AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told Agent Walker everything I know.”
“Yeah… that’s not true though, is it? You pretty much swore you were an innocent played by some guy who went by the name of Johnny Ray. Of course, a fictitious name for a made-up person.”
“Not by me.”Truth shone in his reply.
“Okay, granted. But you had to have been curious, Tyler. I mean a boy like you who’s a hacker with a lot of talent, don’t tell me you never tried to find your pal.”
His face scrunched up; frustration obvious. “Yeah, okay. Like, I tried. I wanted to find him, but I failed. He caught me and warned me if I ever did it again, he’d fade away. That we’d never meet. And he’d promised that after I did what he wanted me to do, he’d take me with him. That we’d run away together, live together. He has money. He told me so.”
“I’ve no doubt he has. After all, didn’t he send you the laptop you were supposed to use rather than your own?”
Tyler’s face reddened and shock appeared fleetingly before he covered his face with his hands. “How didyouknow?”
“Made sense he wouldn’t want you to leave behind any traces. Same with your phone. He bought you a burner to use and also got you the mic for your ear. Told you he’d be able to contact you that way because he’d be at the school with you, right?”
Shaking now, Tyler began to sniff back his emotion. “Yeah, that’s what he said.”
“So, what did you do with that laptop, the one he’d sent you so you to could have a - a relationship?”
“I wrapped it up in a brown bag like he told me to and put it in the trash can behind the restaurant near my bus stop. He said I wasn’t to worry, that he’d pick the parcel up there.”
“How long has he been grooming you to do his dirty work?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… how long did he manipulate you, get your friendship, have you agreeing to taking the gun he sent you and kill your fellow students?”
“Oh, you mean the bullies who made my life a living hell, who scoffed and laughed at me, punched, kicked, and spit on me every time they caught me, pushed me in the hallways and treated me like shit. Those kids.”
“Okay. So you had your own beefs with them. But would you have bought a gun and shot them without someone else setting up the plan?”
“Fucking rights, I would have. I just couldn’t buy a gun at my age and my dad refused to let me have one for my birthday. Bastard was always too busy screwing around and playing the bigshot to take me for target lessons. He said he didn’t have the time to take me to the gun range or teach me how to shoot. That having a pussy for a son embarrassed him in public.” Tyler snarled his truth. “God, I hate him.”
“You hate a lot of people.”
“Sure. Ones that don’t give a hot damn about how much they hurt you.”
“Like your mom? The same woman who’s crying her heart out now because her son let her down.”
“Let the bitch cry.” He pointed at her, “Sweetheart—”
“It’s Agent Sweetheart and you can call me Ma’am.”
“See, you hate me too. The only person who ever gave a fuck was Johnny. He loved me. Told me so many times. We were best friends.”
“Yeah… and where is he now?”
Before Lori knew he’d attack, the boy was across the table, his hands clawing her throat. The pressure hurt like a bastard, but her training kicked in and she used her clenched hands to break his hold. Then she pushed him with enough force that his chair flipped over backwards taking him with it. In seconds, she leaned over him with her knee on his chest and saw the hatred change to fear.
Images flashed in her head of how many times this same boy looked up into the face of someone intending to hurt him. Instead of punching him like her first intention was, she put her hands on each side of his face and held him down.
Waiting, staring into his eyes until he realized his future didn’t hold more physical punishment, she murmured, “You need to understand, Tyler. The only person who needs to love you is you. Once you get it, that you have the ability to be a good person, the rest of the world can take a flying fuck.”
His eyes already focused because of her actions, widened at her language.
When she patted his cheeks and backed away, even extended her hand to help him up, he shyly took it. Then still holding hands, she said, “One more question. I heard you say into the mic, they can’t stop us both. You thought you were talking to your best friend, right?”
“Yeah.”
