Chapter 6: Byte

BYTE

After I dropped Gabby off at the doctor's office Wednesday morning, I spent the rest of the day searching for information about the man posing as Chad Higgins. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. Every path I went down led me to a dead end. He only had two social media accounts associated with his alias, and neither of those had a clear picture of his face. The phone he was using to communicate with Gabby was a pay-as-you-go phone and appeared to be no longer active. Usually, I could find anything I set my mind to, but I needed a starting point. This time, I had nothing to go on, and I was at a loss on how to proceed.

I don't know how long I'd been staring at the computer screen when the sound of a text message caught my attention.

Gabby: Can you pick me up at 5:15 today?

Byte: I'll be there.

I glanced at the time and realized it was much later in the day than I thought. I only had an hour and a half before I needed to be at the doctor's office. Since I had made no progress, I decided to get out of the house for a bit and clear my head.

When I walked into the diner, Irene spotted me immediately and made a beeline for me with a huge smile on her face. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"I had some time to kill, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than having a cup of coffee with one of my favorite people."

"Is that so?" she asked and stepped behind the counter to pour me a cup of coffee.

I exhaled heavily. She knew me better than most and could obviously tell something was bothering me.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked and placed the steaming mug in front of me.

"I'm searching for someone, and it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"That saying has always puzzled me."

"How so?"

"A needle is metal. Use a magnet. Problem solved," she said and gave me a knowing look.

While she tended to her other customers, I sat there and mulled over her words. In theory, her idea would work, but Gabby was the only proverbial magnet I had, and I wasn't willing to use her to find Chad.

"I can see I've given you something to think about," she said when she returned.

"You certainly have. I'm just not sure if I can make it work," I admitted.

"Give it some time. You'll think of something," she assured me.

"I hope you're right," I mumbled.

"I know I am," she said and patted my hand. "I'm going to make you something to eat before you go."

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"I know," she winked. "But I want to, so I'm going to. Shall I make something for your friend as well?"

I grinned. "She asked me to thank you for the cheeseburger and wanted me to tell you it was the best one she'd ever had."

Irene nodded with a smile. "All right. A cheeseburger for her and a surprise for you."

She returned with two bags of food and a cup of coffee to go. "You should bring your friend by the diner sometime. I'd like to meet the girl who's making your forehead wrinkle."

"Oh, this isn't because of her," I corrected.

"My mistake," she said and smiled.

"You're wearing the same clothes you were this morning. Does that mean today was better than yesterday?" I asked when Gabby got into the truck.

"I made it through the day without getting anyone's body fluids on me, so I'll say yes."

"How was lunch?"

She sighed. "Of course, the one time I want someone to steal my lunch, they don't."

I laughed. "Well, there's always tomorrow."

"Speaking of food," she said, and inhaled deeply. "What's that smell?"

"I stopped by the diner, and Irene sent me home with food," I said and gestured to the back seat with my thumb.

"I hope she sent another burger," she said excitedly.

"She did. I told her how much you loved the one you had the other day. She said she'd love to meet you and asked me to bring you by the diner sometime."

"Maybe we can go on one of my days off," she suggested.

Once we were back at Gabby's house, she changed clothes before we sat down to eat. I noticed she always changed as soon as she got home and never walked through the house with her work shoes on.

"I have to ask. Is that something they taught you in school or something you do on your own?"

"Um, I'm not sure what you're talking about," she said in confusion.

"Changing clothes as soon as you get home," I clarified.

"It's something I do, but they probably should teach it in school."

"Sounds like there's a story behind your reasoning."

She nodded and swallowed the food in her mouth. "One day, I came home from work, had dinner, and watched a few shows before heading to the shower. When I walked into the bathroom, I looked into the mirror and noticed something on my upper arm. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a big wad of sputum. I've changed immediately ever since."

"A wad of what?"

"Sputum. Phlegm. Lung butter. Throat snot," she explained.

I scrunched my face in disgust. "Gross."

"I'm sorry," she said and covered her mouth. "I should've waited until we weren't eating to tell you that story. I live and breathe nursing. It's easy to forget that not everyone wants to hear about medical stuff over dinner."

I waved my hand dismissively. "It doesn't bother me. I was just agreeing with you."

"Oh, good. Because it's more than likely going to happen again."

I laughed. "I enjoy hearing your stories. They're quite?—"

I was interrupted by someone knocking on her front door. "Are you expecting company?"

Gabby vigorously shook her head. "No."

"Stay here. I'll go see who it is," I said and got to my feet.

I peeked through the window at the top of the front door to see a girl around Gabby's age standing on the front porch with a book bag on her back and a basket of muffins in her hand. I quickly dismissed her as a threat and opened the door. "Can I help you?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Um, is Gabby home?"

"Who wants to know?"

"L-Lauren," she stammered.

"Just a moment," I said and closed the door.

"Who was it?" Gabby asked as soon as I returned to the kitchen.

"She said her name is Lauren. Do you know her?"

Gabby jumped to her feet. "Shit! I completely forgot we had plans to study tonight."

I followed Gabby through the house as she hurried to the front door. "Hey, Lauren. Come on in."

"I brought muffins," Lauren said and leaned around Gabby to look at me. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, not at all," Gabby said and ushered Lauren into the living room. "This is Byte. He's a family friend and is staying with me this week while he's in town for work. Byte, this is my friend from school, Lauren."

"Byte?" Lauren asked.

"Nickname," Gabby explained. "He works with computers."

"Oh, that's clever," Lauren said and took a seat on the couch.

"I'll just finish up in the kitchen and get out of your hair," I said.

"I'm sorry, Byte. This totally slipped my mind."

"Don't worry about it. I have some work I need to catch up on anyway," I told her. I didn't, but it gave me an excuse to be close by so I could eavesdrop without looking like a creep. I opened up my laptop and pretended to work while Gabby went back to the living room to study with Lauren.

"What's going on, Gabby? It's been days since I've heard from you, and then I show up here to find you with some super hot guy being all protective."

"Oh, stop. It's nothing like that. I told you my sister and her family were going on a trip to Scotland. I went home for the weekend to help her pack and see them off. Monday was hell at work, and Tuesday at the office wasn't much better," Gabby explained.

"If you say so."

"I do. Can we study now?" Gabby asked, sounding irritated.

Throughout the evening, Lauren strayed off topic several times, mostly to ask Gabby about me. How she met me. How long she'd known me. How old I was. If I was seeing anybody. Each time, Gabby gave her a vague answer and redirected her attention back to whatever they were studying.

When Lauren finally left, I could tell Gabby was relieved to have her gone. "That was exhausting."

"Why'd you lie to her?" I asked.

"I may not be a member of the club, but I've been around long enough to know to keep things to myself when something's going on," she explained.

"Yeah, you're right about that."