Thrower was sitting by himself at an outdoor table at a cafe. He had a tablet in his hand, just reading an online newspaper. He liked to get a feel about what was happening, not only within the country, but globally as well. Sometimes he’d read something and start preparing himself for if he got a call. Most times, he didn’t. But once in a while, he would get one right.
As he read, he picked up his drink and sipped from the glass. He wasn’t paying much attention to what was around him. He wasn’t in anyone’s crosshairs as far as he knew, unlike some of the other people he knew. There were about twelve tables outside, and all of them were filled. Dinner time was always busy at that cafe.
Thrower looked up and glanced at a man as he walked toward his table. He didn’t give the guy much thought, though, or a second glance. He assumed the man was just going to walk right past him. And he did. Sort of. But as the man passed Thrower’s table, he put something down.
Thrower’s eyes immediately looked to his right, though his head remained still. He saw the phone planted there. He turned his head to his left to look behind him. He could see the outline of the man walking away. His eyes went back to the phone, but he didn’t move another muscle. He continued staring at the phone for a few seconds, before finally reaching over and picking it up.
He wasn’t sure what was going on. He wasn’t working on anything at the moment, so as far as he knew, there was no reason to be secretive on anything. Thrower turned the phone on, and as soon as it powered up, there was a notification about a text message. He clicked on it to take him to the message.
“This is Tyrell. You need to call Recker at the number I’ve programmed into this phone. No other number. Stuff is going down!”
Thrower read the message twice. He didn’t necessarily take it at face value. Though his assumption was that the message was factual, there was a small piece of him that thought maybe it was some kind of trick. But once he called Recker, he would know whether that was true or not. He knew Recker’s voice, and wouldn’t get sucked into some kind of game.
Thrower went into the contact list, but there was only one number. It had Recker’s name on it. Thrower then dialed the number.
Recker immediately answered, though he didn’t say anything at first.
“Mike?”
Recker was making his way out of the office before he responded. He didn’t want to say anything in the office that would give whoever was listening reason to think something else was going on.
“Mike?”
“Hey,” Recker said. “I can talk now. Sorry.”
“Are you OK?”
“Yeah. I just had to get somewhere that I could talk freely.”
“What the heck is going on?”
“Too much, man. Someone’s after Jones, the office is bugged, who knows what else?”
“Whoa, what? Who’s after David? And your office is bugged?”
“Yeah. I’ll start at the beginning.”
Recker relayed everything that had happened so far that they knew of. Thrower didn’t interrupt once as he listened to it all.
“Wow,” Thrower said. “That’s messed up.”
“Yeah. So that’s where we stand right now.”
“So where do I fit in?”
“Well, we were hoping you’d be able to come down, look after David, kind of stick with him while we go out and try to run this thing down.”
“So you want me to be his bodyguard?”
“That’s it,” Recker said. “Didn’t know if you were available or not. Was kind of hoping you were.”
“I’m available. I just finished a job yesterday, actually. So I’m free.”
“So you’re able to come?”
“Absolutely. I can leave in five minutes.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in Georgia right now,” Thrower answered. “So what’s that, ten, twelve hours? Something like that?”
“Well, I don’t think you need to completely rush. Like I said, I think we’ve got a couple days until the big showdown, whatever that may be.”
“The sooner I get there, the better.”
“Let me know when you get in the area,” Recker said. “We might have to do some cloak and dagger stuff to get you in.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“Sorry for the last-minute stuff.”
“Hey, that’s the job, right? Things happen fast.”
“You’re sure we’re not gonna be taking you away from anything?”
“Nah, got nothing lined up right now. We’re good.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it. I’ll make sure you’re compensated for it.”
“Not even worried about that,” Thrower replied. “When I call you, should it be at this number?”
“Yeah. Don’t respond to anything else. I’m not sure what’s being traced, so we’ve gotta be extra careful about everything. That goes for you too. I don’t know if this guy knows about you, but if you stop for gas or anything, try to use cash if you can. We’re thinking this guy worked at the NSA with David, so if he does know about you, he will probably be able to trace your credit cards if you use them.”
“And he’d know I was on the way there.”
“Exactly.”
“All right, sounds like a plan,” Thrower said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks. Appreciate you coming.”
“Hey, if I ever need something, maybe you can return the favor.”
“You know we would,” Recker said.
Since Recker was already outside, and didn’t have to worry about anyone listening in, he decided to call Lawson to see how she was making out. She picked up right away.
“Michelle Lawson.”
“Hey, it’s Recker.”
“Oh, hey.” Lawson took the phone away from her ear for a moment and looked at the number. “You get a new number?”
“Different phone. Just in case the other one’s no good. You know how it is.”
“Oh. Smart thinking.”
“Not sure it’ll do much good in your case, since I called you from my normal one the other day. If he is tracking it, he’ll know I called. Or if he’s got you tracked, he knows this one now.”
“No one’s tracking this phone,” Lawson confidently said.
“Sure about that?”
“Positive. Anyway, I was just about to call you.”
“Oh. I had that sixth sense.”
“Sure. Anyway, you’re all set to go.”
“With what?”
“You asked for a meeting. You got a meeting.”
“With who?” Recker asked.
“The NSA.”
“Yeah, I figured that. I meant who specifically?”
“Oh. Uh, what’s his name?” Lawson shuffled some papers around her desk. “Here it is. Jensen Fierbach.”
