Wife's Bitter Revenge Against Neglectful CEO Husband-Chapter 44: Cometkazee

Cometkazee was a twenty-year-old child protegee who graduated from MIT when most kids were still dreaming of the prom. Because of his age, corporations turned him down, so he put his skills to work online—or at least that was the story we’d found online. Since he lived at home, he was also obligated to work the occasional shift at his dad’s electronics shop, where he mostly repaired abused cell phones.

He wore an Avengers T-shirt beneath a plaid jacket. His baggy jeans were held up by the grace of God. His straight brown hair hung to his waist, half down and half in a braided ponytail. His nail polish matched his high tops.

CK was locking up when Stiff, Jake, and I showed up.

"Which of you is Night Shadows?"

"Me," I raised my hand tentatively.

The tall, thin man rushed me, wrapping his arms around me. "Marry me. Think of our babies. They would be computer geniuses."

"Get off me!" I tried to pull away.

Stiff and Jake intervened to separate us.

Stiff said, "Hey, man, get in line. Night Shadows is in high demand, and I call dibs."

"Dibs? What am I? The last cookie in the cookie jar?"

"No, Tee, I didn’t mean it like that."

I shot him a dirty look. Stiff knew better than to use my real name until we scoped out the scene more. At this rate, everyone would know my real identity soon.

"Sorry, sorry," Cometkazee said. "I got too excited. Night Shadows, you’re my idol. I’d carry our babies for us if you’d make me your own."

Stiff and Jake maintained their hold on CK until I nodded my approval to let him go. He was an overzealous fan. He wouldn’t hurt me intentionally.

"I’m flattered, Cometkazee, but can you be just a little lesser?"

"Lesser?"

"Less hands-on, less excited, less in my face."

"Oh, man, I’m sorry. Dad says I lack a filter. Come on in. Let’s conflab."

CK locked the door behind us and led us through the small store to a storage area. From the storage area, he accessed an office, and from the office, he led us to his lair—his word, not mine.

The lair was more spacious than the office. It featured a top-of-the-line computer setup complete with multiple monitors and lighting setup that was every teenager computer geek’s wet dream. The black walls were lined with cubed shelves. Each shelf held anime figurines. I recognized a few as highly treasured limited editions.

CK was doing well for himself as an out-of-work layabout.

CK pulled up a couple of chairs to his desk. "Thanks for coming. Dad’s been ill lately. I’ve been tied to the store non-stop."

"No problem. You said you could lead us to the building where the boys are held."

CK nodded. "I can, but I was hoping you could help me find my brother as well."

"What happened to your brother?"

"He disappeared a little over two years ago."

"How did it happen?"

CK stared at the ceiling for a bit. "Where to begin? Okay, let me preface this by saying Dad is a good father. He loves us, but he has this illness that makes it tough for him to take care of the way he should."

"Where’s your mom?"

"Mom died when Colby was a baby. Mostly, I raised him."

"Okay, so what happened? How did your brother disappear?"

"Dad was out of town. Okay, so not so much out of town but in a prison upstate, serving two years on trumped-up charges.

"You see, he worked for Heavenly Logistics as contracted tech support for a special project. Some equipment went missing. The company blamed Dad.

"Four big guys even came to the house. They turned the place upside down. Tons of store merch was destroyed. And all I could do was keep Colby out of the way and watch. They were a manmade cyclone of destruction."

CK pointed to a red Power Ranger with a broken arm on a nearby shelf. "You see this guy? He is all that is left of my original collection. That’s how bad it was."

"When they didn’t find what they were after, they prosecuted Dad. I was left to clean up the mess, raise my brother, and keep the business afloat.

"If that was all that happened, I could have managed, but then a lady from the state showed up to take Colby. She had a court order, so—like it or not—I couldn’t stop her.

"The next day, I hired an attorney, but by then, it was too late. Colby was gone.

"My only clue was the security footage. It took me weeks to discover that the woman worked for Heavenly Logistics in Sales and Receipts, but she disappeared before I could confront her.

"From there, I was able to piece together a trail from Heavenly Logistics to this address."

CK handed me a folded sheet of paper. I passed it to Jake, who took it and left.

"Only I’ve not found any footage of Colby. I don’t know if he fought them and was killed or if the woman decided to keep him for herself, only I don’t think so because I’ve been all over her personal life like a wet suit. No kids. Not even a dog."

"Send Stiff all the details. It won’t hurt to have a second set of eyes on it. If there is anything to find, he’ll find it."

"Thanks, Night Shadows. I’ll owe you big time. I’ll be your slave for life if you can find my brother."

Stiff said, "Hey, that’s my job."

"She can have more than one slave."

"If it’s the right slave, one is enough."

"I totally agree. Who are you again?"

"Hey, kid, I was hacking banks for my allowance before you learned to drive."

"The joke is on you. I still don’t know how to drive. What does that have to do with hacking or making babies?"

Stiff chuckled. "If you don’t know, you so aren’t ready for her."

"Hey, guys, the she/her is right here and not looking for any slaves or babies anytime in the near future."

Stiff said, "Tell the kid to back off."

"The kid is part of the team now, and Stiff, he’s an old friend. Play nice together."

"Yes, mom."

Stiff drove us home after we promised to stay in touch with CK.

"Do you like that kid?" Stiff asked.

"Yeah, he’s okay. Responsible. Hard working."

"Well enough to date him?"

"Stiff, no. Not like that, I told you. I’m married. I’m not looking to date anyone."

"But if you weren’t married/"

"Stiff, what is this all about?"

"I guess I’m jealous or something."

"You don’t have any reason to be jealous. We’re not a couple, at least not the romantic kind."

"But I want to be, only you’ve got time for all these other guys in your life and none for me. Damn it, you probably spend more time with King now than you did when you lived with him."

Sadly, that was true.

"It’s not my idea, Stiff."

"Can you call me Michael when we’re alone? I think we know each other well enough for that."

"In my head, you’ll always be Stiff."

"When you say Stiff, it is obscene. It makes me want to press your hand over my dick, so you can see just how turned on you make me."

"Michael, you promised."

Stiff rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry."

Stiff’s direct comments made me uncomfortable, not because of the vulgarity, but because I could visualize the picture he was painting. I could picture it and feel the growing excitement within me.

I wasn’t in love with Stiff, and with everything that had been going on, I really had not spent a lot of time considering a romance with him or anyone. I focused on enough things that I didn’t feel focused at all. But all of them felt more important than me and my personal happiness. In fact, my thoughts were so far from happiness that I wondered if I would recognize it when it happened, especially after my stint in the reflection room.

"Can we just drive in silence, Stiff? My head is pounding, and I have a headache."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you need, Teela."

The city at night is never truly dark. The shades of black were brushed with shades of gray and highlighted with splashes of dirty white. Crisp neons stood out as relief from the monotone landscape. My thoughts reminded me of the night. So much darkness that I wasn’t sure I’d ever see the dawn again.

If I did see dawn, it would be because of the people I had surrounded myself with. They were my salvation. I was so fortunate to have them to depend on. I wondered how I possibly went three years without reaching out to Stiff or Bea.

Well, Stiff, I kind of understood. He was a hacker buddy, a faceless body who was little more than ones and zeros in my old world. He could have been replaced by really good AI in most instances. But now that I knew him better, I never wanted to lose him.

Bea, though, she was a different story. She was my best friend forever. I never meant to lock her out, but I was so focused on my goal of fitting into my new life that I’d neglected the remnants of my old life. When things slowed down, when everything didn’t rank as priority one, I would make it up to Bea. I had to.