by Mike Ryan
“Like I said, she’s strong willed. She’s angry and she’s hurting. That’s not a good combination. Trust me, I’ve been there.”
“Comparing the two of you is not quite the same thing. One of you is a trained assassin skilled in the art of this type of warfare and one of you is a nurse. That hardly compares.”
“Maybe so. But I’m telling you, she will not let this go,” Recker warned.
“I think you’re being a bit presumptuous in how far she can take this and what kind of danger she uncovers. For all we know it was a completely random act of violence against Ms. Hanley, someone who she never met before that incident. Someone who could be in an entirely different state by now,” Jones rebuffed.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“What?”
“That it was random,” Recker answered.
“I really have no idea. And neither do you.”
“I know it wasn’t random. Whoever did it, was someone she knew.”
“And how do you know that?”
“She was strangled, then shot, then stuffed in the trunk of her car. There’s nothing random about that. That’s at the hands of someone who’s made it personal. That’s someone who’s angry,” Recker told him. “A stranger wouldn’t bother to go through the hassle of doing all those things.”
“Perhaps you’re right. But I don’t think we can spare the time right now to look into the case. I know that’s what you’re suggesting,” Jones replied.
“I’m not suggesting. I’m telling you. I’m back on the case.”
Jones looked despondent, knowing that he was losing the argument. He knew that Recker would put Mia’s interests ahead of any other cases they were working on at the moment and was worried that other people would get hurt in the meantime. Things that could have been prevented if they weren’t sidetracked with personal entanglements.
“And to what end are you going to pursue this?” Jones asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how long do you plan to work on this?”
“As long as it takes,” Recker answered.
“And what happens if you find the person who did this? Just turn the information over to the police?”
“I’ll finish the case my way.”
“Which means what?”
“I’ll put two bullets in their head,” Recker bluntly replied. “Then it’ll be over.”
“That’s not how we’re supposed to operate.”
“That’s how I operate.”
“And what of our other cases?” Jones wondered. “There are other people out there who need help as well.”
“I can work more than one case at a time. I can help them while helping Mia at the same time.”
“Would you be doing this if it was someone other than Mia?”
“Of course not,” Recker responded.
“I thought so.”
“Listen, she’s a friend and I care about her. I’m not about to let her get mixed up in something that she’s ill-equipped for and unprepared to handle. And no, it’s not because I’m falling in love with her. I know that’s floating around somewhere in that head of yours.”
“Just making sure I know where you stand on things,” Jones said.
“I would do the same thing for you if it was you in her shoes,” Recker told him.
Jones knew that there was nothing he could do or say that would change Recker’s mind. Though he still wasn’t sure that Mia would find the danger that Recker expected her to find, Jones had never seen him so persistent on anything before. There was no talking him out of it. And he knew better than to keep trying and fighting a losing game. He did worry about what would happen if Recker did find the culprit of Hanley’s murder. It was now personal to Recker, and Jones hoped that he wouldn’t get careless and make a mistake that would somehow compromise the two of them or their operation.
“When exactly do you plan on starting this little side escapade of yours?” Jones asked.
“No time like the present,” Recker replied.
“Very well then. I guess we need to get started then, don’t we?”
Chapter 2
After an hour of working to put together some information that they could go off to re-start the Hanley investigation, Recker still hadn’t said anything about the lack of progress in regards to Agent 17. Though it was still eating at him, the fire inside had subsided slightly as he continued looking into the case of Mia’s friend. Not that he was happy about letting it go, but he figured right now they needed all their energy focused on the other things they were working on.
Once again, he’d put it to the side for the betterment of others, even though it frustrated him. It seemed all he ever did was push it away so they could work on other things. Recker’s hatred for the man who killed Carrie was still burning strong. It never waned even for a second. At some point, if he really wanted to atone for her death, he was going to have to be selfish and put his own wants and needs above those of others. Just one time.
Taking a break for a few seconds between the different cases he was juggling, Jones looked over at his friend and thought there was still something wrong. Recker looked like a man with some heavy baggage on his shoulder. From some of his facial expressions, Jones thought he looked frustrated for some reason. It appeared to him like Recker had more on his mind than he was letting on.
“So are you going tell me about the second thing?” Jones finally asked, remembering Recker’s words when he first got back to the office.
“The second thing?”
“You said we were going to talk about two different subjects but we only got around to talking about one of them.”
“The other one can wait,” Recker dejectedly replied.
“If you prefer…though I can tell something else is on your mind. Might be good to air it out so you can concentrate on this with a clear head.”
Recker thought about it for a minute and decided Jones was right. It was time to let it out and not hold back like he had been doing.
“Fine. You wanna know what else is bothering me?” Recker said, sounding mad.
“I’m not so sure now,” Jones teased, a little worried about his anger level.
