“Keep it up. I’ll show you just how ‘badass’ I am.”
She could feel his breath against her mouth. “Yeah? What are you going to do?”
With a jerk of her arm, he spun her again so that she had to catch herself to stop her face from smacking against the window and a breathy, nervous laugh escaped her parted lips. She could see his eyes burning in his reflection when he lowered his mouth to her ear. “I can certainly make you beg for mercy.”
Holy Jesus. She couldn’t stop herself from pressing her butt back against Xander’s hips. She smiled at his reflection as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “We’ve got to get out of here,” she smirked. Xander growled and she struggled not to laugh and he pushed himself away from her and opened her door. He glared at her as he slammed the door after she got inside the truck. I win! she grinned. She was definitely getting better at this game.
By the time he had returned the weapons to their place behind the seat and they were on the road, heading back to their rental, Sydney’s euphoria was wearing off. She raised a hand and was surprised by how much it was shaking. She clenched and unclenched her fist a couple of times before Xander grabbed it to make her stop. When she glanced at him she could see that he was calmer too.
The reality of what she had done settled over her. I almost killed Pan. Her stomach rolled. Even though she knew she had done what she had to do, it didn’t make it any better. If the cops hadn’t been looking for her before, they probably were now. She tried to remember if she could have left any other evidence of her being there. She couldn’t imagine there was much. But, if TV was to believed, the cops could find a hair that might have fallen out of her head and trace it back to her. She had no idea what information of hers was in the system. Shit. She sat up straight and turned to Xander.
“What?” he looked at her in alarm while trying to keep an eye on the traffic at the same time.
“Those kids.”
“What about them?”
“They could identify us.”
“Fuck. You’re right.”
“Do you think they will?”
“I don’t know. They don’t really seem the snitching type,” Xander offered.
“They don’t. But we can’t be sure of that.”
“Well, not much we can do about it.”
“I know.”
“Just calm down,” he squeezed her hand.
She tried to keep her calm and the panic rose in her throat. “Um, can you pull over?”
“Why?”
“I’m going to puke.”
“For real?” Sydney glared at him. “OK, OK, sorry.”
Xander pulled to the side of the road and Sydney hopped out but kept close to the side of the truck. Her stomach heaved and she doubled over. Crouching low she hoped that Xander couldn’t hear or see her and she really hoped he didn’t get out and offer to help by holding her hair. She could do without that embarrassment on top of everything else. A car full of whooping guys honked and she closed her eyes. A moment later she heard the window above her slid down and Xander called out.
“You OK?”
At least he doesn’t seem to find this funny. “I’m fine,” she tried to not snap back. She heard him crank the window back up and the truck shifted as he leaned back to his side. When she was sure she was done throwing up she spit a few times and returned to the truck. Xander didn’t look at her, but he was holding out a bottle of water that she used to rinse her mouth. “OK. I’m good now.” Xander returned to the road and reached for her hand again.
“It’s OK,” he smiled at her kindly.
“No, it’s not.”
“OK, it’s not. But what are you going to do about it?”
“Keep moving forward?”
“That’s right.”
***
Once they were back at their place, Sydney laid down for a nap. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally and a little mentally too. When she woke up, Xander was gone. A note was laying on the table next to her head.
Went to get supplies. Be back soon.
—Bad Ass Biker
A smile stretched her face and she shook her head. He never failed to make her feel a little better, no matter how bad her situation was at the moment. She crawled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom yawning as she went. Her head ached and her vision was blurry. How can I still feel tired? I’ve been napping for almost two hours. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, she froze. Her eyes were bloodshot and her pupils were the size of pinholes. Oh my god. She leaned closer over the mirror and looked closely, not sure what she was trying to see. A sharp pain spiked through her head causing her eyes to tear up and she could taste metal as blood began to drip from her nose.
She grabbed a handful of tissue and pinched her nose. “Fuck,” she muttered as she sat on the closed toilet. Five minutes later her nose finally stopped bleeding and her eyes returned to normal. She made sure to wash her face and get rid of all the bloody tissues. If Xander knew what had happened he would only worry more. She had no idea what was medically wrong with her and that, as much as anything else, was terrifying. What if I have some terminal illness? Am I suddenly going to drop dead?
She didn’t bother putting on pants when she sat on the couch with Pan’s laptop. She was wearing one of Xander’s tee shirts, panties, and nothing else. She was well aware of how he would react, and knew damn well that’s why she was doing it. Smiling to herself she opened the laptop and prayed there wouldn’t be a password. Of course there was. “Shit,” she sighed. Syd picked at the callous on her thumb as she stared at the computer. What are the chances I can guess this? She started simple, and went with “pandaren.” She wasn’t surprised that it was incorrect and she was dismayed by the little counter that indicated she only had four more chances. She assumed that the computer would lock itself somehow if she kept guessing incorrectly.
