When the representative got up to get some paper they had printed to the copier, Matthew sprung into action and plugged a thumb drive into the computer. The damage hadbeen done before the representative even had the chance to get back from the copier.
The footage paused and a voice that made my heart skip a beat spoke up. “Matthew is meeting me at my apartment this evening.” Evelyn cleared her throat. “Buddha and Chief will be accompanying me to interrogate him.”
SIXTY-FIVE
EVELYN
“I’ll be there as well,” Kade said with finality in his voice.
“Wai-wait… N–” I stammered before getting cut off by Kade. The look in his eyes told me not to argue with him.
“What time, Evelyn? This is a matter involving RSS.” His voice was void of emotion.
I nodded my head once with understanding. “6:30.”
Kade looked back to the rest of the people in the room. “Continue.” He didn’t need to elaborate.
Ollie was the next person to speak up as she took the remote from Lennie. “In this frame, you can see Matthew take the thumb drive out and replace it with a plastic device that looks like a plug-in for a wireless keyboard. This is the device that was meant to store data that he was looking for. From there, the damage was done.” We knew the rest of the story and how I was able to fix it. I just hoped that Kade didn’t think I had anything to do with my brother’s actions.
I went home early, not feeling well physically and mentally. As soon as I walked in my front door an overwhelming exhaustion took over my entire being. Before I knew it, I was waking up on my couch with Alfredo laying on me and my cell phone ringing in my ear. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and squinted as my phone screen lit up with my brother’s caller ID picture. I pressed the accept button and rubbed one of my eyes with the heel of my hand.
“Hey, Matt. You here?”
“Running a few minutes behind. Tell me you have food.” My brother sounded winded.
“I planned on ordering a pizza. Does that work?”
“Make sure it’s meat-lovers,” he instructed.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I was going to order you a gluten-free pizza with every veggie they have on it.”
Matt was quiet for a moment. “I am not even going to acknowledge that statement with a response,” he finally said, his tone indignant.
I let out a laugh. “I’ll see you soon.” I ended the call and felt my phone vibrate in my hand as a text from Kade came through, letting me know that he, Chief, Buddha, and Machine were downstairs.
I hadn’t seen Machine, but from what Badger told me, he wasn’t in a good place. I was just grateful he was getting out of the house. I couldn't help being slightly annoyed that Kade didn’t give me a heads-up about Machine tagging along, but it seemed a bit trivial to complain about that. I buzzed the men into the building and waited for the Buddha to knock on the door. He reminded me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory when he would do his ritualistic knock.
Knock. Knock. “Phantom.” Knock. Knock. “Oh, Phantom.” Knock. Knock. “Phantom.”
I opened the door and couldn’t even see the light from the hallway due to the four men in front of me blocking it.
I moved out of the way and allowed everyone to filter through. The familiar scent of Kade’s cologne sent shivers down my spine as he walked past me. Buddha was the first to hug me, followed by Chief and then Machine, who pressed a kiss to my cheek. I made eye contact with Kade and rubbed my hands on my thighs. “I’m going to freshen up and order some pizzas. My brother is running a few minutes behind schedule. Help yourself to some beer in the fridge.”
Buddha went searching for Alfredo. I rolled my eyes at my friend’s actions. He would be sorely disappointed when Alfredo wanted nothing to do with him.
Quickly, I ran to my bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face and braced my hands on the counter. Exhaustion was apparent on my face even more than I before. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “You can do this,” I whispered to myself.
The pizza arrived before my brother made his appearance and we ate as we waited for the guest of honor to arrive. After a few bites of a piece of white pizza, I had to take a break when my stomach began to feel unsettled. I needed this interaction to be over.
We cleaned up dinner as best we could. As I finished wiping the table down, I received a notification that someone was trying to buzz into the building. I shooed the men so their presence wouldn’t tip off Matt when he walked through the door.
A few moments later, a knock at the door echoed in the entry area. I opened my apartment door to come face to face with my brother. A warm smile spread on his lips but didn’t quite meet his eyes. He looked older and a little more rigidin his dark-blue jeans and plaid button-up. That smile soon faded as I felt Kade’s presence behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, Kade was in plain view of Matt.
The others followed shortly behind Kade. “We need to talk,” Kade said coolly.
Matt looked at me with hurt and betrayal in his eyes before he looked back at Kade.
“Very well,” Matt responded before walking to the dining area and taking a seat at the table there.
