Killer One ✓

Chapter 08

Lacey.

I was pulled roughly into a room that hadn't been drawn on our map yet, which was a good thing. If they wanted to give me a tour of the place, I wouldn't turn them down.

Brisk air hit me immediately and I looked around. The room was dim, brightened up only by two lamps and a few monitors that were on. There were white folding tables pressed against three of the walls. One table had three different monitors on it, and the other two tables had one each. There was a humming in the room from all of the computers running. It wasn't a large room, but it was bigger than the video room. There was one squirrelly looking man sitting at one of the desks. As soon as he looked up to see us and he spotted Lucky, his gaze returned to his computer with a newfound interest.

"Do we have a way to get in the Melkin traffic cameras?" Lucky asked the man.

He tugged my hair toward one of the chairs next to a computer and I obediently sat down.

"Uh," the man at the desk fumbled, clicking furiously on his keyboard. "Uhm. Not right now but if you give me some time, I could work on something to get into them. How soon do you need this?"

"I need it now." Lucky snapped and then looked at me expectantly. "Help him figure it out."

I cleared my throat and rested my cold fingertips on my collarbone. "Oh, you didn't think I would be looking this up, did you? I told you I knew someone who could. This isn't my area of expertise." I flicked my hand at the computer in front of me.

"I thought you wanted to work with me," Lucky said and perhaps it was because it was no longer just us, but I could see him slowly gaining his composure again. He pulled a spare chair over and placed it near the one I was in. He was starting to look more amused and in control than when we left his office.

"I do," I told him. "I'll gladly stab anyone you want me to but I'm not really useful for anything else."

One of his fingers started tapping on the back of the chair next to him.

"What was your job in the gang?" I asked before he could respond to my earlier statement.

"Who knows how to look this up?" he pointed at the computer screen. "Little Benjamin Acker?"

I nodded.

He waved at one of the guards. "Go get him."

The fact that I had no idea what I was doing was overwhelmingly suffocating. I ignored it as much as I could but knowing Ben would be around soon enough eased the tension running through me. He probably wouldn't have any answers for dealing with any of this but it would mean I wouldn't be alone.

Two guards left without a word, leaving one guard, Lucky, the computer man determined to ignore us while acting busy, and me. Lucky sat down on the chair in front of me, crossing in legs and putting his hands in the middle of his lap. He tilted his head to the side and looked at me in the most non-threatening way that it was threatening. He was suddenly too calm and a chill went through me.

"What did you do for the gang?" I asked again.

He raised a finger at me, as if to tell me to hold on. "I'll tell you what I'll do, a question for a question. Tell me why you want to know and I'll indulge you with an answer."

Lucky was a theatrical man. He spoke with an air of superiority and rambled like he was talking in a play instead of saying something simple like "Yes." He was always touching something and usually making a lot of noise thanks to his bracelets. I had yet to see him take his hat off and he had a feather and some beads in his hair that swayed back and forth when he moved. I glanced down and the tips of his boots had metal designs along them. He was a walking, talking peacock of distractions.