She sat the computer aside and began rifling through the rest of the contents of his case. The laptop was a problem that she had to let go for a while. She pulled out multiple gamer magazines, a folder and a notebook. First, she flipped through the magazines but nothing seemed to pop out at her. They weren’t date consecutive, which made her wonder if that meant they were included on purpose. Why else would they be randomly stuck in his bag? She didn’t delve into the contents but read over the covers searching for a clue. New game releases, game-to-movie developments, conventions, all the things she would have expected to see.
Sitting the stack next to the computer she picked up the notebook. The first pages seemed to be notes on whatever Pan had been designing. But, the notebook quickly turned into something more personal. It became more like a journal and the first of these entries was a description of his dream, the same one Sydney and the others had. The next one was a list of people that Pan had found online that had also had the dream. The only one that stuck out was John Chase. Sydney assumed that was his British friend.
Other pages of the notebook consisted of more notes. Sydney was flipping through them quickly, trying to get an overview before picking up where he left off. The further she went through the notebook the less sense it seemed to make. She could almost map his confusion—or whatever his condition could be called. The handwriting became worse and spelling became almost indecipherable. One page in particular jumped out at her as it slipped by. Searching backwards she found it. The reason it stood out is because it only had one word. W@rL0rd. At first it could be mistaken for more gibberish that filled the last few pages of his notebook. But Sydney had a suspicion.
She opened the laptop again and typed the word into the password field. When the spinning color circle took a smidge longer than it had when it gave her the error previously, her excitement rose. When the screen switched to the desktop she threw back her head and let out a whooping laugh of victory. At the same time, light flared through the room as Xander opened the door. “Well, I’m glad you’re excited to see me.”
Sydney jumped from the
couch and raised her arms. “I did it,” she laughed, both at the success and at the look on Xander’s face when he realized how undressed she was. “Pan apparently was getting paranoid he would forget his password and wrote it down. I just got into his computer.”
He set his bags down and crossed the room. The look on his face nearly melted her panties. When he was in front of her he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her until she wrapped her legs around his waist. She dug her hands into his hair and grinned at him.
“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.
“Celebrating,” he answered and his voice sounded rough.
Sydney expected him to throw her on the bed and rip off her clothes. That was the look in his eyes. Instead, he held her up with one arm, and pulled her face to his with the other. The kiss he placed on her lips was so soft it felt like a flutter of breath. He slowly lowered her to the floor and, embarrassingly, she stumbled back and flopped gracelessly onto the couch. He chuckled down at her and she narrowed her eyes. “That—that’s just...what the hell is wrong with you.” Xander only laughed harder and returned to the kitchen area to unload the bags he had carried in. Sydney bitterly marked another win for Xander.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ignoring Sydney’s outrage, Xander asked, “What have you found out?”
“Not much yet,” she refused to let his behavior rattle her for long. The more she let it get to her, the more he won. “But, I did find some stuff. In his notebook. Look,” she carried it into the kitchen and opened it so that he could see the handwriting. “It gets progressively crazier, the further it goes. But, I can make out some stuff. It might help.”
Xander retrieved two beers and they sat at the table with the notebook in front of them. “What all was in the bag?”
“The laptop, this notebook, a folder and some magazines.” She pointed to a page with three lists. “Look at this. These names, they are either missing, dead, or had the dream the same time Pan and I did. There are ten deaths that he noted as being strange enough to be connected to everything that is happening. There are seven missing people he found. And of the fifteen people that we know had the same dream he found the names of seven. The others,” she ran her finger down the bottom of the list, “are either user names or he calls them Techie1, Techie2, et cetera.”
“What are the lines?”
“See?” Sydney ran her finger along the lines that connected some of the dead and missing to the list of dreamers. “Six of the dead or missing also had the dream.”
“Damn.”
“I know. That is a lot for it to not be connected.”
“True.”
“What about the people whose names he didn’t know? Could they be some of the other dead or missing?”
“Definitely. For example, ‘MasterBlaster16’ could easily be Seth, or Paul, or, hell, even Tasha.”
“There aren’t many women on the list,” he pointed out.
“I know.”
“Do you think that is significant?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because there aren’t as many women in the gaming industry and computers?” Xander looked at her for a moment, his mouth opened then closed without speaking. “What?”
He hesitated before letting out a breath. “Do you think you are on the missing list? Could Tasha be you?”
Sydney had been thinking the same thing. “Maybe.” She felt like she had rocks in her stomach. I could be Brittany too,” she pointed to a name on the dead list.
“You mean your family could think you are dead?”
“It’s possible. It would explain why my face hasn’t been on the news. I mean, come on, young white woman goes missing and the media doesn’t exploit that? It would be rare.”
“Good point.”
“The question is, what ties all of these names together?”
“Pan was sure they were all involved in technology somehow, right?”
“Yeah. But I don’t know if he was right. And if he was, what did they do? Did they work for the same company? Go to the same school?”
