Cyber Dawn (A Ben Raine Novel) (11 page)

I shook my head.

“Well, at least you have your friend Megan to talk to about it. That has to help a little. Sounds like you two are good friends.”

I swallowed hard. “We were good friends,” I said. “She knew more about me than anyone. Well, until now.”

Sarah frowned. “Why do you keep talking about her in the past tense? Did she quit CyberLife or something?”

Before responding, I walked around the kitchen island and grabbed my iPad off the counter. I opened the photo of Megan and handed the tablet to Sarah.

“She . . . died,” I said softly.

Sarah stared at the photo of Megan, eyes unblinking. Her hands began to tremble. “She’s dead?”

I nodded and told her about Monday night. When I got to the part about finding Megan bleeding on the floor of her apartment, Sarah’s hand shot to her mouth and she inhaled sharply.

“Sh–shot?”

“Yeah,” I said. “The police think it was a home invasion.”

“And you . . . found her?”

Again, I nodded. “She was still alive when I got there. Just barely,” I said. “I still don’t know the reason, but before she died she gave me a message.”

Sarah stopped sniffing long enough to ask, “What message?”

“She told me that I never had cancer.”

“Why would she say that?”

I shrugged and took my iPad from her. I stared at the picture. “I have no idea. I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since. It doesn’t make sense. It’s why I want to see my records.”

“You said this happened on Monday?”

“Yeah”

“And you saw her on Monday morning, too?”

“Yeah.”

Sarah turned away and stared out the kitchen window. Tears streamed down each cheek. For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

“Sarah?”

She didn’t answer.

You idiot,
I said to myself.
Shouldn’t have told her about Megan.

“I’m so sorry, Sarah,” I said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She stood and ran down the hall to the bathroom. She shut the door and I heard running water. It took the sound of the garage door to pull my eyes from the closed door. Sofia was home.

“Hi, Benjamin,” Sofia said as she walked into the kitchen a moment later.

“Hey, Sofia,” I replied. “How was dinner?”

“It was great. Thanks for letting me borrow your Jeep.”

“No problem.”

Sofia dropped her purse on the counter and surveyed the room. “Do you know why there is a car parked in front of the house?” Her eyes fell on the chair with Sarah’s jacket and bag. “Is someone here?”

I was about to answer when the bathroom door opened. Sarah walked out, eyelashes and hair damp from water she had splashed on her face. She momentarily froze when she saw Sofia. Her expression quickly changed, however, and with a smile, she said, “Hi, you must be Sofia.”

Sofia glanced at me and then back to Sarah. “Hi, yes.”

They shook hands.

Sofia frowned when she saw Sarah’s red cheeks and puffy eyes. “Is everything ok?” she asked.

I was about to answer, but Sarah beat me to it. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “Just really stressed about this project we’re working on. It’s been a long week. What, with midterms and everything.”

Sofia smiled ear-to-ear. “Oh I’m sure. Ben has been stressed, too.”

Sarah took in a deep breath, then walked back to the table. She picked up her bag and turned to face me. “I better go, Ben,” she said. “Before the roads get much worse.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“It was nice to meet you,” Sarah said.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Sofia replied.

I glanced at Sofia as we walked by. Her eyes lit up and she mouthed, “She’s cute.”

“I know,” I mouthed back.

We walked down the steps and to the street in silence. A thin layer of snow had collected on the grass. The concrete walkway was just wet. There were two cars parked out front. Across the street was a black SUV. Directly in front of my house was an old Honda Accord. I assumed the Honda was Sarah’s.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s my fault, Ben,” she said as she stopped at the Honda. “I pretty much forced you to tell me.”

I stepped in front of her and searched for the right words. They didn’t come to me. Sarah shivered. Part of her hair fell down over her face and, without thinking, I reached out and pushed the loose strand behind her ear. She looked up and stared into my eyes. Her mouth started to open as if she was going to say something. But she didn’t. Instead, she turned and climbed into the car.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” she said as she pulled the door shut.

Sarah started the car and pulled away. I watched until the red taillights disappeared, around the corner, down the street, wondering how badly I just messed things up with her. After several minutes passed, I turned around and headed back inside.

Sofia was still in the kitchen, leaning against the island. Her arms were crossed and her lips were pursed together.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Her eyes shifted to the table.

I looked down and my heart stopped. Sitting on the table were the three hundred-dollar bills.

16

I bought a large cup of coffee and drove across town to school. In the student parking lot, I found myself scanning the rows of cars looking for Sarah’s Honda Accord. It had been a day and half since I told her my life story. We hadn’t spoken since.

After parking, I pulled out my phone and sent her a message.

You around?

I waited.

Three minutes passed and she still didn’t reply. With a heavy sigh, I climbed out of my Jeep and ran to class.

In first period. Mr. Ewing, my math teacher, made the midterm exam available for download. I flipped through the pages on my iPad and was surprised to see I had done pretty well. A
B-
.

