“Good afternoon. I’m here to see Gloria Rank’s volunteer,” Benjamin told the doorkeeper.
“Makes sense, she usually comes around this time. I’m curious to know where Gloria is. I usually work the shift around the time when she comes home from work, but I haven’t seen her,” the security guard said.
Benjamin, who was reluctant to speak, calculated what words would be best suited to exit this uncomfortable conversation. However, the volunteer came through the door before he had the chance to say anything.
“She just stepped in,” the security guard said, looking past Benjamin.
Benjamin quickly went over to the volunteer. “I was hoping to talk to you.”
“Me?” Brenda questioned with curiosity.
“Yes.”
“May I ask who you are?” Brenda asked.
“I apologize. My name is Benjamin Taylor. Here is my card. I’m a friend of Gloria’s, and I haven’t heard from her.”
“You are a friend of Gloria’s? She never mentioned you,” Brenda said with her suspicions remaining intact. She took Benjamin’s card and glanced at the information printed on it.
“I did a radio segment on her show about identity theft,” he explained.
The volunteer’s facial expression changed. “Right! Gloria mentioned that you were coming on her show; forgive me for being curious. I’m Brenda Cheng, a volunteer.” As Brenda put her messenger bag down, a whiff of vanilla scent perfume came to Benjamin’s nostrils, and he enjoyed the smell.
“Nice to meet you. Gloria officially has gone on a two-week vacation with her sister,” Benjamin blurted out before he suddenly became quiet. Moving to a corner as a precaution against any eavesdroppers, he signaled for the volunteer to follow him.
“And?” Brenda pressed slowly while she waited for Benjamin to add to his sentence.
“I hate to tell you this, but both sisters are in grave danger!”
“Ah!” Brenda clasped both hands on her mouth, as if in shock. “But how?”
Benjamin quickly calmed her down. “Please don’t panic, and try not to worry; the police are on top of the situation.” Benjamin bit his lips. Brenda quickly calmed a little, but was still slightly edgy when Benjamin resumed speaking a few moments later. “I would like to know when was the last time you saw Gloria.”
“She and her sister told me they were going to take a cross-country flight to California,” Brenda answered.
“California?”
“Yes. L.A. to be specific,” Brenda declared.
“I’m afraid she was in danger the minute they said goodbye and walked past you, Brenda.”
“Gloria never said anything about being in trouble. She was calm and drinking a glass of orange juice,” Brenda said as she became even more worried.
“So, you had no suspicions?” Benjamin asked.
“None at all. Her sister was there; yet when I come to think of it, her sister was a bit fidgety, as if she was hiding something and in a hurry too,” Brenda explained.
“I know this sounds silly, but did you see plane tickets in Anna’s hand or in her purse?”
“No. Besides, there was no I.D. on the carry-on luggage, and its weight was hardly enough for two people on a two-weeks’ vacation.”
Benjamin turned sideways to think. “So, Gloria didn’t look slightly nervous?”
“Not that I noticed, at least I haven’t thought of it until now. But everything happened quickly, and I left after a few minutes. What did I miss?” Brenda asked frantically.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I hope not, but what can I do?”
“Call her right now, maybe she’ll pick up,” Benjamin replied.
“Sure, absolutely!” Brenda reached inside her handbag and moved her hand around to find her cell phone. She brought it close to her ears and listened to her voice mail. Then her eyes lit up. “She called me!”
“What time was that?” Benjamin asked.
“A few minutes ago when I was entering the building.”
Brenda pressed the speaker button, and the message came on. “Hi Brenda. There has been a change of plans. I’m sorry to tell you that my trip will be extended for a couple of days or another week. There’s no need for you to worry, I’m just enjoying my trip. Will call again. Take care!” The message ended.
“That was kind of short,” a curious Benjamin said.
Brenda grew more suspicious as she glanced at the phone number on her screen. “Gloria called, but that is not her number.”
“No?” Benjamin inquired.
