had to keep it together.
After a few deep breaths, he headed towards the pharmacy at the back.
‘I’ve come to collect a prescription. It’s for Claudia Forster.
’ He handed over his card to pay, having forgot to ask his aunt for the money.
On tapping it, he stood, shoulders hunched and pulling his hoodie strings as he waited.
He glanced up and down the aisles. People with trolleys and people with kids – all without a care in the world.
A woman with a basket looking at hair dye.
A man bending over to check out the allergy pills and paracetamol.
Was it the same man he had seen in the park?
The one who’d been calling his dog. Stop it.
He was getting paranoid now. Brian checked his phone again and again, nothing.
Not a message or a call. Cody had vanished and if Brian didn’t lie low, he’d vanish, too.
‘Can you confirm the address?’
He glanced up at the woman behind the pharmacy counter, holding the white paper bag containing Aunt Claudia’s medication.
‘Seventeen Bramble Avenue.’
She handed him the bag and he left the shop, not looking back.
He took the long way, heading back on himself, taking random routes and checking to see if he was being followed but he couldn’t see or hear anyone.
He darted to his front door, checking one last time to see if anyone was watching him, then he turned to the house to put the key in the lock, staring into the camera doorbell, wondering if he was on film right now just like all the other victims that he’d been watching.
Damn, he’d forgotten the ice cream and chocolate.
He had to go back. As he power-walked through the roads, his phone beeped. It was a message. He stared, hoping that it was Cody and that Cody was okay. It was Aunt Claudia.
I got an alert on the doorbell cam. Bri, don’t stare into the camera like that again unless you need help. I mean, what was that? Sorry, do you or Tabby need help? Is everything okay?
He let out a long breath, feeling both disappointed that it was his aunt, but miffed that she’d watched him gawping into the camera.
After the video, it was violating to feel like he had zero privacy.
He didn’t need her on his case so he replied, saying all was okay.
As he headed between two blocks of garages, he saw a white van parked at the end of the car park, engine running and just the faint outline of a person in the driver’s seat.
He should’ve turned back and ran home. The driver turned the van and started backing it towards him.
It was coming closer and closer. ‘Jerk,’ Brian said as he stepped out of the way.
Someone stepped out and his heart started banging. It was time to run.