Recker drove back to the office. Before going home, he wanted to let the others know what was going on. Once he and Mia walked in, Jones immediately greeted them. Recker put his hand up, wanting them to keep it down.
“It’s not necessary any longer,” Jones said.
“What?” Recker asked.
“I was working on the device, trying to see where it was broadcasting to, and I found that it is no longer operational.”
“You mean it’s not working anymore?”
“That is what no longer operational means, yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Jones rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. Apparently, the device stopped giving off signals several hours ago. I guess we weren’t giving off enough information to keep it active.”
“Or they knew we had it figured out.”
“Always a possibility.”
“Where’s it now?” Recker asked.
“In the trash can.”
“After a few hard stomps from my boot,” Haley said.
“It is in pieces,” Jones replied. “It is not functional in any way.”
Recker breathed a sigh of relief, though that put a wrench into any plans about using it for their own purposes later on. He reached into his pocket and removed the note he found on his car. He handed it to Jones.
“Here. Found this on my windshield.”
Jones read it, though nothing stuck out to him. “Obnoxious.”
Recker laughed. “Yeah. I called Maggie on the way here. Told her what I had. I’m gonna go down there in the morning so they can analyze it.”
“Maybe that’s the break we need,” Haley said.
Recker nodded. “That’s my hope. Anyway, you won’t be seeing me until the afternoon at the earliest tomorrow. Just so you know where I am.”
“You think they’ll be able to match the handwriting to someone?” Thrower asked.
“I don’t know. It’s a shot.”
“You know, we’re dealing with a smart individual here,” Jones said.
“I think we’re all aware of that,” Recker replied.
“Yes, but it’s also possible he knows that’s the next step we’d take. Or at least consider it.”
“What are you saying?”
“What if he intentionally wrote differently, knowing we’d try to match his handwriting? Nothing would come up.”
Recker didn’t want to consider that notion. “Let’s not go there. Maybe we’re starting to give him more credit than he deserves.”
“How so?”
“OK, he’s smart. Doesn’t mean he’s infallible. And it doesn’t mean he can’t make a mistake. He might not think it’s any big deal to write this. He might not think we’d come up with the idea of trying to match the handwriting. Might not even have crossed his mind. He might be so arrogant and confident that he doesn’t even care. Who knows?”
“Have to check, anyway,” Haley said. “Even if we get nothing.”
“How else are we going to work things?” Jones asked. Nobody else seemed to know what he was referring to.
“In regards to what?” Recker asked.
“Well, after today, we now have to assume that Mia’s a target.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“Why not?”
“What if that was just a test?”
“A test?”
“Mia and I were talking about it. What if he was just testing our response time? How fast I could get there, what I’d do, what she’d do, all those things.”
Haley knew what his partner was getting at. “Gathering information so he’ll know how much time he has for when he makes his move.”
“Which still leaves one big question,” Recker said.
“Which is?”
“When this guy finally makes his move, we all know there’s a way he can get me out of here.” He pointed at Mia with his thumb. “But how’s he gonna get Chris out of here?”
Everyone was silent. Nobody seemed to have an answer.
“He’d have to make sure there’s a job big enough to get us both out,” Haley said.
“But what if we don’t respond?” Recker asked. “There’s no guarantee that we will. I feel like he would need something that’s guaranteed to work. Responding to a call… how would he know which call we feel the need to respond to?”
“And I’ve turned those systems off the last two days as we’ve concentrated on this,” Jones said. “He might spend a lot of time setting something up that’s not even working.”
“So it’s gotta be something else.”
“I don’t see what it could be,” Haley said. “I don’t have any other attachments other than you guys.”
“Well that’s gotta be it, then.”
“What?”
“We’re the attachments,” Recker answered. “It’s staring at us right in the face. The only way to get you out… is us. It’s the only thing that makes sense. The way to get to me is through Mia. The way to get to you is through me.”
Recker then turned to look at his girlfriend. Mia knew what was being implied and her shoulders slumped, and she made a pouty face.
