Page 10 of The Ones We Fight For

“Has he ever logged into his email on your laptop?” Talia asked, bending the corner of a page in her book to mark her spot and setting it to the side.

Walker yanked his computer from his bag and flipped it open. “This used to be his laptop before his parents bought him a new one. I got all the hand-me-ups when my brother’s kids were done with them.”

“Okay.” Talia nodded and rose from her chair, moving around the table to sit beside him.

Walker stiffened at her close proximity. His throat felt dry, and he barely allowed a shallow breath to escape his lips, as if the sound of him breathing alone could set her off. It was best to avoid a Norman Bates in Psycho situation. There weren’t any knives or showers in the vicinity, but Talia’s book looked heavy enough to wield as a weapon. If any of them were ending up in the shower, he hoped it would be her.

Releasing the reins of control, he slid the laptop in front of Talia. His bicep brushed her chest on the way over, and he pulled his arm back before the prolonged contact became too much. She glanced at him, but, to his relief, didn’t mention it as she stroked her finger over the mousepad and clicked around until she found what she was looking for.

“I assume Ladykillercarter02 isn’t you?”

“Jesus Christ,” Walker muttered, shaking his head in confirmation that no, he was not planning on killing the lady game anytime soon.

“Luckily, he left his password saved, otherwise you’d probably have to guess or login to whatever one he uses at home to track him from there. I do know how to hack it, but it would take me a while.” Talia hit the enter key dramatically.

“You know how to hack computers? Isn’t that illegal?” Walker set his mouth in a flat line.

“I get the drive to do illegal shit from my dad,” Talia said offhandedly, then bit back her lip. “Sorry… that was a bad joke. I was a bit of a hacktivist in college. My dad has nothing to do with that, I was just trying to be funny.”

“No, actually…” Walker chuckled lightly. “I like dark humor. Deflecting is a hobby of mine.”

“Healthy,” Talia noted, then pointed to the map on the screen. “He’s on the corner of 5th and Pine.”

Walker’s face fell, and his blood went cold.

“Is that place significant?”

The laptop slammed shut. Walker snatched it off the table and crammed it into his bag. He should have guessed Carter's location from the get-go, but he hadn’t realized just how much his nephew wanted to indulge in his misery. His feet pounding the floor, Walker only made it halfway to the door before he felt a hand on his arm. It felt like volts of electricity shooting through his body, even through the thick material of his jacket. He knew it was Talia.

“What?” he ground out.

Talia swallowed and dropped her hand, her eyes revealing an edge of panic. “Is he okay? Is your nephew okay? I need to—”

“He’s fine,” Walker sighed. “You honestly don’t know the place he’s at?”

“I haven’t been here since I was seven, so I don’t really know my way around yet. What’s on 5th and Pine?” Her face lacked evidence of any knowledge, and her caring expression seemed authentic enough, but Walker wasn’t in the mood to explain semantics.

“It’s where his parents died,” he replied hastily, turning to walk out the door. Talia didn’t say anything further as Walker pushed through the exit, and he didn’t hear her shoes clack against the wood floor back to her table. He wondered how long she stood in that same spot, watching him leave.

???

Sure enough, Walker found Carter sitting on the curb with his feet planted in the bike lane, staring blankly at the busy road. The Pine street intersection was a high-traffic area. It was similar to a highway, with a speed limit of fifty miles per hour. If you were on 5th, the speed limit was only twenty-five. The stoplight was added as a result of one too many accidents from people pulling onto the main road from the side street. Unfortunately, reaction time to a red light is a little delayed if you’re several drinks in, or, in Jeff Cohen’s case, very delayed.

Walker had sat on the same curb watching the lights turn a few times since the accident. If he could, he would go back in time and switch his brother’s green light to red and Cohen’s to green, allowing the man to sail through without harming anyone.

“Hey,” was all Carter said when Walker pulled up to the curb next to him.

“Hey.” Walker unlocked the door and waved Carter forward.

Carter climbed into the passenger seat wordlessly. The kid wasn’t much of a fighter, even despite his rebellious streak. When the jig was up, Carter knew it, just as Walker had when he was younger and Cole had caught him doing something stupid.

Walker waited until they were back on the main road, headed in the direction of the house, before he spoke again. “You know I’m not one to judge anyone’s life choices, but—”

“I know.” Carter sighed.

“Running around town searching for you and asking a woman I dislike immensely to assist me in tracking your phone was not at the top of my list of things to do today.”

“Was she hot?” Carter inquired.

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