Page 114 of Johnny

be right in. Ten minutes, tops.”

“OK,” she sighs, giving in. “See you in ten.” Then she turns and walks away. I stare at her round

ass until it disappears into the bedroom, then grab my phone from the other room, pull on a t-shirt, and

go out the front door and start walking down the path.

I don’t call Logan. At least not yet.

First I pull up the internet and fall down my old familiar rabbit hole of conspiracy theories,

shadow governments, and psychos searching for the current state of the zeitgeist. Because I’ve

learned a few things about Megan today that have my mind working overtime. She let a few clues

slip. A few secrets she didn’t mean to tell and now I can’t stop wondering if maybe, this is it. This is

when I finally figure out why my life is the way it is.

Everything I find on the internet, well I’ve seen it all before. There’s nothing new here since

yesterday and I practically know it all by heart.

But I read it all again. Watch all the videos. Listen to all the crazy theories. But this time I do it with a set of fresh eyes, a new light, and an updated perspective.

It’s all the same stuff. No new information. But somehow, in this new light, with this new

perspective, I get it. Things click into place, start making more sense, and that question I’ve been

asking myself for as long as I can remember suddenly has an answer.

Because I see the question through the lens of Megan Machette.

I press Logan’s contact with a sick feeling in my stomach. He accepts on the first ring. “Hey.

What’s up? Everything cool?”

“No. It’s not cool. I think we need to change the plan.”

Explaining that is what takes all the time. For more than an hour he argues with me as I walk

along the beach. He calls me paranoid. He calls me a freak. He calls me insane.

And I admit, I am all those things. But I’m also very much right.

I might not be Einstein-level smart. Hell, I might not even be Mr. Rogers-level smart. I barely

finished high school, I never went to college… but I have seen things. I have been told things. I know

things.

And I am right.

In the end he agrees because this is my job and it’s my call. But he’s still not convinced.

That’s OK. By this time tomorrow we’ll know one way or the other.

And like I said, some people feel like strangers no matter how long you know them and some seem