Page 2 of Their Little Christmas Bounty
She writes back almost immediately.I could get in so much trouble for this.
My stomach falls.I know, I’m sorry to ask, but...
He hired Ironwood.You didn’t hear it from me, and that’s all I’m going to say.Please come home, Ariel.I fucking miss you.
I fucking miss you, too.I don’t address her request to come home.I can’t.Everything is too raw.
Setting down my phone, I return to my computer.My fingers fly over the keyboard.Ironwood Security.They have standard bodyguard services, which doesn’t make any sense for my dad and me.But wait—the Hunters Division—bounty hunters?He wouldn’t.But I think he did.
I need to know more.Their internet safeguards are really strong.Solid system.Amazing, actually.
But I’m amazing, too, and I find a tiny weakness to exploit.
I’m in.
I’m not here to fuck things up, so I avoid anything that looks sensitive.Soon, I find my file.
My father pickedthatphoto to share with them?He took it at the company Christmas party last year, right when I was about to say something snarky and tasteless to him about spending a ton of money on alcohol for people who can afford to buy new livers when their old ones give up.
Then Leon had shown up and I’d swallowed the comment.Always changing myself and my weird sense of humor to suit him.
There, on my file, I find two names assigned to bring me in.Lyle Meeks and Austin Swetland.Nothing about who they are or what they look like.I could comb through their employee files, but again, I don’t want to fuck shit up with Ironwood or get anyone in trouble.So I take to social media.
They aren’t on any of the usuals—PhotoGram, SocialFace, Redactible.But I love this kind of challenge.I fall down various rabbit holes of information.The average person’s digital footprint is never as light or invisible as they’d like it to be.But most people don’t care to hunt others down like I do.Me, I live for this shit.It’s like a side hobby.When my girlfriends are worried their new love interest is cheating, or already married, they come to me.
Because I can find anything.
Including the fact that both Mr.Meeks and Mr.Swetland have accounts on Kynkworld.I scroll the “about” page and discover that Kynkworld is a social media hub created by kinky people, for kinky people.Well, well, well.Each of their profiles lists them as “Dominant.”This discovery is a lot more interesting than what I expected.
To think, if they’d had easy-to-find accounts on SocialFace, I probably would’ve stopped looking.
I do find extra information on SocialFace, from Lyle Meeks’s parents.In their image galleries, I find a photo of him at a family event.He’s handsome, with reddish-brown hair and a stern, reserved expression.
A few more trips to different sites, and I track down his phone number.I grin and pick up my phone, opening up a new text thread.
Hello, Mr.Lyle.Should we place bets on how soon you can track me down?
* * *
Lyle
I stare down at my phone, at the unfamiliar number and the following message.
It can’t be from our new bounty, but I’m wracking my brains to figure out who else might have sent it.
“Hey.”I nudge Austin as we stand outside Ariel Capulet’s apartment.“Did we play with someone at Low Vice recently, and not save her number?”
He shakes his head, distracted while we wait to see if anyone answers the door.We picked up her house key at Ironwood before we left.Ariel’s dad is on the lease, so he had a copy which he gave to Ironwood.He said she hasn’t been home in several days, though.
“Okay, we’re going in.”He pulls her apartment key from his pocket and fits it into the lock.
The door pops open and we’re standing in a clean, fairly modern space.
“Smells good in here,” I say.
Austin shrugs.“Let’s figure out where she went.”
He’s so boring sometimes.I start forward, noting the purple couch and the colorful throw pillows and cozy blanket.This is the kind of place I’d want to hang out for hours.Smells good, looks comfy.I could really rest here.Austin would lose his fucking mind if I lie down to take a nap, though.
