by Justin Bell
********
The Matrix climbed the steep hill going up into town; white frat houses scattered the side streets, and Strickland found himself driving somewhat frenetically to avoid random street crossing students. Up at the crest of the hill, the light turned green, so he sped up a little, hoping to catch the light before it flashed back to red and left him stuck at the intersection.
"Shit, shit, shit," mumbled Grace as he broke out into a run, looking at the traffic light ahead. There was a small gray car coming up the hill, and he thought it had accelerated slightly, but he was committed to beating the light now. The light hit green facing the hill, and the familiar blue 'Don't Walk' symbol glared at him with menacing eyes even as his feet hit the smooth pavement of the road and defied the clear traffic signal. Grace glanced right, immediately cursing himself for not realizing how fast the small car? was it a Toyota... had been going. And then his eyes went wide.
"Dammit!" cursed Strickland as the well-dressed guy ahead of him suddenly ran into the road. As annoying as it was, he gave college kids a pass for their obnoxious traffic behavior. They were just kids. But this was a grown man, looked to be in his thirties. He was a businessman based on his look and dress, and he had no excuse for running out in front of traffic. Strickland pounded deep and hard on the brake pedal, to the point where the tires grabbed pavement and let out a loud shriek, leaving layers of rubber embedded in the road. Agent Grace jumped back a little and held out his hand, slapping the hood of the gray car as it screeched to a halt closer to him than he anticipated. He knew it was his fault, but instinctively his head turned and glared at the driver, and his mouth fell open in stunned silence.
Strickland's face was screwed up, preparing to yell an obscenity at this dumbass who had just run out in front of him and nearly gotten himself picked off in the process. Luckily, both the driver and the walker seemed to have quick reflexes, and the result was nobody got hurt, but Bill had every indication to tell this dude what he thought of him.
Then the guy behind the sunglasses looked and stared him directly in the eyes. There was a flicker between them. It wasn't a one-way flicker, it was exchanged, like two gifts. Two very well considered and intimate gifts. The flicker wasn't just anger it was something more emotional?it was recognition. Strickland knew this man. This man had been outside his house at the crime scene. He'd been several hundred yards away, but suddenly Strickland was sure of this fact. Absolutely, 100% certain.
His face betrayed his thoughts, as his mid-scream rage evaporated into a questioning grimace. The guy looking back at him sure seemed to think they knew each other too. Almost too quickly, the well-dressed man nodded an apology and continued crossing the street, quickly hopping onto the sidewalk and moving away, almost at a jog. Strickland swung the car to the right and drove down Main Street, glancing out of his passenger window, trying to keep an eye on this mysterious new man. Certainly, he knew something.
Grace wove deftly between walkers on the sidewalk. He recognized me. I know he recognized me. Of all the stupid dumb luck! Of all the people to run out in front of, it had to be fucking Bill Strickland. The importance of this mission all revolved around control and containment. Now Strickland was out of control, and Grace could not contain him. The NSA agent skillfully looked to his left and noted that the gray Matrix was driving slowly down Main Street keeping up pace with him.
Up ahead, a small side road broke out from Main Street, just after the college bookstore, and Grace picked up the pace, turning a quick right to walk down the alley that had been widened to allow vehicular travel. The Toyota took advantage of this fact and turned onto the road as well, and this time Grace couldn't help but glance backwards to make sure the car wasn't following. He turned and went into a small shop, glancing out the front glass window to see what the Matrix did. Grace had been in this part of town at this time of day many times before, and he knew parking back here would be impossible, so he had at least made it difficult for Strickland to pursue on foot. He saw the small gray car take a right into another parking lot just after the store, so he quickly vacated, turned left and walked back out into the wide alleyway, hoping to put some quick distance between himself and his apparent pursuer.
He was halfway down the alley and approaching Main Street when he heard the voice.
"Hey!"
Grace stopped.
"Hey, man!"
There was no malice in the voice, nothing accusatory and no real anger. Grace knew if he made a run for it, he would only look worse. Maybe he could talk his way out of this thing?
Strickland walked at a swift pace now. The mysterious guy in the suit and tie stood still, just before turning onto Main Street, but he wasn't turning around, and he wasn't talking. Bill had pulled his car up onto a grassy median and left it there, honestly not caring if it was towed away or not; he had to find this guy and he had to talk to him. This guy, however, acted as if he didn't feel like talking back. He had run at top speed after ditching his car and had almost lost him, but yelled out just in time to make him stop. So? now what?
