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Purge, Inc
Into the Vortex
By: Everleigh Allen
Chapter 3
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Edward sat on his work bench facing a large motorcycle that he spent the better part of the morning trying to fix. He rubbed his hands on the rag before tossing it onto the ground along with many other rags that he hadn't got around to picking up.
That wasn't like him.
His energy was zapped. He felt heavy chested and filled with rage and frustration especially after another call from the private detective with no other news.
"You still here?" Mike scoffed moving briskly through the room garage carrying flurries of snow from outside in with him. There was a wash of heavy cologne that followed him in and made Edward's nose twitch. It was off-putting.
"Yeah," Edward got up and pulled out a fresh towel to wipe the chrome of the cycle again. He had done it several times already, but he felt calmer doing it.
Mike eyed all the rags on the ground with a sneer. "You okay?"
Edward shrugged. The garage seemed ominous lately. The light gray walls seemed unusually lament and dark; the maroon trimming seemed gory to him though he didn't know if it was just his mood or if it was because of something more foreboding.
Mike moved closer, eyes critically narrowing over his friend. He noticed the man was sweating even through it was cold outside. "Talk to me, man."
"What's there to say?"
"How about what the fuck is going on with you?" He scoffed. "You look like Hell."
"Thanks man," Edward bit out. "What are you doing here, anyway? It's your day off."
"Errands."
"Ah," Edward knew what that meant. Mike needed a break away from the home life that was teaming with screaming kids and his overly doting wife, Kate.
"So?" Mike tried again, diverting his glare by looking around the garage. Not only were there rags lying all over the floor but papers out of their file folders all over the counter, and the old computer was humming loudly in the corner. He could barely hear some metal playing in the background giving the whole place surrealistic atmosphere that their garage didn't usually have.
"Are we doing this, really?" Exhaling loudly, Edward stilled but his eyes darted toward the direction of his friend. "Sharing feelings?"
"Sure, why not? We're friends."
Edward held back a scoff. He had known Mike most of his life, but he had taken the girl he loved right out from underneath him. So when Mike remarried it felt like another gaping wound held open with more secrets and lies.
Not that he'd say anything about how Mike lived his life.
"Ever feel like you're being watched?" Edward hedged, thinking of a less confrontational topic that would appease Mike.
"Watched? By who, the feds?" Mike looked around cautiously which Edward caught.
"Nah," He glared at Mike suspiciously before he moved around the bike wanting to put space between him and his business partner and friend.
"Did something happen?"
"No- well, not really."
"Cryptic." Mike laughed, genuinely amused.
"Just something feels off in the place lately and I can't put my finger on it."
Mike nodded as if he understood. "Is this about her again?"
Edward's spine instantly straightened in defense, "Whom are you referring to exactly?"
"Some random? I don't know… you tell me."
Of course not. You know I don't pick up randoms." Edward scoffed and then muttered, "That's your department," too softly for Mike to hear.
Raising his hands in defense, Mike took a step backward. "I had to ask since you're acting fucking weird right now. You're sweating."
"Nevermind," Edward sighed, taking a new rag and wiping down his face and neck.
"Look, I get it. You're not over the past. But enough time has gone by that you should know better. Time to move forward- I mean, you rejected that one chick and she was hell bent at getting a ride-"
Edward scoffed and held his hand up in-between them. "Don't."
"You can't live like this, hiding in this fucking hole." He pointed around the shop as if it proved his point. "How many years have you gone without someone? Kate hooks you up and you didn't even show up for the date. You promised and you know she's fucking livid."
Edward's mind instantly went to Mike's wife with her citrusy yellow hair and bright red lips. She was not like the other women that usually hung around the shop; she was like cherry lemonade on a hot day, all sweet and bitter sass.
"Sorry, but I didn't want the hook up."
"Are you for real right now?" Mike scoffed but instantly took another step around the bike with Edward's withering glare. "Just saying that it doesn't take much to get your dick wet in this town."
"If I wanted that I would take it."
"So you'd rather have nothing because we both know she's not coming back."
It was like being punched in the face each time it was said. "Is there something you wanted?" Edward sneered.
"Yeah, left your dinner on the desk. You can thank Kate."
Edward nodded eyeing the desk with a brown bag of unknown items. He hadn't even thought of dinner and he knew he could be more gracious. "Tell her thanks."
"Do it yourself." Mike laughed, shaking his head. "So you ready to tell me what's got you mind-fucked?"
Edward sat down and ran his hands over his thighs as if trying to calm himself down. It didn't help the instant rush from his heart. He eyed the chrome of the motorcycle.
"You ever see things?"
"Like what?" Mike narrowed his eyes, watching Edward intently.
"I could have sworn I saw faces staring at me."
"Where?"
Edward pointed to the chrome of the bike.
"It was dark and I was tired, but not tired enough to see something so fucking weird."
"How fucking weird?"
"I saw two faces staring at me, like from behind me for a slight second but then when I turned around they were gone."
"So a ghost?"
Edward nodded. "That, or something like it."
"Was it a reflection or some shit?"
"Not that I could tell. They looked weird. Something was off."
"Man, woman?"