“It’s your commitment level.”
“My commitment level?”
“Not for this. I mean that little software program of yours.”
“Oh. I see.”
“Are you actually even running anything? Is it even working? I mean, every time I’ve ever asked you about it, all you say is that it’s close. Or it’s not quite ready. I feel like all you’re doing is feeding me a line of crap,” Recker vented. “I don’t think you’re looking at all. Or if you are, not very hard. You never really wanted to pursue this or wanted me to pursue it. And I think you’re doing everything you can to put it off and postpone it as long as possible. Well I’m tired of waiting.”
“And you want an update,” Jones surmised.
Recker just shook his head. “No, I don’t want an update. Cause you’re updates are just giving me the runaround. I want to know where he is. Now.”
Jones gulped and looked over at his computer, thinking carefully as to how he should respond. He knew this day would come at some point, with Recker questioning his efforts on the search. Jones just hoped the day wouldn’t come for a while yet. After thinking about his different options, and the consequences of each, he thought it best to come clean with his highly dangerous partner.
“You are correct,” Jones softly stated.
“About which part?”
“All of it. You’re right. I’ve never been enthused about participating in this project. I haven’t given it my best efforts, I’ve kept you in the dark, I’ve tried to stall, and for that I do apologize.”
“I don’t want apologies,” Recker replied. “I just want you to find him. If you can’t, or won’t, then just say it so I can search on my own.”
“No. I told you I would help you and I will.”
/> Recker threw his hands up. “When? I don’t wanna sit here and listen to you give me nonsense for another year.”
“And you won’t have to. I guess I’ve been fearful of what would happen when the day came that I could locate Agent 17 for you,” Jones told him.
“I already told you what I’d do.”
“Yes, I know. That’s what’s frightened me. In the time that we’ve been doing this, we’ve done such great things, incredibly important things. And I guess I worry that you’re going to throw away all that we’ve accomplished in such a short time to pursue your own vendetta.”
“You’re right. We’ve accomplished a lot. And we’re gonna keep on accomplishing a lot. Me finding Agent 17 is not going to change that,” Recker said.
“I guess I’m not sure I believe that. Part of me has felt that once you found him, you would never come back. I know that finding him has always been your number one goal. I guess part of me was hoping, however foolish it may have been, that as time went on that you would put that part of your life behind you and focus more on this one.”
“The love of my life was taken from me. There’s nothing on this world or any other that would make me forget about that. And as long as he’s out there, a part of me will never be totally here.”
It was an emotional heart to heart talk the two men were having, one that was much needed and overdue. While they’d known each other, they avoided talking about their true feelings on the subject and danced around it as much as possible.
“And when you find him? What then?” Jones asked.
“I’ll kill him. Just like I said.”
“And after that?”
“I’ll come back here and continue the work that we’ve been doing,” Recker replied.
“You make it sound like it will be that easy.”
“That’s all there is to it. If you’d have found him when we first started this, I honestly don’t know if I would’ve come back. But this has become like a home, at least as much as one as I’ve ever had. There’s people I care about here. I give you my word that I will be back.”
“And what if you can’t come back? What if he kills you?”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Recker forcefully said.
“You make it sound like you’re hunting someone who’s blissfully unaware or some kind of pencil pusher,” Jones told him. “Your adversary is someone who’s just as capable as you are, just as skilled as you are, just as dangerous as you are, someone who knows the same tricks that you do. He could just as easily kill you.”
“You know, if I’d found him before we started all this, before I met you, I probably wouldn’t have even cared about the outcome. I wouldn’t have cared if I came back. As long as he was dead…I wouldn’t have cared if I joined him in the afterlife, if there is one, or buried in the ground, or whatever it is that people believe in.”
“And that’s the belief and attitude that concerns me,” Jones said.
“But I’m not that guy now. Not with you, and Mia, and the work we’ve got going on here. But I still hear those words he said to me. Every day, I replay it in my mind, over and over again. Not one day since Carrie’s been gone that I haven’t thought about that night. Not one,” Recker said, his eyes getting glossy. “I can never be truly free from what haunts me and tears me up inside until the day he’s no longer breathing. I need him to see that it’s me, that I’m the one that’s ending his existence.”
Jones could feel the pain that Recker bore. He wore it on his shoulders every day. And now that Recker was pouring his emotions out on his sleeve, Jones knew he didn’t have the right to keep the secret he’d been hiding any longer. Whether he agreed with Recker’s decision or not, he was clearly still hurting, and it wasn’t up to Jones to prevent him from healing or seeking closure. No matter what the outcome, the decision wasn’t his to make. It was Recker’s. Jones would just have to hope for the best.
“I’m afraid I have something else to tell you,” Jones said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I haven’t been honest with you.”
