PAST JESSICA : N/A
HOUR -4 : 12:15, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2122
RICHMOND 3 : CAR 1 : AGENTS
This half-skirt was hard to walk in. I probably should’ve worn something else today. But it was my only one and it still had the belt loops and my pants didn’t and I could only take one set of clothes so… Shut up. I wanted to wear it, okay? And that’s why I was now fighting against both entropy and physics as I more or less kept step with Agent Peters while we headed down the private boarding school hallway.
Where were we going, anyway? Not that I’d done this before, but wouldn’t a student interrogation normally happen in a spare study room or something? Just go with it. Not like he could do anything to me. Except… What ‘case’ am I even supposed to ‘help’ with? I couldn’t think of anything else. And it couldn’t be a coincidence. Not today. So… Should I run?
No. Hold on. Stop panicking. Just stop panicking. Things could still get worse. Gotta believe that. Damn it, stop panicking! Just… Use James’ stupid method thing.
I relaxed my shoulders as much as I could while keeping them ramrod straight like they insisted on being right now. Did this change the plan? Yes and no. I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Thomas. Or Ashley. Or anyone, really. And I mean sure, that sucks, but… No, it doesn’t.
My throat’s been in my stomach all day over the idea of having those conversations. Peters was doing me a favor here. At least as far as that all went… Thomas though… After I’d thought so hard about what to say… But that was always something I could, and wanted to, bail on. I’d been putting it off since school started. And it wasn’t like we weren’t still on all those same Messenger facebooks… Wait, this wasn’t how the method was supposed to work… Focus!
So the plan hadn't changed. Could I still make it to Charlie in time after the ‘questions’? Easily. Not if I was stuck in FBI custody though. Fake FBI custody? Did it make a difference? No. No, it did not. On most days, it would. But James’ plan was an everything-or-nothing sort of deal. He wouldn’t lie about that. Not to me. That at least, I did believe. Unlike…
Peters said I’d be free to go before school got out. Could I verify that? No. In fact, I’d be an idiot to believe it.
Was I sure? Hell No. But I was quickly running out of my first, maybe best chance to escape. So I couldn’t afford to be held in custody.
But could I escape now? Peters said his office talked to the school’s. Not him personally, then. So they wouldn’t know him on-sight. I could run and scream right now and by the time anyone figures out what’s what, I’d be long gone. But then what? Not like I had a car. And none was coming for like three more hours. Not unless I called it. And The Office cut off cell service for the school’s entire property during class time.
Maybe if I asked nicely, Peters here would patiently wait for me to run outside of school grounds, then neglect to catch up with me before I scheduled, and left in my own private Rydeshare? Yeah… Yeah, good plan, dumbass. Do that.
“So…” Agent Peters broke the silence of my sarcastic strategy to get them to put me in handcuffs. “How’s school going, Jessica?”
Mind racing, I neglected to stop myself from replying on autopilot like I’d gotten used to at school. “Fine. You don’t really care though, do you?”
His right hand jerked towards his blazer as he visibly bristled at my question.
Fuck! Did I really just say that out loud? And I judged him for blowing his cover earlier? He was probably on guard for me to do something now. Surprise was the only chance I even had at getting away.
Gotta cover… But how though? What would a ‘normal girl’ say to inane bullshit like ‘how’s school going’? Well, she wouldn’t overthink it, I bet. My heart was pounding again. Stop panicking! You’ve seen movies, right? Like, with high school girls? And they were talking? What did they sound like again?
Slowing my pace a bit, I tried to look like I was holding my breath while side-eyeing him. After a few seconds of this, I stopped in my tracks.
Peters stiffened, stopping practically on a dime.
After stalling for as long as I dared, I burst into fake, yet hopefully convincing laughter just as he seemed like he was about to turn around.
His shoulders visibly relaxed. Damn. How pent up was this guy? Not the best sign. But at least now, his ‘armed’ status was closer to ‘dis’ than ‘al’.
Another moment for me to fake-laugh while wondering what kind of idiot would come up with that pun, and I started walking again. Only this time with a hopefully-convincing spring in my step. “Oh, my, GOD. I couldn’t, Keep, A straight, FACE.” Getting a little more into the act now, my laughter settled. “I am so 100% kidding, Peter.”
After a momentary pause, I giggled in a way I thought someone who giggled would giggle. “School’s great. Heather just found out that Katie’s boyfriend, who she has a crush on now-” I pause for effect. “-had a crush on her in middle school!” That was the kind of bullshit normal girls were supposed to care about, right?
