AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You kind of are.”
“How?”
“You seek out danger. Thrive on risk.”
“You’re describing adrenaline junkies. Not masochists.”
“Adrenaline junkie. Yeah, you’re that too.”
I sip my beer, wipe some of the foam off my lip. I know Rigger is just arguing for argument’s sake. It’s what he does. I am definitely not a masochist. But I am an adrenaline junkie.
“King. You think that’s his last name? All I need is a name. Just one little name.”
“Keep using the app. Like you said earlier, it had to have been someone other than Benjamin who welcomed you.” Rigger makes air quotes around ‘welcomed.’
“That’s my plan now. I could pretend to get in a fight with my mom, send him a message to vent, threaten to run away. In an ideal world, he’d offer to meet me somewhere with the intent of snatching me up. But these guys aren’t that stupid. They’re not going to leave an evidentiary trail of their guilt. It would be so much easier if he would just arrange a meeting.”
“You want my help? I’ll make him talk.”
I flick my eyes at him and see the same wild need I feel when I get that itch. I know he has the power to make Ben give me a name and I know he’d enjoy every second of it. But that takes away the thrill of it for me.
Rigger is acutely aware of how important it is that I accomplish this on my own, to take back the power that I lost so long ago. To take the lives of the men that destroyed my world and the lives of countless other children and their parents. Really, I’m the lucky one to have survived.
“No. I want to do this myself.”
Rigger nods. “I know you do.”
“I could take a trip to L.A. Follow him there next week. How much you want to bet he’s meeting up with his partner?”
He swirls his mug of beer, downs the rest of it. “Could be. I’ve got a job down there you could keep me company on.”
“A job in L.A.?”
“Malibu. I’m not supposed to be on it for a few weeks. But I could get a head start.”
“Will it give you bonus points with your boss?”
He pulls a face and shrugs.
“I’m in. But wait. How am I supposed to follow him if I don’t know where he’s leaving from?” I only know where Ben works, not where he lives.
“Two words. Tracking device.”
“And if he flies?”
“Then you’re screwed.” Rigger tilts his head in my direction. “It’s worth a shot. And if he ends up flying you can still track him around Phoenix, find out where he lives, where he goes, what he does.”
“True. You’re pretty smart, you know that?” I’m understating Rigger’s intelligence. He’s full of so much knowledge it’s scary.
“I’m full of tips and tricks. And I’m happy to share them whenever you need. All you gotta do is ask.”
________
The following Monday I get to the office park on East Frye early enough that I see Ben arrive for work in his pristine, all-white Tahoe. Once he’s inside the building, I pull around and take a photo of his license plate. At least he’s not one of those asshats who has to back into parking spaces. One of my biggest pet peeves. But he is taking up two spaces so there’s that.
I send the picture to Rigger with a message to have at it so he can get whatever stats he gets from that sort of information. Since it’s not safe to put the tracker on here where cameras could be recording me, he says he’ll nail down Benjamin’s home address and do it there later tonight.
On Wednesday morning after my workout, I’m scrolling social media, eating a bagel and drinking coffee at home for a change. Ritz jumps on the kitchen table to start the stare-down competition that he always does when I eat breakfast at home.