“I think that’s what we need to figure out first,” he took a deep drink of his beer and Sydney did the same.
“OK,” she began, sitting her beer down and sounding determined. She retrieved the stack of magazines and returned to the table. “Here,” she handed two of them to Xander and she kept the other two. “Start looking through. See if you can find any connection between them or the people on these lists.”
“What if these are just in here because he likes this magazine?”
“Look at the dates. There are four of them from a six month period. Why would he have just stuck these four in here? And, since they are all Game Informer and we are trying to figure out the connection between a bunch of techies, I doubt it’s a coincidence.”
Xander shrugged his agreement and started flipping through the first of his two magazines. She did her best to watch for mention of any of the names on the lists as she read each article. As she finished her two and Xander his, they traded off. Two hours later, and almost an entire 12-pack of beer later, they had found nothing.
“Man, this is starting to make my head hurt,” she grunted.
“My neck is killing me,” Xander added.
Feeling like they both needed a break, Sydney put down her magazine and stood up. She stretched her arms above her head and tried to keep a straight face knowing her panties and half her stomach was showing. Shaking off her stiffness she made her way behind Xander’s chair. When she put her hands on his neck he sat up straighter. “What are you doing?” he asked, amused.
“You said your neck was hurting, I’m just trying to help.” Xander leaned back against her hands as she squeezed his neck and shoulder muscles. She could feel the tension and didn’t care if it was from reading or from her rubbing all over him, but she hoped it was from the latter. It didn’t take long before his breathing had become slow and heavy. She leaned over his shoulder and spoke into his ear. “Lay down on the floor,” she grinned at the tiny hairs along his neck that stood up with goosebumps.
“Um,” he cleared his throat. “Why?’
“So, I can get your neck better, silly. What did you think?”
Xander rolled his eyes. “Nothing.” But he stood and lowered himself to the floor face down.
“No, on your back.”
He watched her through narrowed eyes as she sat on his lap and leaned over him. “You are asking for trouble.”
“I am not. I’ve been drinking. We have rules about that. I’m just trying to help you out.”
“Mmmhmm.”
Sydney held herself up with one and used her other hand to reach behind Xander’s head and dig her fingers into the tight muscles of his neck. “See, on your back like this, it’s easier for you to relax these muscles.” She was well aware that Xander could see down her shirt, and she did nothing to prevent him from looking. Though she gave him credit for trying really hard to not look. Given the fact she was still only wearing panties, she could tell he was enjoying himself.
“You are fucking evil,” he muttered closing his eyes.
“Now, is that any way to talk to the person who is trying to make you feel better?”
Without warning, Xander flipped her easily onto her back and she yelped in surprise. But the sound was cut off by his lips as he pressed them against hers. She sighed in contentment when he parted her lips and she wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to groan and grab a handful of her hip to pull her closer. Her head swam and her entire body tingled. It took a tremendous amount of willpower to pull away. “Now, now,” she panted. “Keep that up and you won’t care how much I’ve had to drink.” She pushed his shoulder and he reluctantly rolled off her and covered his eyes with his arm.
“I already don’t,” he pouted.
She chuckled. “Oh, you would tomorrow.”
He peaked at her from under his forearm. “You’d better put some clothes on.”
“Yeah, y
ou’re probably right,” she laughed and climbed, unsteadily, to her feet. She found her jeans and pulled them on. As she returned to the table, Xander climbed to his feet. She didn’t acknowledge him having to readjust his jeans but smiled at the table. When he headed for the bathroom she called after him, “I have some lotion in my purse if you need it.”
“Shut up,” he replied shutting the door behind him.
Sydney laughed to herself and picked up a magazine again and sighed. The metaphorical cold shower, she thought to herself as she felt the pressure and anxiety of the mystery connection settling over her again. She didn’t look up when Xander came out of the bathroom and rejoined her at the table.
“What are we missing?” he muttered out loud.
“I don’t know,” she answered even though his question had mostly been rhetorical. “Here,” she lay her magazine open on the table. She placed the other three next to the first, all open to their table of contents. “What do they all have in common, besides the obvious fact they are a gamer magazine and have regular columns?”
They stared at the pages waiting for something to pop out to them. “Are we trying too hard?” Xander asked.
“Probably.”
“So, are we looking for a place, a person, a thing…?”
A light bulb flashed in Sydney’s brain. “No! An event!”
“What?”
“The E4G gamer convention!” she exclaimed pointing to articles in each magazine that either advertised or recapped the event.
“Shit…”
“That has to be it.”
“But what is it?” Xander asked.
“I don’t know yet. But read over those two articles again. I’ll read these.”
When they were both done, they lay their reading material on the table and sat back in their chairs. “OK,” Syd began. “What do we know?”
“It took place in Chicago.”
“Right.”
“It was about six months ago.”
Don't Let Them Find You Page 18
