by Matt Lincoln
I groaned, slamming the back of my head against the headrest. “If he has it on him, they will find it. We all know that, right?”
“Yeah, you don’t have to remind me,” Header replied sullenly. He shook his head in frustration. “We can’t do anything here. This is a large industrial building. No one can go in alone without backup. We can’t go in together, because that leaves Bonnie out here, exposed and alone. We need help.”
“We need to call Farr,” I amended.
Header punched the steering wheel hard. “Okay,” he admitted, “but you should call.”
“Why me?” I asked as I pulled out my phone.
“We’re here for you,” Header replied matter-of-factly. “You pushed this through, your best friend’s family is in danger, you’re trying to protect MBLIS… You’re the driving force here. If Farr is going to listen to anyone, of course, it would be you.”
“Alright, fine,” I mumbled, not quite liking the amount of responsibility that Header’s statement had added on to my role in this mission. “I’ll call the man.”
As I listened to the phone ring against my ear, I stared up at the blue building and wondered where Warner was being held. As long as we moved quickly, we stood a very good chance at saving him, but it was a plan that relied heavily on the kindness of strangers.
I wondered how many favors Farr had left in the bank, and how many we would need to cash in on before this mission was over.
Chapter 22: Tessa
With Ethan gone for a nice portion of the day, Tessa wanted to find a way to keep her mind busy. Watching the team load the firearms and computers into the SUV had set her nerves on edge, and since she knew she wouldn’t hear from them until after they returned, she had no way of knowing how it was going.
The one thing she did have control over, however, was this research for Ethan’s missing ship. Tessa took the small stack of note papers and a roll of Scotch tape, then arranged the map out on the bare living room wall. She stood back and took another look at it, still just as stuck as she’d been when it had been sprawled out on the coffee table.
Ethan had given her the login information for the digital files from Marcus’s log, and she pulled the pages up on his tablet before sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her notepaper collage. She flipped slowly through the pages, searching once again for a detail that they had somehow missed before. She paused about halfway through the log when an idea occurred to her.
Scrambling for the new phone they had given her after her big date with Ethan, she dialed the main number for the National EcoStar. She couldn’t remember Noah’s direct extension, but she knew the front desk would be able to transfer her. She rushed through the automated prompts until she finally got through.
“Good morning, thank you for calling the National EcoStar. How may I help you today?” Sarah’s chipper voice on the other end eased Tessa’s tensions for the moment.
“Hey, Sarah, it’s Tessa,” she replied, trying to sound more upbeat than she felt.
“Tessa!” Sarah squealed. “How are you? Where are you? I haven’t seen you in a bit!”
“I’m, uhh, on an assignment,” Tessa replied vaguely. “Hey, is Noah Murphy around? I need to ask him something.”
“Sure thing,” Sarah assured her. “Hold on.”
The line clicked, and Tessa sat there on the thin industrial carpet as she listened to the soothing sounds of nature that one of the higher-ups decided would be nicer than the traditional hold music. It was nice, if not a little weird.
“Murphy.” Despite his sharp tone, Tessa heard the kindness in Noah’s voice immediately. He hadn’t been working at the EcoStar for very long, but he fit in almost immediately, and it didn’t hurt that he had a lot of museum and university contacts.
“Hey, Noah!” Tessa announced cheerfully. “It’s Tessa.”
“Tessa!” Noah’s voice changed tone instantaneously. “We miss you around here.”
“I haven’t been gone that long, have I?” she teased, although if she was honest with herself, she had lost track of the days.
“Probably not,” he admitted, “but you usually make a big announcement when you leave. It threw us all off to find out from Mr. Farr that you’d be gone for a bit.”
“Oh,” she muttered, realizing how that must have looked. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, it was… unexpected.”
“It’s all good!” he assured her. “When are you coming back?”
“I’m not sure,” she confessed. “We are taking it day-by-day.”
“Well, we can’t wait to have you back,” he replied, not bothering to press her for further information. Tessa was grateful for that and happy to move the conversation along.
“So, the reason I’m calling,” she continued, “is unrelated to what I’m involved in. It’s kind of a side project if you will.”
“Ooh, I love those!” he gushed. “I’d love to help. What is it about?”
Tessa shifted her position on the uncomfortable floor. “Pirate ships.”
“Seriously?” Noah’s voice jumped up an octave in excitement. Tessa giggled at his enthusiasm.
“One pirate ship in particular,” she clarified. “The Dragon’s Rogue. It was hunted down toward the end by a guy named Marcus on a ship called the Searcher’s Chance.”
“Dragon’s… Rogue… Searcher’s… Chance… and you said the guy’s name was Marcus?” Tessa could tell that Noah was jotting down some notes as he spoke, so she waited until he finished.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Winston Marcus.”
“Winston… Marcus.” She heard what sounded like the tip of a pen tapping loudly against a piece of paper. “Done. I assume you want me to connect you with a pirate ship expert?”
“If there is such a thing, they would probably be in New York, right?” she half-joked.
