Chapter Eight

Trick

“R ead it then,” Rafe signs, looking as impatient as the rest of us feel.

Jensen chuckles, “I thought I would build up the suspense, you know, make it more exciting.”

“Dickhead,” Luc insults him.

“Just fucking read it,” Riot adds, rolling his eyes.

“Fine,” Jensen replies with a grin. Clearing his throat dramatically, he starts to read, “ Hey man, I know it’s a bit weird to leave you a letter, but I’ve lost your number,” Jensen stops reading and says smugly, “I fucking knew it.”

I sigh, “Yeah, yeah. You’re a genius. What else does it say?”

“It says, I got a job offer, one that I couldn’t turn down , and that was an awesome opportunity. It was about time that I went back. This place is still owned by me, so you shouldn’t get any trouble in town from any newcomers. One of my friends from the college is taking over the regular parties that I used to throw here, and I’m having some security installed on the twenty-second of August that will ensure that the place remains secure, and no one can throw parties here without me knowing.”

“That’s tomorrow,” Cash interrupts Jensen. “We got here just in time, or we never would have found the note.”

“I think it’s really smart of him to get some security up here. Some idiot would definitely try to throw a party here if they realized that it was empty, despite how fucking scary Knox is.” I point out.

“What else does it say?” Riot asks.

Jensen carries on reading from where he left off, “ I really appreciate your friendship, I’m sure it didn’t seem like much, but it really meant something to me. I will buy you a beer next time I see you, and maybe answer some of those questions that you have, Knox. ”

“Huh,” I say.

“Yeah, I was sort of hoping it was going to say something like, I know that you wanted to know all of this stuff, so here is a film made about my family and all the mysteries that surround it,” Jensen comments.

“That would have been amazing but also incredibly unlikely.” Cash replies.

“Well, at least we know he’s okay and has just gone back for a job,” Rafe signs. He looks at Jensen, “What does he do?”

Jensen shrugs again, “Honestly, I have no idea. I kind of thought that he was living on his family’s money and didn’t have a job. It never came up whenever we did speak.”

“So, another mystery that we can add to the list of mysteries that surround Knox that we will probably never know the answers to,” Luc says.

“Yeah,” Jensen agrees simply, folding the note and putting it in his pocket. “Let’s get out of here. There is no point hanging around any longer, and we’ve got time to head up to the track.”

We all agree, and I take one last look at the lake glistening in the sunlight before I follow the others. This place is pretty fucking spectacular.

Jumping back into the truck we head back out the way we came, and it occurs to me that we probably won’t be back here for a long time. For this reason, I drive even slower under the carved sign, appreciating it one last time before I carry on down the road and we start the drive back into town.

My phone starts ringing, and I check the caller ID since it comes up on my dash; frowning, I say to the guys, “It’s Luke.”

Luke is one of our contacts and one of the people that we have searching for any signs of Ever. He is also someone who brings us jobs that he thinks that we may be interested in. As always hope soars in my chest, and I hope that he’s calling with an Ever lead. Although that’s incredibly unlikely and not something that happens very regularly at all.

“Hey man,” I greet him as I press accept, and his voice comes through the Bluetooth on my truck.

“Hey,” he greets, “I’m going to get straight to it since I know that you aren’t likely to appreciate me beating around the bush.”

“Okay,” I reply, my curiosity now piqued, “what’s up?”

“I think I’ve found her,” he replies triumphantly.

I beat back my excitement as I ask, “Her who? Dude, I’m going to need you to be really fucking specific right now.”

“Ever, I am pretty sure that I have found Ever,” he clarifies.

I can literally feel the excitement and the tension rising in the car at his words.

I try to keep my reaction to his words under wraps as I reply, “Send me the details, and we will check it out.”

“They should already be in your inbox,” he replies.

“Thanks, man,” I reply earnestly.

He chuckles. “No problem. I really hope it’s her.”

“Me too,” I reply and then hang up.

I immediately pull over as I snatch my phone up and scroll onto my emails.

“Well?” Riot says, his voice on edge.

“The city is around four hours away. She’s working at a restaurant there called Ricardo’s,” I explain to them as I go through the email.

“Do you think it's her?” Jensen asks me, cautious hope in his voice.

I sigh, “I honestly don’t know. We have had so many false leads by now that I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“There is only one way to know for sure,” Cash says, “we need to go and check it out.”

“We may as well; we have nothing else planned, and it would be typical if the one time that we don’t go and check it out, it’s actually her,” Luc says.

I nod, “You’re right. It looks like we are all staying at yours for a couple of nights, Cash.”

“Let’s hope the parents buy it and don’t try to check in on us while we’re there,” he replies, with a slightly furrowed brow and most likely worrying about it.

“It will be fine,” Jensen tries to reassure him. He asks, “Okay, what’s the plan?”

I check the time on my phone, “Well it’s only mid-morning, if we are quick enough and the parents don’t kick up a fuss, then we could get back, pack and head out. We should get to the restaurant for the dinner service,” I suggest and then re-read the email, “Luke said she should be working that shift.”

“Let’s do it,” Rafe signs, a light in his eyes that I haven’t seen for a long time.

It worries me because the chance that this is actually Ever is incredibly slim, and I hate watching that light go out of his eyes every time that we get a lead that turns out to be nothing. He did get better at not letting himself get his hopes up, but it’s been a long time since we have had one of our contacts say to us, ‘I’ve found her go here’ , usually it’s a, ‘there was a mention here, but it turned out to be nothing’. It’s incredibly frustrating and chips away at us every time it happens.

“Okay, I’ll drop you guys off, go and pack, then come and get you again,” I reply as I start the truck, and pull out carrying on the drive. I look in my mirror at Jensen, “Do not get distracted, we are on a timeline if we want to get there for the dinner rush and her shift.”

“Got it,” Jensen replies. He’s not even offended; he knows that he easily gets distracted.

“I will check the restaurant out and see if we need to book a table or if we can just turn up,” Cash says as he pulls out his phone.

“Good thinking,” Riot replies, “it would be embarrassing if we couldn’t get a table, and she did work there.”

“Don’t forget to make sure you are all armed, just in case,” I warn him as I pull up outside of his place. He nods as he hops out, and I watch as he jogs up the path to his house.

It doesn’t take me very long to drop everyone back to their houses. The only stumbling block that we are going to have now is if some of the parents say no. Mainly because we’re going to go anyway, and there isn’t really much that they can do to stop us, except ground us when we get back. It’s just a complication that we don’t really want to have to deal with. Cash’s parents are obviously away, so we don’t need to worry about them, and I don’t see why the other parents would have a problem with it.

We stay at each other’s houses all the time, especially in the summer. Of course, if one of the guys gets too excited and doesn’t manage to hide it very well, then the parents are going to get suspicious and think that we are throwing a party or something, which means they would try and put a stop to it.

My thoughts are going around in circles. I think it’s because I’m nervous about whether this really is Ever. I push it all out of my mind as I pull up to my house and hop out.