by Kody Thomas
“No problem, what brings you here? Looks like something serious by the look on your face.” he said looking me over.
“Well you remember how I pretty much took all your online courses for a year so your dad wouldn’t cut you off?” I said accusingly.
“Shh, that’s a secret. I am guessing you are needing me to repay that favor.” he said.
“Correct. My friend and I need a place to crash tonight and to borrow a car in the morning.” I asked.
“That is a weird request. Are you in trouble?” he asked.
“Do you really want to know?” I said with a serious tone.
“You are right. I don’t want to have to worry about it. I still need to finish enjoying my party. You two can crash upstairs. You will still be able to hear us some but should be quieter.” he said.
“You rock man, I really appreciate this.” I said thankfully.
“No problem, but we are even now.” he said, putting his hand out.
I took his hand and shook it. “Even.”
I went back to the car and told Olivia that we had a place to stay and a new ride for tomorrow. I could sense the relief in her as she took a deep breath. “You are the best. We are lucky this guy owed you a favor.
“Agreed. And the fact that he was a little buzzed which made it easier to convince him.” I said.
She gave a little laugh as we grabbed our stuff and went into Jeff’s house. It looked like the typical bachelor pad. In the living room was a couple of recliners that were occupied by some drunken friends of his. There were about ten people there in all. Some were already passed out and others were close to joining them. Jeff seemed to have these parties almost every night. He did not have much drive and his father still took care of him. He made him work at his company part-time but everything in this house was paid for by his father. There was a keg on the kitchen counter, a beer pong table in the middle of the living room, a foosball table in the corner of the room and his television was a massive 60 inch 3D television. We made our way safely through the mess of the living room to the stairs and headed upstairs with Jeff leading the way. He pointed us to a bedroom off to the right. “That will be your room tonight. There isn’t much in there, but there is a bed and some pillows and blankets in the closet. I won’t be up before noon. Here are the keys to that red Grand Prix in the driveway.” He tossed me the keys, “Take that tomorrow if I’m not up, which I can guarantee I won’t be.” He gave me a wink and headed back downstairs.
We made our way into the bedroom and both flopped onto the bed. We didn’t realize how tired we were until we laid down. I took the right side and she took the left. I thought about how I always wanted to be in this situation with Olivia, if you take away the whole murderous drug dealer coming after us out of the equation. I lied there for a minute with my eyes close. “So, how do you think we will find Charlie.” I said while yawning. Olivia didn’t answer. I looked over and she was passed out. “Let’s sleep on it, good idea.”
Chapter Thirteen
I woke up and checked my phone. It was 8:00 a.m. I thought I would have slept much longer but now that I was up, it was time to figure out our next move. I looked down and Olivia was still sleeping, her head on my chest. Any other day, and I would have stayed in bed like this all morning. But this wasn’t an ordinary day. We had to figure out who Charlie was and oust these drug dealers so we could move on with our lives. “Olivia.” I whispered towards her. No answer. “Olivia.” I said louder and she started to stir.
“I don’t want to wake up Jake. That means we will have to face the troubles that we have in front of us. Can’t we just stay like this?” Olivia begged.
“Nothing would make me happier. But I need to protect you and the requires taking these guys down.” I answered. We got up and took turns using the bathroom to freshen up. We had to wear the same clothes, but luckily Jeff was a good host. He had people stay often after long nights so he had a good supply of toiletries. It definitely helped being able to feel clean after the chaos of yesterday. I went downstairs to grab us some food. There wasn’t much but I did find some Cheerios and some milk that had not expired yet. I took it and some bowls upstairs and we ate cereal in bed. Not exactly the breakfast of champions but we were happy to get some food in us. After not talking about it all morning, I finally gave in. “How in the world are we going to find this guy?”
“I wish I knew.” Olivia said grimly.
“I just really wish I hadn’t broken that computer on the guy. It did nothing for me.” I said.
“If you hadn’t, you would be dead right now and I would be running for my life. You did what you had to. Don’t blame yourself. We will figure this out.” Olivia said, doing her best to console me.
