Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 31

Wayne: Well now what?

Dylan: I guess we hope Vic gets a hit

Vic: Nada guys

Wayne: Well we tried

Vic: There has to be something else we can try

Dylan: Have you considered that this 47 has nothing to do with you Dani?

Dani: Eli says it has nothing to do with him

Dylan: How can he be so sure?

Wayne: You think that guy has friends?

Dylan: Touche

Dani: I'm going to pretend I didn't see that

The truth was Eli didn't have even real names for most of his associates, nevermind phone numbers and addresses. As far as old clients went, well nothing of value would be lost even if it was them.

Groaning, I laid down across the picnic bench. After some bouts of traffic, we had finally crossed the New York State border and stopped for a brief snack break at a rest area under a row of red oaks near Chautauqua Lake. Eli sat on the other side of the table downing his third energy drink of the day while still working on his laptop, paying absolutely no attention to my woes.

The whole intention of our stop was to refresh before the next haul to Raven Hill. By our estimates we had another three hours of driving still. Given it was almost five o'clock, our timeline was tight. However, Eli wasn't refreshing. All he said since stopping was how much easier it was to work without being distracted by my driving. I chose to overlook that comment given how sleep-deprived and stressed he was. He was determined to have that trojan ready to interject at the next video call and I had to admit, it might be our only chance of getting ahead of Triple-6.

While I waited for Eli to say he was ready to leave again, I munched away at a bag of corn chips – the only thing I had eaten since vomiting that morning. It was funny how receiving the photo of that damn door killed my appetite for the day. I had offered some chips to Eli, but he didn't want crumbs near his keyboard. His loss. I certainly didn't hold back on crunching either as the sound was the only thing to disrupt the insufferable silence around us. As strange as it was, listening to the gentle rustle of leaves under the cool forest canopy of upstate New York would normally relax me, but in that moment the stillness of the trees only unsettled me more. It was as if even they waited with bated breath for us to solve the impossible puzzle. The air was heavy, teetering on the cusp of rain but never quite passing that threshold. Instead, the overcast sky continued to darken, taunting us of the impending deadline that we could do nothing to stop.

"What else can we do?" I asked exasperated, breaking the quiet.

I paused and waited, but there was no response from the other side of the table.

"We're missing something!" I emphasized.

The typing continued without pause.

"Come on! Think! Who could it be!?" I sat up in a fury.

"I don't know! And maybe it's intended that we don't know," he finally spoke up, as agitated as ever.

"Then what's the point? If this is meant to be a personal attack, why wouldn't it be someone I know?" I argued.

"You're asking about the logic of a psychopath?" he asked in dismay.

I thought back to that last phone call with Triple-6, watching him stalk Gabe from behind... Triple-6 said something then. What did he say?

"Bear witness to what happens when you are not where you are supposed to be," I repeated out loud.

Eli shifted to the side to look directly at me, "You're meant to be at this 47?"