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

She looked into his soft brown eyes for reassurance. "So do you have a nickname, like Ads, Desh, Addy?"

"I don't like Addy."

"Noted." She held her good hand in his and hoisted herself up. She felt shaky, like she had low blood sugar, but felt better then she had a moment ago. She wondered if the killer would still have broken into her house if she was just there alone without the others around her. She wondered what would have happened if she had been at home when they did. She couldn't comprehend what it might feel like to be defenseless and tied to a chair. What it might feel like to have a sharp knife puncture her body and cut deep into her.

She couldn't imagine the fear of knowing that you would die imminently and the fear of the pain, and what was on the other side waiting for you. Kristen liked to believe there was nothing after death, because if that was the case, then there would be nothing to worry about. No more pain. Once she washed the blood off her hand, she realized the cut wasn't as bad as she thought and was already starting to coagulate. She grabbed a bandage from the cabinet under the sink and stuck it over the cut.

~~~

The office of Best Choice Insurance was located in a business park only a thirty-minute drive from where Kristen lived. North of Chicago, not far from O'Hare airport. It was obvious when they approached it. It was like its own little microcosm with perfectly trimmed grass, pristine pathways and well-pruned trees. The white building with huge glass panels and a coffee shop attached was the biggest office in the area with fountains out front spraying water up into the air. Kristen wasn't sure how close they would be able to get but was reassured that there was a guest parking lot for which they did not require a security pass. They parked far away from the building, though not through choice.

"We will probably need a pass to get in, right?" Kristen had no idea what they were going to do beyond the point of getting there.

"We could say we're waiting for someone and sit at reception," Martin suggested.

"What if they ask us who we're waiting for?" she responded.

"Okay. We could just have coffee until closing time, then just wait outside."

"Won't that seem a little suspicious? What if they're doing overtime? They're probably not even working today. Probably too busy tending to Isabella Torres." Kristen was starting to doubt everything, and that hollow feeling of hopelessness returned.

"Well, this is all we have to go on. Maybe we can try again another day if we don't spot the guy today," Martin reassured her. "We don't give up."

"Well, in that case, let’s take a bench by the fountain. I brought snacks." Kristen shook the bag of treats in the air.

"Everything is about snacks with you, and I love it." Martin sat down and grabbed a bag of potato chips.

Aadesh took a seat and grabbed a chip from the bag that Martin had opened. "You got it all backwards. These are crisps, not chips." He placed one in his mouth and crunched. The sunlight shone through the spray coming from the fountain. The perfect day to catch a killer. "I mean if you call crisps chips, and you call chips fries, then what do you call fat, chunky, fries?"

"Sorry that just hurt my brain." Piper sat down. "Look, people are coming out." It was just gone 4pm so some people must have been finishing their shifts. Piper tried to smooth down the ill-fitting blouse she had borrowed from Kristen, who had wanted them to look as smart as possible to fit in.

Their eyes were fixed on the people streaming out through the automatic doors. Were any of these people capable of what they had witnessed in the videos? It didn't look like it. Some chatted to each other, some of them had their eyes glued to their cell phones. They looked absorbed in their own little worlds, oblivious to anything around them, but none of them had the face of a killer, if there even was such a thing.

Kristen shoved a handful of chips into her mouth, eating her feelings, trying to distract herself from the creeping feeling that this was all in vain, and just some shot in the dark. For two hours they sat there, watching and waiting until everyone started to look the same in their shirts and ties, skirts and blouses.

What had been a relaxing sound of running water from the fountain, now made her want to pee. "If no one else is going to say it, I will. This is pointless."

Martin swiveled on the bench to face her. "Maybe, but at least we've done something. If we hadn't wouldn't you always wonder. At least if you do everything you can, you can sleep easier at night—"

"Shh. Oh my god." Kristen turned and gripped the back of the bench with both hands.

"What?" Martin asked as everyone sat upright, peering over in the direction of Kristen's eye-line like meerkats, and turned back to her when she started trembling.

"It's him."

"Who?" Martin stood up.

"Sit down," Kristen demanded with the best, do as I say, look she could muster. "I went on a date with that guy," she whispered.

"Which one?"

"The lanky one. Blue shirt."

"Maybe that's your in? An insider. Do you think he would do you a favor?"

"What if it's him? What if he's the killer? Maybe he scoped me out?" Kristen doubled over, sick to her stomach.

"We need to follow him then," said Aadesh, watching him walk towards a silver Honda Civic. "We need to act fast." They followed his lead and walked back to Kristen's car as they shielded her behind them to