Perfection

by Melissa Koberlein

  “What’s happening?” Iris asked.

  “A kid overdosed at Jack’s.” Adam tossed Iris her coat. “There’s been a stream of them in the area lately. I’ll fill you in on the way.”

  Iris glanced between Adam and Evie. Evie held onto Adam’s arm, her chest rising and falling unnaturally, her eyes on the floor. Something was very wrong.

  “I’ll come with you.” Gage reached for his coat.

  “No.” Adam shook his head. “We can handle it. Besides, you have people here.”

  Gage glanced around at his still very full house. “Right.” He squeezed Iris’s hand. “I could take her home later?”

  Evie shook her head, her voice unsteady, “No way. My dad is already on a rampage. He’s going to want us home asap.”

  “Oh, okay.” He turned toward Iris and kissed her gently on the lips. “Text me later?”

  She hugged him around his middle, drawing as much warmth from him as she could. “I will.”

  Inside Jack’s Arcade, the scene unfolding before Iris’s eyes was much more difficult to comprehend than any SIM she’d been in. Mac Grayson had Jack by the front of his shirt, shaking him, eyes wild. Jack’s wrists were bound behind his back with handcuffs. Daisy was next to them, jumping around frantically and yelling. A few other cops and a couple of medics were watching the spectacle. Iris cringed, unsure what to do. Humans could be so irrational.

  “Get your damn hands off him, Mac!” Daisy yelled. “He said he had nothing to do with it already.”

  Mac released Jack, who slumped back down onto a stool at the snack bar.

  “This thing between you and me…” Jack shook his head. “It has to stop.”

  The sheriff opened his mouth to respond, but Iris, Adam, and Evie had arrived on scene. He stared hard at his daughter. “Evie, what are you doing here?”

  “We heard what happened,” Evie said. “Well, Adam did.”

  Mac strode over to them. He eyed Adam suspiciously and then focused back on Evie. “You don’t belong at a crime scene.”

  “Crime scene?” Evie gripped Adam’s arm. “Adam lives here.”

  “What happened, sir?” Adam asked.

  “That’s official business.” Mac turned his head to the side. “Watts. Take my kid and her friend back to my house.”

  “What about Adam?” Evie asked.

  Daisy joined them. “Jack’s is going to be shut down for a few days while they investigate. Adam, you can stay with me for now.”

  “What happened?” Adam asked again.

  “I don’t know.” Daisy let out a deep breath. “A group of boys I didn’t recognize came in around seven. Then, I thought they left. I didn’t count or anything, it was at least five or six. Anyway, when I went around to clean up, I found one of them passed out in front of Joust.”

  “Joust?” Iris asked, her jaw dropping. “In the arcade?”

  “It’s one of the games,” Adam whispered and shook his head.

  Oh.

  Adam focused back on Daisy and reached for her. “Are you okay?”

  Daisy sighed and allowed Adam to hug her. After he released her, she said, “Yeah, I’m okay. I mean, I don’t come across many bodies in my line of work here.”

  “Now, that surprises me, given the owner,” Mac retorted.

  Daisy glowered up at Mac, who was head-and-shoulders taller than her. “You listen to me, Mac Grayson—Jack had nothing to do with what happened to that boy. There’s no denying he’d overdosed on something, but Jack wasn’t the supplier.”

  “With all due respect, the victim’s friends say otherwise,” Mac replied.

  “And you’d believe a bunch of tweaked-out kids?” Daisy asked.

  “Over him?” Mac waved in Jack’s direction.

  Daisy threw her hands up and walked back to Jack, who looked more and more tired by the minute.

  “So what will happen to Jack?” Adam asked.

  “He’s going to lockup for the night,” Mac said.

  “Is that really necessary?” Evie looked between her dad and Daisy and Jack.

  Mac frowned. “Watts, take the girls home.”

  Evie turned to Adam. “Will you be okay?”

  “Yeah.” He hugged her.

