THUD

What must have been the twentieth random gang thug fell to the ground. The vigilantes had been all about town in the past four hours tracking down dealers and street muscle steadily working their way up the gang hierarchy. Not one of the gangbangers had given them anything useful. They either didn’t know anything or were more afraid of their new boss man than a vigilante interrogation.

“God damn!” James full force kicked a dumpster, “I’m starting to think this is pointless.”

Adem was rubbing his temples, “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t find anything about Bonum that explains this. Our only real option is to come at it from the Kingsnake side.”

“Dude,” James looked at Adem with a scowl, “We’re spinning our wheels here. This is your hill you want to die on. I’m headed home. Call me if you actually find anything useful.” Adem watched his friend storm off into the night forcefully stuffing his Sparrow gear into his bag. He shook his head gently, understanding his friend's frustration. James was right, he was insistent that they took on this crusade.

The black clad young man pulled his sleeve back and checked his watch. It was after one in the morning. He should be getting back home, too. The bookstore wouldn't open itself in the morning.

Adem spent the next few days wracking his brain trying to make sense of the situation. James hadn’t come by the apartment and Adem didn’t bother trying to get a hold of him for fear of just causing him more grief. He was pacing his living room holding his laptop going over the same search results he’d been looking at for two weeks now when Ruby bounded through the door.

Adem jumped at the sudden intrusion, “I swear I’m gonna put bells on you, you little sneak.”

She b-lined for the sofa sticking out her tongue. “Don’t be mean. I’m bummed out so you have to be nice to me.” She fake pouted at him complete with big puppy dog-eyes.

The look softened him a bit, “Okay. What are you so upset about? Did you and your imaginary friend have a fight?” Adem couldn’t resist poking a small amount of fun.

“Hmph,” the girl indignantly let out a sort of snort, “Chelsea isn’t imaginary! And we didn’t get into an argument. We were supposed to have lunch today but she couldn’t leave Bonum today. Her boss is a total hard ass.”

Adem tried to stop his jaw from hitting the floor, “Did you just say Bonum? Like Bonum Tech? How do you know someone who works at Bonum?”

“Oh now you believe me,” Ruby said. Then she explained, “She’s an engineering student at SU. She got an internship at Bonum as part of her senior requirements.”

“Well,” Adem wanted to get off the subject before Ruby got suspicious, “How bout we get a pizza and hang out here?” Ruby’s face lit up and she gave Adem a bear hug.