The Devil We Know (Ends World #5)

4. A Semi-Familiar Road

4

A Semi-Familiar Road

Jessica

Present Day

Matt: You need to forget about me.

Once again, I find myself sitting at my desk, staring at this now-months-old message on my phone.

Then, of course, the subsequent messages thereafter that are undelivered, one after another, into oblivion.

I have no idea why he sent this message to me, and I certainly have no idea why I was immediately blocked afterward, but I won’t lie and say it doesn’t sting.

I’m also certain something must have happened. I have no idea why he wouldn’t tell me what that something was unless he felt it was for my own good, which is also incredibly infuriating because fuck him.

Frankly, it seems completely out of character for him, but maybe I just don’t know him as well as I thought I did.

It’s not like I’ve never been ghosted before. I just honestly never thought it would happen with Mathias Shields, a man who I thought to be an unassuming, stand-up guy who always does the right thing.

Which is a clear indication to me that something is horribly wrong.

A voice pipes up from the door, and I glance up to see Issa standing there with her hands on her hips. I raise a brow at her and ask, “What?”

She frowns, walking further into the room, stopping in front of my desk with her arms crossed over her chest. “I’ve been saying your name for like a full minute. What the fuck are you doing on your phone?”

I glare at her. “That’s none of your fucking business.” Her eyes narrow further, and then she lunges across the desk, snatching my phone from my hands, and I screech, “Give that back.”

She scurries out of the way as I come around the desk to chase her, but I already know it’s too late. She would have seen the screen almost immediately and realized what I’ve been hiding from her.

She stops trying to get away from me, her eyes meeting mine as she asks, “What happened?”

I shrug, shaking my head sadly as I reply, “I have no idea. I have no fucking idea.”

“Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

I shrug again. “Say what, exactly? That a guy who helped me manage my murderous episode has decided he doesn’t want to talk to me anymore?”

She rolls her eyes. “Really, Jess? It’s more than that, and you fucking know it.”

We’ve never really spoken of the circumstances in which I first met Matt, but she knows me very well. She may even know me better than I know myself some days, and she certainly has a long history of calling me out on my bullshit, so I suppose this is going to be that same exact scenario.

“Bullshit,” she replies, and I snort, earning a glare from her as she continues, “Seriously. This is fucking weird, and the fact that you haven’t mentioned it to me before now is idiotic.”

I bristle, annoyed that she’s correct. “And what the hell are you going to do about it?”

She sighs again, fiddling around with my phone before she hands it back to me. I glance at the open messages and see that she has taken a screenshot of my last conversation with Matt and then texted it to herself. “What the fuck, Issa. Why would you do that?”

She glares at me even harder for a moment before going back to her phone, and then, suddenly, a new message pops up on my end.

Issa : Anyone know why Matt is being a douchebag to my friend?

I gasp in horror and then hiss, “Oh my God. What have you done?”

She smiles at me, putting her hand in my face. “You just wait.”

Unknown number : What the fuck did he do?

Another unknown number : Have you seen him?

Issa : Jessica is in this group, too. This is the last message she got from him, which appears to be a little out of character. You tell me.

The screenshot pops through, and that first unknown number immediately replies.

Unknown number : Absolutely not. Nope. That’s not Matt.

Another unknown number : Yeah, that seems a little suspicious. He’s not the type to do that without an explanation, even if that explanation makes no sense. It’d still be some form of an explanation.

I look up at Issa and ask, “Who the fuck are these people? All I have are unknown numbers.”

She snags my phone from me and then, a few moments later, hands it back, and when I look, the unknown numbers now have names. Antoinette and Carolina.

I look up at Issa again and ask, “Who are these people?”

“Declan’s sisters-in-law,” she explains. “I guess technically, my sisters-in-law.”

I had forgotten about them. I’ve only met them once or twice, and I’ve never had to make real conversation with them, but I remember Issa telling me how fucking crazy they are, which makes sense considering Declan and his brother are also fucking crazy.

My phone pings again.

Antoinette : When did this happen?

