Page 12 of Kill Feed

I’m not particularly good with these types of things. God, I wish Amani was here; she’d know exactly what to say to him.

“Sounds like he didn’t exactly keep his nose clean,” I add abruptly. “People don’t just disappear for no reason; if something happened, it probably started with him.” I end the sentence by slamming the locker door shut, probably a little too loud, as the sound reverberates through the room. Lucas tilts his head as I turn to face him, studying me with startled eyes.

“I mean, he did talk about investigating something for his upcoming documentary,” I state.

“Shit, man, I don’t know… I didn’t even think about it like that,” he says. I pick up my gym bag and sling it over my shoulder. Lucas pushes off the wall and joins my side as we exit the men’s locker room.

“He had weird interests,” Lucas continues. “You know that.” He is lingering on the subject longer than he needs to, and it’s infuriating at this point. Saying the same thing over and over won’t bring the guy back.

“Weird how?” I keep my tone bored, lazy even, trying not to sound too interested. I learned that voice young, and it lies well.

He makes a vague motion with his hands.

“Esoteric crap. Bigfoot. Crypt secrets and occults,” he grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “That sort of thing.”

“You’re into that shit too,” I add, scowling at him, wondering where this defensiveness is coming from. “You once called me after midnight, telling me to burn my phone because the ‘shadow government’ is listening to us?” And let me add, he ranted on about that fuckery for hours… over the goddamned phone, no less.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s different,” he claims, rubbing at the back of his neck. I roll my eyes in response, shaking my head. It’s hard to take him seriously, even harder to understand, but taking into consideration what happened, he might not be far off.

I mean fuck, a hitman of some kind was sent after Xavier, wearing an animal mask with knives strapped to his torso. If you’re asking me, Lucas is hitting the nail on the head with this conspiracy theory shit.

Naturally, these remain only theories.

Lucas keeps talking, voice dropping like he thinks volume is the problem. “I’m just saying, man, the timing’s weird. He storms out of the pizzeria, won’t answer his phone, and suddenly everyone’s acting like that’s normal.”

“People disappear all the time,” I say. “Especially when they owe the wrong people.”

Lucas snorts. “You really think Xavier was mixed up in something?”

I shrug. “Doesn’t seem like the type to keep his head down. He has always been chasing after absurd things that fit the frame of a camera.” Lucas goes quiet for half a second, turning the idea over like it’s new, like it belongs to him now.

“His parents,” he starts deflecting, “think he skipped town. Amani thinks someone scared him off. Like… seriously scared.”

I glance at him then. Not long enough to invite anything, but just enough to gauge whether he’s watching me. He isn’t. He’s staring at the street.

“Sounds like a lot of guessing,” I claim. “People hate not knowing things.”

Lucas nods slowly. “Yeah. Still. It’s messed up.”

I don’t answer right away. Silence makes people fill it, and Lucas is predictable that way. Sure enough, he shifts, uncomfortable with the lack of reaction. “You don’t think it’s weird?” he asks with true perplexity etched on his features.

I exhale through my nose. “Weird isn’t the same as important,” I claim, and that shuts something down. Lucas frowns. “You’re not curious at all?”

I check my phone. “You eat yet?” I ask, ignoring his question completely.

Lucas blinks. “What?”

“Food,” I say. “I’m starving.”

The shift is abrupt and very much on purpose. I watch him recalibrate, watch the conspiracy drain out of his posture as something simpler takes its place. “Uh, yeah,” he says. “We could grab something, I guess.”

“Good,” I say. “There’s a place down the street.”

Chapter 4

Adrian

The café smells like burnt sugar and citrus peel ground down to something almost medicinal. It’s comforting in more ways than one and predictable, just how I like things.