James
443 Words
James
I can’t do anything. I could scream and rage, howling my fury at the world.
But I settle for sitting, keeping my silence.
Klempner sits too, surveying me, eyes narrowed, when…
My phone blinks in his hand, an incoming message.
Fuck!
Klempner whips out, tapping at the flashing screen. He curses as it still doesn’t unlock. But he offers up the phone to me, showing me the preview before it blinks off. “Your friend Michael is worried. You haven’t contacted him and he wonders if you’re alright. Wouldn’t you like to speak to him?”
Fuck you…
But I keep the thought to myself and my lips sealed.
Then he touches his ear again… That strange gesture…
After a moment, “I’d say you're about to get a call.”
How...?
He tosses the phone across and as my fingers snap around it, it rings.
Michael...
Ah, crap...
And I feel stupid beyond belief. How could I have missed it?
There was never a spy.
Fucking obvious…
Michael’s voice is quiet, whispering. “James, are you alright? I expected…”
“Michael, your car’s bugged...”
“What… James, how…?”
“Klempner, he’s got your car bugged. He’s here now. He’s been listening to you on an ear-piece.”
I expect him to leap forward, snatch the phone from me. At the least to have me gagged. But he doesn’t.
Why is he letting me speak?
Instead, Klempner slow-claps. “I knew you had it in you, James. That you’d get there eventually. Now, put the phone on speaker.”
I jab to disconnect but moving like a striking snake, Klempner plucks the mobile from my hand and taps on the speaker button. “Michael, so pleased to hear from you…”
Michael blurts out, “James, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Nothing hurt beyond my dignity.”
… Yet…
“Really fine?”
“Really fine. Shaken but not stirred.”
“James…” Panic rings through his voice.
Doesn’t know what he can safely say…
“… I’m still trying to get to them. Ben’s looking but he hasn’t found them yet.”
Ben?
Where’s he sprung from?
“… Has Klempner got them?”
Klempner breaks in. “Michael, I know you haven’t found the women nor has your brother. And no, I don’t have them, but it’s only a matter of time before one of my men tracks them down.”
“If you hurt Charlotte, you bastard, I’ll not rest until…”
“I’ve not gone to all this trouble to hurt anyone. I’ve been trying to find Mitch for over twenty years. I want to talk to her.”
“Oh, right.” Michael drips derision. “Charlotte too I suppose. A nice friendly conversation between father and daughter.”
“We’ve had a few of those over the last few months, haven’t we? And she’s Mitch’s daughter too.”
“You knew she was Mitch’s daughter all along. That didn’t stop you from…”
I shout, loudly to be sure he hears me. “Michael, shut the f**k up and cut the call.”
The mobile goes dark.
*****
- Writer
