“Do I even know the guy?”
“Probably not.”
“Then why—”
“Because I have integrity, damn it. That’s why. I don’t want people spreading word that I used to be a part of that club, and I won’t do it either.”
“All right. I respect you for that. Now tell me about this hacker.”
“He comes highly recommended. He’s damned expensive, but we need the information.”
I swallowed. I didn’t like the sound of any of this. “Why can’t we just ask Jade for the information?”
“You know why. We’d have to tell her what information we want and why. You didn’t want to use Mills and Johnson because you were afraid they’d put two and two together. Besides, we may need a good hacker for other stuff too.”
“Good point.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “I wish I could help with the cost.”
“Don’t worry about that. You know I’ve got it covered.”
“Should we meet with him in person?”
“He won’t meet in person. He won’t let anyone see his face.”
Yeah. Not sounding good so far. “Okay… Then how do we get him the information?”
“I’ll give him only what he requires. The year and the name. Tell him we need a last name and any other identifying information, address, whatever. I send it all in an encrypted file, and he gets back to me when and if he finds anything.”
“Does this faceless hacker have a name?”
“He’s called the Spider.”
A chill swept the back of my neck. “That’s a little creepy.”
“Hey, if you have a better idea…”
I shook my head. “I don’t. Go ahead and contact the Spider.”
“I will. There’s one other thing I’ve been thinking about.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t get how our memories are so fuzzy about that one camping trip. We were nine, Bryce, not three. We should be able to remember.”
I’d been t
hinking and wondering about that myself. I had vivid memories from the time I was four. Finding a dead friend at age nine should have been traumatic for Joe and me, and it should have been imprinted on our long-term memories.
But it wasn’t.
And I had come up with a plausible reason why.
Chapter Four
Marjorie
I sat with Melanie in her home office. “I’m glad you were free this morning. Thanks for squeezing me in.”
“Anytime. You know that.” She grabbed her notepad. “I’ve cut down my hours in the city so I can relax more at home. I’ve been seeing some patients via FaceTime. It’s working well so far. Anyway, you caught me on a slow morning.”