<I’m sorry,> I offered in sympathy. <Why didn’t you just tell him what he wanted to know?>
Kroner scoffed. <Believe me, I would have told him that and anything else he asked about. Problem is, that first punch broke my jaw. It’s wired shut now. Didn’t you notice I could barely talk?>
<Yeah, but I thought maybe you were just hopped up on pain medicine or something.>
<Well, yeah, there’s a little bit of that going on, too,> he admitted. <I could stand to have the dosage increased, but I’m not looking to get addicted to this stuff.>
<Guess you have a high pain tolerance, huh?>
<On the contrary, I’d argue it’s pretty low. As I said, the only thing that kept me from spilling my guts was the fact that I couldn’t talk, and I was passed out while he did the bulk of his damage – breaking my limbs, busting my ribs, cracking a couple of vertebrae in my neck and spine…>
<Geez, Matt,> I muttered, lowering my eyes. <Again, I’m sorry.>
<Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong,> he acknowledged. <And I’m not trolling for sympathy. I’m just matter-of-fact about this stuff. But don’t feel like you have to keep apologizing.>
<Thanks,> I said sincerely. <So, what happened to the pictures he wanted to so badly?>
<He may have gotten them,> Kroner admitted. <A friend went by to clean up my place the day after it happened. She found my camera flattened like a pancake.>
<So we can give up on pulling any images from the hard drive.>
<Or the chip,> he added. <From what my friend said, they’re both lost causes.>
<That’s too bad,> I said, trying not to sound disappointed.
<Yeah,> Kroner agreed. <Guess it’s a good thing I made copies.>
Chapter 86
It turned out that Kroner – having previously lost some photos due to technical issues – now made a habit of regularly copying photos from his camera to his laptop. Moreover, while his camera had been pulverized, said laptop (which was in his bedroom at the time of his encounter with Jack) had escaped the same fate. It was currently in the hands of the friend who had come by to clean up his place after the attack.
<Her name’s Melanie,> Kroner said. <With people knowing what happened to me and that I’ll be laid up here for a while, she took it for safekeeping – just in case an empty apartment proved too tempting to someone with criminal tendencies.>
After that, it was just a matter of getting Kroner to call his friend on my phone and convince her to give me his laptop. It was a little dicey with his jaw being wired, but in the end – with Kroner’s blessing – she agreed to meet me in an hour and hand it over.
<Thanks, man,> I said as the call ended. <I wish there was something more I could do to show how much I appreciate your help.>
<Just get the guy that did this,> he replied.
<That’s the plan,> I said. <In the meantime, maybe there’s something else I can do.>
I then tried to use my healing power on him. After all, it had just saved Gramps when he was banging on death’s door with a battering ram. Surely it could help Kroner, who wasn’t anywhere near that condition. Much to my chagrin, however, it did not work.
Humbled by my failure, I thanked Kroner again for his help and then left.
*****
The meeting with Melanie went off without a hitch, and an hour after the call with her, I had the coveted laptop in hand. Still unsure of whether it held anything of value, I teleported to my quarters at HQ. Taking a seat on the couch in the living room, I opened up the laptop and pulled up the folder containing Kroner’s pictures (which were, thankfully, grouped by date).
Turning to those from the party, I began quickly sifting through the photos, of which there were hundreds. Kroner had obviously worked hard to earn his pay, and he clearly had a good eye. Many of the pictures weren’t just frame-worthy – they were good enough for commercial advertising.
For instance, one pic of a kid reading a book in my father’s library could have been used in any effort to promote literacy. Another photo of a man and woman dancing while looking lovingly at each other could have graced the cover of any romance novel. An image of a group of friends having a toast at the bar seemed tailor-made for plugging a New Year’s celebration (or something similar). In short, Kroner’s talent was probably wasted doing freelance work.
Staying focused on the task at hand, I kept my eyes peeled for any photo containing my doppelganger. It took about ten minutes, but I finally located one. It was actually a picture of my grandparents, standing close with their arms around each other – with Jack basically performing a photobomb in the background, giving the two of them a fixated stare.
And just looking at it, I knew with almost certainty where to find him.
Chapter 87
I immediately teleported to Mouse’s lab (where my mentor and BT were still getting everything together) and reported the good news.
“That’s great,” BT said when I told them what I’d discovered. “We probably need about another hour before we’re ready.”
Neither she nor Mouse said anything else, but I got the hint: I was about to undertake a dangerous mission. If there were people I needed to spend some time with, there was a very small amount of time available to do so. With that in mind (and knowing that these kinds of opportunities didn’t come along often), I told them I’d be back shortly and teleported home.
*****
Once at the embassy, I gathered in the breakfast area with Mom, Indigo, and Myshtal. I gave them a brief overview of how the day had gone and let them know we had a plan for dealing with Jack (although