“Isn’t everything in New York?” he laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll call you back in a bit. Should I call you back at this number?”
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “My regular line is out of commission for the moment.”
“You got it,” he assured her. The line disconnected, and she dropped her phone into her lap as she looked up at the crudely drawn map. The answers were out there, and she hoped to be able to find some before Ethan returned from his mission.
Unable to sit still for much longer, Tessa got up and put some shoes on and headed out the door, grabbing her favorite light blue cardigan on the way out. She slipped the phone into the pocket of her jeans and began to walk around the neighborhood, trying to keep track of where she’d been in case she needed to rush back to the house. She had been walking for about fifteen to twenty minutes when her phone rang in her pocket. She fumbled with it as she scrambled to pull it out, nervous that it would be Ethan. Her heart rate slowed when she recognized the number as the EcoStar, and she answered it calmly.
“Tessa,” she answered, knowing full well that it could only be one person.
“Tessa,” Noah cheered. “I have great news! My uncle works for this historical society in Jersey. His coworker is a huge nerd when it comes to pirate ships. He spoke to him, and the guy is itching to talk to you. He says he’s actually been working on the same thing for someone in Florida, but he hasn’t been able to get in touch with the person who requested the information. Weird, right? You’d think if you need this information, you’d make yourself available. Anyway, I’m rambling. I’m texting you his phone number now. He said to call him as soon as you have a chance. It sounds like he is very excited to talk to you!”
“That is excellent news!” Tessa couldn’t believe her ears. She remembered Ethan mentioning New Jersey, and this was too much of a coincidence to not be the same man. “Thank you so, so much!”
“My pleasure,” Noah crooned. “I hope to see you back in the office soon!”
“You will,” she assured him, although she wasn’t sure how true that really was. “Thanks, Noah.”
“Bye, Tessa! Good luck!”
> She hung up the phone and returned it to her pocket. The text alert came through a moment later, but she was already on the way back to the house. Before she called this contact of Noah’s, she needed to be near Marcus’s log, the map, and a pen and paper.
When she got back to the house, she immediately pulled out her phone and dialed the number that Noah had texted her. The phone rang a few times before a gravelly yet kind voice answered the phone.
“Hello?” Tessa had expected a more formal introduction, but she must have called his personal number.
“Hey, umm, this is Tessa Bleu. I work with Noah Murphy. He--”
“Ms. Bleu!” he interjected. “I’m so glad you called! Yes. We all know Noah well here. His uncle often sends him down when he visits. I remember as a kid, Noah would be fascinated with our nautical department. As an adult, he’s more business-oriented, but I did love sharing my findings with him back in the day.”
Tessa giggled at the memory. Noah was a great person to work with, but like most of her coworkers, their personal lives never really came into focus at work. It was refreshing to hear about him from a different perspective.
“I never knew that!” she admitted. “That does make sense as to why he sent me your way.”
“Yes,” the man replied cheerfully, “and I’m so glad he did. My name is George Harris. I have actually been focused on the Searcher’s Chance for quite some time, and then I received a phone call from my good friend Dr. Silver down south very recently. There was a new discovery, actually, several new discoveries, that has me revisiting all of my old research. It is quite coincidental that you are calling me so soon afterward.”
“Actually,” Tessa replied, “I don’t think it is a coincidence. Noah tells me that you have been trying to reach someone?”
“Yes,” George replied. “The man who found the sunken remains of the Searcher’s Chance herself! He found some amazing items under there, and while for him, it is a means to an end, to me, it is my end. This, all of this, is amazing.”
Tessa smiled to herself. That confirmed it. This was the same man that Ethan had been hoping to hear from. “Well, sir--”
“George, please,” he insisted. “We don’t have to be so formal.”
“George,” she corrected. “I have great news. I am actually calling on Ethan’s behalf.”
She heard silence on the other end of the line. “Hello?”
“You’re calling for Ethan Marston?” He did sound surprised to hear it.
“Yes,” she admitted. “He’s been upset because he had some phone issues, and if you’d been trying to reach him, he’d have no way of knowing. I had no idea that I would stumble upon you while doing my own research, but I think it’s a sign we are definitely headed in the right direction.”
George snorted. “I have been so mad at Ethan for dangling such a carrot and then falling off the face of the earth. I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am.”
“Oh, please don’t be mad at him,” she giggled. “He’s been so frustrated. I was hoping to help a bit to keep him on track while we waited for the, uhh, phone situation to be resolved, but finding you, the exact person Ethan was hoping to hear from? I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried!”
George laughed heartily on the other end of the line. “Well, now you have my phone number, so despite any phone issues, we can keep in touch.”
“Exactly!” Tessa couldn’t exactly explain the nature of these so-called phone issues, but she hardly thought it mattered. She was just relieved that she was able to connect at least one dot for him. “Has Dr. Silver mentioned anything to you about a map? I know Ethan was going to call and let him know about it, but I never found out if he did.”