"I know but it was our best shot." I couldn't help being a little down with myself. I couldn't knock him out, but Olivia could.
"We will figure it out. I promise." she said.
"Yeah." I said. We sat in silence for about twenty minutes. I tried to think of anything, but no good ideas came to me.We didn't even know his last name, or if Charlie was his real name. "I wish we had Trevor's phone so we could just go into his phonebook and call him."
"Trevor's phone." Olivia said quietly and thoughtfully.
"Yeah, the phone that we will never see again." I said.
"I have an idea. But we will have to bring Jon into this." Olivia said with some excitement coming out in her voice.
I was starting to understand where she was coming from. Jon used to work at Sprint for three years. He got his younger brother, Brandon, a job there a year ago and he still worked there. "I think I know where you are going with this."
"We can get Brandon to look up what number Trevor called that night and we have Charlie's number." Olivia said.
I gave her a big smile, "You are a genius Olivia.
Chapter Fourteen
I looked around for Jeff to thank him. I gave up on that when I found him passed out in his t-shirt and boxers on one of his recliners. We left at about 9:30. Since my phone was in Trevor’s room in a lot of little pieces, Olivia had called Jon and he agreed to meet us at his brother's store in Richmond Heights. We arrived around 10:10 at the Sprint store. We saw Jon inside talking to his brother Brandon. We walked in and Jon came over and gave Olivia a hug and shook my hand. “What the hell is going on with you guys? I hear your house blew up last night and then I can’t get a hold of you, I call Ryan and he says he can’t tell me what is going on. So please shed some light on what the hell is going on.”
“I’m afraid we can’t tell you everything right now Jon.” Olivia said. She continued, “It’s very dangerous and the less you know the better.”
“Screw that. You know I can kick some ass.” he said confidently.
“You are already helping us. Right now, just having it be the two of us is best case scenario. There are some very bad guys after us.” I said.
“Jesus, what did you get yourselves into?” he asked.
“It’s complicated. But tomorrow, with the help of you and your brother, we should be safe and sound and able to tell you this whole story over a couple of cold ones. We have a plan and there is no reason to worry.” Olivia said soothingly. She actually made me feel like this whole thing would be a breeze.
Jon looked back and forth between the two of us a couple of times. Then he sighed deeply and turned around and walked towards his brother at the counter. I looked at Olivia, “Nice job.” I mouthed to her.
“I think I convinced myself this thing will be easy.” she said with a smile. I laughed under my breath.
Brandon was typing something on his computer when we came up to him. “Hey guys, how have you been?” he asked pleasantly.
“We’ve been better. I appreciate you helping us out. I know it isn’t exactly part of your job description, but Jon said you didn’t seem to mind.” Olivia said.
“Of course. Luckily my manager is out of town so it isn’t a big deal at all. Like you said, not exactly in the rulebook but anything for y
ou guys.” Brandon said. “So what’s your buddy’s number.”
“314-555-5487.” Olivia told him.
“Looks like it is a prepaid number. It will be a little tougher than I thought, but luckily you are having me do this and not my brother. I know some tricks. Why don’t you look around for a few minutes while I figure this out.” he said.
“Sounds good. Thanks Brandon.” I said to him. He nodded and became engrossed in his computer. Unlike his brother Jon, the big time athlete and jock, Brandon was much more of a nerdy guy who was really into computers and online gaming. They were both good salesman but in completely different ways. Jon was the social guy who you liked instantly and wanted to buy from. Brandon was great at fitting people with what they should be using and people really liked what he did for them. I looked around with a lot of interest because I had entered the market for a new phone just last night. I decided to get a phone today, but I looked at the basic phones. I had a good feeling that this phone might not last twenty four hours. Olivia helped me make a final decision on a basic black flip phone. Brandon had one of his co-workers get my phone up and running as he was busy on the computer. As I was disconnecting a test phone call to Jon, Brandon exclaimed, “Got it! Just want to let you guys know that I rock. I am not usually able to see the bill this early but I am a rock star. So what time was the call made?”