My heart pounded in exactly the way I tried to make it look like it wasn’t doing while Peters’ walk gradually reverted to how it was before. Perfect. Ass successfully covered, I guess.
I couldn’t exactly break the act now though, could I? I had to seem like I actually wanted to spill all this on someone, anyone, him as I assumed he was prepared for. “And then Stephanie got wind of the whole thing and now she’s trying to go after him too. I mean … What?” I leaned in a bit closer to Agent Peter’s ear and projected a loud whisper. “Stephanie is such a troll-slut.”
As we walked, I continued to pull random names out of my ass and improvised petty drama for them to be wrapped up in. I didn’t actually have any friends with these names. I didn’t actually have friends wrapped up in drama like that. I didn’t actually… Have friends… Like… Progressing into an ever darker mental spiral, I lost track of the random nonsense coming out of my mouth.
Thankfully for all involved, Agent Peters finally interrupted me when we arrived at an old black scrap heap parked right outside the school entrance. “Alright Jessica, if you can hop in the rear seat, we’ll take off and get you to the Richmond FBI office and back before you know it.”
I completely lost my train of thought. What in the fuck was this now? I looked at the car door. I looked at Agent Peters. Back to the door. What even was this thing? I looked back at Peters. “Sooo… How exactly do I open the-”
“Oh!” With a jolt of realization, Peters reached for the little dangly thing hanging off the door. “Sorry Jessica, this is an old model. It doesn’t open on its own like the cars you’re used to. See? You have to pull this handle.”
And then it opened with a really awkward hinge on the side instead of the top. That was so stupid. I could tell at a glance how awkward it would be to open the driver’s side door now. Wait… Was this my chance?
No… No it was not. A second’s distraction did nothing for me here.
Taking the back-left car seat as directed, I tried not to look affected by where I was sitting. This was the first gas-powered vehicle I’d ever even seen. Let alone actually rode in.
As it started up, I immediately noticed a distinct difference in how much louder, smellier, and shakier this was than any ‘car’ I’d ever heard of. It even had an extra lever in the front. Must be a… What were they called again? ‘Rod Shift’? So on top of everything else, it didn’t even drive itself? What a piece of shit. This was why people were paying ten times the price of a good car? And it must’ve been such a massive pain in the ass to maintain this thing.
How did they even get the gas for it? Not like any of the old stations were still operating. Not even since before I was born. I officially did not get the hype. I’d be sticking to the cheaper cars with all the cool high-tech shit that didn’t melt any polar ice caps, thank you very much.
“Hello, Miss Simmons.” The unexpected noise came from the blond, mustached, middle-aged man sitting next to me.
Turning as though on a hinge, I saw that he was looking into my eyes with a grandfatherly smile.
At that moment, only three words came to mind. “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!” I felt like I was having a heart attack. I didn’t even notice him sitting down. Or was he there the whole time?
As soon as I yelled in surprise, two other things happened. First, the car started.
Second, the man continued placidly as though I hadn’t just screamed in his face. “I’m Agent Williams.”
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get over how identical he was to Peters driving in front of me. Suit? Big fat check. Haircut? Also check. Build..? Not quite… But even with the minor differences, it was like they were assembled at the same factory. They were such a close match for each other that I doubted I’d be able to remember enough distinguishing characteristics to describe later. Oh shit, was that the point? Oh fuck… This wasn’t helping.
Including the gun, I’d bet. The gun that was in his under-arm holster… The gun that Williams had in the same spot where Peters’ was reaching back in that hallway.
Right… After I slipped up. Oh shit. Was Peters ready to use that thing? Oh. Double shit. If I ran away like I was thinking, would I be dead? No. Don’t be stupid. We were at school. He would’ve threatened me with it at most. But… If I kept running?
In any case, that was pretty fucking extreme measures for someone who was ‘not in any trouble’. But what could I say? Right here, right now, what the fuck should I say? “Uh…” Fuck, what next? “Hi, Agent Williams.” Fuckfuckfuck! “How are…” FUUUCK!!! “You doing?” FFF-
Agent Williams’ smile only warmed. “I am doing very well. Thank you for asking, Miss Simmons.”
Oh for all the… Why did adults always do that? It wasn’t a compliment. In fact, he sounded like he was talking to a preschooler. Wait, did he realize that? Should I play into the role of someone who was offended by that? No, I was overthinking the conversation.
Queued by my total lack of contribution to said conversation, he eventually continued on his own. “Okay Jessica, let’s just rip the band-aid off and we can deal with everything at once. Sound good?”
