Page 41 of Delusional

Now all that was left was to find a comfortable spot to watch the fireworks.

CHAPTER 48

TOM OWENS HAD already picked out a Starbucks on a side street as the best viewing spot. He knew if he sat at a high-top table by the front window, he’d be able to see the Virtual Spaces office.

Ellis Warrenton was saying, “We need to get out of the area. There’s no reason to watch the explosion. It makes things more complicated and raises the risk of being caught.”

Owens ignored Ellis’s complaints and continued to lead the way to the Starbucks. “We’ll be sitting in a public coffeehouse. After we see what we need to see, we’ll casually stroll in the opposite direction. Besides, we might want to scope out a Starbucks as a potential future target.”

“Why would we do that?”

“You keep saying we’re trying to change society. Starbucks has a detrimental effect on society. They bully South American farmers to sell their coffee as cheap as possible. They overcharge people here for coffee that costs them very little. Everyone knows Starbucks. The right device could get us decent national attention. Or even international. I mean, after you write a statement about Virtual Spaces.”

“Why don’t you write the damage statement? You seem to be doing everything else,” Ellis grumbled.

“I’m good with engineering things. It’s your job to release statements to educate people. I wish you’d do it more efficiently.”

Ellis didn’t say anything coherent as they walked into the coffee shop. Kimmy knew her way around a Starbucks and immediately ordered a salted caramel cream cold brew. Ellis just ordered a coffee, and when the barista asked him a question, he said in a louder voice, “I said, ‘Coffee.’”

Owens made an effort to be polite to the young woman behind the counter. He hated coffee, though back when he was at MIT, his classmates all seemed to live on it, especially during finals week. Instead, Owens ordered a hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. The drink reminded him of Christmas Eves at his grandmother’s house. She’d make him and his brother hot cocoa with Cool Whip on top.

It made him sad to think that may have been the happiest time of his life. Once everyone realized his intellectual gifts, people started treating him entirely differently. They wanted to use him. Find a way to make money with him. One of his aunt’s boyfriends had tried to figure out how to get underage Owens into a casino so he could count cards, like in Rain Man. Maybe that’s what shaped his view of people as scheming, deceitful, and hypocritical. Like how everyone whined about climate change, but very few people were like him and willing to do something to address it.

After a few minutes, Pry joined them. The four of them settled in on the exact high top that Owens had scoped out earlier. From his seat, he didn’t even have to crane his neck. He sat comfortably with his delicious hot chocolate and watched the crowds of people rushing by the giant plate glass windows that would soon become razor-sharp shrapnel.

He noticed two young women, both with dark hair. One of them had a relatively short, blunt cut and the other had long, wavy hair. He watched as they took a moment to stop and look in the window at the Virtual Spaces office. Then they hurried along and entered the building’s lobby. A moment later, Owens saw them step into the glass-enclosed reception area of Virtual Spaces.

Something about seeing two more people walk into his trap made his heart speed up. When Owens had first agreed to work with these guys, it had only been for a chance to use his skills. It had never occurred to him that he’d experience excitement.

He liked it.

CHAPTER 49

AFTER WE VISITED WITH his family, Rob Trilling took me on a walk outside.

It was freezing cold, and with no buildings to block the wind, it felt like it was turning both of our faces red almost instantly. But the view was breathtaking. I felt like I was looking at a sweeping scene from an epic Western movie.

It reminded me of when I used to pretend to be a cowboy. Even as a kid growing up in Manhattan, there were plenty of cowboy movies and shows on TV. I used to walk into my grandfather’s bar, pretending to be the sheriff. Any local who was there at three in the afternoon knew to play along. But I’d had no perspective as a child. The actual West was even more vast than I’d ever imagined.

I knew we were here for more than just a stroll in the great outdoors. Rob Trilling and I needed to have a serious conversation. Privately.

I asked my partner, “Your family seems to be dealing with things pretty well. This isn’t the sort of situation most people ever face.”

“I’m most worried about Pops. He loves that car lot. It’s killing him that Gary is having to go through all this just to keep it.”

“I think you’ll find guys like your grandpa and mine are tougher than we give them credit for. I know how Seamus feels when I get stuck in a tight spot. I don’t even tell him about some of the things that go on at work because I don’t want to worry him more. But guys like them didn’t make it this far by ignoring things or letting things slide.” I looked back out across the rolling hills. In the distance I saw what I thought was a horse on one of the low peaks. It made me imagine what it would have been like to explore this country on horseback.

After a full minute, Trilling said, “What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful. I’m jealous this is where you got to grow up.”

“I mean, what do you think about my brother’s problem with the guy from Los Angeles? The more I hear Arnold Marks talk, the less I think he’s involved in any legitimate business.”

“I’ll reach out to Walter Jackson and see what he can find out for us quietly. He’s careful about not violating NYPD procedures by searching law-enforcement databases. But he still finds out a lot by going through the internet and in public databases.”

Trilling said, “I did some looking through the internet and found out that Marks used to own a real-estate development company. But he’s also listed in a Los Angeles Times story about being present during a shooting at a nightclub. Marks wasn’t charged, but it sounded like he was a person of interest. What’s our next move?”

“Considering everything that’s happened and everything we know, we have to assume we’re on our own. It really is sort of like the old Wild West. We can’t count on anyone. There’s no cavalry. And we’re outgunned.”