“I’ll expect you back in three hours, Josh. Please don’t be late,” Jordan says to our back as the guards lead us out.
The feeling that I was empowered and starting to get a grip on things gave way to obsessing on the few things I don’t remember. It is like looking at a nearly complete puzzle, and that one piece, that one thing that will complete the puzzle, is missing. I know exactly where it fits, but until I can find it, I am unable to see the whole picture.
“Well, that was interesting. You and Smoker there have quite the history don’t you?” Kate says as the two large men lead us out of the club.
“You could say that,” I say as I am trying to remember exactly what happened.
“I’ve heard of both of you before, the famous anti-assassin pair, but I never really saw you together.”
“Jordan was the face of the group,” I remember as I say it, “I was the backup, the ‘shadow.’ I was the one who looked on from afar and saw that everything went according to plan.”
“Sort of like Dan with us?”
“Sure,” I say, though how much Dan was involved, seeing as this operation was a complete failure, I began to question.
As we walked through the rest of the Chamber club, it looked like the party had already restarted. We walked down the stairs, and I see that they even have a new band going. I regret not being able to even try and play the drums, but I suppose it is for the best.
We walk outside and there is already a car waiting for us.
“Get in,” Gwen says in her normal monotone.
We get in the car, and Gwen starts to drive. I see that Ken is also riding in the front passenger seat.
“Holy crap Josh, are you okay!?” Ken asks.
“Yeah, just a bump on the head,” I say as I rub my head.
“And I can’t believe you got caught Kate,” Ken says too brightly.
“Shut up, Ken! And where the hell were you when shit was going down?” Kate says angrily.
“Once I got the word from Dan to get out of there, I did.” Ken responds matter of factly.
“Trying to save Maxwell was a risky move,” Gwen says.
“Not you too! Whatever happened to ‘leave no one behind?’” Kate says defensively
“Do you think this is? The army or something?” Ken says.
“He was going after the objective!” Kate says loudly, “I can’t believe you two just ditched us!”
I interrupt, “What was the objective anyway?”
“The band was supposed to serve as a distraction as Maxwell was sneaking into Smoker’s office for information reconnaissance,” Gwen responds.
“Information about what?”
“Well, Smoker has been talking about ‘revolution’ a lot. Maybe it has something to do with that?”
“Rumor has it,” Ken starts, “That Smoker found out about some secret operation that the UWG has, and the UWG is worried that Smoker is going to expose them.”
“Where did you hear that?” Kate asks.
“You know, the internet.”
“The internet? How the hell do you get the internet? Gwen and I gotta go all the way to Sumiwake to use a computer in some café!”
“’Café’ is being generous,” Gwen chimes in.
“Seriously!” Kate agrees, “We have like a 30 minute drive, and then get to use some old piece of junk in somebody’s living room!”
“Oh,” Ken says, “I got the new Pair phone. Got it as a present.”
“Are you serious? Let me see,” Kate says as she grabs at Ken.
“Hold your horses,” Ken says as he hands the phone over.
“Ooo, this is cool! What the hell Ken! You gotta let me borrow this!”
“Oh no you don’t!” Ken grabs back the phone, “This is for work! Not even my own mother can call this phone.”
“Stone cold, Ken. Stone cold.”
“Well, actually, she is the one who gave me the phone in the first place, and still calls me on the landline for some reason.”
“Man, I never call my parents. I feel kinda bad about that.”
I try to take back the conversation, “Wait, Ken, a secret operation?”
“Right,” Ken responds, “Supposedly, it is so secret that even if you think about it too hard, the UWG will send agents after you. It’s brutal.”
“Like what kind of thing are we talking about?”
“Don’t know. Though, I did read though some stuff that mentioned that it may not actually be a secret operation by the UWG, but by some high ranking official that they are trying to stop.”
“And by ‘they’ do you mean Smoker or the UWG?”
“Either/or, man. I didn’t get a good source on that tidbit though, so I doubt it’s true.”
“And Maxwell was going in to find out what it was?”
“Yeah.”
There is a silence and Gwen breaks it, “I think Maxwell had to go because he is the only one authorized to hold UWG secrets. If any of us found out any classified information, who knows what would happen.”
I think out loud, “How did Smoker learn about this anyway?”
“Well,” Ken says skeptically, “We still don’t know if he knows anything.”
“If he does,” Kate says, “The info would have to come from a mole. Maybe Maxwell was trying to figure out who was feeding Smoker information.”
I bet I know who that is, I think to myself. I probably also know about the ‘secret operation’ too. It is all swirling in my head, but something is still missing.
We get to the hotel that I suppose we are using as a base in Nouveau Porc. It doesn’t look like a 5-star hotel, but it is still impressive nevertheless. It is a tall white building, like all the buildings in this city. It is sort of eerie and imposing, and the lack of people on the streets puts me at a bit of unease. I am not sure if it has anything to do with Jordan, or if it is always like this. We enter the hotel and go up the elevator. Gwen and Kate talk to each other while Ken and I stay silent. When we finally get to our suite, I see several beds, and Dan standing up, watching the TV.
