Recker and Mia were having breakfast. He’d already gotten a text from Haley, letting him know about the uneventful night they had at the office, where he and Jones spent the entire night.
“No news is good news, right?” Mia said. “At least as far as their safety is concerned.”
There was suddenly a knock on the door. Startled, Recker jumped up and grabbed his gun off the counter. He directed Mia to stay in the kitchen while he investigated. He knew it wasn’t Lawson, as she’d call instead of visiting. He knew it wasn’t Jones or Haley, as they were still at the office. And they weren’t expecting any packages.
Recker quietly walked over to the door, making sure he stayed to the side of it in case anyone decided to shoot some holes in the middle of it. Once at the door, he stayed next to it, clinging to the wall. He held his gun up in the air, ready to use it at a moment’s notice. He waited for another knock on the door. There wasn’t one, though.
Recker stayed silent as he tried to listen for a sound. He couldn’t hear anything. Not the sound of someone moving around, not the sound of something hitting against the wall, not the sound of whispers, nothing. He was surprised. He patiently waited for another minute.
He then looked over at the kitchen area and saw Mia poking her head around the corner. Recker waved at her to get back. She didn’t listen.
“What’s going on?” Mia whispered.
Recker waved at her again, though it had the same effect that it did the first time he did it. None.
“What if it’s just someone trying to sell something?”
Recker doubted that was the case. But he couldn’t say no, either. He was still reluctant to stand in front of the door and look through the peephole. Of course, if someone was trying to surprise him with an ambush, he doubted they would have knocked first. Since he wasn’t comfortable standing directly behind the door, he figured he’d do the next best thing.
“Who’s there?” Recker asked.
There was no reply. Mia made a gesture with her hands, still wondering what was going on. Recker was still uncomfortable.
“Anyone there?”
Again, he got no response. He didn’t want to stay in that position any longer. Recker put his free hand on the door and unlocked it as quietly as possible. He then placed his hand on the knob, just keeping it there for a second. He then suddenly and quickly turned the knob and opened the door, jetting out into the open frame, ready to fire if need be.
There was no one there. Recker looked to both sides of the door. He started to relax his body. Mia could tell by her boyfriend’s body language that the situation wasn’t dire at the moment. She began walking toward him.
“Anything?”
Recker didn’t look back at her, still making sure that the coast was clear. He just shook his head. He then glanced down next to the door. There was a small package. It was just a yellow bubble mailer leaning against the wall. He knelt down beside it, though he didn’t touch it yet. It didn’t look to be marked in any way. These were the types of packages that made him nervous. He still looked around, though there didn’t seem to be any type of threat in the area.
Mia soon joined her boyfriend at the door. She put her hand on his shoulder.
“What’s that?”
Recker shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“It’s not a bomb or anything, is it?”
Recker couldn’t rule out anything at that point. He gently picked the package up, examining the outside of it carefully. He held it out in front of him, hoping it wouldn’t blow up in his face. It didn’t feel like an explosive, though they could be made out of just about anything these days. He turned and went back inside. Mia closed the door and followed him in.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea bringing that thing in here?”
Recker took it over to the kitchen table, setting it down carefully. The mailer wasn’t sealed except for the clasp. Recker undid it and opened the mailer. He peeked inside. Once he saw what it was, he lifted his head back up, looking confused.
“What is it?” Mia asked.
Recker reached inside and grabbed hold of the object, pulling it out. He held it in the air.
“A phone? Who’d send you that?”
Recker shrugged. He looked back inside the mailer and saw a small index card. He pulled it out. There was some writing on it.
“There’s a number already programmed into this. Completely clean. Call me on it when you get this. Ty.”
“Tyrell,” Recker said, handing the index card to his girlfriend.
She breathed a bit easier once she read it. “Why the cloak and dagger?”
“Guess he’s just being careful.”
Recker turned the phone on, then quickly went to the number that was already in the phone. It was the only one there. Tyrell picked up right away.
“Got my package, I see.”
“Why the games?” Recker asked.
“What games?”
“You knocked and left. I didn’t know what was going on at first. Why didn’t you just stay?”
“Oh, man, that idiot.”
“What idiot?”
“I had someone else drop it off,” Tyrell said. “In case you were being watched or something, I didn’t wanna take any chances. So I had someone else drop it off. I told him flat-out, I said ‘knock on the door, and when someone answers, just say it’s from me, hand off the package and off you go’. That’s exactly what I told the dude.”
“It appears he didn’t listen.”
“Man, it’s so hard to find good help these days, you know that?”
“Apparently.”
“Maybe that’s why I’m out of the business. Well, trying, anyway.”
“What’s this phone for?” Recker asked.
“You said you don’t know what’s been compromised, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So I’m gonna have someone slip a phone to Thrower. Same deal. I’ll have the number you’re on right now programmed into his phone. That way, you two can talk without having to worry about anyone listening in or tracking it. Completely off the books.”
