Never Reply All

by Dan Friedman

  “How are things with Bob?” Olivia asked.

  Lisa sighed. “I told him.”

  “About Craig?”

  “No! Are you crazy? I told him I want a divorce.”

  Olivia shook her head. “How did he take it?”

  “Not well.”

  “I can imagine. He still loves you.”

  “I know. But it’s not enough.” Lisa bit her index fingernail. “I can’t stand being alone anymore.”

  “I understand. Are you absolutely sure about this?”

  “No. But I’ve decided it has to be done.”

  Olivia nodded. “And what about Craig? Do you love him?”

  “I don’t know. But he’s fun. I like the excitement.”

  “Excitement doesn’t last. A man like Bob...does.”

  “You think I’m making a mistake?”

  “You know I do.”

  Lisa’s eyes filled with tears.

  “He’s a good guy,” Olivia said.

  “I know. But I’m too mad at him. I’ve been alone most of the time since we got married.”

  Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but Lisa said, “And don’t tell me he’s saving the world and all that shit. I need a man with me, not a man who cares about the rest of the world more than me."

  “He doesn’t.” Olivia leaned away from her. “I must tell you, this doesn’t sound like the Lisa I know.”

  Lisa stared blankly at the wall behind Olivia. After a while, she burst out crying.

  Olivia asked for a glass of water and held her hand.

  “I don’t know what happened to me either.” Lisa wiped her tears and exhaled. “I grew up without a father since he was always away on business. My mom hated him for it. When I grew up, I understood he was screwing around. I promised myself I’d never have a husband like him.”

  “Bob isn’t like that! I know him. He’d never screw around.”

  “You’re probably right, but it got the best of me.” Lisa rubbed her face. “I don’t know how I got myself into this mess. I was so angry with him I couldn’t control it.”

  “It’s not too late to fix this. You can talk to him. Try to patch things up.” Olivia drew back. “And get rid of Craig.”

  Lisa took a long sip of water. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”

  “Will you tell him about Craig?”

  “Are you crazy? He’ll kill him. He’ll kill us both.”

  Emily couldn’t decide if she should go home or go to Mike’s apartment.

  She decided not to get the agent involved. Not yet. It seemed they knew what she was doing, and until she figured out how they did it, she would do what they say.

  She wanted to see him. She wanted to make sure he was okay.

  If something happened to him, it would be my fault.

  She paced back and forth in her office, then thought they might have cameras there as well. She searched inside the light fixtures, on the shelves, and the smoke detectors. She couldn’t find anything, but, with today’s technology, it was probably too hard to spot a tiny camera.

  She couldn’t stay there anymore.

  She left the office and took the elevator down to the street. She searched but couldn’t see anyone who seemed to be following her.

  Would I even notice if someone did?

  I’m only a computer geek.

  But she’d read some spy novels.

  She should go to Mike. She entered the subway she usually took to her apartment, then got out at her usual station. She went back into the station from another entrance, then took a different train to his place.

  In case someone’s following me.

  She got off the train a station before she should have and walked the rest of the way. When she got to his apartment, she knocked on his door.

  After a few minutes, she knocked again.

  And again.

  But Mike didn’t answer.

  Bob stared at his screen and couldn’t believe what he’d seen. He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the broken glass from Lisa’s picture on the floor.

  When someone knocked on his door he screamed, “Not now!”

  He returned to his screen and watched the short clip again and again. He wanted to believe it wasn’t Craig.

  He wanted to believe it wasn’t Lisa.

  But there they were.

  Sneaking around behind my back.

  Fucking.

  My two best friends in the world.

  Bob checked the timestamp on the video.

  It had happened one night after Craig met Bob at the bar.

  One night before Bob told him he wanted Lisa back.

  Craig told him to move on. Bob thought it was friendly advice.

  But it wasn’t.

  Craig tried to persuade me to let her go.

  The son of a bitch! Bob slammed the desk with his hand.

  When he watched the next clip, nearly two hours later, he saw the door open and his wife kissed the man again at the doorstep.

  Lisa seemed happy and in love.

  Craig walked in front of the camera now, facing it for the first time. Bob had hoped it wasn’t him, but when he saw his face the tiny hope evaporated.

  He’d wanted to be wrong.

  They’d been fucking for two hours.

  In my bed.

  While my daughter slept in the next room.

  Seven minutes after Craig left, Bob saw his own back coming into view.

  They’d missed each other on the elevator.

  Craig, or Lisa, knew exactly when Bob would get back home.

  Bob remembered Lisa had seemed asleep that night. Like she did most nights when he got home.

  Or she pretended to be.

  Bob rewound the recording to where he could see Craig’s face again. He wanted to point his gun at Craig’s head, maybe even pull the trigger.

  The man who set them up also broke them apart.

  Stuber burst into Bob’s office.

  “I’m sorry—” Stuber stared at him, then looked at the broken glass on the floor. “Is everything okay?”

