by Gray Gardner
Big Fish and Black Silk
George stopped on the way back to school and picked up another prepaid cell. She wasn’t about to lose an entire weekend, and she was terrified that the next time she spoke to Nelson she’d be informed of her reassignment to a computer terminal deep in the basement cubicles of the Hoover building. A long time ago she’d worked in a cage. There was no way she would go back to that.
“I’m making the call,” she said into her Bluetooth speaker in the Tahoe.
“I’ll triangulate with towers in the area and try to come up with his location as best I can,” Burton said on the other end of the line. “But it’s not going to be entirely accurate. Like it’ll range within hundreds of feet. That won’t work in a city.”
“I’m calling now.” George huffed, dialing the number from memory and praying that the guy would pick up.
“Yes?”
“You hung up on me yesterday,” she calmly said.
“And here I thought you’d just gotten bored with me.”
“We’re going to isolate your DNA we found on that coat and run it through our databases tomorrow. Is there anything you’d like to say now?”
“You’re a cop,” he said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“For all you know I represent the people who supply you,” she replied, speeding down the highway.
There was a short silence, then he sharply replied, “Don’t contact me anymore. I’ll call you tomorrow. Where can I reach you?”
“Use your call log,” George said, hanging up.
“Got him,” Burton said, clicking on a keyboard. “Interstate 66, mile marker—”
“Seventy-seven?” George asked, turning off at her school.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Because I’m there right now. Thanks,” George replied, hanging up, but the guard at the gate wouldn’t raise it. She pointed at her school sticker on the windshield and he walked over, so she rolled her window down.
“Sorry, miss. You left campus without permission, so I’m supposed to stop you.”
“Oh, come on!” She groaned, slapping her hand on the steering wheel and sighing heavily. If Dr. Thomas rounded the trees ahead of her she vowed to throw the car in reverse and abandon the operation altogether.
Dr. Davis appeared, walking casually and waving at the guard.
“Thanks, Paul,” he nodded, jumping into the passenger seat of her car as she quickly stuffed the cell phone into her pocket. “Let’s go, Ms. George.”
She rolled her eyes and put it into drive and pulled through the dense trees of the grounds, emerging at the student parking lot and finding a spot in the back.
“Two questions,” Dr. Davis said, as they got out of the car and he placed his hand on the back of her neck. “Where were you and why are you wearing your uniform?”
George shuffled though the black snow of the parking lot. “My grandma is sick, so I went to see her. She’s so proud of me and… I just didn’t have a change of clothes.”
“You’re a terrible liar,” Dr. Davis smiled as they walked along the shoveled sidewalk that led to the dorms. He’d gotten the partial run down from his friend Conrad, and had decided that while the story was pretty serious, it was actually kind of funny. And he was beginning to realize how peculiar she was. “But, don’t worry. I won’t turn you in to the dean.”
“Oh, thank you.” She sighed, trying to smile up at him.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, squeezing the back her neck, “I already have James Clancy doing work for me as his punishment until the end of the year, and since kitchen duty is out these days, what am I going to do with you?”
She held her breath as they paused outside of her dorm. For fuck’s sake, not another spanking from another teacher.
“We have a very special guest coming to visit the campus this Friday,” he began, grinning. “The Headmaster and both Deans have a seminar, so Dr. Thomas is hosting him at a dinner at his house. He could use a little help.”
“Please don’t make me do that,” she choked out the words almost in a whisper. She gave him a very desperate look. She had to stay away from Conrad Thomas.
“It’s done,” he nodded, slapping her on the back. “See you in class tomorrow.”
She winced as she walked into her dorm. How did Christian Whitman get off and back on campus so frequently without getting caught? Maybe he was getting caught. Maybe the person who caught him every time was the man she’d spoken with on the burner phone. Maybe…
“Jane!” Ashton cried, playing the Wii on one of the two plasma televisions in the social room. She swung a fake golf club and turned back around. “Kim just ran in and said that Dr. Davis was yelling at you outside!”
George looked down as everyone in the room turned their heads at her, then walked over to Ashton. “I just… I was caught off campus so now I have to do slave labor for Dr. Thomas on Friday night.”
“Really?” Robbie asked, sitting up on the couch behind her. “Do you think you could back out and let me take your place?”
“I’d love to,” she sarcastically replied.
“Don’t you know who’s the guest of honor?” Ashton asked, as the game on the screen indicated it was time for her to putt.
“I suppose—”
“The Ambassador to Great Britain,” Robbie said, sitting up. “Who also happens to be the most recent ex-president of Yale!”
“Oh,” George nodded, but not quite as impressed as her friends were. She had, after all, had dinner at the White House and had been in the presence of several heads of state. And she’d already been to college, so that didn’t amaze her either.
Kim ran back into the room and was quickly updated.
“Can I take your place?” she quickly asked, holding out her hands and looking like she would do anything for a gig like that.
“It’s supposed to be a punishment.”
