Determination

by S. E. Rose

  “Land ahoy, fuckers,” Brian yells.

  I laugh and grab my bags. “Any luck?” I ask Walsh as I pass him.

  “Well, the text came from a cell tower in Saudi Arabia, but I’d need more time to pinpoint the exact location.”

  “Yeah, CIA already found that.”

  “OK then…I need more time with these files, dude. Can I load these on my own server?”

  “Sure,” I say with a shrug. I trust Walsh with my life and lord knows if he has a server that shit is probably locked up so tight not even the CIA or Interpol could break into it.

  “Cool, I’ll let you know,” he says and logs off my laptop before handing it over to me.

  Pierce is waiting for me and ushers me to a car, and we head to the airport. He debriefs me on the way there. I can tell by his curt responses that he probably just got his ass chewed out by Bryce.

  He explains that I need to get back home pronto and look like I’m doing normal stuff for at least forty-eight hours. I groan. I just want to see Vanessa, to know she’s safe. Damn, I really have it bad for this woman! The thought overwhelms me for a moment before I regain my composure and listen to the rest of Bryce’s plan.

  I conference Rick at some point once my jet takes off and he listens patiently.

  “So, I need to keep your schedule as is, but secretly reschedule all those meetings for at least three weeks?” he finally asks.

  “Yes,” Pierce says.

  “Alrighty, I can do that,” he answers. “What about your jet, Jesse?”

  “In two nights, I’ll need to pretend to take it to D.C., so I can stay there, but I won’t be staying there. Go ahead and set that up, make it look like I have a meeting there in a few days.”

  “Done. And what about what you are actually doing?”

  “Rick, you are on the phone we gave you, right?” Pierce asks.

  Rick sighs. “Yes, I’m on the burner phone.”

  “Rick, don’t feel bad, I’m on a burner phone too,” I laugh.

  Rick sighs again. “Anything else you need me to do?”

  “Nope, that’s it for now,” I say. “And, Rick?”

  “Yep?”

  “Thanks, man, I owe you one.”

  Rick laughs. “Jesse, you owe me many ones. But no fear, I accept raises.”

  Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Noted, Rick, noted.”

  We hang up and I send a text to a burner phone that apparently has been given to Vanessa.

  Jesse: It’s me. I’m heading to NYC for two day and then I’ll see you.

  Vanessa: I can’t wait. I miss you!

  Jesse: I miss you too.

  Vanessa: Be careful, please.

  Jesse: I will.

  Vanessa: I just want you here in one piece.

  Jesse: Well, consider it done.

  Vanessa: Have a good night!

  Jesse: I will, you too, baby.

  Vanessa: (sleeping cat emoji)

  I laugh and settle in for the remainder of the flight. The time goes by quickly as I check emails and catch up on work. I’m really dreading the next seventy-two hours. I wish I could teleport to Moorea.

  Rick has been hypervigilant with me since I got into the office. I tossed and turned last night, and I hate that I’m tired, but I need to get so much done if I’m going to disappear for the next three weeks. I’m secretly hoping it’s less than that, I’m getting very sick of the cat and mouse game. I really want to take things into my own hands and it pains me to not be in control. I sigh. It took years of fucking therapy, but I know my control freakishness stems from my dad’s death. Laura has it a bit too, but I literally felt the need to become the “man” of the house and take charge even though I was just a teenager. I shudder at the memories of my mom crying in her bedroom, trying to hide her devastation from me. I don’t want to ever feel that way again…helpless. My dad had taught me so much and I wonder if I would even remember all of it so clearly if he hadn’t died. Would all the lessons he taught me be so burned into the depths of my soul? I stare at my computer screen and contemplate this. I continued with his teachings after his death, desperately grasping onto every last shred of him that I could. I continued martial arts and fight training. I continued learning about sailing and boating and GPS and every last thing I could. I knew I didn’t want to be a police officer, but I just wanted that connection so badly I couldn’t stop myself.

