The Fog of Dreams

by Justin Bell

  ********

  Grace was already sitting in his normal place, that small table near the rear of the coffee shop, and a tall cardboard cup was clutched neatly in both hands, as if it were a cold winter day and he needed the warmth.

  Nate Burndock led Irizarry through the crowd of college students, navigating their huddled bodies as skillfully as possible when you're a 300 plus pound, nearly seven foot tall security specialist. Any time one of the Ivy League students spotted the flame tattoos across the side of his head, however, they had a tendency to make him some room. Just how he liked it.

  "Go ahead and sit down. What can I get you?" Burndock asked, turning to Irizarry as he slowed at the front counter.

  "Hot and black. Just like me."

  Burndock shook his head as Irizarry continued walking, not missing a beat, approaching the small table where Grace sat.

  "Thanks for coming so quickly," Grace said as the large man carefully arranged himself in the small metal chair at the table. "How have things been so far?"

  "We've got a few days in, so far, so good. Quiet as a church mouse, actually."

  "Well, that's how we like it. At least for now."

  Irizarry looked up at Grace as he took a long sip of the coffee he held in front of him. "Why do I feel like there's something here I'm not understanding?"

  Grace smirked as he lowered his cup. "You're working for the United States Government, Mr. Irizarry, I'd say that's par for the course."

  "Fair enough." As a member of law enforcement, Irizarry had his own life experiences with working alongside state and federal government entities. Being kept in the dark was just something you accepted. As long as the checks cleared.

  Burndock came up on Irizarry's left, lowering his large cup of hot coffee onto the granite table in front of him. He slid into his own chair, balancing his cup in his left hand, then set it down as he rested in the chair kitty corner to Grace.

  "So?you pulled me off of day surveillance. What's up?" Burndock didn't believe in beating around the bush. He could see the dollar signs blinking away above Irizarry's head, thinking of the hourly rate they were paying him to have him sit here and sip his coffee.

  "I've been called back to Washington," Grace replied, not mincing any words. "I pushed them off for a few days, but they need a debrief on what happened on the Strickland property." His narrow eyes shifted around the tables scattered around them in the small dining room. Part of the reason he preferred to meet in a place like this was the ambient chatter made it almost impossible for a nosy neighbor to listen in. As it was, they were surrounded by innocuous looking college students, a mixture of awake and alert as well as sluggish and hungover.

  "What does that mean for us?" asked Burndock, drawing a long sip from the narrow drink hole in the lid of his coffee cup.

  "We're not changing the timetable," Grace replied immediately. "We are proceeding completely as planned."

  Irizarry sat in silence while Burndock nodded in approval.

  "Burndock, you will be onsite team lead while I'm gone, but we can't afford to leave day surveillance lean. You'll continue acting as day watch while also managing the contractors and maintaining the timetable."

  Burndock nodded. Doing more with less. Nothing new.

  "I believe you're familiar with Dr. Worthy?" Grace asked, leaning down and sliding a tan folder from the briefcase at his feet.

  "Of course," Burndock replied, "I'm well versed with our operation here."

  Grace returned to his upright position, two folders clutched in his hands. He slid one to each other man seated at the table. "Anything you need to know about Dr. Worthy and the basic parameters of Operation: Harvest are in here. Trust these documents with your lives."

  Burndock shot a glare towards Irizarry from the side of his eyes. Grace saw it, a narrow, mistrustful stare.

  "Mr. Irizarry has been provided Level Two clearance, Agent Burndock. The orders came down this morning."

  "That's unusual for a contractor, isn't it?" Burndock replied, as if the subject of his distrust wasn't sitting there right next to him.

  "Indeed. His past experience serves him well."

  Irizarry ignored the derisive comments from the other person at the table and rested his large hands on the folders in front of him.

  "Thankfully, at this juncture, we are in management and maintenance mode with Strickland. Status quo and monitoring is the name of the game for the next week," Grace said. "If all goes according to plan, I'll be back from Washington soon and we can pick up where we left off. I'll also be available on my cell phone any time of day or night."

  Both other men nodded.

  Grace looked at the man sitting across from him. "Mr. Irizarry, could you give us a few moments, please?"

  The large man nodded, and stood, silently moving away from the table, the coffee cup looking like a child's sip cup in his thick, clenched fingers.

  "Mr. Burndock, I'm trusting you to work well alongside Mr. Irizarry. I need the next week to go smoothly." Grace's affable demeanor slid slowly away, revealing the serious stone face underneath.

  "Understood."

  Grace patted the folder in front of Burndock. "These documents are the barest bones of what Operation: Harvest means. You remain the holder of the utmost confidentiality in this particular operation. Keep it that way."

  "I will continue to keep things compartmentalized, Sir."

  "Good."

  They sat in silence for a moment, each man taking careful drinks of their hot liquid.

  "Mr. Grace, should we be concerned about this meeting in Washington?"

  Grace continued staring straight ahead, his brow furrowing. His fingers twitched around the cup. "Any unexpected meeting should be considered a concern. But I don't envision any major changes to what we're doing here. I expect all things should proceed according to plan."

  "Understood."

  "The tech team has done a great job compiling the video surveillance on short notice. I plan on giving Washington a clear demonstration of the work we're doing here. Things remain on target."

  Burndock nodded, apparently happy with the response.

  "Back to work," Grace said, and he pushed himself up from the table. Burndock followed, and they once again mixed with the shuffling college students and became just two more faces in the crowd.