Page 22 of Zen's Crash

“I did her stupid little digital security training, and she gave it back. Now, she thinks I was lying about my computer skills to impress her because she’s into the same kinds of things I am.”

Evan is mature for his age. I can tell by how he handles tough situations, like the one I currently find myself in. “It hurts when the girl you like doesn’t respect you. I know that feeling firsthand.”

“Lexi isn’t my girl. She’s way too young for me. The problem is, I still think she might be involved in stealing my sister’s money. Lexi frequents that same chatroom, took crypto from me without a second thought, and it’s possible she only gave it back because I confronted her about my sister’s missing crypto. I mean, any sane person who was confronted about stealing in a biker clubhouse would do anything to get out in one piece, right?”

Evan sighs, “I don’t know much about solving digital crimes. But as you already know, my parents spent a lot of time looking for missing kids. I remember them talking about how hard it isnot to get misdirected by things that seem to be clues but turn out to be unrelated to the case.”

I grab my chin, rubbing both sides of my jaw at the same time. “Yeah, she might not be involved in my sister’s case at all. But I need to rule her out all the same.”

“Maybe using crypto for bait wasn’t such a hot idea. I think a lot of people in that group who had nothing to do with your sister’s case would have taken the money. You had your passcode visible, and it must have felt like walking down the sidewalk and seeing a pile of money lying there.”

“Maybe, I was just offering low hanging fruit and hoping it would yield results? I guess I got the wrong results.”

“Looks like you need a new plan,” Evan says with another sigh.

“Yeah. At least now I know who ChaosCrone is, I can do a deep dive on her, so ruling Lexi out should be easy. But then I need to find out who really took my sister’s crypto.”

Evan pushes up from the stool to leave. “Good luck with that impossible quest. If you need anything from me, just let me know.”

“I will. Thanks for not being pissed about your girl having to leave tonight.”

“That kind of sucked. I understand she can’t be here if she’s bringing thieves and grifters into the clubhouse. Am I allowed to talk to her about this or should I tell her it’s club business?”

My crafty mind shifts into high gear. “No, by all means, talk to her about it. If she mentions anything that might have abearing on the case let me know. Like if she mentions that Lexi has stolen before or if she bought a new sports car or something relevant, you know?”

“Sure, as long as you understand that Kayla isn’t into anything illegal. She’s not like that.”

“I don’t have any reason to suspect she is. If anything, maybe she’s too trusting of her friends.”

“I’ll be sure to warn her about that. Good luck again. I’ll catch you later.”

When Evan leaves and shuts the door behind him, I look down at my cellphone resting on the desk. It occurs to me that I have an advantage over the woman who may or may not have stolen a large chunk of crypto from my sister and now thinks I’m a braggart with no digital skills. That advantage is I have the file she sent with all the information on her father’s murder. That will include her full name, address, and other identifying information. I also know her screen name, ChaosCrone. She doesn’t know much about me—not my real name or anything that hints to my online identity. I can continue using the screenname Architect to engage with her and get to know her.

A little voice in the back of my head whispers one very dirty word,stalking. It’s not stalking if it’s for the greater good. It’s investigating. I’m not a festering turd, so I realize that some small part of me doesn’t want to give her up. On the off chance that she’s innocent, I want to get to know her personally. I know that I told Evan that Lexi’s too young for me and that’s partially true—I’m almost ten years older. But at the same time, Lexi comes closer than anyone I’ve ever met to fitting into my life and really understanding me because we have this huge, sharedinterest. It’s hard to resist the idea of seeing how compatible we are for a romantic relationship.

If I’m being honest with myself, either way, I want to prove myself to her. Like Evan said it sucks when the woman you’re kind of interested in doesn’t respect you. When he said that, I felt it in my soul.

As I open up the file she sent, I decide that finding my sister’s crypto will be priority number one, and finding the person who killed Lexi’s father will be priority number two. Almost as soon as the thought fully forms in my mind, images of the crime scene come up on my phone. It’s a gruesome scene, one that sends a chill down my spine.

I remember what Lexi told me about the killer wanting her. Panic immediately rises in my gut as I keep flipping through the crime scene images. What if he comes back? I can’t deprioritize her safety in favor of searching for my sister’s stolen crypto. If I did and something happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.

I grab my cell and send a text to our club officers, informing them of what’s going on and asking for round-the-clock protection for Lexi. I know she won’t like my club brothers hanging around her house, but she needs the protection. I make it clear that this isn’t a job for prospects because it involves a vicious killer circling back around for a second victim. Of course they leap into action. Siege sets up a meeting for the morning, and arranges for three of my club brothers to keep watch on her house tonight. I pull her address out of the police file and send it to my club president.

Then I text Evan to come back.

When he pops his head in the door, I motion him in.

“I knew you would eventually need me, ‘cause everyone always does,” he teases. “I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“This is serious. I just opened the police file on Lexi’s father’s murder.”

“Shit. That is serious,” Evan says as he plops down on the stool again.

“I wanted to warn you because your girl is a close associate of Lexi.”

“That all happened almost a year ago.”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing. The killer found a picture of Lexi and her dad. Lexi said the system her dad set up had visuals but no audio. She could see him pointing to her in the picture and asking her dad questions. When her dad glanced at one of the security cameras, the intruder realized she was watching. He walked up to the camera and gestured that he wanted to trade her for her father.”

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