The Thread: Die in Plain Sight
by Jessicanm (Member) - published: July 3, 2004
Word Count: 257 Word Bytes: 1424 Viewed: 1739 times
Category - The Thread
© Copyright by Jessicanm

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Jason acquired his target exactly where he’d been told she would park: the only gas station in Benton. He watched her make a short call on her cell phone--no doubt checking in with her boss. Then she got out, locked the car with a remote-control key and stretched like she hadn’t been out of the car since Atlanta.

Probably she hadn’t. Couriers didn’t make too many pits stops when on a job, that’s when they were the most vulnerable and they knew it.

He moved his white van into the empty parking space next to hers, near the left front door. He made sure not to crowd the door, he didn’t want to risk the idea that she’d get smart and go around the passenger side to get in.

Making sure the wide sunscreen on the inside of the front windshield was in place Jason got into the back of the van, cracked the side door so the courier wouldn’t hear it open and pulled on a ski mask. He reached for the exam gloves he’d stashed in a paper bag earlier. He snapped them in to place, flexed his hands then examined the gloves for flaws. The movies had always made the stretchy gloves look like they could with stand anything, when in reality they would come apart quicker than a rubber. Satisfied, they would last through this job Jason reached for the spring-loaded sap in his rear pocket. Sweat seeped into his ski mask. He ignored it. He was ready to rock and roll.

------
Jessica@Lit.Org or Jessicamg@gmail.com

~How vain it is to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live.~

Henry David Thoreau

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The following comments are for "The Thread: Die in Plain Sight"
by Jessicanm

The Thread , Part 1
Walking in to the gas station Anita couldn't believe how tired she felt. She was used to these assignments but something about this one had her stomach in knots. Henry, her boss had just told her to be extra careful. What the hell was that supposed to mean? There was something really weird about this whole thing. Been listening in on too many conversations, that's all. The others were always acting like big shots. They'd say stupid things like, "Little women shouldn't be playing with the big boys, wouldn't want you tearing a hole in your pantyhose." This was her chance to prove herself once and for all. She could play all right, she'd show them.

She figured a little caffeine would help keep her alert. The coffee looked like it was made three days ago. Walking up to the register she noticed the cashier filing her nails. "Any chance you can make a fresh pot?" "Sure mam, why not? Can't you see I was just rising to the occasion? This aint the Hilton you know. You want coffee drink what we got, I aint got no time to make you a fresh cup. Can't you see I am busy?" Anita bit her tongue. This was not the day for this she told herself. She had a deadline and damn it if she wasn't going to make it. She grabbed the black tar and threw the money at the cashier "keep the change you've earned it" she said as she walked out the door. Cool move she told herself. Smooth Anita real smooth. "What the hell, she probably wouldn’t remember her own name if asked, why would she be able to give out any details about me?”

Exiting the station she reached into her purse to call Henry, he wanted to know the moment she was back on the road. "Where is it? I must have left it in the car." Clicking the remote to unlock the car she felt someone grab her from behind. She tried desperately to get away but he had a firm grip on her. Suddenly keeping her eyes open was impossible, thoughts of floating drifted through her mind. It was useless Anita was out.

( Posted by: nae411 [Moderator] On: July 3, 2004 )

The Thread, Part 3.
Jason was still in his van when it happened, waiting for her to return to the car, and for a moment he was unsure what to do next. One moment she was walking right toward him, and he was all ready to spring into action, and then out of nowhere this guy in a raincoat had grabbed her, pulled her into a car, and she was gone.

He shook his head in suprise, clambered back over to the van's driver's seat, and slammed it into reverse. He needed to get after that car.

Once he was on the road, he had time to collect his thoughts. There must be something special about that package she was carrying for there to be two contracts out for her. Until now he had only been idly curious about it, but now he found his mind racing with thoughts about what it could be.

He picked up his mobile phone and called his contact.

"You're not supposed to call until tomorrow."

"Yeah. I know. but..."

"Then why are you calling?"

"There's someone else after this courier. He got to her first."

Silence. And then at last, "How?"

"At the cafe. Needle in the back of the neck, just as she was walking toward the van."

"Have you lost contact?"

"They're in sight, but only just. We're heading south down the Carl Jackson freeway. I got his plates though - EBZ 524. Should I keep following?"

"For the moment, yes. If they stop, or if you lose them, call me. Otherwise keep your distance till I call back."

"This van's going to stick out like a sore thumb if we cross the border."

"Well, like I said - keep your distance. I'll let you know."