  “Okay, okay. Let’s go,” Mac said.

  “If you need anything,” Iris said to Adam, “let me know.”

  Adam nodded.

  As they walked to the front door, Iris peeked back at Jack and Daisy. Daisy was rubbing his back, his head resting on her shoulder. She wished there was something she could do to help. They were Adam’s family now, and she didn’t want him to lose them. Why was Evie’s dad so angry with Jack? As far as she could tell, all the evidence pointing to Jack was circumstantial. None of this added up.

  She set her jaw and her CPU. She would help them. As she left Jack’s, she had a determination she hadn’t felt since the last time she was in SIM at Bio-Core.

  16

  Barracuda

  Gage

  Gage couldn’t stop thinking about Iris. The way her violet eyes lit up and the feel of her body next to his in this very room was burned into his brain. She was searing her way through the rest of him too. He covered his face with a pillow, stifling a frustrated groan. Get up.

  He tossed the pillow aside and rolled off the bed. His phone dinged on his bedside table.

  IRIS: Jack is in trouble. I might be able to help. Can you come get me?

  Gage knew there was a nasty feud between Sheriff Grayson and Jack White. If drugs were involved with the incident at Jack’s, Grayson would have been out for blood. He typed his response, Aren’t you supposed to be working on the fashion show?

  IRIS: I can’t think about that right now. Three bubbles appeared. Well, I can, but I want to help Jack first.

  GAGE: Okay. What kind of trouble is he in?

  IRIS: He’s in jail.

  Gage sighed. Daisy must be a wreck.

  GAGE: That sucks. Let me get a quick shower and I’ll pick you up?

  IRIS: Thanks.

  Gage put his phone down. He didn’t know why Iris was so dead-set on helping Jack, but he would help out any way he could.

  He pulled up in front of the Grayson house at a quarter past nine and yawned. Iris was standing on the porch in a puffy white coat. She bounded down the walkway. She must have been watching out the window for him. His heart skipped a beat or two, anticipating her nearness. She slid into the front seat next to him, her body like a live wire, alert and ready. Huh. She must be a morning person.

  “Thank you for coming to get me,” she said.

  He leaned across the center console and kissed her.

  “Any time,” he said against her lips.

  She smiled at him in that perfect way she always did.

  He sat back. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Plan? Oh,” she said, as if suddenly remembering why she asked him to pick her up in the first place. “I need you to take me to the group of boys that were at Jack’s. They are the ones that said Jack was responsible.”

  “And how are we supposed to find them?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “That’s easy. I hacked into the Ashwater PD this morning. I have their addresses.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a silly question. Of course she was.

  “Yes.” Iris looked out the windshield, putting her seatbelt on. “We’d better get going. I think we should start with Mike Brewer. He lives in an apartment on the other side of town. I’m sending the address to your phone so you can map it.” She typed on her phone making his phone, mounted on the dash, ding. She nodded, expectantly.

  “I don’t think this is the right thing to do. I mean, what exactly do you think is going to happen when we question this guy?” Gage rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I think I can get him to tell the truth.”

  “I don’t know.” He didn’t doubt that, but she was supposed to be staying under
the radar. The last thing they needed was someone finding out where she came from.

  “Please?” She turned to face him. “I know I can help Jack. After everything that Adam has done for me, it’s the least I can do.”

  Gage swallowed hard. This was a mistake, probably a huge one, but he couldn’t say no to her. He tapped a few times on his phone and put the car into drive. “I’m probably going to regret this, but okay.”

  Iris smiled and faced the road ahead.

  The sun was still rising over the mountains in the east, creating a glare on the windshield as they pulled into Mike Brewer’s apartment complex twenty minutes later. They made their way up to the second floor of one of the buildings and stopped outside the apartment Iris claimed was his. She took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock.

  He grabbed her arm before she made contact. “Hang on a second. What are you planning to say?”

  “I’m going to start with hello.”

  “And then?”

