章節 27: Emergency
I was ready to collapse when I got home but was derailed by a very angry Faye sitting at the kitchen table. "What's wrong?"
"Ugh! I'm stuck!" she seethed. "All this research and I've hit a dead end. The crime patterns I'm watching haven't had any new data and I've hit a dead end with the old data. It's like they know I'm onto them and purposely stopped doing anything to throw me off the scent!"
I froze. This was true, but was she serious or only saying this because she was frustrated? I tried changing the subject.
"Isn't a lack of crime a good thing? I mean, I'm never bothered by things being slow at work because it means that less kids are in trouble."
She looked horrified. "Of course I don't want more people to die! I just meant—oh, nevermind. I just have nothing more to go off of and my professor wasn't happy with the draft I turned in the other day. I need to crack down and get serious."
As much as I wanted to help her, there was no way I could give her any hints. At least, not accurate ones.
"Think about it. Criminals getting murdered? Probably a crime lord or gang bumping them off for crossing them. The robberies from big businesses are probably being committed by a disgruntled businessman who got fired. As for the gang members dying…"
I didn't know how to get her off Nick's trail. Sure, there were a lot of medical professionals in this city but that was the only clue I'd had and I still found him.
"I don't know. That one could just be coincidence. But maybe try looking into those options for the other two," I finished.
Faye looked thoughtful. "I hadn't considered the crime lord possibility. I had looked into people who got fired from the first company that was hit but what if it wasn't getting fired that was the problem? What if something else went down? It's all big businesses with CEOs who care more about money than their employees and the latest hit was DavInc, who took away an employee assistance program. I think I'll look into what was going on at Mylar Insurance shortly before the robbery."
Oh. Oh no. If she found out about the health insurance being cut…further digging could lead her to Jace's dad. She couldn't connect it to Jace though, right? Jace was a kid. People tended to underestimate kids.
I needed to talk to him, see if there was even the slightest possibility Faye could link him to this. Like if he took computer classes at school that might indicate his hacking ability.
At least she didn't seem to be onto me. As for Nick…how could I ask what she knew about him without planting any more ideas in her head?
"Hey!" Faye's head shot up. "Your stepbrother's a doctor, right? Maybe he'd have an idea! I could talk to him, see if he has any leads for me!"
My heart stopped. This was going even worse than I'd thought. Talking to Nick about his own crimes? He's a terrible liar! He'd give something—if not everything—away!
"I'm sure he's too busy for that—" I tried to say quickly.
She ran right over me. "We got friendly while you were healing up, he's the perfect person to talk to! This is my in! I'm closer than ever, thank you, thank you!" She hugged me and skipped out the front door mumbling about crime lords to research.
Ironically, I was the only one who was safe. Nick and Jace were both at risk and it was my fault. I'd made everything worse for them when I was supposed to be on top of this. I had to call him. I had to fix this.
"Pick up, pick pick, pick up," I muttered desperately as his dial tone rang in my ear.
"Hello?"
"Nick!" I hollered. "We have an emergency! Where are you?"
"At home, but I have work in an hour."
"Call in sick," I commanded. "We need to talk and I doubt you'll be much help at work once you hear this."
My tone finally alerted him that this was serious. "So this isn't a Jonathan emergency?"
This momentarily derailed me. "What? When have I called you with a Jonathan emergency?!"
"At least three times."
Was I really that bad? Ugh, whatever, he wasn't getting the point!
"Nick, this is an actual emergency. A my roommate is onto us emergency," I hissed. "I'm coming over. Now."
He cursed under his breath. "I'll text you the address."
I sprinted out the door, dodging two cats in the process, and booked it over to Nick's. I'd never been to his house before, but it was in a nice suburban neighborhood not too far from Jon's. The garden was overrun, showing that must have been his wife's domain, but otherwise the house looked relatively cheerful from the outside.
"Come in," he said grimly. He'd been waiting for me at the window and opened the door before I even had the chance to knock.
I glanced around and saw tasteful, homey decorations and family photos on the mantle and all over the walls. I doubt a single thing had been moved since his family died.
All I had left of Cindy was a box of memorabilia I kept under my bed because it was too painful to look at but I couldn't bear to throw it away. That and my own face. I saw her every time I looked in a mirror. I wasn't sure which was more depressing, living as though they were still there or living as if they never existed at all.
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