“You guys okay?” Dan asks earnestly.
“Yes, everyone is accounted for,” Gwen responds.
“What about Max and Ben?” Kate asks.
“They are on the floor below us. They got here before you guys did. I heard you were interrogated by Smoker?” Dan asks.
Kate says in her ‘professional voice’ (which now I think about it, sounds a bit like Gwen’s normal voice), “I was attempting to salvage any intel or personal I could by sneaking through the ventilation shafts, but was locked in when Maxwell tripped the alarm. I was trapped in there awhile, not sure how long, but eventually a Smoker agent came and escorted me towards Smoker’s office. On route, I ran into Josh, and Smoker interrogated us as a pair. As far as I can tell, there was no real effort to try and get information out of us. All Smoker did was convey information to Josh and I, and now has Maxwell hostage. The ransom seems to be that Josh must return in three hours.”
“Did you get any indication that there would be a ‘trade’ of some kind?” Dan says.
“No, not at all.”
“Hmmm, I don’t like this at all, goddamn it Maxwell,” Dan says as he looks away and begins to look out the window.
“We have no choice,” Ken pipes up, “We can’t send Josh. All that will accomplish is giving him one more hostage.”
“Ken, you can’t be serious! You can be an asshole sometimes, but leaving Maxwell behind?!” Kate yells at Ken.
“Can we send someone with Josh?” Gwen says.
“If he wanted anyone dead, he would have just killed everyone right? I should’ve been there,” Dan says to himself.
“Maybe Josh has information?” Ken questions.
“Well, Smoker had plenty of opportunities to take Josh for himself. It doesn’t make any sense if he is using Maxwell just to lure him to a trap, when he just released him from one,” Kate reasons.
“That’s what I don’t like. None of this adds up,” Dan says then he looks at me, “It is really up to you, Josh. You joined the group, but I am not going to pretend that I have authority over you. This might just be the reason why you came in the first place.”
Something in me hesitated. I can’t go in there alone. There is a part of me that knows I can beat Jordan, but there is also part of me that is terrified of him. There is a part of me that looks up to him, and there is a part of me that wants to bury him. I just wish I had more time. More time to process through everything.
Though, maybe Dan is right, maybe this is what I am here for. I think I laid out this plan for myself, and I think I have to see it through. I just want some insurance. If everything goes wrong, I want something that guarantees that all this nonsense, all this confusion, that it was for something.
“Is there any way,” I start, “that I can have some sort of ‘tracker’ or something? Something that you guys can see me with?”
Dan sits down and says, “No way. If I know anything about J, he probably has a set up in that room that detects any sort of changes in the body. If you didn’t have it on you when you first came in there, he is going to know about it when you go back in.”
“I want, no, I need someone to track me. I need to know that if the worst happens that at least somebody can know where I was.”
Dan was about to say something, but Kate interrupts, “Wait, Gwen, did you ever give him that water?”
Gwen brightens up, “Oh right, yeah, I gave it to him.”
“Then, problem solved!” Kate says excitedly.
“What do you mean?” Dan inquires.
“Gwen and I thought something like this might happen, so we gave Josh a ingestible tracker before we got captured,” Kate says.
Dan shakes his head and says, “You have to be kidding.”
“You guys, put a tracker on me?” I say, in disbelief. I feel elated, but ‘Thought something like this might happen,” is complete bullshit. They didn’t trust me. But, I suppose if I was in their position, I wouldn’t trust me either. I am me and I still don’t completely trust myself.
Suddenly, Max and Ben enter the room.
“Where the hell is Maxwell?!” Max asks desperately.
“He’s,” Kate begins to say.
Dan stands up to face Max and says, “Alex is being taken hostage. Josh is going down there soon to deal with the situation.”
Max looks at me, and then at Dan, “Take me with you! I know I am a lousy anti-assassin but…”
“Don’t bother,” Dan interrupts, “Josh needs to go alone. I used to compete with Josh back when he was with J. Trust me when I say he can handle it.”
I couldn’t believe how much trust he was putting in me, though I wonder if he is only saying that to pacify Max.
Max goes up right to me.
“You make sure Maxwell gets out alive, you hear me?” Max says intently, and I can see his hazel eyes so very clearly.
“I’ll do my best,” I say.
“The one time I come along...,” Max begins to mutter as he sits on one of the hotel beds.
“Josh, all your stuff is in Max and Ben’s room. Head down there and clean up. Do any preparation you need, and meet up with us in two hours. It takes a twenty minutes to get there, so don’t be late,” Dan says as he gestures to Ben.
Ben gives me the room key, and I try to read his expression. Nothing. I fast walk to the elevator and press the button. It goes down. I suddenly remember Ben’s prophecy. “Your destiny will destroy you.” What a crock. What does he know anyway? I enter the room, take off all my clothes, and go into the shower. How can you destroy something that isn’t even whole yet? Abortion, maybe, but there is nothing there to ‘destroy.’ I am going to meet Jordan, beat him (whatever that means), and then it’s over. Then I can lead the life that doesn’t exist, with the family I don’t remember, and do the things I don’t know I like. Seriously, what is there to destroy?
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