“No, not again,” she said. She stomped her foot like she was a child. “Not again.”
Recker went over to her and put his arms around her. “I’m sorry. It’s the only thing I can think of that makes sense.”
“She’s the key to it all,” Haley said. “He gets Mia to bring out Mike. He traps Mike to get me out. Then that leaves David all alone.”
“In theory, at least,” Recker replied, glancing over at Thrower.
“It’s all theory,” Jones said. “And it might not even be an accurate one.”
“Maybe not. But can you think of something else?”
Jones sighed and shook his head. “No, not at the moment. But maybe there is something we’re missing.”
“Maybe there is. But I don’t know what it is.”
“Maybe we’re all missing the obvious,” Thrower said, tossing out his own baseless theory. “Mind if I throw one out there?”
Recker put his hand up to encourage his friend to proceed. “Might as well let it loose.”
“What if the idea isn’t to get all of you out to get him in? What if the idea is to keep all of you in and get him out?”
Recker’s eyebrows scrunched together, not quite sure he was getting the meaning. He understood what was being said, just not the reasoning behind it. “Why would he do that?”
“Think about it,” Thrower replied. “This guy is smart, right? Worked at the NSA with David?”
“That’s what we’re assuming.”
“So even if he gets all of you out, he still has to get in somehow, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well that’s kind of problematic right there. And this guy’s got to know it. He’s going to assume that it’s not going to be as simple as just busting through that door. That’s probably what that guy was doing in the video. Seeing how easy that door would be to get through.”
“Not very,” Haley said.
“Right. It’s not. He’s not sneaking his way in. And if he does get in, he’s got to assume that David’s got some other surprises in store in case he does. There’s going to be traps, alarms, whatever else. That’s a given. So you bypass all that and try to take him in an environment where you don’t have to worry about it.”
Recker looked over at the window. “What about there? What if he drops in from the roof or something?”
Thrower looked over at the window and shook his head, quickly dismissing it. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“Think about it rationally. If I worked with David at the NSA, and now I’ve tracked him here somehow, I’m going to assume this place has more tricks than a circus. There’s gonna be cameras I don’t see, hidden mics, trap doors, hidden explosives, booby traps, heck… maybe even a sliding wall behind a bookcase. So in knowing that, does this place seem like the best place for me to attack?”
Recker put his right arm across his chest, while his left hand covered his mouth, deep in thought. Thrower certainly made a lot of interesting points. And maybe they were all valid. He just didn’t know. Recker looked at the others to gauge their thoughts.
“I don’t think he’s wrong in thinking that way,” Haley said.
Jones agreed. “The question becomes whether this other person is thinking along the same lines.”
“Let’s just say that Nate’s completely right with everything,” Recker said. “He’s on point. That means he’d have to get David out of this office. How would that happen?”
“Only way I can think of is if we’re all in trouble,” Haley answered.
Recker sighed. “But even if that’s the case, say we’re all tied up in a room or something, David would know he’s walking right into a trap. If that’s the case, wouldn’t the guy figure he’d call Vincent? I mean, he must know we’ve done business with him, wouldn’t he?”
They all nodded. No matter what theory they threw out there, they had a reason as to why it wouldn’t work, or wasn’t possible. After talking about it for a while, the only definitive thing they could agree on was that they had no idea what was in store for any of them. And they were no closer to figuring out the plan as they stood there talking about it than they were previously.
Recker, a little frustrated, went over to the couch and plopped down. Mia went over and sat next to him, putting her hand on his knee.
“Nothing but questions,” Recker said.
“And no answers,” Haley replied.
Recker shook his head. “Not one.”
Jones held up the handwritten note. “Maybe this will be the one.”
Recker looked at it. “Even if we get a hit on it, that still won’t give us the answer.”
“But it may lead us down the right road. All we need is to get a start. There’s a fork in the road, and we just need to find which road is the right one to go down.”
“The right road. Let’s hope there’s not also a knife in it.”