( Posted by: Spudley [Member] On: July 4, 2004 )

The Thread: Part 4
Elliott concentrated on the road. The clouds overhead were darkening menacing him with threats of rain. This job was best done quickly. He had to find a hidey hole and ditch this vehicle for another one. The agency may have put a tail on this courier, in the case of an ambush. He hadn't noticed anyone following him, but one could never be sure. The agency was full of some truly spooky sons a bitches.

The woman would be unconscious for at least another hour or so. He hadn't had time to tie and gag her at the gas station, so he had no choice but to find a out of the way place to stop so he could restrain her. A struggling woman in the car with him was a sure fire way to attract unwanted attention. Since he wasn't sure where the package was hidden in the car, he would be forced to interrogate her. He doubted she would just give the information up freely. The angency types never did. He'd get the information, one way or the other, he always did.

Checking his rearview, Elliott noticed a grey van three car lengths back. Hadn't he seen that van before? He searched his memory, trying to pick up as many stray details of this trip as he could.

It was the gas station. That van had provided him cover to snatch the woman and the car. Was the driver of that van following him? More importantly, is there an agent driving or a civillian? Before he could formulate a plan of action, the woman's cell phone began to ring.

( Posted by: Bartleby [Member] On: July 5, 2004 )

The Thread: Part 5
“Jake, get in here!” Hollered Henry as he slammed the phone down.

The small courier department Henry ran seemed like a bastard step-child of the agency, always getting small meaningless courier jobs like delivering flowers or ambassadorial gifts. Except this time it had felt different.

“What’s up Boss?” Asked Jake as he stuck his head around the corner of the doorframe. Jake was the type of agent who could pass through a crowd unnoticed which belied his athletic form.

“Anita’s not answering her phone. Listen you jet the heck out of here and find our girl. Take your travel kit and make sure you check in with me every six hours. Oh and here’s the address of that gas station she called me from.” Answered Henry before he picked up the phone again. He pressed a button on the front for an internal line.

“David, hey it’s Henry.” Henry said as Jake’s head disappeared.

“Ya, buddy what’s up?” Was the reply.

“Could you come to my office for a sec.?” Asked Henry.

“Be right up.” Said David.

A few minutes later David walked in to Henrys office.

“Shut the door David.” Henry said ominously. David gave Henry a puzzled look. David was Operations Manager for the east coast. He and Henry had grown up together which was why Henry had no compunction about asking David to his office.

“Anita’s gone missing. Now if that package has anything to do with this you have some explaining to do.” Exclaimed Henry. David looked uncomfortable.

“You know something don’t you?” Accused Henry.

“Look Henry, I can’t get into the details but we thought using your department would be a less risky venture seeing as you guys are always delivering junk… I mean, well… oh you know what I mean Henry. The fact of the matter is that your department is low profile so yes we used you, I’m sorry.” David replied.

The anger behind Henry’s eyes was obvious. “If anything happens to Anita I swear Dave… there will be hell to pay.” Henry got up, came around the desk and opened the door. The message was obvious.

“So who do you have going after her?” Asked David.

“Jake is on his way now.” Answered Henry.

“Oh Henry, isn’t Jake a little dangerous. I mean Anita is special but sending Jake is like sending a Doberman to watch a rabbit.” Responded David.

“Exactly.” Said Henry.

As Henry closed the door He wondered about sending Jake. Jake was dangerous but Anita’s disappearance had him worried. Jake had been a deep cover agent before moving to Henry’s department. His dossier read like a James Bond film. Why Jake had chosen to work for the courier department was beyond Henry. His excuse being a desire for quieter missions. Henry just hopped Jake hadn’t lost his edge. He had a feeling Jake would need it.

( Posted by: nauticus66 [Member] On: July 5, 2004 )

The Thread, Part 6
As Elliott kept one eye on the road and the other on the grey van which continued to follow at what he was sure the driver thought was a safe but observant distance, he heard a soft moan. Dammit to hell! He couldn't wait any longer. Even with the tension of this circumstance, he couldn't help but smile. Anita never could resist a ringing telephone...it could wake her from the dead. He knew it would be Henry calling to assure himself that Anita was back on the road. Elliott knew Anita’s habits as well as his own, and there was not a doubt in Elliott’s mind that Anita had reported to Henry when she stopped for coffee.

He also knew he couldn’t answer the phone until he talked to Anita. The leak in the agency could be anywhere, and the only person ops was certain was clean was Anita. They desperately needed information even she didn’t know she had in order to save her, accomplish the delivery, and permanently plug the leak in the department.

Without some communication from Anita, Henry would be sending someone after her, but that someone could pose as much danger to her as the man in the grey van.

