Chapter 18: Byte

BYTE

After dropping Gabby off at Patch's office for her first day of clinicals with him, I went to the clubhouse and spent the first part of the day trying to find a connection between Lauren and Chad, or whoever the hell he was. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything helpful, and I was beyond frustrated.

I was staring at my laptop and fighting the urge to throw it across the room when my phone rang with Irene's name on the screen. She rarely called, so I answered immediately.

"Hey, Irene. You okay?"

"I'm just fine, but I had an odd encounter I thought you should know about," she said. "The girl Gabby was studying with last week came in for lunch today. When I took her order, she asked about you and Gabby. I told her I hadn't talked to you since the night she met y'all here. She said she was worried because she hadn't been able to get in touch with Gabby. I told her I would give you a call after I tended to a few tables."

"Tell her you couldn't get in touch with me either and leave it at that," I said urgently. "I'll fill you in on the details later, but she's not well, and the police are looking for her."

"Ah, well, that might explain what happened next."

"What? What happened?"

"Some guy came in and they started arguing. They were getting pretty loud. I was about to ask them to quiet down or leave when he grabbed her arm and walked her out of the diner."

"How long ago was this?"

"They left about fifteen minutes ago," she said. "Maybe it was just me, but the whole thing seemed weird."

"It definitely wasn't you," I assured her. "If they come in again, act like you don't know anything's going on and call or text me."

"That won't be hard since I don't know what's going on."

"It's a long story, but the gist of it is Lauren has more or less been stalking Gabby and trying to sabotage her at work and school. We're not sure why, but Gabby filed an official complaint with the police yesterday. They should be arresting her and serving her with a restraining order in the near future," I explained.

"I wish I would've known before I served her," Irene said. "I would've given her soggy fries and spit in her drink."

"You're the best," I laughed.

"That's what I hear," she said. "I've got to get back to work. Behave yourself and take care of Gabby."

"I will," I promised.

As soon as we ended the call, I pulled up Irene's security camera feed and downloaded the clips with Lauren and the male who joined her. From what I could see, Lauren arrived at the diner in a vehicle that was different from what I'd seen her driving before. She parked, went inside, and placed an order. Ten minutes later, a male arrived on foot and entered the diner. He went straight to Lauren's table, where the two began arguing. As Irene said, he grabbed her arm and escorted her from the diner. They walked to her car, where he helped her into the passenger's seat. Then he got into the driver's seat and drove away.

I couldn't say for sure, but I was fairly certain the guy who joined her was the guy who had been posing as Chad. They appeared to be around the same height and weight. Once again, he was wearing a hat, so there wasn't a clear shot of his face. There was, however, a clear view of the license plate number.

My excitement was short-lived. The plates came back registered to a rental car, which had been rented to a John Smith. John Smith paid in cash and put down 123 Main Street as his address.

I sighed in frustration. I hit dead end after dead end when it came to Chad, and it was maddening. And I still couldn't say for sure if he was connected to Lauren. The guy from the diner could be a new player in the game. I had no idea.

I hated not being able to find the information I was looking for, but I hated not having a next step to take even more. Once again, I was at a standstill, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"How was your first day?" I asked when I picked Gabby up.

"Great!" she said with a wide smile. "It's completely different than the office in Cedar Valley. The people are friendlier, and the overall environment is much more upbeat."

"So, you think you'll be happy there?"

"I know I will," she said. "How was your day?"

"Frustrating," I grumbled and told her about Irene's phone call.

"Let me see the videos. I can tell you if it's Chad," she said excitedly.

I handed her my phone. "Pull up the last two videos I saved."

She was quiet for a few beats before she gasped. "That's him."

"You're sure?"

"Completely," she said confidently. "It looks just like him, and that's his hat. Every time I saw him, he was wearing that hat. I've also seen him in that jacket before."

"Call Edge from my phone and put it on speaker."

It rang several times before he answered. "Hello," he said, sounding out of breath.

"Hey, brother. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I couldn't find my phone. What's up?"

"Earlier today, Lauren and an unknown male were in Irene's diner asking about me and Gabby. Gabby just identified him as Chad," I started.

"Got it. I'll head there now," he said.

"What?"

"You want me to have dinner at Irene's in case either one of them comes back, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's exactly right," I said.

He laughed. "Don't sound so surprised. I know how you feel about Irene. And honestly, it's not a hardship. She's hilarious, and her food is fantastic."

"Thanks, man. Let me know if anything happens."

"Will do," he said and ended the call.

Gabby was quiet for the rest of the drive to my house. It was a comfortable silence, so I didn't realize she had something on her mind until we sat down to have dinner.

"Will you tell me about Irene?" Gabby asked.

"I'm not sure what you mean," I hedged. I had a feeling I knew exactly what she meant, but there was only so much I could tell her. And I hated that. The lie I was living had never been an issue until I met Gabby. Lying to everyone else was easy, but I didn't want to lie to her.

