Page 108 of Hurt

“Regardless,” Wallace interjected with a wrinkled hand held up. “He cannot be ruled out. Everyone is an enemy until we can discern otherwise.” He glanced over at Elijah. “Do you still know the whereabouts of the White Sand Mesa heir?”

The young man swallowed. “Noah? Y…yes.”

“Good. Keep an eye on him. If necessary, he will be a bargaining chip with Luther.”

“Oh,” Jamie crowed from his perch. “Elijah will keep a real close eye on him.”

Elijah glared at his cousin. If looks could kill, Jamie would be a smoldering stain on the countertop.

Owen swallowed nervously and wondered just what he meant by bargaining chip. This was starting to get a little too real for someone who just wanted to develop video games.

He was exceedingly grateful for everything the Weavers had done for him. When they found him, he was working part-time at a mall kiosk fixing cellphones. The highlight of his day was when he clocked out and got to spend the evening roleplaying online using borrowed WIFI at an internet café. Well, that and when he found something scandalous on someone’s cellphone.

Cellphone.

“Phones!” he suddenly shouted, knocking his chair over as he stood up quickly. “Give me your phones!”

The Weavers watched his outburst with disapproving eyebrow raises. The uncanny similarity gave him the heebie-jeebies.

“Just…give them!”

Five phones were laid beside his computer. One by one, he plugged them in and began running a system check. Silence blanketed the room. Owen didn’t notice. He was intent on his task—eyes flicking back and forth as he analyzed the data.

“There!” he said excitedly. “Found it.” He looked over at the phone plugged into his computer. There was a sticker of a hotdog on it.

“Jamie, have you ever been without your cell phone?” Owen asked.

Sensing a change in the air, he sat up. “No. Why?”

Owen double-checked his computer before looking up. “Someone cloned your phone. It’s a sneaky program, but it’s been running in the background. Every keystroke, every call you made would be duplicated.”

“Including GPS,” Grant said breathlessly.

“Right,” Owen said. “Whoever did this wouldn’t have to spy on anyone. No moles. No tails. They would just have to sit back and watch.”

Jamie slid off the counter. The stupid grin was off his face, and a darkened scowl was in its place. The difference was terrifying. Jamie went from class clown to Pennywise in an instant. Owen wondered if this was the face his victims saw.

“I would never give anyone my phone.”

“And why Jamie?” Elijah asked defensively.

“Why not?” Grant interjected. “You two are the closest people to the controlling powers of Weaver Syndicate. You would also know Roland and my schedules.”

“So why not my phone?” Elijah mused.

Owen looked down at the pile of phones on the table. Elijah’s was by far the newest looking. Free of scratches and dents, it looked like it had come right out of the box.

“Elijah, yours is new?”

“Yes. My old one was destroyed in the attack on the Vegas storage unit. It was damaged when we fell out the window.”

“That’s it.” Owen looked at Roland, who still had not blinked. “They must have cloned your phone first. That’s how they knew about the attack on their mainframe and not the attack on the drug warehouse that Grant and Jamie did. When your phone was destroyed, they cloned Jamie’s.”

The five sets of predatory eyes had changed. They weren’t staring down at him anymore but were rather looking at him quizzically. As if they didn’t understand how he managed to put this information together.

“Could someone have taken your phone without your knowledge?” Roland asked Jamie.

“No,” he said emphatically. “Never. I would never risk the Weaver Syndicate by being careless.”