  The education on GPS led to my interest in computers and then a course in high school and a specific teacher led me to want to study it in college. Computers were more basic back then and the internet, well, that was in its infancy. And then in college I met Walsh and his enthusiasm for all things computer was infectious. I loved it, but Walsh was born into computers. His dad worked for a big computer company back in the 1980s and Walsh grew up with that shit. He was programming while the rest of us were still snorting milk on the playground. I know he’ll figure out what’s going on because he’s probably one of the most brilliant programmers and hackers on the planet. He was even recruited by the CIA and FBI, but he turned them down to go to the private sector as a consultant. He makes bank now. I often wonder if either of my friends will ever settle down. Well, Brian almost did, but he found his girlfriend of six years cheating on him in their bed and since then he’s been, well, swearing off women for a while in any case.

  I pull my attention back to my task at hand. I usually don’t have so much trouble focusing, but I’m all over the place today. I just want to know what’s going on and to move on with Vanessa. I want to tell her how serious I feel about her. I want to tell her I love her. Shit, I love her so much! My hand hesitates over the burner phone for a brief second. I pull it away like I touched something hot. No, I want to look into her eyes when I tell her. I want to bare my fucking soul to this woman.

  The day seems to go by very slowly and I wonder if I should call her. Every few minutes my mind drifts from my present task to Vanessa. I have to use all my willpower to focus. Eventually, a potential disaster with a contract for a subsidiary company catches my attention and I spend the entire afternoon trying to sort it out before Rick walks in and drags my attention away from the task at hand.

  “So, you’re all set for tomorrow night,” he says, shutting my door. He looks around nervously and crooks a finger at me. I cock my head to one side and frown.

  He continues but waves me toward the door. “You should pop in the conference room to look at some schematics for the new offices in California. I’ll go over your D.C. schedule while we walk,” he says.

  I give him a curious glance and then realize what he’s doing. He thinks my office is bugged. I don’t see how it would be, but perhaps he knows something I don’t, so I follow his lead and nod.

  I walk out of my office and follow him down the hallway to a programmer’s office that is currently empty because we are hiring a new person. He shuts the door and lets out a deep breath.

  “Shit, I am not cut out for espionage,” he says as he sinks into the chair at the desk.

  “You think my office is bugged?” I ask him with raised eyes.

  He nods and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Bryce and I spoke a few days ago and he brought in two guys who swept your office, and I don’t mean housecleaning if you know what I mean.” I roll my eyes. “Anyhow, they found some bugs in there and also around my desk. Bryce decided to keep them there. He wants to throw them off their trail a bit, so to speak. Anyways…I have the details on your flight. I’m not to put anything in writing. Bryce arranged all of it. There’s been a bit of a change of plans. So, listen up. You’ll go to the airport as planned after work tomorrow and then when we get to the hangar where your plane is housed, you’ll get on the plane next to it. It’s very similar, you’ll be very comfortable. Your plane will take off to D.C. with me on board and I will record your voice to answer to basic questions. Bryce has a security guy that will act as your body double. I have a specific outfit laid out for you in your office closet. That’s what you need to wear when
you leave here tomorrow. Your doppelgänger and I will head to the hotel in D.C. and then pretend to go to a few meetings for the next few days. We want to throw these guys way off and then we’ll come back to the city and this guy will go to your apartment and pretend to be sick for a few days.” He takes a breath before continuing.

  “Meanwhile, you will be proceeding to Moorea. Since you were off the grid before, you will stay at Vanessa’s bungalow. That way you aren’t even on the books there. I assume that’s alright,” he says giving a knowing look and a stealthy smirk. I shake my head and laugh.

  “Uh, yeah, Rick, that’s acceptable,” I answer with a smirk of my own.

  “Great, well, Bryce will be in touch with you on that burner phone, you know, once everything is cleared for you to return,” he says. “In the meantime, I’m on everything here and Cain and Lance have agreed to step in and help out in your absence, I mean if that’s alright with you.”

  I smile at Rick. “Yeah, Rick, Cain is my right- and left-hand man. And Lance is family. I know they’ll be on it.”

