Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
HAYES
"I ran into Sloane today." I dropped the sentence like a bomb in the middle of playing a video game with Toby––my childhood best friend.
To his credit, he only paused for the slightest second before responding, "Oh yeah? Where at?"
"A coffee shop an hour east of here. I was meeting with a customer when she walked in."
I didn't tell Toby I actually saw her at a library. My friend was constantly telling me I needed to get over my hangup with such a public place. Toby knew all about my relationship with Sloane. He had a front-row view of our romance and how it ended.
"Did she say anything about what happened between you guys?" Toby didn't take his eyes off the television nor did he stop playing the game even though I had.
"Nope. Once she figured out it was me, she abruptly left."
That wasn't how it went at all, and honestly, I wasn't even sure why I was lying except for the fact that Toby didn't know a thing about the shit I was involved in.
As far as he knew, I owned a garage and towing company.
Which technically I did, but it was also a front for my less than morally acceptable side of the business.
I also didn't want him to know I had been the one to leave without getting answers despite saying for years I would get them if I just had the chance to talk to her.
"It's for the best. I doubt she had a good reason to leave. I've said it before. Her parents probably found out about you guys and convinced her you weren't good enough. That or she got sick of slumming it and found some rich guy who could give her the lifestyle she was used to."
For years, I thought that was the case, but after seeing Sloane in the coffee shop, I knew there was no way that's how things had played out. The hard look in her eyes was enough to tell me things weren't what I thought they were.
I should've stuck around. I should've used the opportunity to find out what had happened. Now I would never know what changed.
Unless I find her.
If Sloane was able to track me down, then I could do the same. I had the resources. I just never tapped into them. Now, I was thinking I should.
"I know that look." My friend pulled me from my thoughts.
"You're convincing yourself there's still a chance for the two of you.
" Toby set his controller down on the coffee table.
"When are you going to accept she's not the woman for you?
She. Left." He enunciated each word. "Ran away one night and never came back.
I'm not sure what more proof you need that she doesn't want you. "
"You didn't know her like I did."
Toby always hated Sloane. He took every chance he could when we were in high school to remind me she was out of my league.
"I know she was a stuck-up bitch who wanted to keep your relationship a secret from her folks. She led you on with the promise of marriage and taking her virginity when in reality she’d probably fucked half the guys at that preppy-ass school she attended."
I never understood what people meant when they said they saw red.
I thought for sure it was one of those exaggerations.
Not anymore. The edges of my vision were crimson, and I was prepared to kill my best friend.
"You don't get to talk about her like that!
You have no fucking idea what we had together! "
"Bullshit! You acted like she hung the fucking moon while you were nothing but a big joke to her and her friends. Thinking anything different makes you a fucking idiot." Toby pushed off the couch and stormed out of the house without a single glance back.
It was a good thing he left when he did. Otherwise, I wasn't sure our friendship would've survived this particular argument. Not without the two of us going to our separate corners and calming down some.
This wasn't the first argument we’d had over Sloane.
At first, Toby tried to be supportive. Well, in his own way.
He threw random women at me to try to forget she existed.
When that didn't work, he would listen to me bitch without saying much.
Apparently, now, he was sick of my shit altogether and letting his feelings be known.
I was debating how I wanted to spend the rest of my night when my phone beeped with an incoming message. I knew even before I opened my phone it was a job. The secret server I used had a very specific notification system. I wanted to ensure I never opened it when others were around.
The message was simple. A location and an amount.
Normally, I would research the location before I decided to take the job, but tonight, I needed a distraction, and the timing was perfect.
I pushed the conversation with Toby out of my head and went into work mode.
I moved on autopilot. In my small backyard was a shed where I kept my supplies locked up.
I grabbed the duffels I would need and carried them to my truck.
If I ever got pulled over, a cop would have a field day with what they found.
I was prepared to handle any mess I encountered, which always included cleaning up dead bodies.
And there was no mistaking the tools I brought along were for that exact purpose.
A fixer. A cleaner. I went by a variety of names, but my job description was always the same. Make sure there was no proof a crime had ever been committed.
And it just so happened I was damn good at my job.
This particular job wasn't in the state. It wasn't even drivable. But that was okay. Transportation came with the assignment. All I needed to do was get my ass to the small airfield, and the rest was taken care of.
The pilot waiting for me was one I used for a lot of my assignments.
He was an older gentleman who rarely spoke.
I could count on one hand the number of words I heard him say over the years.
Like every other time I flew with him, he gave me a chin lift, then helped me store my bags in the plane before we took off.
This wasn't the kind of plane that required a flight attendant. It was nothing more than a puddle jumper that got me from point A to point B. The fewer people who knew what I was doing and where I was going, the better.
I used the time in the air to catch a short nap. I never knew what I was getting into with my assignments, so there was no telling when I would sleep next.
By the time we landed, I was zoned in and ready to work.
"I'll let you know when I'm on my way back."
John––if that was even his real name––lifted his chin again. Like all the other assignments, he would wait here until I was done.
I didn't have the first clue if the man had a family or a life outside of flying people around at a moment's notice. I only knew he was dependable and damn good at his job.
I tossed my bags into the waiting SUV and headed out to the location. I was eager to see what was waiting for me.
What I found was certainly interesting.
It looks like someone had a little too much fun.