“Is that a real name?”
“Of course it is. What, you think I just made it up?”
“To be honest, it kinda does.”
Lawson laughed. “Well, I didn’t. That’s his real name. I mean, at least as far as I know.”
“What’s he do?”
“I don’t know. He’s an NSA honcho. You want me to do all your legwork for you?”
“It’d be nice.”
“Yeah, it would. And I normally wouldn’t mind if I didn’t have a million other things going on right now, but I do. So that’s that.”
“Where and when?” Recker asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine. NSA building at Fort Meade.”
“And what’s my story?”
“You’re John Smith. We just used your old CIA alias. That way there’s no issue if they decide to run anything on their end.”
“And David?”
“He’s now an asset for us. He left them, and we recruited him to work for us. Not totally off base since it has happened a couple times.”
“Nice.”
“So there should be no blowback after you’re done,” Lawson said.
“And what about what we’re after?”
“We believe there’s either a current or former NSA employee who is familiar with David’s past who is currently engaging in illegal activities. You’ll have to use David’s real name. Do you know it?”
“Of course I know it,” Recker replied.
“Just checking. That’s pretty much it. The rest is up to you. And Mr. Fierbach.”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“Forget it. That’s what friends are for, right? Just invite me and Eric to your next Christmas party.”
Recker laughed. “Only if you dress up like elves.”
“Don’t go overboard.”
Recker hung up, then walked back inside the office. He immediately grabbed a pen and pad and started writing. He then showed Jones and Haley.
“NSA meeting at 9 tomorrow.”
They each nodded that they read it, then Recker tore the paper off the pad and started writing again. He then showed Haley what he wrote.
“Nate’s on the way. Should be here sometime tomorrow night.”
Jones was intrigued about what the latest note said, and grabbed the pad, though Recker tried to keep it away from him. Jones was able to snatch it away, though. After reading it, Jones gave Recker a look. It was one of disbelief. He had no idea that Thrower was even aware of what was going on. Jones then grabbed a pen and started writing his own note, showing it to Recker after he was done.
“What is Nate coming here for?”
Recker took the pad and wrote a reply. “You.”
Jones gave Recker a different look this time. It appeared to be one of disapproval. Maybe frustration. Or maybe a little bit of both.
For a second, Jones forgot about the listening device. “You know…”
Haley quickly cut him off. “That’s a good idea, David. Go out back for a few minutes. Stretch your legs. You haven’t been out of the office for a while.”
“Yes, that is a good idea,” Recker said. “I’ll have to go out with you. Just to make sure nothing happens.”
“Fine,” Jones replied. “Let’s go.”
Recker and Jones walked out of the office, and went down the steps, though they remained near there.
“What’s going on?”
Recker shrugged, thinking it was a silly question. “Well, someone’s got it out for you.”
“I know that part. What’s Nate doing here?”
“I thought I already told you that. He’s here for you.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know, protection?”
“Michael, I really don’t think—”
“If you’re gonna tell me you don’t think it’s necessary, we can just stop this conversation now. Of course it’s necessary.”
“I would just hate to bring Nate in and take him away from his own stuff.”
“He’s fine,” Recker said. “He said he just finished up something yesterday. He’s got a clear schedule.”
Jones sighed. He still felt bad about bringing in someone else to help fight his battle.
“Look, it didn’t really take much convincing. Or any, for that matter. As soon as he heard what was going on, he said he was coming. And you’re not inconveniencing him. This is what he does. And he’s the best in the business at it.”
“I’m well aware of his prowess and skills in these types of situations. If you recall, I’m the one that brought him in initially.”
“Yes, I remember. And like I said, this is what he does. Let him do it.”
“I just hate the fact that…” Jones didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he looked off into the trees next to the building. “I just hate that all this is happening. It’s kind of hard to believe.”
“I know. But it is happening. And that means we’ve gotta pull out all the stops and do whatever we have to.”
“Now Nate is going to be put in harm’s way.”
“Like I said, that’s what he does. It’s what we all do. What else is eating you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ever since this started, you’ve been acting differently.”
Jones took a few seconds to contemplate before he answered. “It’s just… I haven’t really encountered this before. I’ve always had the advantage. We have always had the advantage. With my skills, I’ve always believed I was able to get into anything, get whatever information we needed. We always had the upper hand. And now…”
“Now you’re not so sure?”
Jones shook his head. “Now I’m afraid we’re at a disadvantage. It doesn’t appear that anything I’m doing is working. For the first time in a long time, I get the feeling that someone else is superior to me at this. That I’m not going to be able to find out the information that we need in time.”
“We will. This isn’t all on you.”
“I wish I believed that. But for whatever reason, this is my doing. What if we all wind up getting killed because of something I did?”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Recker answered.
“But if it does…?”
“It’s not. Between me, Chris, and now Nate… plus I’ve got that meeting tomorrow. Something’s gonna break for us. And if we never get that break, you’re gonna be protected. We’ve got it.”
“And what if he delivers something unforeseen? Something that the three of you can’t protect me from? Worse yet, what if it’s something that you can’t protect yourselves from, either?”
Recker shrugged. “You can’t live on what-ifs. We’ll just take things as they come. That’s all any of us can do.”
“I just hope that whatever we do, whatever we find, that it will be enough.”
“It will be. We’ve just gotta believe… that it will be.”