The Forum by Marie Reyes (short books for teens .txt) 📕

"I swear you're trying to fatten us up." Aadesh laughed.

"Look," Martin said, looking out the window. "He's coming out."

Kristen watched as the door slowly opened and a man stepped out onto the doorstep with a garbage bag in hand. "Does it look like him? I didn't watch the videos."

"Can't tell. The man was dressed all in black. Mask, gloves, the works."

"Great. This really is useless then." Kristen slumped slightly in her chair.

"Maybe we could check his rubbish," said Aadesh. "There could be evidence in there."

"I don't want to get caught. I don't know."

"I'll happily do it."

"No, not yet. I don't want anyone to get hurt on my account."

"Shh. Look, he's going to his car," Aadesh whispered. It was unlikely the man could hear him from across the road, but the paranoia was coming thick and fast. "He's getting in the car. Quick. Let's follow him."

The car made a strange noise when Kristen tried to start it up, and her stomach dropped. "No. No. No. No. No!" She tried again, but it wouldn't start, and she hit the steering wheel with both hands. "Fuck. He could be going to wherever he has Isabella."

"Don't worry. It might not even be him. And at least we can check his rubbish now," said Aadesh, trying to look on the bright side. Before anyone could get a word in, Aadesh jumped out of the car and ran across the road to the front yard. He opened the lid of the wheeled bin, pulled the bag out in one go, and ran back to the car.

"Don't bring it in here. Gross." Kristen got out of the car as Aadesh placed the bag down on the sidewalk and rifled through the contents. She knelt down to help him, dreading what she would find. "There's nothing here, just banana peels, coffee grounds, and other food waste. "Ew. Ew." Kristen flapped around with some unidentifiable gunk on her hand. Piper got out of the car and passed her a napkin to wipe her hands on.

"Well, if everyone's getting out." Martin stepped out of the car and passed Kristen a bottle of hand sanitizer. "My friend was obsessed with having dirty hands, so I got used to carrying this everywhere I went."

"Thank you." The liquid splat onto her hands and she rubbed it in vigorously.

"I'll put the bag back, so he doesn't know we've been here," said Aadesh.

"I hope the neighbors don't rat on us. Don't want to raise any suspicions. Anyway, anyone good with cars? I don't know what's wrong with it."

"I normally just call the auto-club," said Martin.

"That's fine. I'll give them a call. Get them to pick us up." Before Kristen could even dial the number, her phone rang in her hand, making her jump. "Hello? Yes, that's me. Oh wow. Didn't think you'd call back so fast. No, thanks for your call. Do you have the claim reference? I don't have it on me at the moment. Uh huh. Yep."

Aadesh got back to the car to find Kristen on the phone with the insurance company and watched her face drop before she hung up.

"It's not the same license plate number. We just rooted through garbage for nothing. He's going to get away with it. Whoever the fuck he is."

"I'm sorry sorry Kristen. It sucks. I really thought we had it."

"So did I." Her head hung as she got back into the driver's seat. She dialed the auto-club and waited for them to answer. "Hello. It's Kristen McBride. My car won't start, and I have no idea why. Need someone to come check it." She pulled some documents from her glove compartment and recited a reference number, her personal details, and the license plate number. "Yes, I can hold." The tapping of her fingernails on the dashboard got louder and faster the longer she was on hold.

Tensions were high and Aadesh didn't think it would take a lot to send her over the edge. "Sorry I just gave you that information. Why do you need it again? Okay. Yes. Check the system. An hour and a half. Don't you guarantee an hour? Sorry, can you speak up? I can't hear you. Fuck." She hit the steering wheel again. "I got cut off."

Something about the heated conversation Kristen had with the auto-club sparked a fuse in Piper's brain. She was transported back to her call center days and angry customer after angry customer. A time that was riddled with stress and anxiety. "What if it's the same insurance company?"

"Huh?" Kristen looked back at her wearily.

"When we looked at the database on the third-party driver in Isabella Torres's accident, what was that site? If we check Isabella's license plate, see if she is with the same insurer as your dad."

"Sorry, I'm still not sure what you're getting at. Loads of people have the same insurance company. These companies are huge."

"It's just a feeling I have. Someone that worked in a call center would have access to all sorts of information for customers and third parties. Names, address, dates of birth. It would explain the victims not seeming alike or linked."

"I'm on it." Martin brought up the website on his phone. "Anyone have the license plate number for Isabella? It is on that photo, isn't it?"

Aadesh started scrolling through her history, rushing past the friends, dinners, and smiles, and straight to the picture of the accident. He zoomed in with his touch screen, read out the number, and Martin performed a search.

"What do you know, Best Choice Insurance." Martin grinned.

Chapter

Twenty Nine

"Should we contact Bryony Finch's family? We could ask if she was involved in an accident. I'm sure her parents would rather know the truth than be left in the dark," Kristen said whilst fishing her front-door keys from