The phone on the wall near the front door buzzed. Mr. Ewing stopped his review and walked over to answer it. He listened to the caller as his eyes scanned the room. I glanced at the students sitting near me and wondered who was in trouble. When I looked back at Mr. Ewing, I realized he was staring right at me.

He hung up the phone, and said, “Ben, you’re wanted in the administrative office.”

I took a deep breath, knowing I was about to find out if the football team would have to forfeit the game or not. All eyes were on me as I made my way to the door.

A few minutes later I stepped into the large foyer near my school’s main entrance. On the far side, behind a large row of glass windows, were the admin offices. I glanced into the waiting room and stopped dead in my tracks. Seated on the couch was Detective Frost. But it wasn’t Frost who caused panic to course through my body. It was the man seated next to him.

Dr. Merrick.

My heart pounded. A dozen questions raced through my mind.

Does Frost know I lied on Monday night?

Is that why Merrick is here?

Am I going to jail?

I stepped tentatively across the foyer and opened the waiting room door. As I entered, both men stood.

“Hi, Benjamin,” Detective Frost said, extending a hand.

“Good to see you again, detective.”

Frost nodded at Merrick. “Benjamin, this is Dr. Merrick. He works for CyberLife Industries, a company based here in town. Megan Reynolds worked for him.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” I said. I reached out and shook his hand.

Detective Frost turned to Ms. Brooks, who sat behind the reception desk. “Is there a conference room we can use for a few minutes?”

With Frost focused on Ms. Brooks, I glanced quickly at Merrick. He gave me a subtle nod. I let out the breath I was holding. Having known him for more than six years, I knew the nod was a good sign. His way of telling me to play along.

Ms. Brooks stood and motioned down the hall. “Yes, detective. You can use the conference room down the corridor on your right,” she said, one eye on me. I knew that, by the time I finished meeting with Frost and Merrick, a new rumor would be flying around the school.

Ben Raine, traitorous ex-football player, investigated by police.

Ugh.

I followed the two men down the hall to a small square conference room. In the middle were a round table and four chairs. Frost pulled one out and motioned for me to sit. I did.

“Ben, sorry to pull you out of class,” Detective Frost said with a slight smile on his face. “Hopefully you don’t mind.”

“I think I’ll manage, sir,” I replied.

“Also, just so you know, I called and left a message on your mom’s cell phone this morning. Just to inform her that I’m doing some follow-up with you about Monday night.”

Oh crap . . . my mom
, I thought.
Still haven’t called her.

Another ugh.

“Uh, thank you, sir,” I managed to say.

“That okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Frost eyed me, then said, “Ben, as you probably guessed, I’m still investigating the murder of Ms. Reynolds. You may not have known that she worked for CyberLife. She was doing some fairly sensitive work for them and I’m looking into whether or not her death may have been related to it. Because of this, Dr. Merrick is helping us with the investigation.”

I looked back and forth between the two men. “Related to her work?” I asked. “I thought you said it was a robbery or something?”

“Yes, and that still may be the case,” Frost replied. “But as I explained the other night, we make sure to look at all potential leads and motives. I’m going to let Dr. Merrick ask most of the questions today. I’m here as a matter of protocol and to take some notes for my investigation.” He turned to Merrick and nodded. “Go ahead, Doctor.”

“Thank you, detective,” Merrick said. “Ben, as you can imagine, all of us at CyberLife are still in a state of shock over Megan’s death. She was well liked and a valuable member of our team.” He paused, then asked, “You met Megan only a few days before her death? Is that correct?”

“Yes,” I replied tentatively. “We met . . . at a coffee shop last week.”

Merrick smiled.

I breathed a sigh of relief and trembled at the same time. It was now obvious I wasn’t the only one lying to the police. Yet another example of how seriously Merrick took his company’s NDA.

“Did she say anything to you about her professional life?” Merrick continued. “Maybe where she worked or what she was doing?”

“No, never,” I said. “I just assumed she was a college student or something.”

“Can you describe what you found when you arrived at Megan’s apartment?”

I stuck to the same story I had told Detective Frost and I walked through every painful moment from Monday night.

When I finished, Merrick asked, “Ms. Reynolds didn’t say anything to you before she died?”

Nothing really important,
I thought.
Just that I didn’t have cancer.

“No, sir,” I said aloud. “She was unconscious when I found her.”

Merrick and Frost nodded in unison.

“How did you get into her apartment?” Merrick asked.

“Sir?”

“Well, if Megan was unconscious on the floor, how did you get in? Her building was new and had a fairly sophisticated security system.”

“She gave me her door code, but it didn’t work,” I answered. “I was about to call her for help when I realized the door wasn’t locked.”

I noticed Frost writing fast. It wasn’t something we had discussed on Monday night. Nor was it something I put much thought into at the time. Now, I had to admit, it did seem strange.

“And her actual apartment door?” Merrick pressed.

“Same thing,” I said. “Unlocked.”

“So you just walked in?”

“Yeah.”

Frost cleared his throat, and said, “It appears the computer that controls the apartment complex’s doors was compromised. When you arrived, it had already been disabled.”