Everything Fragile✔

Chapter Thirty-One - When The World No Longer Burns

   "Is that all he said to you?" Mateo asks.

   We're at Creakstercliff. Far away from wandering eyes and prodding ears. And a step away from plunging straight into the icy water below. I'm more nervous for Mateo than myself though. He walks too close to the edge for comfort, unable to stand still. I've never seen him so anxious before.

   "Yea, that's all. Did he talk to you?"

   Mateo laughs bitterly. "God, I wish."

   "He spoke to me." Derek says from behind me. I turn just as he pushes himself off the trunk of a tree and approaches us. "He asked me about Marina's: why I was there in the first place and what reason someone would have for wanting me dead. I gave him the same answer I gave the other officers back in September."

   "They're all clueless." Mateo scoffs, finally coming to a halt. "The police don't know a thing and this detective doesn't either."

   "I don't know about that. This guy isn't from here meaning we'll have a hard time leading him astray. Especially since we don't know how he works."

   "Well, tell Reid to keep any eye on him; to step in when he needs to. The longer we can keep what we have in the shadows, the more time we have to look for the drive."

   "I think you're undermining him." I say. "I think he knows more than he's willing to admit."

   Mateo looks down at me with doubtful eyes. I get it. He's been doing this hush-hush-evade-the-cops thing longer than I have, which is why he asks, "how do you know that?"

   "Faces are hard to read, but eyes never fail to give everything away."

   "This isn't the time to be a smartass, Quin."

   "Funny considering that you taught me everything I know."

   His face softens and I know that he's having flashbacks to when we first met. How annoying he used to be. How annoying he still is. It's good to know that some things stay the same.

   "What are you trying to say, Quince?" Derek asks, hungry for an answer.

   My eyes flick over to him as I reply. "He knows that the police here are corrupt. If not then why would he be here? And why would he be asking us questions that we already answered in the past?"

   "He's looking for plot holes." Derek says and Mateo goes back to pacing back and forth along the cliff edge.

   "He's looking for more than plot holes. He's looking for a story. The real story and who's to say he doesn't have most of it already?"

   Mateo shakes his head, smiling bitterly as his eyes gloss over. "All I want is to find the damn flash drive! I don't want to fucking deal with this!"

   I understand his anger. I'd feel the same way if I were in his shoes. And maybe one day I will. My subconscious will never let me rest peacefully at night without seeing those responsible for my mother's death behind bars. Ethan once said I'm an observationalist and though there isn't anything wrong with that, doing nothing is still doing something. Especially when it involves people like Willow. So, yes. I get Mateo's frustration, but there's no point in reacting angrily to something that you can't control. But…what if you can control it?

   "Maybe we tell Caleb that he's snooping too close for comfort. We let him deal with the detective."

   "No." I say just as Mateo says "fine."

   He looks at me confused and tired and drained. He's been through a lot. We all have, but this just may be an opportunity we didn't know we needed.

   "Absolutely not. Caleb is our enemy, but we keep him close. Maybe we should do the same with the detective." The boys exchange weary glances. I continue despite the doubt openly portrayed on their faces. "We trade information with him and maybe he can even help us find the drive. Listen, if he knows that we're the good guys then that means we have one more person on our side to bring Caleb down. He'd be a good ally to have." And a lot better help than I am in this whole thing.