“The number looks familiar. I believe it is a motel where I recently stayed.” Brenda turned away from her phone and looked up at Benjamin.
“How do you know?” Benjamin asked.
“One time, her sister suggested for me to stay at the Crown Motel Inn located in Linden, New Jersey. She once stayed there when her regular hotel was overbooked and she needed to catch some sleep. Her occupation is in public relations,” Brenda explained.
“She told you that she was going out of state, when in fact she took that motel. They did not have time to think of where to stay,” Benjamin said as if talking to himself.
Brenda nodded. “I think so, too. Mr. Taylor, I’m very worried.”
“Please don’t worry too much. Do your regular routine with other people you are volunteering for, and keep my card handy,” Benjamin said.
“Let me write down the address for you.” Brenda took out a pen and paper from her messenger bag, wrote down the motel’s address, and gave it to Benjamin. He thanked her, then moved quickly down the hallway and down the stairs.
Once outside, Benjamin was walking towards his rental car when a man across the street waved his hand.
“Benjamin, Benjamin!”
Continuing past his car, Benjamin moved towards the man, who stood by a diner – some four sidewalks down, but good enough for him to see. Looking at his watch, Benjamin then walked down three blocks, which brought him within 15 feet of the stranger.
“Do you remember me?” the stranger asked loudly.
“An old classmate from high school or college?” a baffled Benjamin questioned.
“No, not that far back. We were both at a cyber-security conference in California. We talked and exchanged business cards before going our separate ways.”
“You’re Philip Cole. Yes, that was only a few months back,” Benjamin said as his foggy mind cleared.
“I suggested you do a radio segment in New Jersey or New York after I did one in Manhattan; is that why you’re here?” Philip asked.
“That’s right,” Benjamin nodded. “I did follow your suggestions, thanks. I just did one recently here in New Jersey.”
“That’s great, you are getting interviews in different states. Are you heading back to California?” the man asked.
“I have other business to attend. I will probably head back next week or the following week,” Benjamin replied.
“I won’t keep you any longer. Try the Village Diner whenever you get a chance,” Philip said, pointing to the diner across the street.
“That’s good to know. I will try it before I take my flight.”
“Good to see you again, especially over 3000 miles away from Los Angeles,” Philip cheered.
“What a coincidence,” Benjamin said.
“Nothing is a coincidence, remember this,” Philip replied.
Benjamin patted his inside shirt pocket, and then took out his card case from his pants pocket. “Do I still have your card?” he asked while searching through the small stacks of cards in his leather card case, until he spotted it. “Never mind, I have it.” He looked back up at Philip. “You still work at Assurance Security? That’s in New Jersey?”
“Yep,” Philip confirmed.
Benjamin took out one of his business cards and handed it over.
“Thanks, but I already have your card; you gave it to me at the conference,” Philip said.
Benjamin put the card back in his case,
then looked up at Philip.
“Okay, well, nice meeting you again. I’ll contact you when I return home, if you’d like to help me out. I have some extra projects at my company, and you’d be a great person to give us an extra hand.”
“Sure, that would be great. I kind of have a workload myself, but I can manage. Better yet, I’ll call you when my workload lessens. Is that all right with you?” Philip asked.
“Yes. Of course, okay. Great meeting you again.”
“Same here,” Philip said and walked away.
“What a coincidence,” Benjamin said to himself.
CHAPTER 11— UNDETECTED
The next day, at midday, Monica parked her car and walked across the street to Savory Restaurant. As she went through the gate and entered the outside eatery, she stood underneath the restaurant’s red awning, and glanced around to find the person she was supposed to meet for lunch. A waiter was taking a couple of orders and then escorted three people to be seated in the outside eating area of the restaurant. When Monica finally spotted a person waving his hand and then getting up from his chair, which was located at the far left side of the outside eating area, she walked towards Philip, who opened his arms and gave her a hug.
“How are you?”
“Wonderful,” she replied.