“Around 11 p.m. three nights ago.” Olivia said happily. Brandon took one of his business cards and wrote the number on the back. He handed it to Olivia. “You ready to take these guys down?” She asked me.
“Of course. Thank you so much guys. You guys might have literally saved our lives.” I said.
“Anytime you two. Let me know if you need anymore help. And don’t forget those cold ones you promised me Olivia.” Jon said with a smile.
“Of course.” Olivia said as we headed for the door. “We will tell you everything. It’s one of hell of a story.
“Hell being the key word.” I chimed in.
Chapter Fifteen
Once we got into the car, I pulled out my new phone and dialed the number on the back of the business card. It rang three times before there was finally an answer. It startled me when a woman answered. “Hello?”
“Who is this?” She said harshly.
“May I speak to Charlie?” I asked.
“Who’s asking?” she said with the same tough tone.
“A friend of Trevor.” I said.
There was a pause on the other line. “How did you get this number?” she said nervously.
Olivia snagged the phone from me. “Hi, my name is Olivia and I,” she was cut off.
“Olivia, Trevor’s Olivia?” the woman’s tone changed.
“Yes.” Olivia answered.
“I heard he is dead. Is it true?” she asked.
“Yes.” Olivia said grimly.
“That is horrible news." She said, her tone softening with sadness. "He told me you were trying to help him get his life back on track. I wish he wouldn't have gotten started. I told him it wouldn't end well." She said and then paused for a moment. “He said he needed my help to crack an encryption on the evidence.”
“That’s true. My friend and I were hoping you could help us. We are trying to take down the guys that killed Trevor.” Olivia said with desperation in her voice.
“Meet me at the Starbucks in Kirkwood as soon as you can. I will be there in five minutes.”
“See you then.” Olivia said and hung up the phone. She used the GPS on her phone to locate the Starbucks and we drove there quickly. We arrived around noon. We went inside and had trouble spotting her at first. Then as we made our way to the back of the coffee shop, we saw her wave to us from a booth. She was pretty. Curvy with green eyes and black hair. She was wearing a blue tank top, jeans, and sunglasses.
"Olivia and the friend I presume?" she asked directing us to sit across from her.
"Jake." I said putting my hand out to introduce myself, but she wasn't interested.
"You move on quickly." she said sharply to Olivia.
"We aren't together." she said. I knew she had to say it but it still stung. "He is a good friend that is trying to help me avenge Trevor's death. Now are you going to help us?"
"When Trevor first told me his plan, I knew he would end up dead. I really hated you then. You were the reason he was doing what he was doing. But the night he died I realized he was already dead. He couldn't get out and he hated living under their control. You helped him dream again, and I thank you for that." she said staring at nothing.
Olivia began to tear up. "How did you know Trevor?" I asked.
"He was my half-brother.” Charlie said.
“I didn’t know he had a sister?” Olivia said with shock.
“Not many people did. We both had a deadbeat dad. He always took care of me but did his best to hide me from the problems he was involved with. And yes to your earlier question. I will help you." Charlie said
Olivia was still a little emotional but I was definitely feeling better that we had Charlie on our side.
"Thank you." Olivia was able to get out.
"Now where is this flash drive?" Charlie asked. I pulled it out of my pocket while she pulled her laptop out of her bag and turned it on. She plugged the flash drive in while Olivia and I waited anxiously.
"You two might want to get something to eat. This is going to take a little bit." Charlie told us.
I didn't realize how hungry I was until she mentioned food. "Sounds good. I'm starving." Olivia and I went to the counter to order while Charlie stayed back and worked feverishly on her computer. We ordered some food and coffee then stepped off to the side while we waited. "I can't wait until she is done and we can finish this thing."
"Same here. I just want to go home and sleep in my bed." Olivia said.
"Me too. I probably will need to wash my sheets first though. They probably got a little dirty in the," I used my hands to signal an explosion and said with a smile, "Boom."