“So what, if I do something bad then I get to serve a former president of the one and only college I’ve ever wanted to go to?” Robbie huffed, looking around the room. “What should I do?”
“I don’t think it works like that.” George sighed, holding up her hands to try and get them to calm down. “But, tomorrow I will suggest to Dr. Thomas that he needs more indentured servants and I will toss your names out there, okay?”
They all nodded frantically. She’d forgotten what it was like when college applications were the only thing on your mind. It was torturous for some people. She imagined these kids had a high degree of pressure weighing them down since they went to a prestigious prep school. It was only right to help them out.
“Jane,” Dr. Thomas said, shaking his head as she jogged alongside his quick strides after school the next day. “It’s supposed to be a punishment.”
“I know but they really really seem to want to meet this dude.”
“And that’s why I wanted you to come and help out. You won’t pester that dude all evening,” he mocked, heading for the gym. He found it very endearing that she wanted to help those other girls.
George paused and suddenly felt a little insulted. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Dr. Thomas stopped and grinned. He loved teasing her. “It means that Robbie, Ashton, and Kim will be shoving their résumés down his throat all night in hopes of getting a good reference letter.”
“And me?”
“Like you said, I’ll just keep you below the deck to row with the other slaves.”
“I,” she began, stepping around him and pointing, “could get into Yale if I wanted.”
“Do you want to?”
She nodded and put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, maybe.”
“That’s a no,” he replied, raising his brow and walking around her towards the coach’s locker room.
“Well, now I might just hump this guy’s leg all night and then I’ll definitely get to go to Yale,” she huffed, heading for the girls’ locker room. She didn’t know why she was arguing with him. It’s not l
ike she had anything to gain from it.
Dr. Thomas suddenly grabbed her jumper and turned her around. “Jane, first of all, your three friends aren’t even going to be in town Friday night. They’ll be at the UN in New York. Second, if you do anything to ruin my dinner, worse things will happen than being my help for one evening.”
She stared up at him and nodded slowly.
He turned and walked into the coach’s locker room, fighting a smile the whole way. She’d looked terrified, but there had been a little hint of excitement in her eyes, too. He wasn’t the only one having fun.
George’s contact never called her back. When she tried to call, the number had been disconnected. She kept the prepaid cell just in case he decided to come clean, but she didn’t have much hope for that scenario. He was somewhere on or near campus, though. The trace had told her that. She spent the week trying to devise a way to get Christian to tell her about this guy.
They smoked one night in his room, talked about asinine things, but he never really responded with any helpful information when she brought up the subject. Oh, he was good. Or scared.
She also spent the week with Bella and Cricket attached to her hip, so she didn’t have much success with investigating. They walked with her everywhere, ate with her, and talked about everything. George came close on several occasions to telling them that it wasn’t necessary to verbalize every thought that entered their minds. She decided not to be mean, though.
On top of everything else, Director Nelson said that their division status was now in a probationary period and not only could they not dedicate anymore resources to any ongoing operations, but if George failed to flush out the supplier, it would give the department heads reason to shut them down.
George just needed one thing to go right and maybe she’d have the energy to concoct a plan to get Christian to talk. There was someone on or near campus who was supplying him and directing him and maybe even manipulating him. She didn’t really know anything else yet, but she was more than ready to find out.
She also needed to hurry up and get out of there because for some reason fate kept throwing her and Dr. Thomas together. And he wasn’t an idiot. Sooner or later he’d figure it out. He’d figure her out.
To make matters worse, Dr. Thomas had an exam scheduled for Friday and everyone kept approaching George for tutoring help.
“Please!” Bella begged, grabbing George’s coat and pulling.
She looked around at all of the helpless faces standing around her table in the library. She was sweating a little bit because they’d snuck up on her and had almost caught her highlighting a phone transcript.
How did they even know she could help them?
“Sorry,” James Clancy shrugged, letting his backpack slam down on the table. “I told them about all of your hundreds, so they think you can help us.”
Well, if Clancy was there then it wouldn’t be a total waste. She sighed and stood, directing them into a study room in the new branch of the library. As she went over their past assignments and explained little tricks she used to remember the rules, she noticed Clancy handing out pills like they were candy. He was still stealing them from Dr. Whitman’s office. She’d flushed what she’d found in his room. She’d been certain that after he came home and discovered his stash was missing he’d at least take a hint. Apparently not.
They studied until about 10 pm, then everyone had to head back to their dorms. George took the opportunity to hang back with Clancy.
“Hey,” she nodded, putting her things into her bag. “Where, uh, where do you get all this stuff, anyway?”
“What stuff?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning.
“Come on. I just gave you all of my math secrets.” She smiled, waving her Texas Instruments graphing calculator at him.
He sighed and glanced around the small study room, then looked back at her. “Christian gets it all.”
“By Fed Ex or what?” George laughed, trying to sound as light as possible.
“Some he gets on his own, the rest… someone handles it all for him, then he buys it in bulk and sells it to suckers like you.” James smirked, walking out of the room.
