“You’ve never done that, am I right?” he answered his own question. “You’ve never complained about any food or drinks in a restaurant. You’re too…nice for that. Too busy making sure everyone is happy. Just like you let that guy move in with you even though you didn’t want him to, just because you don’t like to make people angry with you. You can’t stand making people sad. But the thing is, Eva Rae, in life, you’re bound to hurt people at some point. No one can go through life without hurting someone. Not even you. And once you finally realize that letting him move in with you was a mistake, that’s when you’ll hurt him even worse than if you had just told him it was too early from the beginning.”
I stared at the man in front of me, wanting desperately to punch him in the face. He grinned and emptied his glass while I could swear that smoke was emerging from both my ears. It felt like it, at least.
I rose to my feet and grabbed my purse.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I said, steaming. “And I take my words back. You’re not a nice guy. You’re a sick bastard, and I don’t know which is worse. The fact that you are one, or the fact that you’re proud of it.”
Chapter 31
Jamal Robinson took a bite of the juicy burger. His momma and sister were sitting across the table from him, eating in silence. His mother suddenly burst into a huge grin.
“Canada, son? I can’t believe we’re really here. How did you keep it a secret, huh?” she asked.
The colder air had felt so wonderful on their skin, but now he was happy to be inside while the snow fell on the windows. The city of Montreal’s lights danced in the darkness. In the distance, he could see a cruise ship as it was docking, bathed in bright lights. They had found a burger joint that was called something French by the harbor in the old town. People around them were mostly American or European. Their cab driver, M&M, as he called himself (not like the rapper, but the candy), had been beyond cool, and Jamal couldn’t stop himself. He had to record him and live stream it to his YouTube channel. He believed it would be okay as long as he didn’t use Twitch like that FBI woman had told him. M&M had been quite spectacular on the video, telling Jamal’s viewers all about the town.
“I want to go to that market we passed on our way here,” his sister Asia said. “Tomorrow. I want to get myself a hoodie or maybe a cap. And a snow globe. I love snow globes.”
“We can do that,” Jamal said happily, trying to let go of the gnawing anxiousness he was feeling inside his stomach. He was thrilled to be able to give his family this treat, but he wasn’t very happy that it was under these circumstances. He knew he was far from home, yet he couldn’t help feeling nervous.
“How’s your burger, Jamal. You like it?” His momma asked, chewing on a french fry. No one had been prouder than Momma Robinson when Jamal had taken the World Championship home six months ago. She had always scolded him for being on his computer too much, but as he brought home the check for three million dollars along with so many sponsors that she never had to work a day in her life again, there would be no more complaining. His momma had bad knees from working as a cleaning lady for years and years. It had always been Jamal’s dream to support her, so she never had to clean up white people’s dirt again. And now he had.
“It’s good,” he said and took another bite. “Juicy.”
“I can’t wait to see the town,” Asia said. “It’s supposed to be gorgeous.”
Jamal had rented them a small apartment downtown for two weeks. After that, it should be safe to go back home again. At least he hoped it would. He couldn’t really stay away forever. Plus, he had to keep giving his viewers updates and new material, or they’d unsubscribe, and he’d lose his sponsors. He was used to making live stream videos nonstop all day, of everything he did and especially of his gaming, of course. The past twenty-four hours, he had been unusually quiet, except for the small driving video from the taxi, and the viewers would begin to wonder.
Jamal drank his Coke and looked at his family when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the waitress came to the table next to them, and a second later, the people sitting there got up and left. Normally, it wouldn’t be a cause for concern if he hadn’t seen her continuing to the next table and the exact same thing happening. The couple sitting there got up and left, leaving their food and their bill unpaid. When he looked around, he soon realized they were all alone in the restaurant.
Every customer had left, and he couldn’t see any of the waitresses either.
Chapter 32
“Dang it, Jamal!”
I tapped on my iPhone, trying to call him but kept getting his voicemail. I stared at the computer screen in front of me, where Jamal was driving around Montreal with a taxi driver who was telling stories about his town.
“Why would you do this? Why would you make a video revealing your whereabouts? When we specifically told you to keep a low profile!”
I was yelling at him on the screen since I couldn’t get ahold of him on the phone. My heart was racing in my chest, and I was shivering. It felt so devastating because there was absolutely nothing I could do.
There was a loud knock on my door, and Liam’s voice yelled from the other side. “Eva Rae? Open up!”
I opened the door and let him inside. “Are you okay?” he asked while walking in, wearing nothing but a bathrobe over his boxers.
I showed him the screen and turned on the video. “This is from today. From Montreal. Jamal just revealed his whereabouts to the entire world.”
“Oh, dear,” Liam said and looked at the video, then up at me.
“I subscribed to his videos to keep an eye on him,” I said. “When I saw the notification that he was live-streaming, I just about had a heart attack. How could he be this stupid? Can you explain this to me?”
“He’s fourteen,” Liam said and sat on my bed. “He doesn’t think.”
I looked at Liam. “Were you sleeping? It’s eight-thirty?”
“Yeah, well, I like to go to bed early. I usually get up at four-thirty to get a good start. Then I go to the gym before I eat my oatmeal and then head to the studios for the taping of my show. I also have nine restaurants that I need to make sure are running properly. They’re located around the world, so I often make a lot of calls in the early morning hours to check in on them.”
“Wow,” I stopped him, feeling exhausted just from hearing this. “I don’t think we could ever be friends. All that is just a little too intense for me.”
Liam chuckled. “It is for most people. And I am not here to be your friend anyway. I don’t have friends; I have no time for them in my schedule. I am here to catch whoever killed Tim and make sure they pay.”
“Okay. It was just an expression, but I’m glad we got that cleared up,” I said with a deep sigh. I stared at Jamal on my computer, feeling all kinds of worry in my heart. Why wasn’t the kid picking up his phone?
“Can we call someone?” Liam asked. “The local police? Can we warn them, maybe? Tell them what might happen?”