Page 48 of On The Run

Finally, I gave in and looked up at him. “What?” I knew I was being snappy and an asshole, but I didn’t have it in me to be anything else right now. All the kindness I had left was being directed toward Gray, and I didn’t have a drop to spare for anyone else, even if they didn’t deserve my attitude.

“You know killing yourself isn’t going to help him, right?” He jerked his head toward the laptop. “Do you even know what you’re looking for?”

I shrugged because honestly, I had no idea. Laura had been helping me search for any sign of where Aiden could be, but we’d been drawing blanks everywhere. He really was a ghost. “No, but what else can I do? I need to find him, B. I fucking promised.”

Bronx pursed his lips. He was quiet for a while, but I was used to it. I knew he was gathering his thoughts and would speak when he was ready. Before he uttered a word, he grabbed the water bottle and opened it for me. “Drink.” I glared at him but still took the water, letting it coat my dry throat.When was the last time I had any?

“We will find him, Max, but this isn’t the way. I know the cops can’t do anything, but what about a private detective? I have a buddy that can possibly help.”

I leaned back in the chair, considering the idea. I could just imagine how much Aiden would hate it—having a stranger dig through his life—but what was the alternative? He needed help, and I wasn’t skilled enough to find him on my own.

“Yeah, maybe you should call him.” Bronx squeezed my arm, but I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t imagine what I must look like right now: a shell of myself, reduced to nothing but scraps by a man who wouldn’t reveal anything about his past.

“We’ll find them, Max.”

I just nodded, unable to answer. I knew the statistics. I knew the first 48 hours were crucial in missing persons cases, we were already 96 hours in, and no one but me was fucking looking.

Finally, Bronx sighed deeply and stood up. I didn’t know what I was going to do when he left. Bronx took some time off work and had been staying with me for the last four days, but obviously, as time went on, he’d eventually have to go on with his life. So would I. I couldn’t stay on leave forever, and I couldn’t keep pawning Gray off on my parents and sister. I promised Aiden I’d search the ends of the Earth for him, and I wanted nothing more than to keep that promise, but I just didn’t know how.

“I’m gonna go crash. Please eat your sandwich and try to get some sleep.” Bronx was attempting the stern parent voice, even if we both knew it didn’t work. Usually, the roles were reversed and I was the responsible one, the voice of reason. It went against the grain to listen to Bronx like that. My only answer was a grunt, but Bronx accepted it before leaving. He was sleeping in the guest room, but he may as well have been in my room in the king-size bed, on the more comfortable mattress, since I kept crashing in here.

I watched my best friend walk out of the room and swallowed down the guilt. He was way too good to me. Everyone was. Just like when I first learned about Gray, I was isolating myself, pushing everyone away. And just like with Gray, Bronx was refusing to listen. I didn’t know how I got so lucky to have a friend like that, and no matter what I did, I’d never earn him.

It was guilt that led me to eat the sandwich. Bronx wasn’t exactly known for his cooking, but I appreciated the effort and wouldn’t let it go to waste, even if it was sitting like a lump in my stomach.

I picked up my phone, and without really thinking about it, I pulled up my Spotify app. Right there on the home screen, the very first thing on the Recently Played tab, was the playlist Aiden made for me, more proof that Aiden existed when I began to doubt it. I clicked on it and scrolled through the songs, a slight smile on my face. I didn’t know how one person could have such an impact on my life in such a short time, but Aiden managed it. He completely rearranged everything I thought I knew about love and relationships and showed me just how much one person could consume you. Because I was consumed by Aiden Sewell, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

I scrolled to the top of the playlist, smiling at the title:Max’s reeducation on actually good music playlist.Under it was a small icon with a picture of a guitar, and next to it was Aiden’s name. Clicking on it, I realized it was all of the playlists that Aiden created on Spotify. There were only two, the one he played for me and another titledSage (for Max). What is this? Who or what is Sage?I didn’t know what else to do, so of course I clicked on it.

There was nothing overly suspicious about it. It looked like every one I’d ever seen on Spotify in the past. That was, until I looked at the songs.What are these songs?They were so random and not at all the kind of music Aiden typically listened to. Why would he make this a playlist? Was it some kind of joke? Somehow, that just didn’t seem right to me.

Digging in the desk drawer, I pulled out a notepad and pen and began writing all the titles down in the order they were listed. I knew I was staring at them on the screen, but sometimes I needed to see things handwritten for it to totally click. I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed important for me to understand this.

Once I was done, I stared at the list, trying to decipher it. I’d always been good with patterns and riddles, but sleep deprivation and worry were making my brain fuzzy. I read over the titles again.

Eight Second Ride - Jake Owen

2step - Ed Sheeran

One – Three Dog Night

Seven Nation Army – The White Stripes

3AM - Matchbox Twenty

Eight Days a Week - The Beatles

Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Mambo No. 5 – Lou Bega

It's Five O'clock Somewhere- Jimmy Buffet and Alan Jackson

Love Potion Number 9 – The Searchers

And then it clicked. Every one of these songs had a number in it. Ten songs. Ten numbers. What had ten numbers?

The answer was obvious. A phone number was ten numbers long. Was that what this was? Did Aiden hide a phone number for me through code in a Spotify playlist? If so, why? Whose phone number was it? Why would Aiden go through the trouble of making this and when? Did he know something was going to happen? Did he leave voluntarily?

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