The line rang once. Then twice.
On the third ring someone answered with a slight sigh. They said nothing.
Gary waited a moment, but didn't hear anything more other than some slight rustling as if someone was moving around a little.
"Hello?" he said hesitantly.
No reply.
"Is anyone there?"
No reply, but there was a somehow condescending sniff.
Gary sighed as he said, "Look, I was given this number by..." He hesitated. He wasn't sure who he was talking to, and he didn't want to end up giving anything away to someone if that someone happened to be part of the reason that Raul was killed. Who knew who had gotten the phone or the number? So he continued cautiously. "...by a good friend. One who just died. He said I should get in touch with you."
No reply again, but this time there was a slight cough of acknowledgement. A clearing of the throat really.
Gary rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "I'll just figure this out on my o-"
"Where are you?" The mans voice was precise, almost clipped, as if each word had it's very own place in that small sentence, and he was bound and determined to make sure they all stayed exactly where they belonged.
And for some reason that scared the shit out of Gary.
"Uhhh... Wwwa-" he started in a mutter and continued making confused noises until he hung up the phone.
He sat back in his chair, his hands shaking slightly, and took a sip of his chai, then nearly spit it out as his phone rang. Instead he swallowed, which was very difficult.
He looked at the caller ID. There was no name, no number, which was ominous. Very few people ever learned how to turn the caller ID off on their phones.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tapped the button on his bluetooth headset. The call picked up, but he said nothing. Neither did the person calling.
Gary's eyes began to shift around himself, looking for anyone that might be the person on the other end of the phone, but all the Bluetooth users were chatting away, and everyone else was either talking on their phones, or checking their emails or text messages, or whatever. Nobody seemed about to grab him, Even when he checked over his shoulder.
Finally, after a couple minutes of sheer terror during which neither of them spoke, the voice on the other hand said, "Good. You pass."
Gary started at the sound of the voice. But this time it seemed commiserating, and a bit more relaxed.
Gary took a deep calming breath, and said, "Right. Thanks..." though he was still a bit wary. "So..." he said, drawing the word out. "I take it you knew my friend."
The man on the other end gave a grunt. "I was told you would call, after... The Event. I was even told what time you would call. Nine-Thirty am. It's now Nine Thirty-four."
"Huh." Gary's brow furrowed, and his jaw hung slack. How could he have... He pulled his email back up on his phone. The news post had come in at 7:55 am, then the email had come in at...
...precisely 8:00 am. And zero seconds. His mind followed the chain of logic. Raul had some kind of emergency dead-man drop, which would send an email to him if he didn't prevent it. He knew what time the drop would happen, and so he must have had some idea about how long Gary would take to decipher the message.
No... how long it would take Gary's phone to decode and run the program. Then allow a little extra time to discover the message and the other code, and even more time to work up the courage to make the phone call- then of course Gary's subconscious tendency toward OCD. He hadn't realized it, but part of the stall was to wait for exactly 9:30 am.
He nodded, exasperated with himself, and sighing. "Yep, that sounds like-" he caught himself, "-like my friend."
Jackie grunted again.
Gary was still getting annoyed, but he tried not to let it show in his voice. "Okay. So how do I know that you're the one I'm supposed to speak with."
There was no response for a moment, as if the other man was taking a moment to find the answer to that question. Then he said, very carefully and deliberatly, "The Silver Fox found his prize, thanks to the Clever Hyena's distraction."
Gary took a deep breath, and it almost caught in his throat. It was a reference to the first time they'd met. Gary had been the Hyena, distracting a cajoling the mercenary hacker group while Raul, who Gary had called Silver Fox after seeing how young ladies had reacted to him, had acquired what he'd needed. Raul had thought this nickname was a little ridiculous, and had never seemed interested in pursuing the younger ladies, but he'd flirted with them endlessly. And the name had stuck, at least with Gary.
"Fine," he said. "That checks out. Now what?"
There was a slight pause as if Jackie were taking a moment to consider his words. "You know where it happened." It wasn't a question.
"Right, yeah."
Another pause. "Sonka," he said, then disconnected the call.
Gary say stunned for a moment, then shook his head, saying to himself, "And here I thought I was the anti-social one."
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