Jay stood atop the roof of the local gym. Actually, as far as his senses were aware, he wasn’t standing on a roof. He was flying.
The VR headset, a gift from Joe along with the drone it was linked to, blocked out the real world entirely. Now as the drone flew, though Jay could feel his fingers on the controls, it was as if he were the one in the air. Right now, as it swooped high above the park, he spotted Gary and felt his heart somersault. The man had been absent for days. Now he appeared again. Gary seemed to be going through some kind of pattern. Reading a book, looking out over the trees and wildlife, then a scroll through his phone. Eventually, just as Jay knew he needed to turn back or risk the drone losing power half way back, Gary rose and moved only to stop and sneeze. He leaned against a tree as he blew his nose then left, a square of checkered blue cloth falling from his pocket to land beside the tree. About a minute later, a man darted from the trees and scooped up the fabric, turned it over, then chucked it back in disgust before vanishing after Gary.
Jay felt his breath quicken, and he flew hastily back. It was still a strange feeling, even after so many days, to see himself standing on a roof. With careful movements, Jay landed the marvel of technology and removed his head gear.
Jay packed everything carefully and hid it in his usual spot. He had taken full advantage of Dave’s trips to the estate agents and the houses, making his own preparations to turn Carthage into a usable base. He already knew the names and faces of three of his tails and now felt he had a positive ID for Gary’s tail. Now, if his guess from this flight had been correct, Gary had left him a message, the handkerchief fallen by the tree. It had been a calling card they’d seen in an old movie they’d watched back when Jay was just an underling. They had made fun of it at the time, yet now Gary had used it to signal he’d be in touch. The fact that he hadn’t simply called Jay out was a good sign. It at least meant that Gary saw the need to be careful. All that remained to be seen now, was whether or not Gary was willing to work with him again and how they were going to meet without anyone noticing.
***
The next morning Jay woke up in the house Dave had bought. It was a good house. Not too big, but with enough room for them each to have their own space. It was out of the way, but not too far that any leads they wanted to chase would be tiresome to come by.
“Going to the gym again?” Dave asked as Jay entered the kitchen.
“Probably. There’s a good gaggle of gossipers there some mornings. I might hear something of use.” He began to potter about the kitchen.
“Anything come back to you yet? About those other fingerprints Natalie had put into the system but hadn’t managed to get anything back on?”
“No. I would have let you know. We’ve hit a stalemate otherwise.”
Dave frowned. “And if we have? What’s your plan?”
Jay threw him a sneaky grin. “Oh, don’t you worry, Dave, I have a plan. You just carry on getting everything you can on Lloyd’s men.”
“I bet you do. I’ve made decent headway. I should have a basic background run for each of them by tonight.”
Jay grinned. “Good. Then I can look at that. If my idea holds, I’ll let you in on the plan.”
Dave’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Oh, by the way, looks like Lloyd’s out of town. Left last night.”
Jay kept his reaction mostly hidden, only allowing his eyebrows to climb a short way up. “He seems to do that a lot. I wonder if we can get a tracker on him.”
Dave cast Jay a sly smile. “He might recognize you because of Gary, but I’d be willing to give it a go when he gets back into town if you like.”
Jay nodded. “Sounds like a plan. See you in a bit.”
***
Jay left the house and made his way toward the gym, wending through the park. It wasn’t the most direct route, but he wanted to afford Gary every opportunity he could, especially if Lloyd was out of town. Jay remembered the look on Dave’s face and shook his head, hoping to get beyond this part fast. He would like to feel free to make full use of Dave’s talents, but he knew better. He had to trust no one until he knew who was behind Lloyd.
Jay passed by a few houses then small businesses. He reached the gym building and reluctantly entered. He had hoped Gary would have gotten him, but was slightly glad the man hadn’t tried. After all, the man following him, who he’d picked up a few steps out from his front door, had never left him.
He booked in and went through his usual motions. Carthage wasn’t large enough for someone to tail him from activity to activity without it looking suspicious. So his tail never entered, only keeping an eye on the building and following when he was done.
Jay entered the stairwell and began his ascent. Perhaps if he could find out where Gary was, he might be able to accidentally-on-purpose bump into him on the way home.
He turned to climb the last flight and then spun in his heel to face the person who had begun following him three flights ago.
Gary Peters jumped, lost his footing, and only just caught himself. “Christ.”
Jay bit back a laugh, knowing it would only anger Gary. “My apologies, but I have been followed every
