Page 89 of Carnage
“It’s registered to someone named Melissa Riley.”
“A woman?” I ask.
Whisper nods. “Hold up.” He types on his keyboard, leaning close to the screen. “Oh, interesting. There’s a Melissa Riley on Facebook who lives in Mistone, but she’s fourteen.”
“Fourteen. The fuck?”
I watch as Whisper clicks around, then his smile grows. “Ah. She has an older brother who’s got an interesting background. Boone, can you check out Matt Riley, Mistone, twenty-eight, graduated East Mistone High.”
“On it,” Boone says.
I sit back, watching the two of them connect dots that would elude the rest of us.
“Oh, there’s another brother.”
“Josh,” Boone says. “Goes by JRile on the street. Been arrested three times before for possession with intent to distribute. Molly. Oh, got a sexual assault here four years ago, but the charges were dropped. Try this number.” He rattles off ten digits that Whisper jumps on.
“Hello there.” Whisper grins. “JRile is sitting right next to Matt in…” He types on his keyboard, then his smile dims. “California.”
“California. Fuck.”
“Hold on, man,” Whisper says, still focused on his computer. He and Boone talk about things that make no sense to me for a few minutes, wires and pings and tracking shit.
“Got him,” Boone says. “That’s a VPN.”
“He’s not in Cali?”
Whisper shakes his head. “Doubtful. We need to find more associates so we can connect them to Leon. For all we know, these guys just did business with him and nothing more.”
Boone looks up at me. “Give me time. We’ll find them.”
“We could take Rue up on his offer to direct us to the house,” Whisper suggests, earning a scowl from me.
“No. Too dangerous. Besides, we don’t even know if he’s there. He’s obviously going to a lot of trouble to make himself harder to find. Why would he just be sitting in his house waiting for us to show up?”
“Fair.” Whisper nods. “But we should keep it as an option in our back pocket. It’s a start.”
I nod, but I have no intention of letting Rue get anywhere near that man. Who knows what he might do out of desperation? Rue could get hurt, and I promised him that wasn’t going to happen.
If I have to tear this city apart to find Leon then that’s what I’ll do. I got no problem with that.
CHAPTER 20
Rue
“Do you think this looks okay?”
“Girl, you look hot,” Colson says. “Your man is gonna lose his shit when he sees you.” He kisses my cheek. “Own it, be confident, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Good luck tonight. You’re gonna blow the roof off the place.”
“That’s the plan.” Colson winks as he saunters out of the bedroom. He’s only wearing leggings and an oversized sweater, but he still manages to look glamorous. After watching his practice sesh the other day, I can’t wait to see him fully dressed in his dance outfit and up on the stage.
Once he’s gone, I turn back to my reflection, studying the man I see. I look so different, but it’s good. I have light makeup on, and if you didn’t know, I think it looks natural enough to be my real features. Colson added fake freckles across my nose, pink blush to keep my cheeks rosy, and a sheer pink gloss that makes my lips look amazing.
My hair is nicely styled, looking a bit wavy, but tamed, and I’m wearing Colson’s leather pants and ankle boots, and a sheer black blouse with nothing under it. I hope Carnage likes it.
I exhale slowly then leave the bedroom, heading to the rec room where many of us are gathering to go to Segreto together. Bellamy is coming too, and my curiosity is piqued to see how Shadow will handle it. Colson said he was invited to come to the club, but according to Carnage Shadow rarely attends social events. Maybe Bellamy’s presence will be the motivation he needs.
