Page 27 of Mine to Keep

“Nick,” he whispered and I peeked over my shoulder. There wasn’t a single person in the room. I gently pushed him out of the way so I could put the coffee pot on the burner.

“Why are you whispering?”

He handed me his cell phone. I placed my mug down and took it. It was a text from Matt.

Hey, JJ, sorry I won’t be able to come there today. Another therapist named Darnell who I trust and is aware of your routine will come by to do yoga and some massage. If that’s a problem, let me know.

JJ responded:Are you ok?

I saw there was a two-minute break and then,I’m fine.

“Something happened, Nick, I feel it in my bones.”

“When is this Darnell guy supposed to be here?”

JJ looked at the clock. “Like half an hour.”

“Okay, you do your therapy thing and see what you can get from that guy.”

JJ nodded. “And what are you going to do?”

I winked. “What I do best, sneak around the wires.”

JJ stared at my coffee on the counter. “I’m worried, Nick.”

I was too, but I didn’t want to say that to JJ when he was all up in his feels. I patted his shoulder and put on my best smile.

“We got him, JJ. After your therapy, meet up with me, and we’ll see where we’re at.”

“Yeah.”

I went to my room and immediately hacked into Matt’s Ring. I didn’t know what Matt had adjusted his erase time as, but it had to be at least thirty days. I only needed to go as far as Friday afternoon. Something had happened in that time.

I watched as he got home Friday, leaving shortly afterward with his messenger bag. Then he returned and had a conversation with his landlord. The next time he left his apartment was Sunday morning.

A few people passed his door but never stopped. Mostly it was his landlords and an older lady. He went out with reusable bags in hand, and I assumed he was going food shopping. I kept watching. Nicole exited her apartment, stared at Matt’s door, but didn’t knock. A couple of hours later, Matt came home with groceries.

Nothing appeared out of sorts. A man came to his door at about six and knocked. I’d seen him before. He was very good-looking with deep dark skin, hair cut close to the scalp, brown eyes, and when he laughed it only enhanced his handsomeness. This was Darnell. The man coming today.

As I watched further, I saw that Darnell never left the apartment until Monday morning, bag in hand. Matt was in view, and he said thanks to Darnell and shut the door.

“What the fuck am I missing?”

I dug into the CCTV cameras that faced Matt’s fire escape and rewound them back to Friday and watched. Nothing.

“Shit.”

I had promised Noel, but I’d also told JJ we’d help Matt. I knew I’d get reamed out, but I went one step farther and hacked into the garage cameras to Matt’s complex. It was trickier than I’d thought it would be, but eventually I did it.

I scanned all the screens, stopping as soon as I saw Matt’s car arriving Friday, leaving, and returning. Nothing happened for the rest of the night. However, Saturday afternoon, someone in a hoodie and black pants, their head dipped as if they knew there were cameras and didn’t want to be seen, placed a note on Matt’s windshield.

“Motherfucker.”

Sunday, Matt went down and saw it. There was no hiding the fear in his body language. He took a picture of the note and got into his car and drove away.

I saw him return with the grocery bags, and nothing happened following his return.

I tried to get a good angle of the stranger who’d left the note but they never looked up, not once. So, they were aware of the cameras and the building. I couldn’t discount them being an amateur, but they did know Matt’s comings and goings, and how to stay hidden.

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