“Nice. Were you able to find him yet?”
“I think we’re close. Might be able to make contact later today.”
“Good.”
“So keep that phone nearby in case he calls. He’ll be making contact with you directly.”
“Sounds good,” Recker said.
“If you need anything else from me, call me on this phone until this thing’s settled. I got a new one for me too. Temporarily.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
Once he was done with Tyrell, Recker looked over at Mia.
“He had someone else drop it off. They were supposed to wait and say it was from him.”
“Good help is hard to find these days,” Mia said.
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
Recker put the phone in his pocket, then stared at his girlfriend for a moment.
“What?”
“Just wondering what to do with you,” Recker said.
“Oh? I didn’t realize something needed to be done with me.”
“I’m not really comfortable leaving you here by yourself. And I don’t think bringing you into the office again’s a good idea. It’s out of the ordinary. I don’t want to give the impression that anything’s off. We should be doing everything we normally do.”
“I agree,” Mia replied. “So just go in and I’ll be fine.”
The look on Recker’s face suggested he wasn’t as sure about that as she was.
“Look, the guy said nobody else is in danger unless we get in the way.”
“And you know how I feel about that,” Recker said. “Don’t trust it.”
“Still, I’m going to work in a few hours, anyway. It’s really not a big deal for me to be here by myself until then. I’m a big girl.”
“I know, and I know you can handle yourself. I’m just…”
“A worrier.”
“Maybe. I usually have reason to, though.”
Mia smiled and gave him a kiss. “Maybe. But I’ll be fine. If I suspect anything’s wrong, I’ll call you right away.”
“You better.”
“I promise. I will.”
They kissed again before going their separate ways. Recker drove to the office. When he walked in, he found Jones and Haley at computers, working away.
“Anything new?” Recker asked.
“Same as before,” Jones answered. “Nothing.”
“What about on your end?” Haley asked.
“Nobody seems to know anything,” Recker replied.
“Same old story, it seems.”
“Anything else on the agenda? Anything coming up we gotta worry about.”
“There were a few low-level things,” Jones said. “Nothing we desperately needed to be involved in. I rerouted everything to the authorities so they could deal with it.”
“Fine. So all we gotta worry about is your situation, then?”
“Yeah. Just mine.”
They continued talking, though completely aware they were probably being listened to the entire time. They still had to watch what they said.
“Did you figure out how he sent you a message from my phone?” Recker asked.
“I did,” Jones replied. “And it didn’t come from your phone. He just spoofed the number to make it look like it came from you. Not that hard, really. I’m just an idiot because I took it at face value instead of checking into it further.”
“Well, I guess things were happening fast. No reason to believe it wasn’t from me.”
“Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but we all know that’s not true. I got duped. Plain and simple. I should’ve seen it from a mile away. But I didn’t. It shouldn’t have happened at all. I made a rookie mistake that I shouldn’t have. No need to be nice about it.”
“We all make them from time to time,” Recker said.
“I don’t know about that. But like I said, thanks for the thought.”
Recker then pulled out the phone that Tyrell had given him. He held it up in the air, though he didn’t say anything, so the others could see what he had. Even though Jones had sent him a message the previous night, letting Recker know that he had found no evidence that his regular phone had been compromised, Recker wasn’t taking any chances. Recker motioned for Haley to join him outside.
“I’m just gonna get some air,” Haley said. “Been at this all night.”
“I’ll join you,” Recker replied.
Recker and Haley went outside, just standing against the wall at the back of the building.
“What’s that?” Haley asked, pointing at the phone.
“Tyrell gave it to me. He’s gonna get Nate a phone, and have him call me on this.”
“You’re not buying that he doesn’t have our phones tapped?”
Recker wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. I know David hasn’t found evidence that they are, but I’d rather err on the side of caution. What if this guy is better than David is? What if David can’t find it out because the other guy’s too good? I mean, this guy’s gotten into David’s system twice, and he spoofed my number to get him out of the office. That makes three times this guy’s got the better of him. That’s three times too many. I don’t think we can assume anything at this point.”
“I agree. What about Nate? What’s the word on him at this juncture?”
“Not sure. Tyrell thought they might be able to get to him sometime later today. Guess we’ll see.”
“Sure would be nice to have him on this,” Haley said.
“I know. So what’s the real story in there? Any progress?”
Haley shook his head. “No. It wasn’t a show. David’s been making a list of everyone he’s had contact with that he can recall. It’s a long list, though.”
“Even in his time at the NSA?”
“Couple hundred names, at least. Off the top of his head, none of the names ring a bell as to someone who might have a beef with him.”
Recker sighed. It wasn’t the news that he wanted to hear. “Well, someone’s got one. We better find out who it is soon. Or else they’re gonna find him.”