There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. Edgar was well aware of the bomb he just dropped on the old man. Hopefully his heart would handle it so they could discuss it further. Norsberg, as the PI could tell, was a man of many words so to keep him so silent for this long was quite a feat. Edgar was a little surprised how long it was taking the old man to respond. This was, after all the result he was paying him to achieve. Perhaps it was the speed of his discovery that made it so surprising. He must have expected Edgar to look around for months, maybe even come back with his hand out for additional funds before coming back with an actual result.
"Can you confirm her identity?" he finally asked when he was able to regain himself.
"Not officially, but she did admit to being the person we're looking for. It's something to go with for now." Edgar quickly consulted his watch, "I'm going to get Jerome to look into official finger printing and maybe some DNA testing when we get back, which we could start in a few hours now."
"That was actually the reason for my call." Norsberg suddenly interrupted, "Your hideaway above the Thai restaurant has been exposed and raided. It's no longer a secure option."
"How do you know this?" Edgar asked, stunned by this revelation.
"After what happened with poor Mr. Tuck, I made sure your new locale was staked out so that I could help in anyway I could." Norsberg responded with a sigh, "Unfortunately, there were too many bad guys at your base for us to risk trying to go in to save your people."
"What happened to them?" Edgar demanded, his temper getting the best of him.
"They've been arrested. Your computer geek was smart enough to make sure he was apprehended in public, so he and Ms. Johnson are in custody. I have a feeling their safety is more than guaranteed now that you have one of their relocated passengers in your possession." The old man said, processing the situation, "Right now you have the bigger bargaining chip, gamble with them wisely my boy."
"I'll do my best." Edgar replied, "We're obviously going to find another location to camp out. I'll get in contact with you when we're settled in."
Edgar closed the phone. As he walked back to the truck, he kicked the side of the truck about have a dozen times in complete frustration. Devon jumped out of the truck, and walked up,
"Headquarters has been compromised," Edgar informed his driver. "They've arrested Jerome and Jessica."
"I know." Devon said, not surprised, "Moth was out getting a slice of pizza when it happened; she called me over an hour ago."
"And when were you going to enlighten me with that particular development?" Edgar asked, obviously angered by his holding out.
"Well, I was just going over that right now." Devon admitted, "It was going to be on the road, definitely before we dropped off Cyrus and his men."
"Well thanks for filling me in. This changes everything!" Edgar was furious as he took another swift kick into the side of the truck.
Suddenly the door to the back opened and slammed rather quickly. Cyrus, obviously confused by the pounding sounds on the side of the truck, came out with a mean look on his face.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Cyrus snapped, eager to express a little frustration of his own.
"Our location has been compromised." Edgar replied. He paused for a moment and came up with an idea, "We're gonna have to stash these people at your place for a while."
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"Whoa!" Cyrus yelled, someone surprised, "You can't bring those people there! Give me one good reason why I should let you harbor what might be kidnapped federal agents at my compound?"
Edgar could tell by the look on his face that Devon couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cyrus was usually a pretty stand up guy when it came to helping out a bud, so to hear him with just an ounce of doubt was disturbing. Edgar on the other hand wasn't in the mood to argue about it.
"Just one?" Edgar asked, "I can give you seven hundred and fifty thousand reasons why you should be a good host and welcome us into your home. Comprede, kemosabe?"
Cyrus paused for a moment to ponder the offer. Edgar had just tripled his original fee in exchange for shelter for him, his crew and prisoners. Chances are if their stay were an extended one, Cyrus could also milk more money out of his very loaded financier. It was a lot of money, but as he was thinking about it the decision was made for him when there was a chorus of knocks originating from inside the truck. It seems the crew was very interested and wanted to take the offer.
Cyrus took a deep breath and nodded, "Alright, but I'm driving from here on. No one will let you near the gate unless I'm behind the wheel."
"We're going to straight to the compound now?" Devon responded, slightly confused, "Shouldn't we go back to the rendezvous where we all met up in the first place?"
"No." Cyrus quickly snapped back as he took the keys from Devon.
"He's right," Edgar agreed, "With Jerome in custody, that location could be compromised as well. Going to Cyrus' place was never part of the plan, so going straight there will be the best course of action for now. That will give us a moment to get our bearings and come up with a new plan."
"Don't worry about the rendezvous, bud." Cyrus said as he strolled over to the driver's side of the truck, "I don't care about that old clunker anyway. I never take a good vehicle to a meeting point for this exact reason. The car is clean and untraceable. If Edgar's side has been compromised, it's best we abandon the original plan and move right on to plan B. I want that money wired to my account ASAP."
Edgar nodded, "I can take care of it the minute we get there." he made a motion to Devon, "Hop in the back for now. We want to keep the lady and the two detainees apart for the time being. Devon did as he was told and a hopped into the back of the truck with the rest of the men. A few moments later, Cyrus took the wheel and Edgar sat back down beside Mrs. Johnson. Once they were back on the road and moving towards their new destination, Edgar turned to face Mrs. Johnson and break the bad news.
"I'm sorry about this," Edgar started, "But there's been a change in plans. Your reunion with Jessica is going to be delayed."
"For how long?" She asked, obviously a little disappointed.
"I'm thinking a day, maybe two." Edgar said, trying to be as honest as he could. He was not sure if he would even be able to contact the people who have Jessica much less negotiate for her release. This was going to be a very sticky situation to get through.
"That's alright." she responded with a warm smile, "It's been over five years, another day or two isn't too bad. Just the hope you've brought to me today will be enough to help me get through."
"Thanks." Edgar said as he used his arm to give her a half hug. Considering what she's been through this must be very liberating for her, "Try to stay under the limit. The last thing we want to do is draw... oh, shit!" Edgar leaned forward to look at the sight that took his attention. Coming in the opposite direction were several black cars, all with flashing lights on top of them to indicate their authority, screaming down the highway. Edgar rolled down the window and stuck his head out to watch them fade into the background and disappear, "Damn, they're hauling ass."
"First response?" Cyrus said with a nervous tone.
"Seems reasonable to me, especially since they're in a hurry to get to where they're going." Edgar said still watching, "I think they're on their way to the house to find out why their men are not responding."
"That's not surprising." Cyrus said, "We should assume that they picked up a call from one of the people in the neighborhood. I'm sure one of them called in concerned about our little Mexican standoff."
Cyrus kept checking the mirror to his left to make sure none of those lights turned around to follow them. Once he was sure there was no one coming, he picked up a little speed to get to his highway exit as quickly as possible.
"How long will it take for us to get to the compound?" Edgar asked, now a little concerned for time.
"It's not too far from here. An hour, two tops." Cyrus answered, but he was determined to cut that down as fast as possible. He knew the area and the speed traps so that wouldn't be a problem.He was a little iffy about taking them to the compound, but his history with Edgar was always kept hush hush so it would be hard for the man to link him to the PI. Security was never going to be an issue as well, so Cyrus was confident he was in control for the time being and sped closer to their new destination and towards his now much heftier payday.