"I couldn't really tell. The faces were in shadow of the chrome."
"Look, don't go around saying this shit to anyone else, alright? We can't have people think you've lost your shit- not that they don't already think that." Mike huffed, running his hand through his dark- salt and pepper hair. "Take the food and go home and get some rest. I will clean this fucking mess up so you can come in tomorrow fresh. This place is getting to you."
"Yeah," Edward sighed. "You're right. Thanks, man." He didn't bother to tell him about what happened in his room at home. It was something that he didn't want to share based on his reaction from the incident in the garage.
Mike nodded, cupping his hand over Edward's large, muscular shoulder and gave him a few pats. "Yep. Go home. Right now."
Going back into the main office, Edward grabbed his phone, keys, and the bag of food Kate had made for him. He looked back at Mike who was bent forward staring into the chrome of the bike before making faces into it. He whispered something but then laughed, righting himself enough to pick up the rags left askew over the floor and tossing them into the hamper.
Edward left without another word.
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Kate sat at the kitchen table alone.
The food was long gone and the dishes were put away. She glared at the screen of the computer, seeing the mousy look of the girl in the photo and wondered what it was that Mike saw in her- compared to her. She was well put together always. Her makeup was flawless and her clothing impeccable. Her home reflected her perfectly and she spent most of the day distracting herself by cleaning and putting things away.
It was also how she came across a small zip drive in the back of Mike's third drawer.
She anxiously waited for Mike to leave before she put gloves on and snatched it up. She put it in a Ziploc bag and ran it to her friend, Jared's house. He was tech savvy where she wasn't and had the files copied onto an external hard drive before Mike even knew it was missing.
"Hey beautiful," Mike shut and locked the front door as Kate gave him a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes. "What did you do today?"
"Besides taking care of the kids, cooking, cleaning, and reorganizing the closet dressers, not much," She grinned wider out stretching her arms for his hug that he always gave her.
"Sounds much more fun than my day," He huffed ominously before he pulled her close, kissing the soft skin of her neck before whispering in her ear. "Find anything interesting?"
"Not unless you consider lint interesting," She quipped as she pulled away and put some distance between them. "The kids are already in bed. I didn't know when you'd be home. Sorry."
Her smile was more withered than it usually was and he noticed. With a twinge of annoyance that he masked with a smile, Mike nonchalantly raised his eyebrows. "Well, I guess I'll get changed for bed then."
She nodded and left him to it in the hall alone.
Mike walked into their bedroom, but nothing seemed off. He went right for the drawer and reached in, clutching the zip drive like a life-line and exhaled. He pulled it out of the drawer and quickly put it in the small safe he had under his dress shirts. Usually, it housed his passports and some spare cash, but more often than not it housed much more.
"You okay in there?" Kate called out in warning, seeing the shadow of Mike move out of the closet and into the bathroom. There was a distinct sound of a flush then sink water. She smirked knowing full well he didn't use the bathroom.
She knew better.
"Never better," He grinned cockily watching her as she turned away and left the room. "Coming to bed?" He called after her and he could swear she mumbled something before answering.
"Soon."
He didn't wait.
He quickly undressed and crawled into their bed before he started to scroll through his phone. Smiling when it landed on a short, curvy brunette with bottomless eyes staring blankly back at him. He quickly sent her a text and grinned wider at her quick, flirty response.
Moving from the bed, he pulled on some jeans, a fresh dark tee-shirt, and shoes and gave a passing glance to where Kate could be before he slipped out the front door without a word.
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Kate frowned as she watched her husband hurriedly move past the security camera she had installed the week before. He was off skirting through the night and she didn't know if he thought her to be stupid or what but the fact that he would just leave without reason or even saying goodbye was beyond her.
She closed the app with a sigh, pulling her hair behind her ear that often fell over her face. She tried to feel something toward her husband but only disappointment and anger came through. It was hard to put on a smiling face when he openly disrespected her.
"Soon," she whispered to herself with a curt nod. She had to keep it in the front of her mind why she was doing all of this.
One big reason was sleeping soundly upstairs, and two others behind her.
Kate quickly locked the door and set the security alarm to silent. It would send her a message when he returned, but until then she watched the small screen as his dot moved faster through the map. She pushed the record button and set it down with a deep breath.
"You can do this," She held the breath in for several long moments trying to calm herself, but she felt the tightening in her chest.
When the dot stopped for more than a minute or two, her phone chimed. Kate picked it up and took a screenshot of the address, quickly texting the video and photo then deleted it on her side.
She watched for several more minutes before she could feel the anger move over her.
"How could you be so stupid?" She bit out. But she knew she wasn't the stupid one. It was all him. He had all the things a man would want- but it wasn't enough for him and that was just… sad.
But perhaps she was getting ahead of herself?
Perhaps he left a note.
Kate moved swiftly through the house and into the bedroom. She could see the pillows in their normal place, the bed only slightly jostled where he sat on it briefly.
There was no note.
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A/N: So now you have a bit more info as the story progresses.
I know there are mistakes and I will fix them along the way and repost the corrections quietly. I'm glad you like the story so far. I just wanted to get these three chapters out before I had to go into work. Thanks for reading!