That didn’t make any sense. She ran after him, but he was gone and out of sight before she could close the door behind her. She grabbed her phone out of her bag and leaned against a tree in the shadows as she dialed her director.
“Can we move on the Surgeon General yet?” she asked, keeping her voice down as a few people scampered to their dorms in the chilly night air.
“George, the judge doesn’t think we have enough for a warrant,” Nelson sighed.
“I sent you samples!” She huffed, leaning her head back. “We have two kids who are connected to his office. And by the way, they’re still stealing from his office! What more do we need?”
“Those pills could have come from anywhere,” Nelson sighed. “We can’t just seize the Surgeon General’s—”
“Why not?”
“George, this is not the kind of publicity we need.”
“Then why the fuck am I here?” she snapped, lighting a cigarette in frustration.
“We need the big fish first, George.”
“The Surgeon General’s not a big fish?” she mumbled sarcastically, cigarette bouncing between her lips.
“Not in the world of illicit controlled substances,” Nelson sighed. “Now, did you make contact with our mystery man again?”
“He disconnected the number and hasn’t reached out to me,” George sighed, blowing smoke straight up into the air as she leaned her head back. “I made him nervous, though.”
“That’s all he needs to make a mistake.”
“It’s what I’m hoping for.”
Nelson was quiet for a second. “Keep up the good work.”
George frowned in the darkness. Her director had never said anything like that before. “Uh, got it.”
Nelson had sounded a little scared. Scared about their division? Most likely. George suddenly felt a little insecure about her job. She really didn’t know what she’d do with her life if she wasn’t an intelligence field agent in the Department of Justice. Sure, at first she’d only been brought in as a consultant for the finance division, but when she moved to Intelligence she knew it was where she belonged.
“Dr. Thomas!” Cricket and Bella screeched the next morning, sitting up a little straighter at breakfast. The three new girls were allowed to sit at the soccer table, but they had to crowd at the very end towards the bathrooms. Rookie rules.
George looked up and gave a slight smile for him, then returned to her fruit salad as she continued to think of a way to corner Christian Whitman. Christian was key to saving her job. Everyone’s jobs.
“Good morning, ladies. Ready for the exam?”
“Yes sir,” Bella replied, looking over at George’s tray and nudging it with her elbow.
George glanced up again. “Ready.” She nodded, setting her fork down.
“Great. If you studied your past assignments, I’m confident you’ll do very well,” Dr. Thomas smiled, turning his attention to George. “Jane, a word please?”
She knew it. Standing slowly, she followed him out into the hallway and leaned against the wall. What was it going to be now?
“I heard you had a little study session last night,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.
“What, is that not allowed?” she asked, ready to get defensive.
“Of course it is. Actually, I just wanted to thank you and tell you that I’m putting your name in to be my student assistant next semester.” He grinned, hoping that she would somehow blurt that she wouldn’t be around that long. And if she was going to be there, he’d have an excuse to see her every day.
“Really?” she asked, frowning in the cutest way.
“Sure,” he nodded. “You’ve been a lot of help to me already, and it’s going to look great on your college applications. You might even get into Yale.”
She sighed put he
r hands on her hips. “Very funny.”
“I thought so,” he smiled, as she tried to walk around him. “Oh, and one more thing. After you turn in what I’m sure will be an ace exam this afternoon, I need you to go home, change into cocktail attire, and be at my house no later than 5:30.”
“I thought I was working for you tonight,” she replied, looking confused. She had visions of cotton sweatpants and t-shirts, pouring over papers in his home office while he entertained.
“Students who work guest dinners also have to help the host entertain,” he grinned. “Mingle, make small talk, serve the food. I’m sure I told you that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” she said, leaning forward. “Where am I supposed to get a cocktail dress on such short notice?”
“You’re right,” he said, shaking his head with a crooked grin. “I’m sorry. Oh, hey, I’ll call your Aunt Katrina and she’ll bring you a dress by the day’s end.”
“No no no!” George exclaimed, leaping forward and grabbing his hand as it held his cell phone. “You, you can’t bother her at work.”
“It’s Friday, and I’m sure she’d love to help you out. After all, you will be with an ambassador tonight.”
“She’s out of the country!”
“She’s with your sick grandmother.”
Damn it. He’d caught her in the lie. And why did he look so damn pleased with himself?
“Please don’t bother her,” George begged, giving him a pathetic look. Director Nelson had enough on her plate without having to deal with her and her curious professor.
Dr. Thomas looked down at her hand on top of his and nodded. “Okay, well, I could call your cousins.”
“Please don’t call anyone,” she said, removing her hand and looking up at him. “I can find something.”
“Leave that to me,” he nodded, patting her shoulder and walking away. He was so close to getting her to reveal her true identity, he could hardly contain his excitement. Tonight night would be fun.
She took a step after him, had absolutely nothing good to say, then exhaled loudly and returned to her breakfast. She fought back an annoying smile as she sat down. It made her so mad that he made her smile. What in the world was he going to do?