Exerting way more effort than anyone should ever need to, I nodded.
Williams nodded back. “This is about your brother.”
I knew it. “WHAT HAPPENED???” Oh fuck me running. I was trying to exaggerate my outward anxiety to be more like a normal girl my age. But then he went and mentioned the thing underpinning it all. Leading to an over-exaggerated version of my real reaction, which would’ve already been over-the-top on its own. In other words, I yelled as loud as I could in a very small car. Ow. My ears and throat both hurt now…
“Woah there, put on the brakes.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
We began to pull over.
The blond man barked out a laugh into the palm he’d just maneuvered into his own face for some reason. Was that a pre-Collapse gesture? He seemed old enough that it could’ve been. “Not you, Agent Peters.”
The car sped back up.
Williams was still laughing, but it devolved into more of a light chuckle. “Nothing’s happened to Jameson. Not yet, anyway.” Williams made a calm-the-fuck-down-you-dumb-kid gesture. Or maybe I was just projecting. “First things first though.” He cleared his throat. “What do you know about your brother’s job?”
Okay, apparently I was doing this now. “He… Does rescue work?”
“Yes, exactly. Has he told you his plan for today?”
My stomach tied itself in a knot. “He doesn’t actually tell me all that much. We’re not actually all that close-” My throat closed up on its own. Well that… Hurt. It always did. Fuck, I hated my Shore Story. It was like stabbing myself to say that. I could barely even keep my own face under control.
Although, the pain-induced tears probably did help my case. “All I know is… He was going out on his boat today. Oh, and he’ll be back before the weekend.” Technically true. But a lie in all the ways that mattered.
One that Williams frowned when I told. “Unfortunately Jessica, we have reason to believe we can’t wait that long. I’m sure you know something that can help us get to him in time to stop what’s coming.”
Fuck me running. I’d been planning how to answer these kinds of questions all morning. But I never considered that I’d be telling them to a federal officer. Which… I still might not have. Gotta remember that.
No matter how good this guy’s act was. And if it was an act, he was a good actor. I noticed things. Even when I wasn’t actively trying. In fact, it was the reason I couldn’t seem to really talk to anyone other than James or Thomas. That much had always been out of my control. But when I actually tried to notice things?
I’d seen through Peters’ hand almost right away. And then I kept noticing more tells, even while he was driving.
“Hello? Earth to Jessica Simmons?”
But Williams? As far as I could tell, he hadn’t slipped up once. Not so much as a twitch at the wrong time. Wasn’t he in on whatever Peters was worried about? Well, whether it was an act, or he really was shooting straight with me, the fact remained that this guy was perceptive. I already knew I couldn’t trick him with obvious lies. I’d just have to try and sift out the vital information, and actually give him the non-vital stuff to distract from what I was leaving out.
Oh wait. Did he say something? Shit. “Sorry, I zoned out. What were you saying?”
For the first time, his smile faded. “Jessica, I truly must implore you to take this matter seriously. Your brother is in real danger here. For his sake, please be present, in the moment, with me, right now.”
Then he took out a notepad. Like with a real pencil and everything. I’d been known to do that in class. But this is Real Life. I’d never even seen someone use a pencil in Real Life. “Let’s just start with filling some holes in our information.”
He put his left hand on my right shoulder. Something about that skeezed me right the fuck out. I vehemently tried not to visibly react to it. “Think back, Jessica. Do you know where he docks his boat?”
I answered immediately. “Sure. Simmons Marina.” Too obvious for me not to know. Or them, for that matter. James’ whole thing was about hiding in plain sight. Was Agent Blondie testing me?
“Can you describe the boat for us? Be thorough. Any details you can remember could make all the difference.”
“Um… I’ve only seen it in photos.” I thought for a second. Heh… Who said I had to tell him only what he was asking? I was a teenage girl, after all. “Except, I did see it on the river once during a field trip. I mean who would expect him to just show up in front of my class when-”
“Miss Simmons.”
I winced. Both at the mental dot I just connected to Mr. Johansen, and his hand on my shoulder again.
He squeezed my shoulder obnoxiously. “The boat?”
Okay… Distractions apparently weren’t very welcome here. No tangents, then. “Right… Yeah, sorry. Well, I remember it’s about medium-size I think.” It was a Toyota Flux. 2120 model. I even helped him pick it out. In fact, I scoured the auction facebooks and found one ‘used’ for an amazing price. Probably because it was seized and bought for even cheaper at a police auction after being used for… The same thing it was being used for now, come to think of it.