  Bob wiped his eyes and yelled, “Why are you bursting into my office?”

  Stuber shook his head. “Bob, we got the fingerprint analysis from Emily’s apartment.”

  I don’t care, Bob wanted to say.

  “So?”

  “We found Jessica’s fingerprints there.”

  “So?”

  “I read your notes from your interview with her,” Stuber said. “Emily said Jessica had never been to her apartment.”

  Eleven

  “Mike!” Emily yelled as she knocked on his door.

  Then she screamed his name.

  Then called his cell phone.

  But no one replied.

  She texted him Where are you?

  She knocked again, and when some neighbors passed by and looked at her strangely, she asked them if they’d seen Mike.

  They hadn’t.

  He didn’t reply to any of her knocks, calls, or texts.

  She sat at his doorstep, her head between her hands.

  After an hour, she called Bob.

  But the FBI agent didn’t answer her either.

  “Get a warrant to search Jessica’s apartment and office,” Bob told Stuber. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Where are you going?” Stuber said, but Bob passed him on his way out of the office without saying a word.

  Bob parked next to Craig’s apartment and knocked on his door. Hard.

  When no one replied, he contemplated calling him.

  “Bob?” A voice came from behind him. “What are you doing here?”

  Bob wanted to reach for his gun.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure thing.” Craig reached for his keys. “Come in.”

  As they entered his apartment, Craig gestured for him to sit.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Bob shook his head.

  “Coffee? Tea? Beer?”

>   Bob shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Bob rose and walked back and forth in the apartment.

  “Is anything wrong with Madison? Or Lisa?”

  Bob raised his head and stared at him. His teeth clenched as hard as he could without breaking them.

  “You son of a bitch!”

  “What?”

  “You’re screwing my wife!”

  “What?” Craig almost lost his balance. “Are you crazy, Bob? What are you talking about?”

  “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

  “No!” Craig rubbed his neck. “Why would I be with your wife? I set you guys up.”

  “That didn’t stop you.”

  “Bob, you’re talking crazy. Is Lisa having an affair?”

  Bob nodded.

  “And you think it’s someone you know?”

  Bob stared at him.

  “Don’t try to play me. I know those techniques.”

  Craig nodded, sat down, then rose.

  “You guys are getting a divorce, so technically—”

  Bob took a swing at Craig, striking him on his right cheek. The blow knocked him back, and he fell to the floor.

  Craig reached for his gun but didn’t pull it, his face pale, besides a red cheek. “Bob, what the fuck?”

  Bob pulled out his phone and saw his neighbor’s name.

  It could be something important.

  He ignored the call and flipped to the video on his phone.

  He’d sent the surveillance video to his phone and showed it to Craig.

  Craig’s mouth opened wide as he saw himself and Bob’s wife kissing at his best friend’s doorstep.

  After calling Agent Bob a few times, with no reply, Emily’s phone rang.

  Mike!

  “Mike? Thank God! I was worried about you! Where are you? Are you okay? I’m here—”

  A man answered instead. “We have him. He’s safe for now. But you have to do what we tell you.”

  “Bob, I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I swear.”

  Craig sat up on the floor. Bob sat in front of him.

  “How did it happen?”

  Craig lowered his head.

  “I asked—”

  “Are you sure you want to hear?”

  Bob nodded.

  “Does she know you know?”

  Bob shook his head.

  “She came to the office one day. You were out on an assignment. She wanted to talk, so we went out for a beer.”

  Bob closed his eyes. He imagined her looking for him, then going down two floors to Craig’s office. He imagined her telling him she needed to talk. He tried to shake the image of Lisa and Craig walking outside the office together.

  And the image of them kissing.

  And the image of them fu—

  “We had a few beers. She told me how hard it was for her, that you’re never home, and one thing led to another.” Craig lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “How could you do this to me?”

  Craig didn’t reply.

  “You are...you were my best friend.”

  Bob’s phone rang again. He glanced at it and saw it was Emily again.

  He switched the phone to silent and let it go to voicemail.

  “Call her now and tell her it’s over,” Bob said.

  Craig opened his mouth, then closed it. After a while, he asked, “What do you mean?”

  “You need to end this. Now.”

  “Bob. You guys are getting a divorce. She doesn’t want you anymore. Don’t you get it?”

  Bob drew his gun and aimed it at his best friend’s face.

  Emily stopped calling Bob after ten failed attempts. The agent was ignoring her or was doing something more important.

  They sent her a text with instructions. She would meet their contact in her apartment. The contact would tell her what he needed from her.

  That’s good. Bob could see the man entering my apartment on the video surveillance.

  Maybe that’s why he didn’t pick up. Maybe that’s why he’s busy.

  The man told her not to talk to the Feds, but if the Feds saw the bad guy and came looking—she could do nothing to prevent that.

  Emily imagined the FBI storming her apartment, guns drawn, arresting the bad man.