Jessica : A few months ago. He sent that to me, and I replied immediately, and it remains undelivered.

Carolina : Yeah, that’s fucking dumb. There’s no way that’s something he does without a very good reason.

Issa : Can you ask him?

There’s no reply for almost a minute, and we stand in the middle of the office, staring at our phones, until finally, a message pops up.

Antoinette : We don’t know where he is.

My heart stops in my chest, and my stomach bottoms out as panic bubbles up inside me. I look over at Issa, who’s frowning at her phone, and then her eyes rise to meet mine, and she says, “Was everything fine up until that point? Like normal?”

I nod. “Nothing unusual. Certainly nothing that raised any flags for me.” Issa looks back at her phone, and then another message pops up.

Issa : Obviously, something is wrong. What can we do?

Antoinette : #FAAFO.

I frown at the screen. “What the fuck does that mean?”

She laughs and responds, “Fuck around and find out.”

I sigh again, then continue to shake my head because these fucking people.

My phone pings again, and this time, more people have been added to the conversation. I look over at Issa questioningly, and she snags my phone, obviously inputting more names. When she hands it back to me, I see someone has added Tony and Dare to the conversation.

Tony : Another group chat?

Darius : Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Antoinette : It’s all for a good cause, baby.

Antoinette : Issa, send the screenshot again.

The screenshot pops up again, and new messages appear almost immediately afterward.

Tony : Well, that’s fucked up.

Darius : What the fuck?

Antoinette : So, it appears that our good buddy Matt isn’t just taking a short sabbatical between jobs.

Tony : I told you fuckers this didn’t feel right.

Darius : I didn’t disagree with you. I just said there wasn’t much we could fucking do about it.

Tony : Don’t try to pretend like you didn’t poo poo it, Dare.

Jessica : What the fuck does any of this mean?

Darius : Who the fuck are you?

Issa : It’s Jessica. That was her conversation I sent.

Darius : Oh, yes. Issa’s murderous friend. Welcome to the chat.

Tony : Are you going to tell us what Matt was doing chatting you up?

Jessica : I don’t think that’s any of your fucking business.

Tony : *laugh emoji*. I will take from that whatever I may.

The chat falls silent, and I stare at it expectantly, annoyed that no one is saying anything. Issa steps close, her arm coming up around my shoulder, and when I look over at her, she says, “Just give them a minute. They’ll do something.”

A few moments later, the phone pings again.

Darius : There isn’t any chatter right now, but I’ll put some feelers out and see what we can get going.

Tony : I’ll go grab my gloves and do some finding out of my own.

Jessica : What the fuck should I do, then?

Darius : If you want to help, get your ass to New York.

Issa’s phone pings, and I stare at my phone in confusion when no message pops up for me. She spends a few minutes texting someone back and forth and then hands me her phone, and I look down to see she sent Declan a message.

Issa : I need your plane.

Declan : Dare I ask what for?

Issa : Well, Jessica needs your plane.

Declan : Okay. It can be ready within an hour. Where’s she going?

Issa : NYC.

Declan : Does she need an escort?

Isa : As much as it pains me to say this, yes.

Declan : Done.

I hand the phone back to Issa and ask, “Who’s going to be my escort?”

Issa replies, “Declan will go with you. I will sacrifice him for a few days to at least get you over there and get you acclimated to the very colorful characters you’re about to come in contact with. You have obviously met Darius and Tony, and Antoinette is super cool; however, she is also somewhat crazy. You’ll like her.”

I sigh again, moving over behind my desk and putting all my papers back neatly before turning off my laptop, disconnecting it, and stuffing it in a bag. I put the strap over my shoulder and walk back around my desk, falling in step beside Issa as we walk out of the room and down the hallway.

Issa stops a few feet from the elevator, turns to me, and grabs me by my forearms, her eyes meeting mine as she whispers, “You’ll find him.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and then ask, “At what cost?”

She lifts a shoulder dismissively and responds, “It doesn’t fucking matter. You’ll pay it.”

And she’s right.