Page 18 of Make Me Hunt
“I’m starting to think this is my favorite bar,” I smile, taking the drink as he nods toward the other end of the bar, where the guy in the picture is nursing a beer. He hasn’t noticed me, probably thanks to the growing crowd, so I down the drink in one go, earning an impressed look from Josh, then walk straight to the far end of the bar where I slide onto a stool next to Mr. Hacker.
“Can I get a… house special?” I say loud enough to get 404’s attention, raising a hand while smiling for Josh again, who I literally just saw five seconds ago. He barely holds back a laugh as he starts mixing another Brynn.
That seems to catch 404’s attention. “Didn’t know they had a house special.”
“Well, I come here a lot. It’s just something I like,” I throw him a large smile, the kind that makes it clear I’m interested.
“Really? I come here all the time as well. Never seen you around and pretty sure I would’ve noticed,” he says with a dark look, trying way too hard to give out the badass vibe. Seems like everyone’s pretending to be someone else tonight.
He runs a hand through his whirlwind of ginger hair, trying to fix it—like that’s going to distract from the tragic plaid shirt. But when he rolls up a sleeve and something really catches my eye—the tattoo from my photo.The oneI found going through Elias’s stuff.
I can’t even hide the shock on my face as I swallow the knot in my throat, still trying to tell if it’s the same tattoo. But there’s no mistaking it. It’s an orb in a magician’s hand, with the words:I conjure with commands.
Of course he does. He’s a hacker. Why the hell didn’t I figure that out sooner?
“You okay?” he asks, noticing something’s off with me.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I’ve got low blood sugar. It kicks in at the worst possible moments.” I try to explain away my erratic behavior.
And I hit the jackpot because this is something he can relate to. “Here,” he pulls out a hand of candies from his right pocket. “I get the same thing,” he adds, holding out his open palm to me. “Swear they’re not from the bar. I just got them from the store across the street,” he chuckles as I pop one of the candies into my mouth and play with it between my teeth a little.
That definitely gets his blood pumping—and it’s not from the sugar rush.
From there on, we fall into one of those surface-level conversations, about likes and dislikes, while I gradually try to steer him to the real subject of my interest.
Of course, it’s not long before Ares sends me another:
?
And I reply with…
“Still working on it.”
I don’t tell him I’ve found 404, he’d expect me to drag his ass out of here and deliver him directly, while I’ve still got questions to ask.
Eventually, we move to a table, since the bar stool is a little uncomfortable, and I don’t want to get into sensitive subjects out in the open. Besides, his laptop case has been sitting on the floor for a while, and people keep tripping over it on their way to the bar.
404 starts talking computers, and I don’t really understand a single damn thing. The man’s got zero game, but he does have a very sharp sense of danger.
“So, tell me, Brynn, what brings you to this bar… and to my table?” he asks, arching an eyebrow like he’s on to me—just when I thought things were going smoothly between us.
I don’t think I blew my cover completely, but he can probably tell the difference between me and the kind of women who usually approach him—if any do that at all.
I’m definitely not telling him that his boss is hunting him down. So, I go for the sympathy card. “I’m looking for a friend,” I lower my voice. “He’s been missing for almost a year. And I was hoping maybe you could help me.” I don’t tell him I already know Elias is dead. I’m not sure if he knows, or how involved he is in this shit. But I suspect he knows something, especially since he’s scrambling for a way out just a couple of weeks before Halloween.
I show him a picture of Elias and me. It’s the only photo I keep of Elias, and it’s hidden in a secret folder so that no one would know about our connection if they go through my phone. It’s a selfie we took at a carnival fair. He used to love going there. Said it had something to do with the fact that he never visited one as a kid. Funny since I used to work at one.
I can’t hide the pain in my voice as I ask 404 if he’s seen him. That makes everything much more real, and I think that’s the reason why he decides not to lie to me.
That, and the fact that I suspect he’s a terrible liar.
“I know him, but I haven’t seen him in almost a year.” His expression changes, but we’re on drink number four, so I raise the stakes just enough to get him talking a little. He’s not the kind of man who’d share sensitive information. Still, if he knows that I know, maybe the rules change.
“Listen, I’ve been doing some digging. I know it’s connected to some kind of game, like a competition that happens on Halloween.” I confess, and he looks at me like I just triggered a damn heart attack. “Please, I need to know where he is… if he’s gotten himself into trouble or… whatever happened to him.”
404’s eyes suddenly fill with something, grief maybe, I can’t tell yet, but he tries to push it back fast. “I can’t help you more than this.”
“Please, I’m desperate. Please, tell me what you know about the game.” I all but beg, because this time, I really am desperate. But looking at him, I realize there’s something more. Like my pain is reflected in 404’s eyes.