Philip pulled a seat out for her.
“Thank you,” she said and sat down.
“What a lovely day, isn’t it?” Philip said with a smile behind his sunglasses as he sat down in his chair.
“It is,” Monica replied.
“I just recently spoke to someone I met from a conference a while ago. After having a conversation with him there, he comes across as a calm and collected type of guy; as if problems just roll off of him like rain on a waterproof jacket,” Philip said.
“It’s probably because he lives a simple life,” Monica replied.
“Indeed. He has nothing to worry about. He works doing what he loves, gets a paycheck, and sleeps well at night. Probably takes one or two vacations a year with no worries,” Philip said.
He slid a folder across the table to Monica. “I want you to take a look at this.”
Monica took the folder and opened it. The wind blew mildly, and she brushed her slightly wavy long hair with her hands. She then took out her reading glasses from her purse and put them on.
“Monica, there’s another thing I want to say before we continue. Since we are friends, can I ask you an important question that has nothing to do with what we will be discussing?”
“Friends? I am quite comfortable with our working relationship,” Monica said. She turned silent, then spoke moments later. “We make great colleagues.” She turned her head to the side. “Besides, I am no longer a burden to you.”
“You never were. I had to respect your decision after trying,” Philip said.
Monica quickly glanced at the stacks of paper she methodically flipped through with her fingers.
“Who is she or he?” Philip asked.
Monica quickly took up her glass, sipped her water, and put it back on the table. She then looked up at Philip and tilted her head for an instant.
“Come again?”
“You are trying to find someone. You won’t tell me who it is, but I don’t want it to distract you,” he replied.
“From my work?” Monica questioned.
“No. That is the least of your problems,” Philip observed.
Monica again kept quiet, and looked at the busy street from her vantage point inside the gated area.
“I apologize,” he then tried. “I will respect your decision, but if you want my help…”
“Please do not help me,” Monica responded abruptly. “I wish I could take back what I said about taking a few weeks to delay other assignments to find…” Monica halted her speech. “A dear friend,” she added seconds later.
She clenched the keys in the palm of her hand, which Philip reached over and touched. She quickly took up her glass of water and drank, then smiled as she put it back on the table. Philip picked up his drink.
“Now, where were we? This is the perfect area to talk. It’s not that loud, but loud enough for you and no one else to hear me,” Philip said.
Monica continued to skim through the documents in the folder. “Is this what you’re going to post in this week’s forum?”
“Yes. I want my team and yours to get familiar with text messaging on smartphones. Every year, we dodge the police and IT security from discovering our activity. We do a pretty good job. Still, we need to take it a step further. As you know, our team is more focused on creating sites,” Philip said.
“You did tell me,” Monica replied.
“Two people on my team already created an email attachment. I find that many articles about computers warn people not to open an email attachment that has funny pictures or images in general, which makes people hesitant to visit a site through hyperlinks in an email. Yet, my team also finds that many people who use smartphones forget that SMS messages are transmitted the same way emails are sent through computers,” Philip said.
“Yes, that is true,” Monica said.
“That is why we need to focus more heavily on this area. Sooner or later, the messages will be outed, and we’ll have to shift to another alternative.”
“I have a question. How many on your team know this already?” Monica asked.
“It is spreading slowly, but my group and yours have to be one step ahead,” he said. He pointed his finger at Monica, then at himself while speaking. “We and both of our teams have more of an advantage because we pick up information quickly.”
“You are definitely one step ahead. We both have excellent people working for us,” Monica agreed.
“That is why I want to get the forum out no later than tomorrow. I wanted you to review it and ask any questions you have in mind,” Philip said.
“I believe the success rate of installing malware in an email attachment on a smartphone is about the same as on a PC. Am I correct?” Monica asked.
The waiter brought their order, and both began to eat.
“Pretty much,” Philip said with a smile. He reached into his pants pocket and took out his phone, then wiped his napkin on the side of his mouth while glimpsing at the phone screen. “I received a voicemail, and have to take this call. Excuse me; I will be back shortly.”
