“Sure am. Thanks again, William, and thank you, too, Mr. Stevens,” he said, and then we turned around and headed toward our cars.
We started talking as soon as we reached Ben’s car.
“This is big, Ben, this is real big!” I said excitedly. “We've almost got this scumbag! Almost!”
“I know, I know. Now, we just have to catch him. There's more than enough evidence to put him away for a long time. But here's the big problem: this guy is elusive, man, like Jason Bourne elusive. How are we going to actually catch him?”
I grinned. A plan had already started to formulate in my mind. “We set up a sting.”
“How, Everett? We're not cops; we're not the FBI, we don't have the means to do that.”
“You've forgotten something, Ben.”
“What have I forgotten?”
“We have someone on the inside.”
His eyes lit up.“Panetti!”
“That's right. And he's perfectly positioned to set Mr. Mask up since we just found out from the Stevens kid that this Mask guy wants more dealers who are high school kids. He already worked with Panetti before; he trusts him. We just need to get Panetti to make contact, say he's interested in dealing again, and set up a meeting – we're waiting there with a hidden camera... And we get him. Bam!”
“I don't know, man,” Ben replied uneasily. “I mean, this guy is a killer, Ev. We should really be getting the cops in on this.”
“Remember, there's a good chance the cops around here have already been bought by Mr. Mask. I’m afraid we need to do this another way. I have a friend with the State Bureau of Investigation. I’ll see what kind of help he can offer. I totally understand that you're nervous about the fact that this guy is a killer, and that's a totally legitimate concern. Worst case scenario, I can ask a buddy of mine to help – someone who has been shot at plenty of times, someone who has also done a lot of shooting himself.”
“You know people like that?” Ben questioned me.
“My friend, he used to be a Navy SEAL.”
“Oh man, yeah, if he could help, that's just the sort of person we need.”
“If I know him, he'll be down to help.”
“Alright, alright... This sounds promising. I guess we need to meet with Panetti then and figure it out,” Ben stated.
“I’ll get in touch with my friends tonight. We'll call Panetti into the office at school tomorrow,” I said. “We don't want to arouse sus
picions by visiting him at his house – you never know who might be watching.”
“Yeah, good idea. Okay, well I guess we're done for the day then. I'll see you at school tomorrow,” Ben said.
“Sure. See you then, Ben, bye.”
I drove home excited; things were finally starting to look like they could be solved here. Getting Mr. Mask would be a good one. I was eager to tell Vivienne about all of it; I knew she'd be relieved that it was all going to end soon.
I took out my phone to check the time and saw the message from Liza again. Ugh, I'd forgotten about that. Well, I guessed now was as good a time as any to get this out of the way. I pulled over to the side of the road and typed out a response.
“Liza, I'm flattered by what you've said, but I'm sorry, it was over between us a long time ago, and it's always going to be over between us. I've forgiven you for what you did, but that’s as far as this goes. That's a slate that simply cannot be wiped clean. Also, I've moved on now, and found someone I truly love. I'm sorry you're going through a rough time in your personal life, but there's nothing I can do to help you out there. We went our separate ways years ago, and I think it's best that we keep things that way. All the best, Everett.”
I pressed “send”. It had been hard to say those things, but they were truth, and the truth could sometimes be harsh. I took no pleasure in hurting her, but I didn't need her in my life, not now, not ever again. I had Vivienne, and it hadn’t taken long to realize that she was who I wanted to be with.
I scrolled through my contacts and found the number I was looking for—Scott Lane. He’d been the only other member of our squadron who had left the Navy. Unlike Jimmy and me, though, he couldn’t leave the life of service completely behind. So, he’d joined the SBI.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Vivienne
It took a while for the shock of what I had seen on Everett's phone to really kick in. I would never in a million years have thought that he would be a cheater and had never imagined that he would do it so early on in our relationship. Yet, there it had been in black and white – proof of the kind of man he really was. I didn't know who this Liza woman was, but I knew that he’d had his arms around her at some point earlier that day... and who knew what else they had done together in private.