Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yeah, you do, and you’re a good buddy.”
“You’ve helped me when you didn’t have to. I owed you.”
“Mateo, you don’t owe me jack shit, okay. This is a friendship, and if it makes you feel any better, I will tell you straight, friends do shit for each other all the time.”
“Even crazy shit that gets them beat up?”
“Even that kind. You can’t let this affect you. I knew what I signed up for.” Fred sighed. “Please tell me that I can do some digging?” Fred turned away from the birds in the lake to look at me.
“It’s not viable. I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Fine. What if I tell you that one night after a bad session where my leg was giving me pain and I was a stubborn bastard who refused to take pills, I happened to stumble onto something … interesting.”
I folded my arms as I looked at Fred. “Well, if your curious mind is what drove you to do something like that. I wasn’t there to stop you and I didn’t ask questions.”
“I feel like we’re in some fucking spy movie. Okay, I did some digging, of my own accord. Someone attacked me in my own room, and I didn’t see it coming. I lock my shit down tight. You know that.” He reached into his jacket pocket and handed me a USB drive. “That is what I’ve found so far. It’s kind of blurry, but I’ve matched the details with everything I know. No one would believe me when I told them it was Coach Bilson who attacked me. I know it was him. I would recognize his voice anywhere. The cops and the principal said Coach Bilson had an alibi. They couldn’t do anything without proof. I had to find it.”
“How long have you had this?” I asked.
“Since last night. I was … let’s just say I’m tired of having to sneak around. Shit needs to be done, and I’ve got the means to do it. I’m guessing my beatdown had a lot to do with the info I could find. Let me know if it’s any good. But I’m not crazy. I know it was Coach Bilson, and there is your proof.”
I stared at the USB drive. This could be the start of … something.
“What about the library?” I asked.
Fred sighed. “It was the first place I went to. Nothing so far. It looks like something went wrong with the security footage in that area. I know, it’s crazy. I’ll figure something out, but I’m going to find what you need, Mateo. Please trust me on this.”
“Don’t do anything that will get you killed.”
“Already on it.” Fred tightened his grip on the crutches. “Tell Sian I said hello.”
“I will.”
“How is she doing?” he asked.
“Not much better. It’s … tough.”
“I can imagine. Heather was a nice girl. Sweet. Kind. Smart. She gave me a run for my money, that was for sure.” He smiled.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You do know Heather was also a computer genius, right? She knew her way around a lot of systems. She’d have been able to crack half the shit you knew sooner.”
A car pulled up, and I moved into the shadows as Fred got to his driver. He looked back, and with a nod of his head, he climbed into the car.
Heather and computers.
Holding the USB key in my hand, I kept a tight grip on it as I went back to my car. I made a quick call to Dante to have them come to my place and immediately.
I gripped the steering wheel and drove home. There were no cars in the driveway. My mother was on one of her many cruises. She liked to escape the burden of being married to my father, not that I could blame her.
Knowing he was in love with another woman must be hard to live with. At least it explained why she had so many lovers and had no problem flaunting them in front of him.
I parked my car and headed inside, going to my bedroom to grab my laptop.
On my way downstairs, Sian, Dante, Gideon, and William came inside.
“What was the hurry?” Gideon asked.
I urged them into the dining room. After putting my laptop down, I fired it up and inserted the USB drive. Fred had done this for me so many times and explained it clear enough for me to know how to do this.
There was a single file. Opening the file, I brought up several pictures, including a video.
“This is Fred’s room when he was attacked,” he said.
I was aware of Fred’s paranoia and why he installed his own security system. When I arrived, he wiped it clean or stopped recording.
The video was nearly three hours long, and it started with Fred sitting at the computer, typing, randomly talking.