“What? Seven—as in tonight at seven?”
He nodded his head and reached into his pocket. “Here is the up front.” He showed me five one-hundred dollar bills “All you gotta do is deliver this…” He again raised the envelope. “…to a man out on Highway 87 at a small truck stop.”
I hesitated.
He sighed loudly. “Look, I know it sounds strange, but it’s nothing dangerous or illegal, I assure you. Just a letter, plain and simple. High finance, no drugs or sedition. The plain truth is—I might lose my job for being late on getting this taken care of, you see?”
I relaxed a little. “Well now, that I can relate to.” I laughed. “I’m always late and always getting…” I decided he didn’t need to know any of that. “How do I know that you’ll pay me the rest?”
His smile dropped. “I will go back inside here…” He pointed at my building.
I turned my head to stare at Mr. Harvey who’d been watching us curiously through the plate glass window.
“Yes, I happened to be in the lobby and overheard your um…rent dilemma.” He nodded his head knowingly.
I turned and stared at him. “You sure do get around, don’t you? Yeah again, pretty creepy, mister.”
“I’m not a creep!” he defended as he pushed his glasses up along his nose again. “I’m just a little desperate. I need this to be done. I can pay you the money to solve your current situation. I mean you don’t want to be living on the streets.”
What the hell is happening here? I gazed all around, wondering if there might be a hidden camera. This could be some kind of YouTube prank or something. I mean it happened to people all the time. My gaze finally rested on the odd man again. Or some kind of con job? Damn, I’d had enough of that expression for sure. It’s one thing to be conned by someone who seemed normal like David had been. But this guy wasn’t any kind of normal.
Creepy cartoon man motioned his head toward the lobby of my building.
“Are you paying for my transportation?” I knew better than to leap and grasp at straws yet again, but that cardboard box kept looming in my mind. If I did this then I could pay my rent and have breathing room to find another job.
“Yep.” He gave me that funny lopsided grin again.
Chapter Two
Tucker
“Dammit!” I let out an oath and finally finished with my tie. It’d taken three tries at the knot and I still struggled to get it. I usually had no trouble with this kind of thing. Finally, it cinched and I stepped back to look at my reflection. Yeah, black, a good color to wear today. My dark hair and blue eyes matched the suit’s colors perfectly, but it was my mood that it really suited. Meeting with this buyer had already made a mess of my nerves. The Federal agent who approached me a week ago said they were very dangerous people. I straightened my shoulders as the whole situation hit me suddenly. I’m working for the FBI! I reminded myself yet again. It all felt so surreal.
Agent Moss just appeared in my office one day and asked me, “Do you love your country, Mr. Midland?”
I’d stared back at him and didn’t answer the question, instead I asked, “Do you love your face, cause I’m about to rearrange it, if you don’t explain why you broke into my office.”
After 2 days of harassment and some sweet talk of government contracts, they’d convinced me to go ahead and talk to this mysterious buyer. They put me in as undercover. All this chatter and trouble over a teeny-tiny piece of technology. A device which I never thought of as any kind of big deal, least of all to a super power government and the FBI. Tucker-Midland had its interest in all kinds of pots, so to speak. Mainly oil, transportation, communications and lastly…technology.
I’m actually Tucker Midland, the third. My name was the actual company name. It appeared on train trailer boxes, gas stations and natural gas trucks, along with an entire national truck line.TM was the biggest manufacturer of electronics in the entire Midwest. I’d inherited the name, wealth, the company and the headache that came along with it. Just as like my father did. All this money and I simply felt trapped every day of my life. I hated the social events, the stuffy board meetings, and the weight of billions of dollars crushing my soul.
I’d already been through a bad divorce ten years back. I never wanted a steady relationship again. After it happened… I’d paid whatever she wanted. I gave her everything she’d asked for and moved on the best that I could.
I’d dreamt of just being someone anonymous and maybe just live like a regular guy. Working 9 to 5… live in the burbs and be just like everyone else. Join a bowling team, have brewskis with the guys at a local bar every Friday night. To just be—Tucker Smith, the mechanic? Or, Tucker Brown, who worked at construction. Hell, I’d even settle for Tucker Jones who worked at the corner convenience store. At least then… My decisions would only affect myself and my life, not hundreds of stockholders, partners, subsidiaries and thousands of employees. Their benefits, their futures and their 401 K’s…all in my hands.