Chapter 69: Homeward Bound

“If you’re wrong about this –”

“Then I’ll shlep everything back up to the apartment,” I said. “But it won’t come to that.”

Benji nodded as he turned onto Ceylon Way in Aurora, the sprawling suburb on the east side of Denver. We’d crisscrossed the metro area in the span of a morning.

We hadn’t found another Reactant at the peak of Mt. Glennon, but I sure as hell didn’t consider it a wasted trip. We’d come by another windfall of XP and Materials, which was great in and of itself.

More importantly, we’d come to a decision.

That was why Benji, Lena, and I were pulling into the driveway of a bilevel house with white siding, green trim, and, at this time of year, a front yard empty of anything except dried grass. It matched most of the houses on the block. They reminded me of the neighborhoods in Parker we hadn’t stopped to collect from, not quite uniform, but all drawing on the same templates. Despite the multi-floor layout, I thought it looked a little less expensive than Miguel’s house, and the location, further from the light rail and the heart of the city, backed that up.

But then, Miguel was only renting. Benji and Sandy owned their home. For a value of “owned” that meant “owed to a bank twice over.”

“It has been way too long,” Lena said.

I tried to think. We’d only seen Benji’s family once or twice since lockdown. Had we been over here even once in that time? I didn’t think so. I wondered who had used it as more of an excuse, him to avoid inviting us or me to avoid asking.

“Yeah,” he said, a frog in his throat. “It has been.”

Somehow, I didn’t think he was talking about the span between us coming over.

He parked beside a battered blue minivan. The front door of the house opened as we were getting out of the car.

I knew Benji had called ahead to let Sandy know he was coming. I realized he hadn’t mentioned he wasn’t coming alone when I saw her wide-eyed expression.

Benji’s better half had put on weight since I’d last seen her, and she wore it well. A fringe of straightened black hair framed her round face. One of her eyebrows quirked up as she watched us.

She didn’t seem to have too much trouble conjuring a smile, though. When Benji loped up to the doorstep, she embraced him and kissed his cheek. “Welcome home, honey.”

He got his voice under control. “Hey, babe. Missed you.”

“I bet.” She hesitated, then leaned around him to look at us. “Cameron, Lena, hi. I didn’t expect you, so I don’t have a lunch spread ready or anything.”

Lena waved. “Heya, Sandy!”

“That’s fine,” I said. “Mind if we come in, though?”

“No, not at all.”

Mason peeked out of the doorway. He’d grown a few inches since I’d last seen him, and so had his curly hair, which took after his mom’s minus the straightening. His eyes widened when he saw all of us, but he said, “Hi Dad.”

“Hey Mace.” Benji stepped forward to ruffle his son’s hair. “You been good for your mom?”

Mason glanced at Sandy, then mirrored her nod.

“Good guy,” Benji said. “I figured, so look who agreed to visit.”

“Aunt Lena,” Mason said. “Uncle Cam.”

Did Lena stand up a little straighter at being named first? Yes. Yes she did.

I gave him a thumbs up. “That’s right, kiddo.”

Lena crouched with her hands on her knees. Her mouth opened wide. “Wait, that’s you, Mason? You’re getting so big I thought for sure Cam had another brother he hadn’t told me about.”

“Not that big,” Mason mumbled.

“You totally are,” Lena said. “See, you’re almost as tall as me!”

In her current pose, it was even true. Mason blinked at her, then looked one by one at each of the other adults present, all of whom were a lot taller than Lena. He cracked a little smile and repeated, “Not that big.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She puffed her cheeks out.

Mason laughed.

“I got something for you.” Benji produced a Lego box from his coat and handed it over.

Mason gripped it tightly. “Cool!”

Lena studied the box as though she hadn’t seen it in the car. “You graduated from Duplo, too?”

“‘Course,” he said. “That’s baby stuff.”

Lena sighed theatrically. “Everybody leaves me behind.”

Benji glanced at Sandy. I couldn’t see her expression, but I could watch his tiny raised eyebrow, his microscopic nod. “Why don’t you show your aunt how to put that together, Mace?”

“Can I?” he asked. “Right now?”

“Sure. Your mom and I have got a couple things to talk about, anyway.”

Mason’s head bobbed. He dashed into the house, and Lena followed. The last thing I heard as they disappeared down the stairs was her whispering, “Do you like dragons?”