About a hundred yards down the road, Elliott could see a turnoff which seemed to be bereft of light and deserted at this time of night. Waiting until the last possible second to make the sharp turn, he stomped hard on the gas hoping the grey van would be caught off guard and have to backtrack to follow. Anita moaned, louder this time, and he needed to restrain her, both for her good and for his own until he could change cars and explain the situation to her.

As Elliott fumbled under the seat with one hand, drove with the other, and tried to watch both the unfamiliar road and the rear view mirror, he saw the briefest flash of a headlight. Looking at both sides of the tree lined road, he spotted a small cottage set back some distance from the road.

“Probably used during hunting season and is deserted at this time of the year...if there is a god,” Elliott said to no one in particular, or at least to no one who was quite awake enough to hear him but soon would be.

Cutting his lights before turning toward the cottage, he drove behind it with the gravest hopes that he wasn’t about to drive into a ravine or a river, and then quickly turned off the car’s engine and watched.

Within a minute or two he heard more than saw a vehicle making its way down the narrow road. He could just make out the van as it passed the cottage. The driver would get wise that he had somehow missed them before too long, but the safest place he could be right now was inside that cottage with the arsenal he had in the trunk, and Anita.

“What the hell.....?” Anita said as she fought to sit up. She was still dizzy and disoriented from the drug, but she had a will of iron. Immediately putting his hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t scream Elliott whispered,

“If you never did anything I ever told you to do, I’m telling you to shut up or you will get yourself and me killed. Do you understand me? I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to protect you.” Even through her still unfocused eyes he could see the wheels of her mind turning, trying to decide whether to believe him or not.

( Posted by: clairesbest [Member] On: July 6, 2004 )

The Thread, Part 7
Anita looked at the man with a funny sort of expession on her face. For some reason, she thought that she knew him, like some sort of an old friend. However, Henry had been warning her about being careful. That must have been what he meant, somehow he knew that someone was out to get her. Just as she had formulated a plan to ditch her assailant, she caught a glimpse of the mans left ear. It was partly torn. She knew that ear from somewhere, but she had known many people that had tried to hurt her as well. Maybe that ear came from somebody who had tried to beat her or something like that.

"Look, you know me and I know you. We've gotta get outta here or we're both screwed" said the man.

"Why did you poison me if I am your friend?" asked Anita. Slowly, the drugs began to come off of her, but before they completely did, she decided to make a break for it. It wasn't worth the risk to find out if this man actually had good intentions or not. With a swift kick in the face, and an elbow in the stomach, the man was down like a ton of bricks. He had a broken nose from the looks of it, and was bleeding profusely. She got out of the van, took a small rock off of the side of the road and stuck in into the air valves on the front left tire. 'At least three years of juvy did some good' she thought. Then, like a cheetah, she ran as far as she could right down the side of the road. If she had gone into the nearby woods, there would be no witnesses, and the man could hunt her down with extreme ease. Here she was safe. He had simply been talking about a bunch of crap back there. Had he really known her, he would have proven it somehow.

Anita's legs were beginning to tire, and she was sweating like mad when a grey van came down the road, and began to slow down in front of her. 'Finally' she thought,'Whoever this is can take me to the cops, and I can get a little info on earpiece back there.

Suddenly, she returned to her senses. She did know Earpiece, because that was her nickname for Elliot. There was some ensuing gladness upon finding out that she had not just been attacked. However, the grey van that had been barrelling down the highway, like every one of the others was now near a stop. This was not where she wanted to be.

( Posted by: sully474 [Member] On: July 6, 2004 )

The Thread, Part 8
Elliott was still in the car where he had stopped it behind the cottage. He wasn't going anywhere for a while. Even drugged to the eyeballs, that girl had a serious punch to her. He had managed to stop the bleeding but breathing was going to be difficult, and he would need to get some proper medical attention for his nose fairly quickly, or he'd end up looking like a rugby player.

He considered his options. He knew roughly the direction that Anita had taken, but he was reluctant to follow. She would still be under the influence of the drugs for at least another five or six hours, so he had no way of predicting how she'd react if he caught up with her. 'When the drugs wear off', he told himself, 'realise what she's done and come back to me.'

But it was a half-hearted hope, of course, and he knew it. In that state, there was no telling what she'd do. And in any case, there was that grey van to worry about. He still had no idea who it was, but it was obvious he was looking for her as well. Elliott prayed that Amita would have enough sense to keep out of sight if the grey van came back.

He still had Anita's phone too - she'd left it on the seat in her panic to get out of the car - so that was another problem. It was almost certain that she was supposed to be calling in regularly; indeed, he had already had to listen to her inane ring-tone jingle twice, as calls came in while he was dealing with his injured nose. He'd set it to silent now, if only to be rid of the noise, but that didn't change the fact that her controllers would be sending out the search parties by now.