  Rick smiles and I can see a brief look of relief and a hint of proudness for his lover. I’m like the most heterosexual man I know, but shit, if Cain and Rick aren’t kind of cute together. They really do love one another and love like that is just nice to see in this fucked-up world.

  “Anything else?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I have a burner phone too, as you know. So, I can contact you if all hell breaks loose. Otherwise, enjoy the first actual properly planned vacation you’ve ever had.”

  I laugh. “What have you arranged?”

  He shrugs and smirks. “Vanessa arranged it. I just approved her ideas.”

  I smile. “I see.”

  He laughs. “Keep that one, Jesse. She’s a wildcat and I have to say, I really like her.” He winks at me.

  I give him a bro hug with a big pat on his back. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. And yes, I’m thinking I want to keep that one, too.” I return his wink and he nods and smiles at me. I want to roll my eyes because I know deep down Rick has a huge fan-boner for Vanessa since he loves, and I mean loves, her music. But he’s trying desperately to play it cool, so I guess I’ll just let him pretend that I don’t see right through his little act.

  “Hey, how was the party, by the way?” he asks me as we pull apart. “How’s the fam?”

  “Oh, great. I mean, a little shaken with the shit that went down, but otherwise, they are great. I do really need to schedule a weekend to visit my mom after all this shit dies down.”

  “I’ll make sure to find some time,” Rick says as we walk back down the hall.

  I briefly pop my head into the conference room and see the renderings on the table. I walk in and take a quick gander at them.

  “Looks good, proceed with what we spoke about,” I say and Rick nods and follows me back to my office.

  I turn to him. “Everything sounds good. I have meetings tomorrow morning, yes?” I ask him.

  “Yes, sir,” he answers with a grin. I smirk. He’s clearly hamming it up for those that are listening to us.

  “Great, thanks, Rick,” I say and give him a smirk as he exits my office.

  I dive back into resolving contract issues and the next time I glance at the time on my computer it’s nearly 8:30 p.m.

  “Rick?” I call from my office.

  Rick pops his head around the corner. “Yes?”

  “Why the fuck are you still here? It’s after eight,” I scold him. He knows how much I hate it when he stays so late, especially when I haven’t asked him to stay.

  “Well, Cain had a dinner meeting and I had nothing to do…I mean other than binge watch on Netflix,” he laughs.

  I roll my eyes. “Well, feel free to go binge watch. I have it covered here.” Rick glances across the hall to where Pierce sits. I had a small desk and chair brought in and a laptop, so the guy isn’t completely bored out of his mind, but he just sits and watches the office all day.

  “Uh, alright. You two are the last ones here,” he says as he leaves and shuts my door. That’s Rick speak for “hey, asshole, don’t forget to lock up.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know,” I mutter to him as I wave a hand at him and proceed to finish my work.

  At nine thirty, I hit send on the contract and close up my laptop. I pack it in a bag, turn off the lights, and open my door. I look over to Pierce, but he isn’t there. I sigh. He must have gone to the bathroom. I swear that guy only goes to the bathroom like twice a day. He is either completely dehydrated or his bladder is the size of a basketball.

  “Pierce?” I call out as I begin to walk toward the men’s room. The hallway is dark and something about it freaks me out. Normally the motion-sensor lights turn on, but I assume Rick has turned all the lights off prior to leaving. I pull my phone out of my pocket and press a button on the app I created. The button will send Bryce an alert. I have levels of alerts built in to the app. This one is just a “hey, if you don’t hear from me soon, call the cops” alert.

  I put my bag down and then open it and pop out the hard drive on my laptop and shove it in Rick’s candy drawer. No one will look in that shithole.

  I silently walk down the dark hallway. I hear no sound of Pierce in the men’s room, not a flushing toilet, not a sink faucet, just dead silence. I know my offices like the back of my hand, so I don’t bother with the lights. I walk toward the back room which is a kitchen and staff breakroom. There’s a window in there and the room is illuminated by the moonlight that pours through it. I am about to turn to leave when something catches my attention.

  I look closer in the darkness and see a foot sticking out from behind the table and chairs. I slowly lean forward until I see Pierce lying on the ground.