I missed out on Mason’s answer, but I was willing to bet that whatever he said now, it would be a “yes” by the time we left. I smiled after them.

“You can go with them, if you want,” Sandy said.

I dragged my eyes away from the stairs. “Actually, I can’t.”

She searched my face; whatever she found there, she didn’t betray it in her own expression. Finally, she gave the faintest hint of a shrug and marched upstairs.

Benji and I followed her to the kitchen.

“Help yourself if you want a snack or something to drink, Cameron,” Sandy said.

I shook my head. “I’m good, thanks.”

She sat down at the table.

It was round, with three chairs set out, although it had room to accommodate more. Because of the arrangement, we ended up spaced equidistant from each other, rather than two of us on one side of a counter and the third on the other. Instantly, it created a different vibe from what it would’ve been at my and Lena’s apartment. More companionable than confrontational.

I hoped it would last.

Benji and I sat.

“Sandy,” he began.

She shook her head curtly. “Before you start, Ben, I have to ask. Why are you and Lena here, Cam?”

I glanced toward the stairway. “Lena is here because she had an excuse to see Mason.”

Sandy cracked a smile. “Good taste. And you?”

I ran my hands through my hair. I’d actually bothered to sweep it up in the style Third Eye gave me. I felt like I needed to look my best for this. “I’m here because there’s something I need to tell you. And probably show you.”

So much for her smile. “I don’t know how much Ben has explained –”

“Pretty much everything,” he said.

Her eyes flickered to him. Her frown deepened. To me, but without looking at me, she said, “Then I’m sure you understand why I feel like I have better things to talk about than whatever it is you’re up to these days?”

“Bizarrely,” I said, “what I’m ‘up to’ is relevant.”

“This, I’ve gotta hear.” She leaned back in her chair.

“Before you start, Cam,” Benji said, “I’ve just got to say that I’m sorry.”

“You said that over the phone often enough.” Sandy looked away.

“Still true,” Benji said.

“Okay.” Sandy worried her lip. “It’s not that you’re sorry I need to know, it’s why.”

He swallowed. “For lying to you. I should’ve told you the money was tied up.”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“How’s Mason doing?”

“Missing his dad,” Sandy said. She sighed. “Better, I’d say. He’s not getting as upset, and his homework is going great. He’s still having trouble during the actual school hours. I’m sure me stressing hasn’t helped, though I’m trying to keep a lid on it.”

I shifted on my chair. Would what I had to say actually make Sandy less stressed?

Regardless, it was too late to back out now. Both she and Benji were staring at me.

I swallowed. “My turn?”

“I think it’s got to be,” Sandy said. “If only so the curiosity stops killing me.”

“Makes sense,” I said.

When I didn’t immediately start talking, Benji reached around the table and pressed his fist into my shoulder.

It felt a little too much like something he’d done to annoy me when we were kids. I dodged away. Still, my desire to stop him from pestering me did what my resolve couldn’t. I started talking.

I said, “Lena and I came over because we’re mixed up in this, too.”

Sandy’s eyebrows raised. She didn’t say anything, but looked to Benji. Wondering where we’d gotten enough money to get ripped off in the first place, I supposed.

“Not because we invested with Odyssey Futures,” I said. “Because we’re playing the same game that Omar Jeffries is.”

Sandy’s eyes narrowed. “The game where you steal people’s hard-earned money?”

I shook my head. “The game that he saw so much potential in, he decided it was worth burning all his bridges to maximize his progression in it.”

Sandy pursed her lips. “You know this for a fact? Because no offense, guys, but that sounds... completely absurd.”

“No,” I said. “There’s an awful lot of circumstantial evidence, but we don’t have proof. Yet. Benji, Lena, and I hashed it out. I’ve got the details written up in a document on his laptop. You can read it later.”

“I’m still not super happy about having a digital record of this crap,” Benji said. “My laptop is secured for work, though, so it’s about as safe as it gets.”

Sandy looked back and forth between us. “What you wrote up is so explosive you don’t even want a record of it? I thought you said you were talking about a game.”

“It’s... kind of a weird game,” Benji said. As understatements went, I’d probably made that same one.

“I don’t care how weird it is.” She glared at us. “How could it possibly be worth all this nonsense? More to the point, how could somebody who was at least good enough at grifting idiots to make a lot of money possibly think it was worth risking his money, his business, and God willing even jail time, over a game?”

“I think it would be easier,” I said, “if I showed you.”