Chapter 27
“Liam Berkeley. Welcome.”
A handsome man in an expensive suit opened his arms to welcome Liam. He couldn’t be more than in his late twenties. He hadn’t lost his hair yet but had a very obvious receding hairline. He laughed and hugged Liam, who seemed uncomfortable and pulled away quickly.
“So stoked that you’re here. My client will be so thrilled to meet you. As soon as he heard you wanted to meet him, he got so excited. He’s seen your show like...a gazillion times. And he loves it.”
Liam nodded. He looked embarrassed and uneasy. It was one thing I had come to learn about this guy; he was nothing in real life like he was on TV. On-screen, he would yell and scream at everyone and say loads of offensive things. But in real life, he was actually quite humble and didn’t seem very impressed with his own career. At times, I even got the feeling that he was a little embarrassed by it. I wondered if it was because it wasn’t really him; it was a character he played. I also wondered how it had come about. When had it started? Did he used to be angrier, or had he always played a role? How many people knew his real self?
Jamal “Buddha” Robinson’s manager barely noticed my presence with more than a nod, and we followed him into the Superior Seafood Restaurant, where they had set up the meeting with the young gamer and Fortnite world champ.
The teenager sat alone at a table, his fingers tapping on the screen of an iPhone when we entered. From a distance, he looked like any of Olivia’s friends at school, with his cap and Nike sports jacket, except I had a feeling all his clothes were sponsored. His hair underneath the cap was dyed purple on one side and had been bleached on the other. His dark brown eyes lifted as he heard us, and he spotted Liam. They fist-bumped, shared an awkward half-hug, and we sat down. The waiter arrived and took one quick glance at Liam, then looked like he wanted to run away. Jamal ordered crawfish for all of us, while Liam told the waiter he’d like a good old-fashioned burger.
“I know it’s not what you expect from me, but I like a little guilty pleasure now and then,” he said when the waiter nodded, looking like he could cry. “And I promise not to criticize it. You have my word.”
That made the waiter smile as he left, partly starstruck, partly terrified the restaurant might end up on TV, being mentioned as the worst restaurant and him the worst server. I knew Liam would keep his word. He had told me it was partly why he seldom went to restaurants anymore. People were terrified of him and his criticism. I had thought a guy like him didn’t go out to eat because he could cook it better himself and because it would never be good enough for him, but that wasn’t the case.
The agent left us, and Liam used the first twenty minutes to congratulate the boy on his big win and the three million dollars that came with it. He then went on to giving him advice on being suddenly famous and how to avoid being used, and he told him to make sure he invested his money properly, so he didn’t spend it all. It was all to win the boy’s trust and not scare him half to death.
“Why do I have the feeling this is not why you’re here?” Jamal suddenly asked just as the food arrived. I had to admit, I was quite jealous of Liam’s burger, but the crawfish was amazing too. Liam had told me I had to taste it here, and I was glad I got to.
“You’re right,” Liam said and glanced at me like it was my cue. I wiped my mouth and fingers, then looked seriously at the boy.
“This is FBI profiler, Eva Rae Thomas,” he said. “She’s here to warn you about something that we fear might happen to you.”
“Technically, I’m not a profiler anymore,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is your life, Jamal, and I believe you are in serious danger.”
Chapter 28
“Do you know FaZeYourFeaRs?” I asked. “Do you know who’s behind that alias?”
Jamal shook his head. “No. I teamed up with him yesterday for like five hours, but then he left, real sudden, and I had to finish on my own.”
“Did he threaten you in any way?”
“Not at all.”
“Did he say anything to you in the chat?”
“We spoke, but only about the game.”
I could tell Jamal was shaken up. The latest story of Amal Bukhari and how she was shot on board that plane was scary to everyone. The fact that Jamal was black didn’t make it less frightening.
“So…what do I do?” Jamal asked. “If the police come to my house, I can’t very well keep them from coming inside.”
I bit my lip. “I’ll warn the local departments that this might happen, and hopefully they’ll listen to me. But I’m afraid it’s no guarantee. I warned the police before they got the call involving Liam’s son. Still, it went terribly wrong.”
Jamal gave Liam a horrified look. “But…what do I do? I can’t just sit at home and wait for the police to show up and kill me.”
“If they do show up, at least make sure you keep your hands up. Get to your knees immediately and keep your hands over your head at all times,” I said.
Liam leaned forward. “But the thing is, once it goes down, once those body-armored men enter your house, you’re so terrified that you can’t think. It all goes so incredibly fast. You don’t know what you’re doing in the moment,” he said. He took a break to gather himself, and I felt a knot grow in my throat. “You don’t really think. You just act, and it gets really easily mistaken for a threat.”
Jamal whimpered and leaned back in his chair. His fingers were fiddling with his phone, turning it between them.
“But what do I do?”
“Do you have somewhere you can go?” I asked. “Somewhere where no one knows where you are? In that way, when the call comes, and the police come to your house, you won’t be there.”
“But my family will be. I live with my momma and sister.”
“Take them. You just earned a lot of money, am I right? How about you take a trip for about a week or two? Go somewhere that you always wanted to. Or treat your mother to a nice trip. Maybe a cruise or something. I’m sure she deserves it.”
Jamal’s face lit up. “I could do that. She always wanted to go to Canada.”
“There you go,” I said. “Take the trip, and that way, when the police arrive, they’ll find the house empty.”
“But what about school?” he asked. “I’ve already been absent way too much due to the competition and all the things they’ve wanted me to do afterward.”
“Deal with that once you get back,” Liam said. “This is your life, and maybe even your mother’s and sister’s lives we’re talking about. Get out of here, now. Deal with the consequences later. I’m sure you can find an excuse, or maybe Eva Rae can write them a letter telling them the FBI told you to go.”
“I can’t exactly do that,” I said. “Since I am no longer technically FBI, but I can write a letter testifying to the threat on you. No matter what, I’m sure you’ll get through it as long as you get out of this town immediately. Go home and pack, but tell no one where you’re going; do you hear me? No one. Not that agent of yours or your best friend or even a neighbor. Don’t tell your mother and sister where you’re going either. Say that it’s a surprise. And whatever you do, don’t go online while you’re there. No gaming and no live-streaming on Twitch. Stay low, go to the beach, enjoy your sister and mother. Survive this, Jamal, please.”