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Technically, I know exactly who he is, but I’ve never officially met Bennet Adley. I might have been following him. A little.
It’s difficult to decide if I’m here because of him or if it’s because of her… the way I felt when I looked into her eyes. Breathless.
Uncomfortable with having my back to anyone, I shift sideways to put my back against the door, making brief eye contact with the lanky, talkative guy behind me. Ugh, I hate awkward eye contact. I sort of hate any kind of contact. So of course, he reaches out for a handshake.
He clears his throat. “I’m Lukas.” Hesitating longer than what is probably socially acceptable, I take his hand and give a tentative but firm handshake.
“Luis”
YMCA next to me decides to join in, dashing my hopes of avoiding conversation.
“I’m Jackson. I’d offer to shake hands, but this caught me in the middle of work.” He holds his hands up and they’re covered with dirt. I make a face. I’m not a huge fan of dirt.
Bennet’s head jerks at the mention of YMCA’s name. He’s staring at Jackson through the rearview mirror with an odd look, but he looks away when he notices me watching him. He covers up his odd behavior with his own introduction.
“Bennet Adley.” I think it’s a little pretentious that he uses his full name, like he’s making sure everyone knows how important he is, but I’m not a fan of his to begin with.
“Micah.” The guy in the passenger seat holds up his hand in a short wave.
“So did anyone get any information about the girl and what happened to her? She looked pretty banged up.” Lukas apparently cannot have a quiet car ride with strangers.
But I admit I’m curious too. I’d been waiting for Bennet Adley to come out of the bank when I heard the commotion. Then he ran right past me like Superman to go help the girl.
Out of curiosity, I stuck around to see what he would do next. But when she opened her eyes…
All of the breath left me as I stepped forward from the crowd, not realizing I was moving toward her. We must know each other from somewhere. Why else would she look at me like that?
“I saw her enter the park, barely holding herself up. She sounded crazy, man - muttering about someone coming after her and she had to find somebody. I was close enough to catch her when she stumbled, but when she looked up at me she freaked out and fainted.” Jackson holds up a dirty backpack. “She dropped this, I figured I should get it back to her.”
“Did you see who was after her?” She looked so afraid, helpless.
The way her eyes locked on mine will haunt me for the rest of my life. I can’t shake the feeling that I know her, that I should keep her close and protect her.
“Not that I saw. I was pretty focused on her, though.” A chill runs over me when he parrots my thoughts. “Do you think she’s from around here? It seemed like she knew me for a second there.”
There’s silence for a few moments, everyone looks deep in thought. What happened to her? Was she in some sort of accident? The idea that someone might have hurt her makes my blood boil.
“I, uh… I felt like that too.” Micah turns in his seat. “The worst part is that she looked like she knew me, she was terrified about it. Or of me? The whole situation felt weird.”
He glances at Lukas but shifts his gaze away quickly, turning back to face the front.
It occurs to me where I know these guys from. Micah and I graduated high school together. I wouldn’t expect him to recognize me. We didn’t exactly run in the same crowds, although I didn’t really run in any crowd. I mostly kept to myself, trying to make it to graduation.
Micah Williams, however, was the big shot on campus. He was captain of the basketball team, starting line on the football team, advanced placement everything, Valedictorian, and all-around best at everything he did. You’d think that would make him pompous or an asshole, but he seemed like a pretty mellow and genuinely good guy. I remember Lukas too, always hanging around with Micah and his crew. It might have seemed a little out of place for them to hang out so much, but Micah was kind of friends with everyone. Since graduating, I’ve seen Lukas around town here and there, but I was pretty sure Micah left for some Ivy League school.
I’ve never met Jackson before. He seems alright, except he’s talking to everyone here like we’re all best friends and have known each other forever. I don’t trust anyone that friendly. Or, you know, anyone at all. I look into the rearview mirror and catch the familiar deep green eyes of Bennet Adley.
I don’t know Bennet personally, but I know about him. Considering that I’ve been following him for a couple of days, I probably know too much about him. I’m not interested in him specifically, except I have a suspicion we might be related. More than that, I have major suspicions that his father, Jackson Adley, is not a good guy. And by not a good guy, I mean I think there’s a strong possibility he is a money-laundering, drug pushing, philandering sack of shit and I’m on a mission to prove it.
I’m sure Jackson Adley has every cop, judge, and everyone else on his payroll. He’s richer than God and gives off a very heavy mobster vibe. Thanks to the Adley family, Barnaby Falls is a pretty rich suburb. What used to be a small town has grown exponentially over the last few years, and we have our own hospital and community college. I loathe how much power that man has in this community.
Bennet catches my glare in the rearview mirror, looking back at me with eyes strangely like my own, yet so different. You have to look close to see the similarities.
I just watched this man run into a crowd and help save a battered and dirty stranger’s life, following her to the hospital to make sure she’s okay. Hell, he even invited us all along. But all I feel is mistrust, because I know that all of my mother’s pain and suffering started - and ended - with his father.
And I’m going to bring him down.
Jackson