He decided that the first thing he needed to do was hide the car. In this darkness it was pretty well hidden, but when dawn broke he would need better cover than this. He could just about make out the bend in the road even now, and the occasional flash of headlights as they swept round. And if he could see them, then they would be able to see him.

After that, he decided, he would be best to go with his original plan - break into the cottage and get some sleep. His emotional side was screaming at him to forget about rest and to get out and find Anita, but he knew he was in no shape to do that. Anita would have to wait.

( Posted by: Spudley [Member] On: July 8, 2004 )

Die in Plain Sight: Revelations
It had taken Jake longer than he expected to get a signal from the tracer in Anita’s van, and longer than that to get a lock on her cell phone. The outdated equipment the agency armed this courier department with was rendered almost completely useless in areas heavy with trees, and may as well be switched off indoors. Jake wasn’t at all surprised to note that the two signals weren’t coming from the same place.
After fifteen minutes of watching the signals from the side of the road, Jake was reasonably convinced that neither signal was moving from their positions 1/16 of a mile apart about ¼ of a mile up the road.
Jake abandoned his car just around the bend from where he knew Anita’s white van would be parked. Using all the stealth his years of deep cover had taught him, he snuck up to the back of the van, careful to avoid the vehicle’s windows. Pressed up against the wall of spotless white, Jake’s lungs filled with a sickeningly sweet scent that he couldn’t help but recognize. As he drew his gun and flung open the door, his suspicions were confirmed. After all, Jake knew, once you catch a whiff of fresh, unspoiled human insides, there’s no mistaking it.
**
“Wake up, Elliot.”
Elliot’s eyes shot open. “Anita…?” he tried to fight through the haze of exhaustion to clear his sight and mind.
“You have a lot to explain, Earpiece.” Elliot’s eyes finally adjusted to find himself staring down the short barrel of a semi-automatic.
“Anita, put the gun down… you can trust me.” Elliot put his hands up to show he was unarmed. In response, Anita just smiled at him sideways. It was not a friendly smile.
“’Trust no one,’ remember Elliot? First thing they told us at the academy. I don’t remember what the second thing they told us was, but I’ll bet it was something along the lines of ‘especially don’t trust people who knock you out and drag you to a remote cottage off the highway.’”
“Look, Anita… I can explain. There’s a mole in the agency…” Elliot gave Anita his most sincere look, the one that had been melting women since he first used it on his mother at 3 years old.
“Of course there is, Elliot. There’s always a mole, or some sort of security leak. Is that why you left? Someone figure out it was YOU?”
“God dammit Anita, why would I be telling you this if it was me? Why would you still be alive if it was me?” Elliot’s tone was angry, but carefully unthreatening.
“Good question, Earpiece. Looking for the package, is that it? You seemed to have thought it was on me, that amateur schmuck out there thought it was in the van. Do you even know what it is?”
“No… look, Anita, I had to get you away from that gas station quietly. You’re the only one I know I can trust, the mole…”
“The mole. The mole this, the mole that… you won’t get the package Elliot. It’s been delivered.”
“What? That’s impossible!” Elliot could hardly breathe. He knew she couldn’t have delivered it; he’d been trailing her the whole time.
“Come on, Earpiece. THINK! Did that bullet take a chunk out of your brain with the ear? Diversion, distraction, delivery, tick tock BOOM!”
“Boom?” Elliot knew. He understood, but he couldn’t believe it. He refused to believe it.
“By the way, if you had any friends in the greater D.C. area… I hope you said goodbye.”
“No…”
“Goodbye, Elliot.”
**
Jake ran as fast as he could to the little cottage. That gunshot 30 seconds ago could very well mean that he was already too late. Without regard for stealth or surprise he kicked in the door and pointed his gun forward.
On the floor, in a pool of blood, Anita sat crying over the body of a dead man. A dead man Jake recognized.
“Anita?”
Anita’s head whipped around at the sound of his voice. She leapt to her feet and ran to him, flinging her arms around his torso. She splattered blood on his clothes, but Jake didn’t care.
“Jake! Oh thank god, Jake… it was… oh God…” she gasped through her tears.
“It’s ok, Anita… it’s ok,” Jake said. “Just calm down and tell me what happened.”
“Oh God, Jake… it was Elliot. He was working with the guy in the van, and then he… he killed him. Jesus… they took the package. I… don’t know what they did with it. They had me knocked out for so long. I took Elliot’s gun and… I had to! He was a mole, Jake. He was working against us.”
“Shhh.” Jake embraced Anita, petting the back of her head soothingly. “It’s ok. It’s alright, now. Come on, let’s get you home.”

The End

( Posted by: Spider [Member] On: July 11, 2004 )

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