Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Short story project: Unidentified Flying Object, Part 11

Not until my phone read 6:00 p.m. did I headed for the elevator and down to the lobby. The least I could do was make Jason wait it out a couple more minutes, make him wonder if I’d changed my mind. Of course, when I finally rode the elevator down to the main floor of the library, and the doors slid back, he was waiting for me.
“Don’t you have a job?” I said once we were within a reasonable speaking range from each other.
“Nice to see you, too.”
Jason smiled, but I kept my expression neutral. Seeing Jason wasn’t nice. Seeing him meant I was jeopardizing my freedom.
“Let’s walk.” I kept my tone even and severe. I wanted to remain in control of the meeting as much as possible. I rushed past Jason, down the steps to the sidewalk. I headed off at a random direction, keeping my eyes forward. Looking too much at Jason and his expressive features might cause me to lose my focus.
“Could we sit down?” Jason easily kept up with my brisk pace.
“No.” I paused on the street corner as I waited for the light to turn green. “I’ve been sitting all day.” The light turned and I charged across the intersection.
Jason stuck his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket. “How do I know you won’t just take off if you don’t like what I have to say?”
“You don’t.” I checked my watch. “I have somewhere else to be in an hour, so hurry up.”
Jason grunted. He probably didn’t like my unwillingness to commit, but that’s the way I was going to play. I’d been keeping my secret for nearly twenty years and I still walked the streets because I kept to myself.
“What’s the plan?”
He snuck a peek over his shoulder before he spoke. No doubt Agatha had spent a lot of time checking for eavesdroppers who may or may not have been there before she disappeared. “You’ll need to sneak into the Homain Research office—I’ve got a list of computer passwords.”
“Won’t they have changed the passwords by now?” Maybe I could reason myself out of this predicament.
Jason shook his head. “I’ve got it covered A friend of Agatha’s can get them and pass them on to me.”
“Convenient.” I checked out the store front displays rather than look at my companion.
“Maybe.” Jason’s voice took on a hard-edge. “Or maybe she’s just worried about what’s happened to Agatha. Didn’t that occur to you? That people could be nice with no strings attached?”
"No, there are always strings attached," I said then turned the corner.
To be continued...look for new content on Thursday, April 24th, 2014.

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