The Athena Effect by Derrolyn Anderson
~
Calvin and Jarod checked every number in Phil’s phone, finding only three without names attached. The first was a phone sex line, the second, a waitress at a local bar. The third and final number rang to a mysterious voice-mail account with no message. They took the phone to an old friend of Jarod’s, a reclusive computer gamer who hacked into a reverse directory to track down a billing address in San Francisco.
The brothers rode their motorcycles across the bridge and into the fog-shrouded city, ending up in an industrial area by the waterfront. The building was a tall concrete monolith that looked completely unremarkable from the outside. There were no windows on the first few floors, and the only entry was a pair of metal gates facing the street with security cameras trained down onto them.
Calvin and Jarod stashed their bikes between two buildings across the street, watching from the shadows. “Let’s hang back and see who we’re dealing with,” Jarod said, squinting at the building from around a corner. “I don’t wanna get tased again.”
Jarod was worried about Cal. He hadn’t seen him this upset since the horrible day he’d had to break the news to him about the accident. That day, he’d sworn to their father that he’d look after his little brother, but there wasn’t much he could do for him now.
For the past two days Cal wouldn’t rest, and he’d barely eaten a thing; he looked worn out and drawn. Jarod waited by his side for a few hours, but when there was no sign of any comings or goings, he started losing patience.
“I bet everybody who works here already went home,” he said. “C’mon, let’s go grab a bite and check back later.”
“Go ahead,” Calvin replied, “I’m not hungry.”
“Listen bro, it’s not going anywhere …”
“No,” Calvin said quietly, his hollow eyes filled with grim determination. “She has to be here.”
Jarod looked up at the darkening gloom, and back at his brother. “I’ll go pick up something to eat.” He headed towards his bike, turning back. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
Cal nodded without taking his eyes off the building; this was the last lead, and he wasn’t about to give up on his only hope.
Caledonia was his only hope.
Like a light at the end of a tunnel, she had signaled a way out of the darkness that had become his life. She’d made him question his shiftless existence and want to be a better person. His grandmother had guessed right: she was the one, and he could never go back to the way he was before she came along.
He felt like he would die if he couldn’t find her. No amount of money or alcohol or girls would ever be enough to fill the hollow empty ache in his chest. This was his last chance and he knew it.
“She has to be here,” he repeated out loud.
He paced back and forth, coming out onto the sidewalk when lights illuminated a pair of windows on the fourth floor. It was getting dark, and he knew that when Jarod got back he wouldn’t want to stay much longer. He had to take a chance. He reached down and picked up a handful of gravel.