  The instructions they gave her were to get to her apartment in thirty minutes.

  She figured a taxi would be the quickest. When she checked her Waze app, she figured she might not get there on time.

  I’m in a taxi. I may be a few minutes late, she texted whoever had Mike’s phone. Please don’t hurt him.

  A reply arrived a few minutes later.

  We will if you’re late.

  Twelve

  Bob saw his ex-best friend through his handgun’s sights.

  “Put the gun down,” Craig shouted at Bob. “Are you crazy?”

  Bob lowered his gun slowly, but still aimed it in Craig’s general direction.

  If Craig pulled his gun on him, it would be self-defense.

  Could I really shoot him?

  “Bob! What are you doing? You’re not a murderer! You can’t kill me over something like this. Don’t be crazy.”

  Bob put his gun on the table, the barrel still pointed in Craig’s direction. They both stared at each other for a long time.

  Emily used the line she’d heard in movies a million times, but never thought she’d use herself. “I’ll give you an extra twenty if you make it fast.”

  The driver smiled and did what he could in the New York traffic.

  She tried to call Bob again.

  After the taxi stopped next to her apartment building, she ran up the stairs to the fifth floor.

  As she reached her apartment, she checked her watch.

  She was thirty seconds late.

  Craig’s cell phone rang, startling Bob.

  They both stared at it.

  “Should I get it? It could be important.”

  Bob kept staring at the phone.

  Then Craig’s home line rang, which startled them both.

  “Who still has a landline?” Bob gazed at the phone.

  “I’m taking this. It could be important.”

  Bob didn’t reply. Craig got up and walked to the phone, his eyes glued to Bob.

  “Craig here,” he said into the phone. “Yes. He’s here.” Craig stared at Bob while listening. “Okay. We’ll go there now.”

  Craig hung up. “Put your stupid gun back in your holster. Your partner was looking for you but you didn’t answer. He traced your phone here. He said an armed man broke into your neighbor’s apartment.”

  Emily took out her keys and tried to open the door.

  But it was jammed.

  She looked at the camera, then at Bob’s door.

  No sign of him anywhere.

  What do I do?

  The door swung open and a strong arm pulled her in forcefully.

  Bob jumped into Craig’s car. Craig drove into the streets, sirens blaring.

  Driving fast in New York during rush hour was almost impossible.

  Bob checked his phone and saw both Emily and Stuber had called him multiple times.

  “I’ll have to report you,” Craig said.

  Bob stared at him, nodded, then called Stuber.

  “What’s going on?” Stuber said. “I’ve been trying to reach you for a long time.”

  “I had issues with my phone. Since when do you trace my phone?”

  “I didn’t. I’ll explain later,” Stuber said. “About thirty minutes ago four people entered Emily’s apartment. It took the surveillance guy some time to see it, understand something was wrong, and report it. I saw the footage. I could recognize two of them: the CEO and Emily’s boyfriend. It seemed as if they were forcing him inside. It could be a kidnapping situation.”

  “What do they want with the boyfriend?” Bob asked but didn’t wait for a reply. “SWAT on the way?”

  “Yes.
A little while later, Emily showed up, tried to open her door, and someone pulled her into the apartment.”

  “Damn. We’ll be there soon. Traffic is hell. Where are you?”

  “I’m out of town. Tomorrow is my day off. But I’m on my way there.”

  “Okay. I’ll have NYPD evacuate the building.” He checked his watch. “Thank God my wife and daughter are in dance class.”

  Stuber fell silent.

  “I’ll call you when I get there.”

  “Bob?”

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry, but Lisa and Madison entered your apartment right after Emily got to hers.”

  Emily stumbled and fell to the ground. When she looked up she saw Jessica, two unfamiliar men with guns, and the man she loved.

  “Mike!” Emily tried to get up but stumbled. “Are you okay?” She reached for him but one of the men pushed her hand away forcefully.

  Mike nodded.

  “Jessica? Are you behind all of this?” Emily looked up at her.

  “I’m sorry, Emily, but I have a company to take care of.”

  “You call this taking care?”

  “A CEO’s gotta do what a CEO’s gotta do.” Jessica stuck her thumbs in her pockets.

  Jessica had always liked the power position she was in. Once, she even showed Emily a special business card she’d made that read I’M CEO, Bitch, like the one Mark Zuckerberg had when he was young.

  Was it more politically correct for a woman CEO?

  “Kidnapping your VP of Marketing is part of that?” Emily rose and wiped her pants clean.

  “Nah. That’s collateral damage. We needed to make sure you’d cooperate. I thought the rat would be enough, but you didn’t get the hint.”

  Emily swallowed. She searched for Romeo and saw him in his usual spot, on top of the refrigerator.

  There’s nothing he can do to help, but at least he’s safe.

  Maybe I should get a dog next time?

  She’d learned karate when she was a child, but hadn’t practiced it much in recent years. Could she use her instincts to do something? Or would it be stupid to try?