Putting a finger to my lips, I kept being less helpful than I could. “It’s a light gray color. Almost like silver. But not as shiny.” It was gunmetal. I’d done that for him as a birthday present. I distinctly neglected to mention the big fucking crane I helped him add on to its left side. That’d be a little too much help, I think. At least until I knew what this was all about. “The wheel and the other controls were in this like… Partially-enclosed podium thingie?”
All that prep for today. All the quizzes James gave me on every last little detail. All the crap about probabilities of this or that happening. “And it’s got an inside.” All that without a single mention of the fucking FBI? Pretty big thing for him not to have seen coming. In fact, he wouldn’t have. “For sleeping and stuff?”
This… This couldn’t have been part of the plan. It was new… Even to my brother. “Kind of like a camper.” And something like that, we had prepared for. “I’m sorry, I’m getting kinda sweaty.” If one of us ran into an unexpected situation, the first priority… “Could we maybe crack a window?” Was escape.
Agent Williams nodded into the rearview mirror, through to Agent Peters in the driver’s seat. In a moment, our former class interrupter, current chauffeur, pressed a button.
All windows in the car lowered to about halfway.
He continued with a re-warmed smile.“That’s good, Jessica. You’ve been very helpful indeed. I wasn’t kidding before. Your brother’s in real danger. If the bad guys beat us to him…”
Agent Williams appeared to consider how best to say the next part. “Well, it’s important that we get to him first. Important enough that we took you out of school today.” Hand, shoulder, touching. Ew. Don’t flinch. “All major docks on the eastern seaboard know to look out for a boat matching your brother’s description, minus a few of your added details, with Virginia plates.”
He looked at me like he knew I would do anything to save my brother… It’s such a weird thing to come across in a look. “So far, nobody’s seen hide nor hair of any boat matching his numbers. Not since we put the word out a few hours ago.”
I still didn’t know whether these ‘FBI’ were our enemies… Allies? Yeah right… But maybe, hopefully, neither. Except I’d literally just concluded that we couldn’t be allies. So at best, they were an obstacle to avoid. At worst, they were a hostile entity to really, really avoid.
“That leads me to assume he’s still out doing his work.”
Finally, I spotted a hole in his logic. This seemed too obvious though… I even spotted it while barely listening. Was he testing me again? Fuck, I was already out of time before a lack of response became more suspicious than any response at all. “If everyone’s already looking for his boat, why do you need me?”
The blond FBI agent glanced down, into my eyes, seeming to really consider me for the first time. Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck, it wasn’t a test at all. That really was a bit too clever for an airhead teenager.
Eyeing me critically now, Agent Williams answered in a distracted monotone. “Virginia plates on a boat are uncommon enough to be worth noticing. That is, except when you’re actually in Virginia. So we, being in the only state where such a thing is commonplace, need enough info to ID the boat without that detail.”
Heart racing once more, I made myself look visibly mollified, but still obstinate about not admitting I was wrong. A complicated expression, but one I’d perfected on James over the years.
Williams looked satisfied with that. Good. Another fuck-up successfully reversed. But I couldn’t afford another mistake with either of these guys. I knew it was only a matter of time before even what little bullshit I’d managed was found out.
Meanwhile, despite my earlier assessment, this guy’s bullshit was downright overflowing.
If they were real federal agents, they would’ve talked to whoever owned the port. They would’ve gotten a warrant and looked up who was renting what space. Then, they would’ve immediately known its entire description. All without relying on the word of a stupid teenage girl. They shouldn’t have needed me. They wouldn’t… They… Didn’t need me, did they. Not for this. Not for Hashtag-Boatfacts.
But they’d made it a point to grab me anyway. From a preppy school for rich kids, no less. You didn’t just do that on a whim. Especially when ‘time is a factor here’. But they’d bothered taking that very oh-so-precious time to do whatever research, fill out whatever paperwork, and make whatever calls, to convince my school it was important. And now they had at least two guys babysitting me. Why would… Hold on a goddamned second. Was I a hostage?
“Oh my lord.” Raising a hand to his mouth, Williams held it there and sounded like he just remembered something important. “We picked you up from school just before lunch, didn’t we? You must be hungry.” He only just realized that? “Agent Peters, change of plans. Let’s stop for lunch before heading to The Office.”
