The Match (Wilde, #2)(51)

Wilde shook his head. “But what about his last post?”

“What about it?”

“Peter said lies spread quicker than truth and not to be so quick to believe what you hear. He told me the same in his message to me—that people were lying about him.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

“I think you should leave.”

“If there is something more—”

“There isn’t, Wilde. It’s just…it’s over. Peter’s dead.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Then he ran away and doesn’t want to be found. Either way, I think you should leave.”





Chapter

Twenty



Chris Taylor waited for the full Boomerang animal menagerie to log into the secure video conferencing. The Giraffe came in first, followed by the Kitten and the Alpaca. A minute later, Polar Bear appeared. That made up the quorum. When they began this venture, they all agreed to a number of rules to protect their identities, the group in general, and their work. They also made rules about a quorum—that is, five out of six of them had to be present to discuss anything. If two couldn’t make it, you just postponed the meeting.

“Let’s wait a second for Panther.”

They waited far longer than a second. Chris sent out another reminder. Again for reasons of safety, no one in the group could directly message another member. All messages had to go to the entire Boomerang menagerie.

“Panther isn’t responding,” Giraffe said.

“They didn’t respond to the earlier call,” Kitten added.

The group all identified as they/them, not so much out of true gender or politics, but because it was one more layer of protection. Chris had no idea of the real genders. This could be a group of him and five females or him and five males or any other combination under the sun. He had no idea where they lived other than Kitten telling them they went by Central European Time, so as to facilitate scheduling meetings when they were all awake.

“No reason to panic,” Polar Bear said. “We only got Lion’s message today.”

That was true, but Chris did not like this. He did not like this at all. It would be one thing if one of the others was missing. He’d be worried, yes, but of all people to be a no-show, the Panther?

“We have the quorum,” Giraffe said. “Do you want to tell us what’s up now or do you want to wait for Panther?”

Chris thought about it. “I would be happier if Panther especially was here.”

“Why especially?”

“Because this involves them.”

“How so?”

Then, thinking more about it, Chris said, “I’m going to screen share something with all of you.”

He brought up an article from page one of the Hartford Courant. There was a large headshot of Henry McAndrews in his blue uniform. The headline above his smiling visage read:





RETIRED ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF MURDERED

Shot in his Harwinton Home Gangland Style




Polar Bear spoke first. “Henry McAndrews. Why do I know that name?”

“He was a case file,” Chris said.

“Victim or perpetrator?” Giraffe asked.

Chris hit another button on his computer. “I just sent you all the file. Panther presented the case. McAndrews was a perpetrator.”

“My God, what punishment level did we give?”

“None,” Chris said.

“I don’t get it,” Giraffe said.

“Here’s the quick refresher. Panther presented the case of a reality star being trolled online.”

“Oh right,” Polar Bear said. “The PB in PB&J. My daughter is a fan—” Polar Bear stopped, probably catching themselves giving something personal away. “I’m familiar with the show.”

“Peter Bennett,” Chris said. “He was involved in a reality-show scandal and as usual, the internet exploded with hate and vitriol to the point that the guy’s life was ruined. There are rumors he committed suicide or maybe he faked it, whatever.”

“I remember,” Kitten said. “But hadn’t Peter Bennett been a sleazebag too?”

“Probably,” Chris said. “He was outed on a podcast for cheating and maybe even roofying women. No proof or anything. Just an accusation. But we all decided, correctly in my view, that we had more deserving victims who needed our attention.”

“We passed on him?”

“Yes.”

“And if I remember, Panther was unhappy about that,” Kitten said. “The Panther suggested the lowest storm—just give the McAndrews guy a Category 1 even. Teach him not to be such an asshole.”

“Did we know the troll was a cop?” Polar Bear asked.

“We didn’t get that far because we decided not to go forward,” Chris said. “Would it have mattered?”

“I guess not.”

Silence.

“Hang on,” Kitten said. “We’ve all had plenty of cases that didn’t move ahead to the punishment stage. It’s part of what we all signed up for. Are you suggesting now that the Panther went rogue?”

“I’m not suggesting anything,” Chris said.