Collateral

Chapter Four

Arsen ate the blobs of melted chocolate and cookie dough that his little sister, Holly, had baked. They weren't too bad. Edible, at the very least. She needed to take some more home economics classes for her electives.

"They're great," Arsen told Holly. "Did Dad help you make them?"

"Not really," Holly said.

"I can tell. Dad's not much of a baker."

Holly visibly brightened.

"Was Mom?" She asked. 

"Yeah," Arsen said, even though he couldn't exactly remember. "She was." Arsen saw his father smile. So he had guessed right.

Holly's mood was cheery as ever. Of course it was, she never even knew her mother. Why should she miss her? Why should Arsen miss her? There were only fragments of memories of long hair and smiling eyes. 

But Holly always wanted to know more. For a moment, Holly frowned. 

"I think I would've liked Mom." 

"She loves you," Arsen's father swooped in. "She's watching, from up there." He pointed to the sky. "She's so proud of you but it'll be a long time before you join her."

Arsen had never been much of a religious person but his father wore a cross around his neck. It was a way of coping, he supposed, believing that his mother was happy and at peace.

Everyone needed to believe there was something waiting for them, that life wasn't ultimately meaningless. 

Scientifically, though, Arsen found it almost impossible to believe. 

"Now go do your homework," Arsen's father ordered. Holly ran off. Now his father crossed his arms and focused on Arsen. "Where were you? I had a meeting with Richard. You remember Richard, right?"

Arsen ate another cookie. "As I said, something came up. Reyna and I had to leave."

"Son, you know how I feel about Reyna. She hasn't gone to college and works some mysterious job and no one knows exactly what it is. And I don't want you outside, there's a new assassin on the loose."

"If you didn't notice, I'm an adult now. And why would an assassin target me?" 

Arsen's father sighed. "If I leave now and ignore several speed limits, I can make it to my meeting and only be moderately late."

"Actually, Dad, I just wanted to tell you that that thing that came up--it isn't finished." 

"Arsen," his father said in an exasperated voice. 

"I'm sorry, but this is really important." 

"If you're not home by 8:30, I'm calling the cops." 

Okay, I'm just gonna assume that he meant 8:30 A.M., Arsen thought.

"Thanks," he said, hurrying out to where Reyna was waiting in the car. "Sorry that took so long." 

Reyna glanced at his fingers. "Is that... chocolate?"

"Yeah, Holly made cookies."

"Don't touch anything in here. Did you bring any for me?" 

"No. Drive."

"Bossy. And I'm only doing this to prove to you that Magnus is innocent and you just want to find a reason to hate him even more." 

"I know I'm right, Reyna," insisted Arsen. "And when have I ever been wrong?" 

"Must I remind you that you failed sixth-grade math?" Reyna teased. Arsen flushed bright red.

"Hey, that was a really hard unit!" 

"Yes, of course. It was the unit, not you being stupid." 

"Well, as I recall, you--" Arsen paused, racking his memories.

Reyna cackled, "I failed nothing! Take that." 

"Magnus has been doing nothing," Reyna yawned, "for the past six hours. And we've been following him the entire time. Let's just go home." 

"No," Arsen insisted. "He's going to slip up. We just have to wait." He returned his laser-eyed focus to Magnus.

"You think he wouldn't know if he was being tailed? There's no way he's doing anything even slightly illicit, which he wouldn't do regardless, with you spying on him." 

"Shut up," Arsen said. 

"Well, you didn't have to be so mean about it--" 

"No, shut up. What's he doing now?" Reyna shut up and leaned closer to the windshield. 

"Hm. Looks like working out. We are at a gym and watching sweaty people lift weights like stalkers." 

"No, the guy next to him. Can you read lips?" 

"No, of course not, i***t. I guess we'll have to fill in the blanks ourselves."

Magnus set the barbell down and sat up on the bench press. They conversed for a moment longer, but it seemed more like arguing. Finally, Magnus gave in, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a wad of cash. He gave it to the man, who nodded in satisfaction and promptly left. 

"That enough evidence for you?" Arsen whispered.

"That proves nothing," Reyna replied without missing a beat. She shifted the car into reverse and started pulling out. 

"Hey, waitwaitwaitwaitwait!" Arsen cried out. "What are you doing?" 

"You," Reyna snapped, "are going home. Magnus giving someone money proves nothing. If he was receiving the money, that would be a different matter.

"Buying their silence," Arsen said simply. 

"That's not what happened and it doesn't matter anyway. We're leaving." It was pointless to argue with Reyna. Arsen gave one last glance back towards the gym and once he turned away, he could've sworn someone was watching him.