Monica nodded while chewing her food, so he got up and walked past her. She checked her own phone messages for a few minutes, then turned and again looked at the scenery from where she sat. She looked up the high-rise Empire Hotel building, and something caught her eye. Two human figures came close in one of the windows. Monica didn’t think much of it, and turned to gaze at other buildings and restaurants nearby. The sound of glass breaking led Gloria’s eyes to the Empire Hotel building again. She quickly took off her reading glasses, and her eyes and head followed a human figure as it continued to drop at a fast speed. The individual’s arms and legs were moving up and down frantically, as if the person was trying to make themselves wings out of limbs to elevate. Monica's eyes widened, she could not blink; but seconds before the person hit the top of one of the cars parked one after another, she closed her eyes tightly. The car alarm started to sound, accompanied by the noise from breaking glass from the windshield and one of the four car door windows, which were completely shattered. Almost everyone in front and around the building crowded around the scene. Several screams were heard, while others covered their children’s eyes. In fact, some covered their own eyes for a few seconds in disbelief at what they just saw. Several people from the outside eating area got up to get a closer look at the site. Monica stood up quickly, while several more guests from the restaurant moved towards the horrific scene. Two people screamed, but Monica remained silent. Traffic came to a halt, and the police quickly arrived. Monica moved away from her table and walked out of the restaurant. In the vicinity of the hotel building, several drivers honked their horns. Some people got out of their vehicles, with poli
ce officers using hand signals to prevent people from coming closer. Monica, however, tried to edge closer to see the person who had fallen.
“Please step back,” an officer near the body said.
Monica did as she was told. After briefly trying to restrain herself, she stepped forward again when the officer was not looking because he was busy instructing others. The dead man looked familiar to Monica, who felt a tap on her shoulders and immediately turned her head.
“Are you all right?” asked Philip, who had noticed her unsettled behavior.
Monica tried her best to regain her composure. “I’m fine.”
Philip, too, had viewed the terrible incident. “It sure isn’t a wonderful day anymore.”
Monica’s cell phone rang and vibrated at the same time. Her shoulders jumped a little.
“I think you’d better go, there is nothing for us to see here,” Philip said.
Monica reached inside her purse and took out some dollars, but Philip stopped her.
“I’ll go back and pay at the restaurant. Just go!” he instructed Monica in a stern voice.
Monica glanced at the scene once more, turned away, and went to find her car. Once inside, she waited for the police to signal her to move. She turned in the direction the officer pointed to. Her phone rang and vibrated again, and Monica quickly picked it up, then clicked the “end” button with shaking hands without looking at the screen. As she reached a red light after two blocks, Monica started to have a flashback of herself as a little girl in the backseat of her mother’s vehicle. Her mother entered the car, and turned her head to Monica with a big smile.
“Mommy, Mommy.” “Yes, sweetie.” “I want to visit.” “No! Oh, I’m sorry to yell. We are going far away,” Monica’s mother said to her. “Where are we going, Mommy?” “A happy place. Lots of friends, lots of activities.” “Why can’t I visit, Mommy?” “Daddy has a new family…” “No. You’re lying, Mommy!” “Mommy never lies,” her mother said calmly. “I want you to be happy. Play with your toys. Your father only loves one. I am saving you, Moni.” Monica’s mother checked her Motorola pager that was attached to her belt, then drove to the nearest payphone. She opened and locked the car door, and glanced at Moni several times while she dialed on the payphone. “Hello… No… you don’t have a say anymore.” Monica’s mother parked her car and took out her car key. The mother got out of the car, closed the door, and stood near it. Monica could still hear her mother even behind the closed door. “I will have full custody on my own terms… I will do whatever it takes to keep her, do you hear me?… That sound!... I am all right... No judge will take her away from me… If you keep trying to search for us, we will continue to run.”
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