Agent Peters nodded into the mirror. Wait, weren’t we supposed to be in a hurry? Since the flood, the US government was a shell of its former self. There was no way this was in the standard budget. Not the money-sucking car. Not the two clearly experienced agents on babysitting duty while thousands of investigations laid open in their publicly accessible backlog. Nor this alleged ‘lunch’. The real FBI wouldn’t waste that sort of manpower, time, or resources on any of this.
No. No, the entire point of this was probably just to lead me on with their own bullshit as long as they could until… What? Until after I needed to be gone, I’d bet. A willing captive was infinitely easier to deal with than an unwilling one. Right, James? That would explain all the weirdness with pulling me out of school in the middle of class just to take me to lunch. But they had to expect me to catch on eventually. And then… I was just a weak little girl, right? So maybe they’d try to-NOPE. Okay imagination, get right the fuck out of that gutter. There wasn’t really even a reason to go there. Think rationally…
There hadn’t been any real red flags that couldn’t be explained by my standard overthinking. Nothing obvious, anyway. Nothing about how pretty I was… Not that I was pretty. I had no illusions about being anything even approaching ‘in shape’. But… Agent Williams did touch me more than he probably needed to. Just the shoulder though. I mean I didn’t exactly enjoy the contact… But he seemed like he was actually trying to help me cope. It was stifling-uncomfortable, not skeevy-uncomfortable.
Okay, okay… Think through the conversation from his perspective…
Ew. Okay, no. No, no, no.
That shoulder shit wasn’t a thing you just did. Not unless… Nope, that line of thought still wasn’t about to get me anywhere good. I’d watch out for more advances though. Next time he tried, I’d raise the issue. And then I’d know for sure based on that reaction.
“So Jessica…” Speak of The Devil… Well, I guess I had just been sitting here, quietly judging him as the awkward silence intensified out of control. “Traffic seems to be acting like traffic today. So it looks like we’ve got some time to kill. But honestly… ‘Agent Williams’ is so formal. I hate it. Makes me feel old, you know?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “And, as I’m sure you’ll agree, I have enough reasons to feel old without also being called ‘Agent-Something’.”
He seemed to pause for a laugh that I was too freaked out to give him without definitely sounding psychotic.
So I didn’t.
Eventually, he came to terms with his self-deprecating joke falling flat. “Anyway, you can just call me Michael.”
Well I could take that any number of ways. Don’t jump to conclusions, now… Not like he knew what I was thinking. Just act disinterested and see if he pushed back.
“Have you played that new VR game yet? ‘Immortalia Online’, I think it was called.”
Son of a bitch. They really did know how to tempt me… “Nope. Sorry, video games aren’t really my thing.” And just like that, I told the second biggest lie of my life.
If I had one wish in the world, it would be for James to be safe. But a second wish would take me directly home. My bedroom door would be locked. And I would be behind it. My consciousness would be plugged into a plastic coffin. And I would be literally surrounded by enough junk-food to sustain me until the end of the world. All that… And absolutely nothing else but time on my hands. Oh, and also the new video game I’d been looking forward to forever. Without the ‘video game’ part, that image got pretty disturbing.
“Really?” Agent Williams seemed understandably taken aback by the least believable thing I could ever remember saying. “I asked because we happen to have a brand new copy at The Office. There’s a mountain of paperwork for us old-timers to do when we get back, but then we’ll have some more questions for you. In the meantime, I thought it would be a nice change of pace if you wanted to play it for a bit?”
Oooh… These guys were good. That sounded amazing. But… Come on. Stalling tactics didn’t get more obvious. What was Agent Michael-
Wait. He said ‘Michael’? His name was Michael? As in ‘Mikey’?
No, stop with the conclusion-jumping! That was a common name.
But the mustache… And the rest of the blond… And the height… And all this deception? And he… Oh my god, he matched James’ description of Mikey perfectly. The description James gave me in the process of commanding me to run far away if I ever so much as saw him. Oh fuck. OhfuckohfuckOHFUCK!!! “I mean that does sound like fun.” I fought with everything I had not to visibly react to the biggest red flag imaginable.
Okay, yeah. Change of plans… Obviously, change of plans. This could… Would land me in seriously deep shit. But I was out of other options. First and foremost, I had to get away from this guy as soon as I saw him. I even promised James that I would. And right after I promised I’d never break the promise James was about to ask me to make. Well, it was a bit late for that. But I didn’t know then. So I’d just have to settle for right the fuck now.
Okay. It was settled. Commence Operation Perv Escape.
No. That was stupid. God I sucked at names… I’d come up with something better.
But I was doomed from the start. Through everything that happened next, I never did come up with a better name.