  She stared at his hand on her wrist. “I’m going to ask him what happened last night.”

  “Okay.” He let her go and took a deep breath. “I got your back.”

  “And I’ve got yours,” she said before knocking.

  They waited a few minutes, and she knocked again. They could hear music and someone moving around inside. Then footsteps coming closer. There was a peephole in the door, and he sensed whoever inside looking through it. He glanced at Iris.

  The door opened a few inches, and a pair of slit eyes met his. “What do ya want?”

  Iris pushed in front of him. “Hi. My name is Iris. That’s Gage. Are you Mike Brewer?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I’m very sorry to have bothered you so early, but this is very important. Could I have five minutes of your time?”

  Wow. He’d never heard her be so polite and…sweet?

  The guy, presumably Mike, opened the door a little further. He had on a pair of worn jeans with no shirt or shoes. His hair was a dark, tangled mess. He looked like he had one hell of a hangover. “What’s this about?”

  Iris put her hand on the door and moved inside his apartment. “I’m actually a friend of Shane’s. I heard what happened last night.”

  “Oh, right,” he said, moving aside to let them inside.

  Gage covered his mouth. The place stank. Like, body odor and urine had a baby and that baby was living in this apartment. Iris was unfazed.

  “Are you alone?” She glanced around, making Gage wonder how much of the perusal was curiosity and what was part of her innate training.

  Mike smiled. A few of his teeth were black, and one was missing. It made him look much older than he first appeared. He walked over to a stereo and turned up the volume of the music playing. His eyes travelled the length of Iris, making Gage’s skin crawl. “No, but I don’t think she’d mind if you joined.”

  Gage set his jaw and took a step forward, but Iris moved between them.

  “You got a problem, kid?” Mike stared at Gage, his eyes reading just south of crazy.

  Gage didn’t like his tone or that he called him kid. He was about to say as much when the door opened again and four guys walked in behind him, laughing. Gage turned to face them and knew instantly they were in trouble. They were baked like Mike, but they had the numbers. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as his body readied for a fight.

  Mike spoke first, “Hey, guys, these two stopped by to talk about what happened to Shane last night.”

  “Oh yeah?” The guy in front walked over to a table to the right and slung down a large brown paper bag. His gaze also trailed up and down Iris’s body.

  Mike nodded. “Yeah, she’s cool, but the kid’s being a dick.”

  The gang of guys were slowly moving into a circle with Gage and Iris at the center. They meant to fight. Gage opened his mouth to try to neutralize the situation, but Iris beat him to it,

  “Hi, I’m Iris,” she said. “This is Gage. As Mike said, we are here to talk about Shane. We want to know what he was on and who sold it to him.”

  “We already told the cops everything,” the guy by the table said.

  “And who are you?” Iris asked.

  He smiled, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it over the back of a chair. Oh no. He was a tank. “I’m your next wet dream, baby.”

  Gage’s stomach dropped, and his skin prickled. This was a huge mistake. He could feel the three other guys bearing down on him from behind. They could attack at any time, and he’d have no chance.

  Mike growled. “Hey, she’s here to see me, not you.”

  “Good one.” The tank laughed.

  Iris shook her head and faced Mike. “Look, enough. What drug was Shane on, and who gave it to him?”

  “What are you willing to offer for the information?” Mike moved closer to Iris.

  “Answer my question,” she said evenly.

  The tank came up from behind Iris and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her. Gage moved to help, but two sets of arms grabbed his and held him where he was.

  “Get off me,” Gage yelled, struggling.

  The tank held Iris steady while Mike approached her.

  “You’re not in charge here, little girl. I am.” Mike raised his hand across his body and backhanded her across her face.

  “Iris!” Gage fought against the guys holding him.

  Her head lolled to the side. When she raised her head back up, she glanced at Gage. Her cheek was darkening, and there was fire in her eyes like he’d never seen. The stereo changed to static, and settled on the unmistakable guitar riff of “Barracuda” by Heart.