"Excuse me? sorry to bother you."
Grace's heart slowed a little. Okay. It was definitely Strickland, but he wasn't looking for trouble. At least not yet. Grace drew in a breath and turned around.
"Look, man, I'm sorry, okay?"
"What?"
"Sorry. Sorry I jumped out in front of you. Didn't mean to cause any trouble."
"That's? that's not why I'm here."
"It's not?" Agent Grace thought quickly.
Strickland panted slightly from running. "No. Do I know you? I think I know you. You were at my house a few days ago. I saw you there."
"I don't think so," Grace replied, shaking his head softly. "Never seen you before. Just thought you were coming after me to kick my ass."
"I saw you look at me through the windshield. You looked like you saw a ghost."
"Look, bud. I don't know who you are. I don't want to know who you are. You almost hit me with your car, of course I'm going to get spooked. I said I'm sorry. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"
Strickland wasn't convinced and Grace was once again starting to feel uneasy. The bald man dropped his head and pressed his slick palm to the front of it. He had been feeling great all day; now suddenly the muddy red cloud of a headache had returned, and he could feel it pinching at the corners of his eyes.
Grace put his hands up in a defensive posture. "I don't want any trouble, buddy. Let's just move on, okay?"
"NO!" Strickland shouted suddenly. His hands clutched the collar of the well-dressed man and pushed him roughly against the building next to them. Grace's sunglasses cartwheeled from his face and slapped onto the sidewalk next to him as his breath exploded from pursed lips.
"You've seen me before and I've seen you." hissed Strickland in an almost growl. "Don't try and tell me we haven't." The wild ocean waves of emotion over the past two days had finally begun churning to the surface, and William Strickland was now on the verge of a sudden breaking point.
"L?look," Grace stammered as his mind raced to explain his way out of this. People walking down Main Street were starting to glance over at them. The NSA Agent's muscles tensed slightly as his weight shifted.
"Buddy," Grace choked again, trying to sound more physically threatened than he actually felt, "probably we've met, I don't know. I think I've seen you around town. Norwood, right? You live there?"
The bald man's grasp relaxed just a little. "Y-- yeah. I do. Norwood." His head bobbed up and down almost excitedly. "You've seen me? You know me?"
Grace smiled, just a little. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen you. I live out Church Street and come out here to work every day. I think I've seen you in town."
"With my girls? Did you see my girls?" excitement permeated the word girls, made it almost a shout of joy.
"Nah, man, sorry. Never saw you with any girls. Just you. Sometimes walking, I think I saw you jogging once." Grace coughed just a little bit, trying to a
ccentuate the fact that he was in a state of discomfort.
Strickland lowered his head again, then his eyes raised slightly, looking into Grace's, no longer protected by mirrored glass. Something in those eyes was not trustworthy.
Grace decided to jump in first. "Brother, I don't know what's going on here. Look, I said I'm sorry. It'll never happen again. I've seen you, but I haven't seen any girls with you, I don't know what the hell else you want with me."
Bill lowered his hands and clenched them into tight fists.
"I? I don't want to call the cops, man, but I will?"
"No. No cops," Strickland murmured. "I don't want trouble."
"Okay. Look, I'm sorry, man. I don't know what you're going through, but I hope you get through it."
Strickland remained speechless, and just turned around and walked back down the alley from where he had come. Grace stooped down and scooped up his sunglasses, which had miraculously survived the fall onto pavement. Someone emerged from the bustling crowd on Main Street.
"Everything okay, friend?" asked an older gentleman, extending his hand.
"It's all good," Grace replied, striding right past him, while glancing back at the retreating bald man in the t-shirt. His stomach rolled, his head screamed, and the rage gestated deep in his core. Strickland had thrown him to the wall and threatened him in public, in front of all of these people. Made him look like a total fool. As he rejoined the crowd walking down Main Street, his brain was already working, trying to isolate who would get the payback for this. Unfortunately, it couldn't be Strickland himself? they needed him. Grace needed him. Nevertheless, someone would have to bear the brunt of this disaster, and Grace wanted to do it personally.
