“Do you know if she took anything?” I was trying to be subtle, though my brother could probably guess that I was talking about drugs. His curious ears hadn’t missed a moment of the exchange between me and Xavier.
“Man, what do you think? That I spent my night stalking some jailbait? Besides, I know she’s your sister, and I have no desire to end up like Carter Nelson.” He lifted his hands in the air as though surrendering to emphasize his point. “I prefer my women a bit more…mature.” He grinned mischievously, leering at Alyssa, who looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty. Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulders, marking his territory.
We were just wasting more precious time.
“Let’s get out of here, Logan,” I told my brother, walking past Xavier.
“Do you want help looking for her?” Xavier asked, drawing our attention back to him.
“And why exactly would you help me look for her?” I narrowed my eyes at him, examining him intently.
“You know that the two of us are good at dealing with shit.” He shrugged, and my brother immediately began shaking his head in agitation.
“Neil, no! He can’t come with us. No way! Fuck’s sake!” Logan exclaimed, staring indignantly at Xavier.
“Afraid I’m gonna cop a feel of your little baby doll?” Xavier answered provokingly, and Logan moved toward him, but I stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“Give it a rest, Xavier, or I am going to lose my cool,” I warned him sternly, and he grew serious as he realized I wasn’t kidding around.
“Neil, I don’t trust him,” Logan whispered into my ear, and I thought about it.
“Unclench, princess. All I’m going to do is lend a hand.” He walked past us, unruffled, and I followed him out of the room.
“Quit looking at him,” Logan snapped at his girlfriend as we all followed Xavier down the stairs, out the door, and into my car. I had no idea where we were going to go, but then my phone rang.
I pulled it out of my pants pocket and saw an unknown number. Logan leaned over my shoulder giving me a concerned look. We were both thinking the same thing. I answered the call and…
“Neil.” The person on the other end spoke through some sort of voice changer so I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman. I nodded to Logan, confirming our shared suspicions, and he went white.
It really was Player 2511.
“I knew you had something to do with this, you son of a bitch. Where’s Chloe?”
“Ah, kids. They are a magnificent enigma,” Player answered delightedly, and my right hand began to shake. I clenched it into a fist so I wouldn’t lose control.
“Tell me where she is.”
“But that would be too easy, don’t you think?”
I snorted and shot another look at Logan, Alyssa now clinging to his arm.
“Shape, color, magic, GYR9391. Solve the riddle inside an hour if youwant little Chloe to survive.” I was surprised to hear him spit out another puzzle, and I hastened to memorize it, repeating it over and over in my mind as the psycho on the other end of the phone hung up without another word.
“It was Player,” I confirmed to Logan when he looked inquiringly at me.
“What did he say?”
“He gave me another riddle to solve,” I told him, recounting Player’s exact words.
“What the hell does that mean?” He frowned in confusion.
“I have no idea. And we only have an hour to find her.” The thought of something happening to my sister made me shake with rage.
Alyssa quickly jotted down the puzzle while I apprised her and Xavier of the whole Player situation.
“So you’re telling me that some asshole in a mask is sending you these nutty riddles and threatening your family?” The most unhinged member of the Krew asked incredulously as he smoked in the passenger seat.
“That is more or less correct,” I answered, starting the engine, although I had even less of an idea where to go now. One hour. Our time was running out.
