“Of course. But my little hitchhiker is there, hiding in plain sight. Well, hiding in code, but you get my point.”
Zach shrugged.
“I have no idea if I even understand that much, but okay. So now you can see everything on my phone?”
Slade smirked.
“I can, but don’t worry. I won’t snoop. Your porn search history is safe.”
Zach burst out laughing. I looked for embarrassment in his reaction or shame or anything, but there was none. That was good because I would have turned beet red if I knew Slade could look into my search history on PornHub.
“Wait a minute. Do you have access to my phone?” I asked him.
Slade frowned and shook his head.
“Of course not. I always ask before I gain access to my friend’s phones. It’s only been necessary on a couple of missions.”
I sighed internally and nodded, turning to Zach.
“Now what?” I asked.
Zach turned to Slade and asked the same thing.
“Now,” Slade said, looking back at Zach. “Now you message him back.”
“What?” Both Zach and I said at the same time.
Slade glanced at us in confusion.
“I thought I explained how this works.”
“Well, yeah but I didn’t expect you to want him to poke the hornet’s nest.”
“That’s the only way to find him.”
“Yeah, but still—” I started when Zach interrupted.
“It’s okay. I’ll do it. It’s not a problem.”
His voice came out tame, meek even. It always did when he talked about Victor.
What did he do to you?
I hadn’t asked him all this time. That was because I could imagine, but seeing him now I wondered if my imagination was wilder than reality or if finding out the truth would be worse.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Zach nodded.
“Wh-what do I say?”
Slade pursed his lips from side to side.
“Anything. You can just say hi?—”
“No. That will encourage him,” I said.
“Or you can say who dis? It doesn’t matter. Anything will work.”
