“Don’t?”
“Keep Eden out of this. Cancel the delivery, I-I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Consider it done, Jeff.” A muffled sound as he covered the phone with his hand, and then: “Now, I believe you and I have an appointment, yes?”
“Yes.”
“You know where to find me,” Hope said evenly. “I’ll be waiting.”
The line clicked, died.
And in that moment, in many ways, so did Jeff McGrath.
7
Still badly shaken, Jeff fired up their computer and plugged both Foster Hope and International Facilitator, Inc. into numerous search engines. They returned no information on either. Foster Hope simply resulted in several plays on the words and websites for various charities in which the word ‘hope’ was used in their name or information. International Facilitator, Inc. led to several management consulting firms, international businesses and the like, but nothing by that name and nothing that indicated the company even existed. He next tried Jessica Bell, but because it was such a common name it returned literally hundreds of hits. He checked several, but none were her.
After walking the apartment, replaying everything in his mind and trying to figure out what to do, Jeff finally decided to go see Craig first. He obviously had no choice but to keep his appointment with Foster Hope, or another disc would certainly be delivered to Eden before the day was through, but he and Craig had been friends a long time and Jeff knew he could confide in him. Maybe he’d know what to do. A clear-headed, objective opinion of everything that was taking place was needed, and Craig could provide him with that.
Disc in hand, he hurried down the stairs and out the building. He looked around for the homeless man but he was nowhere to be found.
His cryptic warning still lingered in Jeff’s mind, only now it had taken on even greater sinister meaning. You should stay away from her. “The one fucking time I want him to be here,” he mumbled, “he listens to me and stays gone.”
Jeff hopped in his car and pulled out, heading for Braintree, a town neighboring Boston Craig and his family had moved to a few years prior. As he moved through the midmorning traffic and headed out of the city, his mind raced uncontrollably with one frenetic thought after the next.
What the hell’s happening? Who are these people and what do they want with me? Why me? I didn’t-why did I do this? Why did I go to that hotel room with Jessica? What the fuck was I thinking? Eden, I’m so goddamn sorry, I-what am I going to do? What does Hope want?
And what’s with that creepy video? How could he and that other guy have been in the room? How could they-and the whole bit about dialing the phone and then mine ringing was obviously meant to frighten me and make it all seem-but no, it’s not even possible, none of this is. I would’ve seen them in the room, they-did they alter the tape maybe?
There are all sorts of programs now where you can-I-wait-did they drug me? Could Jessica have drugged me, put something in my breakfast maybe? Did I leave the table at any point? No, I didn’t, I-could she have slipped something in my juice or coffee or-no-this is crazy.
It’s all a setup. I’ve been the mark from the start, but why? None of it makes any sense. For Christ’s sake, I’m a salesman, what could they possibly want with me?
Just moments from the city, Jeff soon found himself barreling through the streets of Braintree. He’d tried calling Craig’s cell and home phones to let him know he was coming and needed to talk, but both went directly to voicemail, so he could only hope he was home and had simply missed the calls.
When Jeff turned at the top of Craig’s street he was relieved to see his car parked in front of the house, a modest raised ranch in a quiet working-class neighborhood. As he pulled in alongside Craig’s car, he noticed Katy, Craig’s wife, was in the passenger seat, and their two kids were in the back.
He waved. Katy returned it with an awkward, embarrassed, almost apologetic wave of her own then looked away as Jeff pulled into their driveway and stepped from the car.
Lugging a suitcase, Craig stumbled out the front door of the house. He froze when he saw Jeff. “What are you…what are you doing here?” he asked, voice shaking. He looked back in the direction Jeff had come, as if expecting someone else to pull in behind him.
“I need to talk.” Jeff hurried across the small lawn. “I’m in trouble.”
“I can’t.” He locked the door and checked the street again, his face a tapestry of panic and fear. Of average height, with dark red hair and a matching mustache, Craig normally possessed an extremely laid-back demeanor, but he was clearly terrified, something had frightened him beyond anything Jeff had ever before witnessed. “We’re going away for a few days before I start the new job.”
“Did you hear what I just said?” Jeff blocked his way. “I need to talk to you, man. I’m in some serious shit.”
“Yeah, I…” Craig nervously ran a hand up over his face, across the top of his head and down to the back of his neck. “I gathered, but I can’t.”
“You gathered?”
“Just leave me out of it. This has nothing to do with me.”
“What happened? What’s wrong with you?”
“Look, whatever it is you’re mixed up in, I want nothing to do with these people. I want no part of this.”
Fear crawled up Jeff’s back and nested at the base of his skull.
Hope and his people were going after his friends now? This was insane. How did they even know about Craig?
The application… the reference…
“I don’t believe this,” he muttered. “This cannot be happening.”
Craig tried to get around him then thought better of it. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into-and I don’t want to know-just leave me alone, OK?”
“ Leave you alone? What the hell are you talking about? Did someone threaten you? What happened?”
“Please, I’ve got to get out of here.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Craig’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. “I have a wife, I-I’ve got kids.” He leaned closer. “ Children, you hear me?”
“Who frightened you like this? What did they do? I need to know.”
“I can’t talk to you, I-they could be watching right now, they-they told me they were watching.”
“Who did?”
“You tell me. What’s wrong with you? You’re working with these people? I know times are tough but-”
“No, I’m working with you, remember?”
Craig tried to shoulder by. “I have to go.”
“Hey,” Jeff said, grabbing his arm. “I am working with you, right?”
“They told me you worked for them. I’m not about to interfere with that.”
“I need that job, Craig, don’t-”
“Goddamn it!” He yanked his arm free, dropped the suitcase and squared his stance. “I didn’t want a scene in front of Katy and the kids. Just let me go before this gets out of hand.”
“What are you going to do, hit me? You’re my best friend.”
“Get out of my way, Jeff. Please.”
“I need your help. I’ve got nowhere else to turn.”
“They said they’d hurt my family. My family, do you understand?”
“Jesus Christ,” he sighed, hands on his head. “I’m sorry, I never meant for any of this to touch you. I fucked up. Bad. Real bad. I got into something I didn’t mean to and-I don’t even understand what’s happening myself or how you got involved, but-”