"You said she was the first person you met when you moved to Cedar Valley, and she's like a crazy aunt. But she's more than that, isn't she?"

"She is," I said and blew out a slow breath. "I told you my mom died when I was eighteen. What I didn't tell you was that I left town the very next day. I had my laptop, a few changes of clothes, and very little money. After spending almost an entire day on a bus, Irene's diner was the first place I went. She took one look at me and knew I needed help. Help I didn't even know to ask for. She gave me a job and a place to live. At first, I thought she felt sorry for me, but that wasn't the case at all. She'd recently lost her husband, and she didn't have any other family. She said her lonely soul recognized the loneliness in mine. Well, she didn't tell me that part until years later."

"So, she claimed you as her family?"

"That's exactly what she did. She made sure I had food and let me wash my clothes at her house. She taught me how to survive on my own, but stood by me so I didn't have to. Then she introduced me to the Blackwings."

"She knows the club?"

"Yes, and no. They stopped by the diner from time to time. One particular day, she overheard Phoenix talking about upgrading the computers at the clubhouse and switching to wireless internet access. She told him she knew someone who could help and pulled me from the kitchen to introduce me. I started prospecting two weeks later."

"Well," she said and got up to take my plate, "I'm glad you found her."

"Me, too."

Gabby found me in the living room with my feet on the coffee table and my laptop in my lap.

"Did they give you any trouble?" I asked.

"Henny and Penny? No. Lenny? Yes," she said.

"She was like that with me at first. I'm not sure what kind of situation they came from, but she takes longer to warm up to new people than the others do," I said and continued typing.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm emailing the video clips to Detective Hayes and making sure he knows about the other police reports we filed. I don't think we mentioned those during the meeting since we didn't realize there was a connection between Chad and Lauren," I said and clicked send before closing my laptop. "And now I'm finished."

"Have you heard from Edge?" she asked.

"No, but I can call him and check in if you want."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

I took a moment and studied her face. "Are you worried?"

"A little," she said shakily, and inhaled deeply. "I don't want to be the reason something happens to your family. I can't be."

"Gabby," I said and pulled her into my arms. "If something happens at the diner, it won't be your fault. You didn't ask for any of this, and you didn't do anything to cause any of this."

"That's what I keep telling myself," she said quietly.

"Let's see if we can put your mind at ease, at least for tonight," I said and picked up my phone to call Edge.

"Hey, man. How's it going?" I asked when he answered.

"No sign of either of them so far, but I'm going to hang around until she closes to be sure. I'll text you when I'm headed back to Gabby's house."

"Thanks, man."

"Any time."

I ended the call and placed my phone on the table. "Feel better?"

Gabby sighed, but the tension didn't completely leave her body. "Yes, and no. I feel better now, but what about tomorrow? And the next day?"

"We'll take the same precautions tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that until we find them. I don't know how long it will take, but we have more to go on than we did, and the police are helping us," I told her.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over."

"Me, too," I agreed.

When my phone rang, I didn't recognize the number but answered anyway.

"Hi, this is Detective Hayes. Is this Byte?"

"Yes, this is Byte."

"I have a few updates on your case. I tried to call Gabby, but she didn't answer," he said.

"She's at school right now, but I can pass along any information."

"As expected, our lab confirmed the presence of THC in the brownies. I've already sent a copy of the results to Tina's office," he said.

"Thank you."

"As for Lauren, we issued a warrant for her arrest. When we went to the address on file to bring her in, we found someone else living there. I spoke to the landlord, and he confirmed Lauren moved out several months ago. Before you ask, she didn't leave a forwarding address."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and fought back the urge to throw my phone across the room. "So, what happens now?"

"Now, we keep looking for her," he said simply.

"Do you have any leads? Any direction to go in?" I asked.

He exhaled audibly. "We've got an APB out with her information, including the make and model of her car and her tag number, but I don't think it'll help much since the car from the video you sent was determined to be a rental that was returned early this morning."

"What about her phone?"

"It's been disconnected."

"Her job?"

"She didn't show up for work Monday, and they haven't been able to get in touch with her. They have the same contact info we do," he explained.

"What about an emergency contact? Don't most places of employment require an emergency contact?" I asked.

"She listed Chad Higgins with the phone number that has since been disconnected."

"Damn it," I cursed.

"My sentiments exactly," he said. "I know this is frustrating, but I assure you, we're exhausting all avenues and doing everything we can."

"Thank you, Detective Hayes. I appreciate the update."

"I'll be in touch," he said. "Hopefully with better news than I had today."

I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. There was nothing I could do except sit and wait for Lauren to resurface. I hadn't felt so helpless since before that fateful day when my life changed at the age of fourteen.

"What's wrong?" Gabby asked when she got into my truck.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"I've been around you every day for weeks now. I can tell," she said.

"Detective Hayes called earlier today," I started and filled her in on what he told me.

"I don't understand how people can just disappear," she said.

I did, but I kept that to myself.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked.

"The same thing we've been doing. We stay vigilant and wait."