“I know. You already said that.”
“No. There’s more. I’ve been keeping a secret from you and since you have…expressed your feelings so deeply to me, I feel I need to share it.”
“What is it?” Recker asked.
“I’ve already found him.”
“What?” Recker asked in disbelief.
He was sure there was no way he heard what he thought he did. There was no way Jones was saying that he’d found Agent 17. Recker was positive he was going to say another name. Someone who was possibly connected to the man he was seeking all this time.
“I’ve already found him. Agent 17,” Jones revealed.
“When?”
“About two weeks ago.”
Shocked, Recker just stared at Jones, unable to form any words that would do the situation justice. He wasn’t sure whether he should feel anger at being kept in the dark for the last two weeks, whether he should be furious at the professor for not being truthful, or whether he should be happy that the only thing he’d been living for all this time was finally within reach.
For his part, Jones felt like digging a hole and crawling into it. With Recker’s incredulous reaction, the professor felt horribly for not coming forward with the information sooner. He wouldn’t have blamed Recker if he got up off his chair and belted him across the face. With Recker’s intimidating stare, Jones had trouble looking at him, knowing how disappointed in him Recker must’ve been. He felt ashamed of himself for not revealing the information as soon as he learned of it.
“I’m not going to apologize for my actions,” Jones stated. “Not because I’m not sorry, but because I know those words aren’t good enough or strong enough to satisfy you, as they shouldn’t. I just hope that you will eventually forgive me for misleading you.”
Recker finally broke his stare and leaned forward, rubbing his hands together. He let his eyes dance around the room, shifting between parts of the floor and wall, thinking about the best way to express himself. He didn’t want to just emotionally blow up at Jones, unable to control himself, so he just let everything sink in for a minute until he could calmly rationalize everything.
“So were you ever gonna tell me?” Recker wondered. “I mean, were you just gonna sit on this forever?”
“I don’t know.” Jones shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s something that I wrestled with every day since his name finally popped up. There were times when I was close to saying something. But then there was another case, or another lead, or another situation that needed our attention, and I just let it slip away.”
Though Recker was mad, and hurt, and felt betrayed, he was willing to put all that aside for the moment. If Jones had the information he needed, then Recker would deal with it at another time. Now wasn’t the time to let his focus shift elsewhere. Now, finally, was the time to deal with Agent 17. And in the end, that was all that mattered.
“So where is he?” Recker asked.
“Right at this exact moment? I don’t know,” Jones answered.
Recker closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. He surely could have become enraged if he so desired. But he was trying to keep his cool, only for the sake of finding his target.
“You had him. And you let him go,” Recker whispered.
“Only for the moment,” Jones reassured. “I can go back to where I located him and retrace his steps from that moment on. I can get a read on him again.”
“How long will it take?”
“Give me a day or so and I should have it,” Jones confidently stated.
“One day.”
“One day. You have my word…for whatever that may be worth to you at the present time.”
“Where’d you find him?” Recker wondered.
“Italy.”
“What was he doing there? An assignment?”
“Yes. From what I can tell he’d been there approximately three days,” Jones confirm
ed. “I got a hit on a report he submitted that his mission was completed.”
“Where’d he go from there?”
“That I don’t know. Like I said, I got sidetracked with another case we were working and I lost his movements for the time being.”
“So how do you know you’re gonna be able to find him again?” Recker asked.
“Because now I know what I’m looking for,” Jones answered. He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a notepad with a bunch of names on it.
“What’s this?” Recker wondered.
“Those are a list of some of his aliases. I wrote them down for the purpose of tracking him again.”
“What makes you think he’ll use one of them again?”
“Well, considering he’s not on the run like you, I’m quite certain he’ll be confident enough to use one of them rather quickly,” Jones replied.
For the next couple of hours, Jones focused his attention only on finding Agent 17. With them being so close to knowing his whereabouts, spending a few more days on other matters would allow the mysterious agent to further slip through their fingers. The more they let time pass, the more Agent 17 could disguise his movements. As Jones typed away, Recker hovered over him, watching closely what he did. Though Jones understood Recker’s eagerness at being so close to the man who killed his girlfriend, it still unnerved him a little bit.
“Why don’t you go out for a little bit?” Jones asked, spinning around in his chair.
“Trying to get rid of me?”
“Not at all. It’s just that it’s a tad disrupting to feel you breathing on my neck.”
Recker took a few steps back, getting the hint. “Just a little anxious I guess.”
“I quite understand.”
Recker then gave Jones some space. Instead of standing right behind him and watching him closely, Recker started pacing around the room. About every twenty minutes or so, he asked Jones the same question.
“How you making out?” Recker asked repeatedly.
“The same as the last time you asked,” Jones replied. “It’s coming along.”