Jones heard the text ringer on his phone. He grabbed the phone and looked at it. It was a curious message.
“Hey. Isengard’s dead. You gotta get out of there right now. We found information that something’s gonna happen soon.”
Jones immediately texted Recker back. “What’s going on?”
“No time. Just get out of there. Meet us at the park in twenty minutes. OK?”
“I will be there.”
Jones instantly got up and started scrambling. Mia wondered what was going on.
“What are you doing?”
“We have to leave,” Jones answered.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Michael texted me and said something’s happening soon. We have to meet him at the park.”
Mia stood up, and they both hurried toward the door. They opened the door and scurried down the steps, hopping into Mia’s car in only a few minutes. They quickly drove to the park, going about ten miles an hour over the speed limit. Traffic wasn’t too bad, so they got to the park in only fifteen minutes.
Jones and Mia started strolling around the park. They didn’t see Recker or Haley at first. They still had a few minutes before they were supposed to get there, though. Instead of walking around, and possibly missing them, they decided to grab a bench and sat down.
“I’ll let them know we’re here,” Mia said. She then sent off a text to her boyfriend. “Hey, we’re here.”
Almost immediately, Recker sent a text back. “What do you mean? Here where? At the office?”
“No, at the park. Like you told us.”
Recker looked at his partner as they drove back to the office. “What the hell is she talking about?”
“What’s the matter?” Haley asked.
“Mia just said they’re at the park, like I told them. I didn’t tell them that.”
“Maybe… I don’t know. Ask for further clarification.”
Recker was about to text his girlfriend back, but she beat him to the punch and he got one from her instead.
“You sent a text to David saying something was going on and to get out of the office and to meet at the park. Right?”
Recker’s eyes immediately lit up. He knew somebody had somehow sent a disguised message, making Jones believe it was him that sent it.
“Get out of there now! I didn’t send any message!” He then looked at his partner. “We gotta get to the park.”
“Let’s do it,” Haley said. “Maybe we can end this thing now.”
Recker grunted, hoping Jones or Mia didn’t get hurt in the process. He pushed the gas pedal down.
Mia looked at Jones, a horrified look on her face. “We’ve gotta get out of here.”
“Why?”
“Mike didn’t send that message.”
Jones soon had a look that matched Mia’s. He realized he’d been fooled. “Let’s get back to the car.”
They got up from the bench and briskly walked back to the car. They stopped well before they reached it, though. They were at the edge of the park, but noticed someone hanging around their car. The person’s face couldn’t be seen. It appeared to be a man. A bigger guy. At least six feet. He had a hoodie on, which went over the top of his head at the moment. He also had a mask or bandana across the lower part of his face, covering his nose.
“I think we’re in trouble,” Mia said.
The person by their car turned and looked straight at them.
“We have to go back,” Jones said.
Jones and Mia instantly turned around and started walking back through the park. There were a good amount of people strolling about, though they knew that wouldn’t necessarily keep them safe. As they began walking, they looked back and saw the hoodie-wearing man beginning to follow.
They hurried down a path, going past several benches, trees, and eventually, a playground. They stopped and looked back, but didn’t notice anyone following anymore. That didn’t mean they were ready to breathe easier, though. Not until they saw Recker and Haley.
“We have to keep moving,” Mia said.
They turned around to start going again, but as soon as they turned, bumped into a man.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the man said, bending over to pick up a few things on the ground, one of which was a phone.
While Jones and Mia were initially apprehensive about the man’s presence, it didn’t appear he was there to do them any harm. It looked like a typical accident. He was a middle-aged man, though he didn’t seem threatening. He didn’t give off the vibe of someone who was looking to hurt them. They doubted he’d be bending over and exposing his back to them if he was.
“I believe this is yours,” the man said, placing a phone in Jones’ hand.
“Thank you,” Jones replied.
“Sorry again.”
The man stuffed a few things into his pockets as he walked past the pair. With all the stress and confusion, Jones didn’t even realize that the phone the man placed in his hand wasn’t his own. His was still in his pocket.
“OK, let’s go,” Mia said.
They only got a few feet before the phone in Jones’ hand rang. Both he and Mia looked down at his hand. Jones then took a closer look at the phone, now realizing it wasn’t his. He felt his pocket with his other hand. He snapped his head around to find the man that had just bumped into them. He didn’t see him anywhere.
Jones looked at the phone in his hand again. A lump went down his throat. He glanced at Mia, who really didn’t know whether they should answer it or not. Jones looked at the phone again, then quickly hit the button to accept the call before he was able to change his mind. He put the call on speaker so both he and Mia could hear.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” the man said. “I guess you’re wondering what’s going on right about now?”
“It crossed my mind.”
“Well, there’s an open bench to your right. Why don’t you sit down and we can talk about it?”
Jones and Mia both looked to their right, seeing the open bench. They then looked around, knowing the man had to be watching them.
“You can stop looking. You won’t see me.”
Jones and Mia went over to the bench and sat down, though they both looked extremely uncomfortable in doing so. They felt very vulnerable.
“Relax. Nothing’s going to happen to you today.”
“Today?” Jones asked.
He then looked to his left and saw their friend with the hoodie. He wasn’t getting closer. He was just standing still, appearing to be in a holding pattern.
“You don’t have to worry about him. He’s just there to make sure you stay put.”
“For what purpose? What do you have planned?”