  Oh shit! I run forward and feel for a pulse. He has one, but he also has a nasty cut on his forehead and a giant bump, like someone hit him with something.

  “Pierce?” I whisper, shaking him slightly. He doesn’t budge. He’s out cold. Super shit! This is so not good.

  I stand and start to press my app button for “major emergency” when out of nowhere I feel a presence behind me. I spin around, and I see a figure lunge at me. I break into my martial arts combat mode, and I’m pretty sure this individual has no idea that I’m a double black belt. I use every maneuver from Krav Maga class.

  Whoever this is, is well fucking trained. They meet me blow for blow and then the unexpected happens. As I turn to deliver a kick, I feel another presence and everything goes black.

  Chapter 21

  Jesse’s Playlist: “Unstoppable” by Santogold

  “He’s coming around,” I hear someone say. I start to open my eyes, but the light is blindingly bright and I abruptly close them again.

  “Jesse? Can you hear me?”

  Wait, is that Bryce? What the fuck?

  I open my eyes again, this time forcing my lids to remain open. It takes a moment to focus and when I do I see Bryce’s face. He looks pissed as hell.

  “Bryce?”

  “Yeah, man, welcome back.”

  I look around. I’m lying on a stretcher and there are two EMTs next to me. I start to sit up and realize I’m strapped into the damn thing. The one EMT puts out his hand.

  “Please lie still, Mr. Ryder,” he says as he takes my vitals.

  “Where’s Pierce?” I ask Bryce.

  “He’s down in the ambulance. They are going to take him to get stitched up and scanned. He got hit pretty fucking hard.”

  “No shit,” I mutter.

  “You got hit too, but you seem to have fared better.”

  “Wait, how…I mean why are you here?”

  “When you sent that alert, I decided to check in with Pierce and when he didn’t answer I called the police and got in my car. The police had just gotten here and sent an ambulance for you two. What happened?”

  “I was finishing work. Rick left. My door was shut. When I came out, Pierce was not sitting in his chair. I figured he�
�d gone to the bathroom. Anyhow, I walked down here, and something just felt off, I can’t explain it. I sent that alert and proceeded in here and found Pierce. Just as I was about to send you a message, a figure lunged at me from the doorway and we fought. There must have been a second person, because someone came at me from behind and then…they must have hit my head. What time is it?”

  “It’s nine forty,” Bryce says. “Do you remember the time?”

  “I left my office at nine, so I’ve been out for maybe twenty minutes. I don’t know how long I was fighting that guy. Maybe it was for longer than that.”

  “A guy?” Bryce asks.

  “Yes, had to be a guy.”

  “How could you tell?” he inquires further.

  “Tall, too built for a woman,” I answer.

  He nods. “And you say there were two?”

  I nod.

  “Did you get a visual on the second one?”

  I shake my head.

  “Alright, I’ll let these guys take a look at you. I’ll be right back.” He walks out of the room and the EMTs ask me some questions and take more vitals. I, eventually, convince them that I’m alright and they unhook me from the stretcher. I’m a little lightheaded from the knock on my head, but otherwise I just am bruised a bit from fighting. I haven’t actually sparred with someone in a while and my body feels it now.

  A few minutes later, Bryce walks back in and sits across the table from me. “Your laptop, where is it?” he asks.

  I stand and walk back to Rick’s desk. The bag with my laptop is gone. I smirk.

  “It’s gone,” I say with a shoulder shrug.

  “Shit,” Bryce says and sinks into a chair. He runs his hand through his short-cropped hair.

  I open Rick’s desk drawer and retrieve my hard drive and hold it up for Bryce to see. He laughs and shakes his head. “Hot damn, boy! I underestimated you, big-time,” he says as he stands up and slaps me on the back. I’m not going to lie, I nearly fall over from the force of it and I can’t tell if it’s my concussion or the fact that Bryce is a giant.

  “You sure you don’t want to change careers?” he asks.

  “Hell to the no,” I answer. He laughs again and holds the hard drive. “Did the computer have another drive?”