Olivia laughed, "So sorry about that. I guess I owe you a place to stay."
"You definitely do. And I'll take your bed since you seemed fine sleeping on my couch." I said.
"My bed is plenty big enough for the two of us." she said. I looked into her eyes but couldn't tell if she was serious or not. I definitely hoped she was. Our moment was interrupted when they called my name to come get our food and coffee. We grabbed our food and went and sat down again with Charlie. She barely acknowledged we were back. Just glanced up and then went back to work. She kept muttering under her breath and I'm pretty sure by the words she was using that things were not going well.
"I'm going to need some help from my roommate with this. We need to head back to my place." She wrote down her address on a napkin and gave it to us. "I'm going to leave now. You two leave in five minutes. Take a long way and make sure you aren't being followed." Then she left and we waited.
"Do think it is weird Trevor didn't tell me he had a sister?" Olivia asked.
I thought about it for a moment, "No, Trevor didn't live an easy life. I think he tried to hide some of the bad stuff like his dad and the drugs. He probably just wanted to start fresh with you."
She stared out the window and thought about that. Then quickly recovered and checked the time on her phone, "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." I replied.
We made our way to Charlie's place and tried to take the longest way possible. Nobody was following us so we finally made our way to the apartment. It was your average apartment in an average neighborhood. We knocked on the door to apartment 1F. Charlie answered the door, "I thought you two got lost."
"Just wanted to be certain we didn't bring the bad guys here." I said. She nodded and invited us in. The apartment was very ordinary. White walls with nothing on them. When we walked in, the living room was off to the right. There was a television and DVD player in the living room, but nothing else except a sofa. The kitchen to the left had all the appliances but nothing more than that. Sh
e guided us straight ahead to where the bedrooms were. She opened the door on the left and we followed her in. My jaw almost hit the floor. This room was anything but ordinary. There was a bed, dresser, and television crammed along the back wall. But along the left side was what I can only describe as the coolest computer I'd ever seen. There were three monitors that were hanging from wall mounts. each monitor had to be thirty inches. There were two speakers hanging above the monitors.
But maybe the strangest thing was who was sitting at the computer. Charlie being a girl surprised me but this took the cake for surprises. I had been assuming that her roommate would be a girl. It turned out it was one of the biggest people I had ever seen. He had to close to seven feet tall and easily over 300 pounds. He was African American and I thought he should be playing left tackle for the Cowboys. Charlie introduced us, "Olivia and Jake, this is David."
David stood up and walked over to us smiling, "Nice to meet you two."
"And nice to meet you too." Olivia said. He motioned for us to come over to the computer. We went over and saw a lock screen on the computer that I was seeing for the first time. On the other side of that lock screen was our freedom.
"Alright guys, I've just started working on getting you into these files. I've taught Charlie a lot, but I'm still the master. From the looks of it, I should get us in in about twenty minutes." he said confidently, sitting down in his heavy duty chair.
"Let's let him do his thing. Come on into the kitchen and let's get a drink." Charlie said. We followed her out of the room and into the kitchen. "David is a genius with computers. There is no website he can't hack or code he can't crack. He actually has a lot of people who own websites that pay him to try and hack them to test security." she said. Then she laughed and said, "And then they keep working on their security. He has actually worked for the government a couple times."
"Wow." Olivia said. "I'm happy we found you two."
Then my curiosity got the best of me and I asked, "If you don't mind me asking, how in the world did you two become roommates?"
"That would be Trevor who set that up. Trevor and David were good friends growing up. When I was eighteen, I ran away from home. I was always in trouble and hated my parents. I tried to get Trevor to let me stay with him but he was already mixed up in drugs and didn't want me exposed to it. Right about that time, David's roommate moved out. David is a character and roommates didn't last long. So Trevor had the thought of having me room with David. I had always been good with computers and Trevor hoped David could help me get me on a good path. David and I have butted heads but for the most part I've made Trevor proud." she explained. She was having a hard time not getting emotional.