“Yes,” George replied hesitantly. “So, from what I gathered, Ethan left Dr. Silver a message regarding a crudely drawn map in the margins of Winston Marcus’s official log. I have a copy of the digital files here, and I have spent some time piecing the parts of this so-called map together, but without a destination, I’m not sure how helpful it is.”
Tessa stared at her notepaper collage on the otherwise bare living room wall.
“Yeah, we’ve been having that same issue,” she admitted. “To be honest, we are stuck, and that led me to search you out.”
A rapid panicked knock at the door stole Tessa’s focus, and she rushed to the front door as she listened for George’s response.
“Well, I’m glad you did!” he assured her. “I do have a ton of information here that may help, although I haven’t been focusing on the map for too long. I just recently--”
“Uncle Donald?”
Tessa’s uncle took up most of the doorway, and although she was accustomed to his overbearing presence, the wild alarm in his eyes concerned her.
“Please tell me that Marston and Header are here,” he said quickly and sharply. “Or anyone beside you.”
“Hello?” George’s voice reminded her that she had been in the middle of a phone call.
“George, I’ll have to call you back.” She didn’t wait for him to agree before she hung up the phone. She’d apologize later for being so rude. Hearing Ethan’s name on her uncle’s obviously concerned lips alarmed her too much to worry about politeness.
“I’m alone,” she admitted worriedly. “What is going on?”
He pushed through the doorway anyway, scanning the space as if he didn’t believe her.
“They were supposed to be at the bakery,” he informed her as he moved about the house. “I was going to stop by to see if they needed any assistance, but they weren’t there.”
“Maybe you just missed them?” she asked, trying not to be overly concerned.
“No.” He shook his head. “I know when they left here, and I was planning on showing up a few minutes after they arrived. If the mission went exceptionally well and very quickly, and I was too late to get to the bakery, I should have found them here when I arrived.” He looked over at Tessa. “They’re not at the bakery, and they’re not here, Tessa. So, where are they?”
Tessa felt a lump grow in her throat as she began to realize what was going on.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. The phone hung limp in her hand, the interrupted phone call long forgotten.
A sharp ringing echoed through the room, and her uncle pulled his own phone out of his pocket.
“Farr,” he snapped. Tessa waited as patiently as she could as he listened.
“Marston!” he snapped, and she let out a long breath that she’d apparently been holding out of fear. “Where are you now?”
Tessa searched her uncle’s face for a hint as to what was going on, but his icy demeanor and lack of eye contact made gleaning anything damn near impossible.
“Yeah, I know the area.” He nodded briefly after a long pause. “Yeah, a lot of shady dealings go on in that neck of the woods. What’s the cross street? Yeah, I know it. Any other information? Okay, I’ll make a few calls.” He hung up the phone and looked at Tessa.
“They took TJ,” he informed her matter-of-factly. “They’re in Queens. I need to go tend to this. Sorry to barge in on you. See you later.”
Before Tessa could fully compose herself to even try to respond, her uncle had walked out of the house and closed the door behind him. She looked over at the map on the wall, feeling suddenly foolish that she’d spent all of this time researching some squiggly lines in a journal while Ethan and his friends were in trouble. She sank down onto the nearby couch and absentmindedly flipped the phone around in her hands as she contemplated this current situation.
Obviously, there was nothing she could do to help from here, but despite how useless she was to the mission at hand, she couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone and call George back. Her mind was racing nonstop, and she knew that any further Dragon’s Rogue research would simply have to wait until Ethan was back at the house.
She just hoped that this time he came back unscathed.
Chapter 23: Ethan
When Far
r finally arrived, he drove up in a beat-up old sedan and appeared to be alone. He pulled over across the street and got out of the car before casually making his way toward us. He was dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I’d never seen Farr dress so simply before, although it did help to keep him under the radar.
Before he’d arrived, I had glanced up at the dusty blue building and took note of the rows and rows of oversized windows that faced the street. A Mezzanotte member could have been peering out of any one of those windows, watching us as we idled outside by the curb. It was obviously an unsafe rendezvous point, so Header had driven around the block to wait for Farr. Of course, there was still no way of knowing how far their hold on the area had spread. Any one of the surrounding buildings could house mafia members. I felt incredibly exposed sitting out in the open, but we didn’t have too much of a choice in the matter.
The back door of the SUV opened, and Bonnie swept a few items off the empty seat so that Farr could join us. As soon as the door clicked shut, Header and I both whipped around to face him, nearly knocking our heads together in the process.
“Do we have backup?” I asked impatiently. “Time is of the essence, here.”
Farr fixed me with an exasperated look. “Do you really think I would go out of my way to secure that hunk of crap over there, not to mention go home and change into this outfit, then drive through heavy traffic into Queens, just to tell you that you’re out of luck? I swear, Marston…”
Header snorted beside me, and I shot him a sharp look. We both knew damn well that if I hadn’t spoken up so quickly, he would have been asking the same damn question. Header merely smirked at me before turning back to Farr.
“So, what’s the game plan?” he asked sharply.
Farr sighed. “We’re going blind into a warehouse. This is possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever signed up for.”