  Oh shit.

  Iris threw back her head, smashing it into Tank’s face, blood pouring from his nose like a geyser.

  “Christ!” He released her to cradle his face.

  She launched herself at Mike, pinning his arm behind his back and slamming his head into a wall. He staggered and swung at her. She ducked and connected with his jaw with such force that he spun back into the wall and fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

  Tank recovered and reached to subdue her again. “You bitch!”

  Iris deflected his fist and punched him in the kidney area.

  He bellowed in pain.

  Before he had a chance to turn toward her again, she planted her feet and punched him in the gut so hard that he flew off his feet and crashed into a table, falling to the floor, unmoving. She turned back around to face a third guy. She waved her hand at him to come toward her. He made a move for her, but before he could get in range, she twisted her body for momentum and kicked him in the face, sending him across the room. He landed with a thud.

  “Holy shit. Was that a roundhouse?” one of the guys holding Gage asked.

  Gage’s heart was in his throat. “Yeah.”

  “Where does a girl that looks like that learn to fight?”

  “Canada,” was all Gage could offer.

  Iris walked over to them, her eyes steely. “Let go of him.”

  The grip on his arms loosened. He wriggled free and turned to face them, ready to fight.

  She lowered his hands. “I’ve got this.”

  Gage glanced between her and the carnage on the other side of the room and nodded. Clearly.

  Iris advanced toward them, and they put their hands up in submission. The pair looked like they hadn’t seen a day without weed in a very long time.

  “Look, we don’t want any trouble,” one said. The other nodded.

  “Good. Neither do we. What are your names?” she asked.

  “I’m Mitch, and this is Jesse,” the talkative one said, pointing to the other.

  She nodded. “You were both at Jack’s last night.”

  “How’d you know that?” Mitch asked.

  Gage interceded, “Doesn’t matter. What did Shane overdose on?”

  “I seriously don’t know.” Mitch shrugged. “The only thing we had was some pot.”

  “Where did you get it from?” Iris
narrowed her eyes.

  “Like we told the cops, Jack White.” Mitch shifted from side to side, his eyes darting everywhere but her.

  “Think very carefully about how you answer my next question.” Iris took a step forward. “Where did you get the drugs from?”

  Mitch glanced at Jesse, who was sweating profusely. He sighed. “Fine. We didn’t exactly buy it from Jack. We stole it.”

  “Of course.” Gage groaned and put his hands on his hips. That’s why they told the cops they got the drugs from Jack.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” Mitch said.

  “Sorry?” Iris cocked her head and took another step forward. “A man spent the night in jail because of you and your friends.”

  “Whoa.” Mitch held up his hands. “Look, maybe we can help. Me and Jesse mostly stick to weed, but Shane and the other guys are much more adventurous.” He looked past Iris to the floor. “Maybe Mike knows what he was on.”

  “You watch them,” Iris said to Gage. Then she walked back over to Mike’s still, slumped body on the carpeted floor. She shook him, and he moaned, rolling over.

  “Christ, my head,” he said.

  “There’s more where that came from unless you tell me what Shane was on last night.”

  Mike shook his head and backed up into a sitting position against the wall. “You are one crazy bitch.”

  “I don’t like your tone.” Iris grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up against the wall.

  “Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in the air, the fear in his eyes palpable. “I don’t know what he was on. He got a sample from a new dealer in Highmore.”

  “What new dealer?” Iris leaned into him.

  “Please. I don’t know. I never met up with him, and Shane never said.”

  Iris sighed and dropped him. She walked over to the door and looked back at Gage. “You ready?”

  Tank moaned, starting to come around.

  That was more than enough for Gage to want out. “Yep, let’s go.”

  He followed Iris down the steps and back to his car. Gage threw it in reverse and floored it out of the apartment complex. Once they were a good distance away, he pulled to the side of the road, put the car in park, and gripped the steering wheel. His heart was still racing.