Crossing off a Name
The next morning at the compound, I sit by the big window in the main room, looking over the lawn, listless. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Was it all pointless?
Okay, that might be overstating things. I know the search isn’t over. There’s still two more names on the list. But those two names can’t possibly be right. Mr. Osborn is helping me, for crying out loud. And Mr. Barnes—Bucky? He’s just so nice. There’s no way.
But there are always the little whispers in my brain, telling me that maybe Mr. Osborn is lying. That maybe Bucky really did kill them, because it’s true that he used to be a ruthless killer. But I can’t deny the part of me that just firmly believes that neither of them did it. I can feel it in my heart. And that can’t be wrong, can it?
Someone taps my shoulder. I look up to see MJ giving me a small smile.
“Can I sit?” she asks, gesturing to the spot on the floor next to me. I nod, and she settles down beside me. “So what’s up?”
“Just thinking,” I say.
“Oh that’s never good.”
I laugh a little.
She smirks. “There it is.”
I bite down on a grin, and say, “So what’s up with you? Come to check on me?”
“Not like I can go anywhere.”
“But can’t you go back to school? I mean, no one’s after you.”
She shakes her head. “Mr. Stark said I shouldn’t. And besides, even if I could…” she trails off, looking at me. A blush rises to my cheeks, and I look down. She chuckles. “Someone’s got to look after you, dumbass.”
“Yeah,” I say with a light smile. “Thanks.”
We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes until I shrug and say, “I’m just not sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“What to do next. I mean, I guess we have to cross the other names off the list. Got to look into them, at least. I just don’t think either of them did it.”
“What, Osborn and Barnes?”
“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “I don’t feel it around either of them.” I lean against the window and look out.
“You’re talking about spider sense, right?”
“Maybe. It’s just a gut feeling I’ve got.”
She shrugs. “You’ve got a point. I mean, I did find some things while looking with Ned.”
I straighten so fast I bang my head against one of the metal supports on the window. MJ laughs for a good minute before calming down.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” I ask. “You couldn’t led with that.”
“I know, but I wanted to see how you were doing. And now that I know…” She pulls her phone out of her pocket and shows me her YouTube page.
“So…what’s this?” I say dubiously.
“Just look.” She taps the screen, hitting play on a video. It’s about ten years old, of Mr. Osborn speaking at a conference. “This is from a military conference ten years ago. It goes through the time of the murder.” She looks at me and smiles. “This means Osborn’s not our guy.”
A wave of relief shoots through me, and all my muscles relax. “So you’re sure? He didn’t hire anyone?”
“It’s unlikely,” she says. “Although we should still check on that.”
I nod. “Course.” After a moment, a jolt of chilling realization runs down my spine. “But Bucky—”
“Didn’t do it either.” She pulls up google. “Remember how Black Widow—Natasha, put all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secret files out on the internet years ago? Well, there was a list of the Winter Soldier’s kills in there.” She grins. “And guess what. He was killing someone else the night of your parents’ murder.”
“That’s supposed to be good?” I frown.
She rolls her eyes. “I thought I was helping you feel better, but whatever.”
“No, no!” I lean forward, putting my hands on hers. She blushes. “Seriously, thank you, MJ. This is great.”
“Yeah…but this means our list is empty now. We don’t have any suspects.”
I lean against the window again, sighing. “Shit.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Don’t let Stark hear you talking like that.”
I chuckle lightly. “You know what I mean.”
“I do. In fact, I need to go tell Stark what we found.”
“Tell me what?” Both MJ and I jump as Mr. Stark comes up to us, sitting opposite us on the floor. “You’re getting married already?”
“No!” we say simultaneously, faces turning red.
Mr. Stark laughs, holding up a hand. “Fine, then what’s up?”
“I just found info that can cross the other two names off our list,” MJ says, holding out her phone to him. After she shows him the video and the kill list, she leans back. Mr. Stark wipes a hand through his hair, breathing out.
“Well,” he says. “Dang.”
“Right? I’m not sure what to do.” I cross my arms. “I mean, this narrows our suspect list down to zero. Not that I don’t appreciate the effort on your part,” I say, gesturing to MJ.
“But I think I should talk to Mr. Osborn.”
Mr. Stark frowns. “Him again?”
“Yeah, him again.” At Mr. Stark’s deepening scowl, I say, “What? He’s been helpful. He’s given me my parent’s research, and everything.”
“But he did point you towards Connors.”
“Yeah, so? What he said wasn’t wrong. Dr. Connors didn’t deny any of it.”
Mr. Stark nods. “Sure…but still.”
“You’re just jealous Peter’s spending more time with him than you,” MJ says flatly.
Mr. Stark jolts and looks at MJ. “Am not.”
“Are so.”
“Am not!”
“As fun at this is,” I interject, holding a hand between them. “Can we get back to um, the thing?”
“You mean the murder?” MJ says.
“Yeah, that. So if we have no suspects now, now what?”
Mr. Stark sighs. “There is one thing we haven’t tried.”
“What?” I ask.
“Remember those files that were blocked? I tried to hack into them.”
“The case files?”
“Those are the ones. I even tried filing a formal request for them from the police. The chief himself told me no. Apparently even though you’re the son of the deceased, he still won’t hand them over. Sounded like someone wanted him to keep quiet, if you ask me.”
My brow furrows. “Really? But who would…”
“Dunno. But that’s all we’ve got to go on, and I think we should look into it.”
I nod. “No, I agree.”
“Good. Your friend Ned can help too. He’s the one who hacked my suit, after all.”
I grin. “Yeah.”
“Hello, I’m here too,” MJ says, picking her nails.
“I know.” I take her hand. “So wanna help out?”
“Do I want to help hack a corrupt police organization? You don’t even need to ask.”
I laugh. “Lol, thanks, MJ.”
She gives me a flat look. “If you ever say that to me again, I’m gonna stab you in the eye.”
I flinch.
Mr. Stark laughs. “God, you two are adorable. Anyway, we’d better get hacking. Gotta do this as soon as possible so you all can get back to school.”
“Thanks, Mr. Stark,” I say. I rise to my feet, pulling MJ up with me. As soon as Mr. Stark walks away toward the lab, I stand on tiptoe to give MJ a quick kiss. “And thanks, MJ. Love you.”
She looks away. “L-love you too.” Her cheeks are flaming, and I grin.
“Come on,” I say. “We’ve got hacking to do.”