“For now? Nothing. I just wanted to make sure we got this little chat in before…”
“Before what?”
“It doesn’t matter. You still don’t know who I am, do you?”
“Am I supposed to?” Jones asked.
“Well, it would make it more fun if you knew who it was.”
“So why don’t you tell me? Why play all the games?”
“Because I don’t want it to be quick.”
“What did I do to you? You obviously have some type of problem with me, right? Why not tell me what I did?”
“Once you know who I am, then you’ll know. Then you’ll know.”
“What am I doing here?” Jones asked.
“Like I said, I wanted to make sure we could chat. Away from your element. That way, there’s no chance of this call being traced. You know, like you could do from your office. You know the place, right? That little office above the laundromat that you’ve kept hidden all these years.”
Jones continued looking around, mostly to see if he could find another person talking on their phone. Maybe that would give him the hint he needed. The other reason was to make sure the man in the hoodie wasn’t getting any closer to them. He wasn’t.
“David. That’s what you’re going by these days, right?”
Jones cleared his throat. “That’s correct.”
“Sure isn’t the name I remember you by. You do remember that one, right?”
“You mean the one I used at the NSA?”
“Have there been others?”
“Maybe. That hardly seems significant right now, though, does it? Are you upset because I was trusted more than you? That I got more challenging assignments than you did?”
The man laughed. “You’re trying to get me to offer hints. But I won’t give you any. It’s a nice try, though. Something I would expect from you.”
“If it’s a fight you want, just come out in the open. Deal with it man to man instead of hiding in the shadows.”
“Hiding in the shadows is what you like best, though, isn’t it? That’s what your entire life has been about, has it not? You hid in the shadows at the NSA, and you’re hiding in the shadows now with The Silencer. Isn’t that right?”
Jones wanted to deny it, but he wasn’t sure he could. The man was probably right. Most of his life had been spent in the shadows.
“By the way, what do I call Recker and Haley? Is it The Silencer and his partner? Like Batman and Robin? Or is it The Silencers? You know, plural. I never quite know how to set it straight.”
“Plural is fine. That’s how they see it.”
“Oh. Good to know. I wouldn’t want to refer to them incorrectly.”
“Mia is looking lovely today, isn’t she? Recker is a lucky man to have someone like her stick by his side, no matter what he does to her.”
“He hasn’t done anything to me,” Mia said.
“There’s that voice of hers. So very nice to meet you, though not formally, I suppose. I’ve heard you’re a little feisty. I’m glad to see that perception meets reality in this case.”
“How do you know so much about everyone?”
“That’s a little insider secret. By the way, I’d caution against them coming in to save the day, if that’s what you have planned. I know they’re on the way.”
“Well if we’re just talking, what difference does it make?” Jones asked. “They can’t hurt you.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. But I did so much work in getting them to go to Isengard’s place, it’d be a shame if they ruined things.”
“You orchestrated that?”
“Of course I did. Everything has been planned to perfection. Everything I’ve done has been done to lead you to where I want you to go. Nothing has been a surprise. You haven’t found out anything that I didn’t want you to find.”
It all felt a little depressing, but Jones was making sure he didn’t give off those kinds of vibes. He didn’t want the man to know he was frustrated in the slightest.
“What’s this all about?” Mia asked. “What, you wanna prove that you’re better than David is? Is that it?”
The man let out an evil-sounding laugh. “Yes, that’s precisely the point. He has always had this smug aura around him, like he was so much better than everyone else. Like no one else could do the things he could do. And it’s simply not the case. And I want him to know it.”
“Fine,” Jones said. “I can accept that. You feel that I’ve wronged you in whatever manner. I can deal with that. But there’s no reason to include anyone else in this.”
“Oh, have I given the impression that anyone else’s life is in danger? Oh, dear, dear, me. I’m so sorry. Sometimes I can give off the wrong tone. I do apologize. No, Mia has nothing to fear. Unless, of course, she gets in the way at the wrong time. Then that would be most unfortunate. But disregarding that, she is quite safe.”
“And the others?”
“That would depend on them. I have no quarrel with them, per se. I don’t wish them harm. They seem to do good work and all that. The same goes for them. As long as they don’t get in my way, I won’t go out of my way to harm them.”
“Good to know.”
“In saying that, I think I know how they operate by now. They seem to stick their noses into everything and make things that aren’t their business their business. And with you as their friend and leader, I’m sure they’re not going to just sit on their hands and watch you be eradicated, will they?”
“Maybe if I told them to do so.”
The man laughed again, not believing that for a second. “If only that were true. How does your dynamic work, anyway? Are you actually in charge, or is it a collaboration type of thing?”
“We’re all basically on equal footing,” Jones said.
“How nice and touching. I don’t have a specific issue with them, but if they get in my way, they will meet the same fate as you.”
“And what fate is that?” Jones didn’t know why he asked the question, as he knew what the answer would be. But maybe he’d find out something else that he wasn’t supposed to know.
“You’re a dead man. One week from today. You’re dead.”
The line suddenly went dead. Jones glanced at Mia, who saw a look on him that she’d never seen before. He was worried beyond belief. They then looked over at the man in the hoodie, who had now disappeared.
“Well, I guess that’s plain enough,” Jones said.
Mia put her hand on Jones’ shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
Jones sighed. “I’m not so sure. One week doesn’t seem like much time. And so far, we have little to go on. It seems as though my shelf life is shrinking by the minute.”