‘Relax, every phone can be tracked these days,’ Cole jumped in to explain before I would jump at Ferris’s throat because of the intrusions.
How was I supposed to know? My last phone looked like it came straight out of a wall. It didn’t even have a touchscreen. Pretty sure a tracker was off books for that one.
‘Cole and I will wait outside along with a couple of my men. Just for backup in case anything goes wrong,’ Brax was sharing an aspect we didn’t discuss before. Sure, extra security measurements should have given me some peace of mind. But should Brax have the motive to be breaking into the governor’s house, what could that action really lead to? Everything would be out in the open. Everything would be lost!
‘I don’t want backup. It could jeopardize everything.’ I spoke having considered the alternatives.
Though Cole didn’t seem to agree, ‘Did you notice the part where we didn’t ask?’
‘I’m not letting you risk everything. I’ll be fine.’ I wasn’t going to let it drop.
But then again, I didn’t have a choice. ‘It’s not negotiable, Bea,’ Brax placed his glass on the table, ‘me and Cole will handle this part. You two handle the rest.’
‘Therestisn’t entirely finished. I need a few extra hours to put some programs on Bea’s phone and sync a few bits so we will be good to go. I guess I’ll be ready later this evening,’ Ferris stood up, heading for the door, ‘Bea, drop by in a few hours to get your phone,’ he spoke with the same unusual tone, then disappeared somewhere into the lobby.
‘That’s that. I should get going,’ Cole also decided to leave ‘We’ll meet tomorrow, Brax.’
‘Hold on,’ I called out to him, not before I walked to Brax and asked him for asecret little favor. ‘Walk me to the car,’ I almost ran after Cole the second I was done since being alone with Brax in the same room didn’t seem like a good option at the time.
‘Now I’m the good guy?’ Cole asked with a hint of sarcasm lingering in his words as we walked back through the hallway.
Come to think about it, if choosing out of the three of them, Cole was thegood guy.But I wasn’t going to ever admit that. ‘You’ve just chosen to play a different type of game with yourtoy,’ I answered, getting back into the car that was expecting me but without waiting to see if he had something to add.
I spent the next few hours playing Monopoly with Nat and Seb. Strange how it seemed more like a preparation for life and not really a game this time around. Maybe I’d been spending too much time with Ferris and Brax because the road to Boardwalk didn’t seem to be paved with gold anymore.
It was almost around midnight when I tucked Seb in, and strangely, I hadn’t received a sign from Ferris yet. I decided to call him, though without getting an answer. Something was off again, and I was getting tired of things beingoffwith Ferris, but this time I needed him more than ever. It wasn’t even a choice, he was an essential piece of the puzzle. I needed my phone by tomorrow and I had to make sure everything was going to plan.
I decided to go and pay him a second visit, even if every sign was advising me against it. And if the signs weren’t enough, then a verbal warning from Alfred should have made me come to my senses.
‘Ferris is.... not up to receiving visitors,’ the man spoke, opening the door.
If only I had ears to listen. ‘I need to talk to him. Sorry Alfred, but I can’t havenofor an answer this time.’
‘Miss Bea, he’s not well.’ A second warning that flew straight by my ears.
‘When was he everwell?’ I smiled, passing by Alfred and heading to the stairs.
Turns out, that this time he wasn’twellat all and I recognized it the instant I entered the room. Smashed furniture and shattered glass was everywhere I looked. Like a typhoon swept through the whole place, utter destruction down to the last piece of what that room stood for. All warnings of the disaster that lay within him.
Despite the devastation, my phone seemed to be laying on the couch. It was still in one piece. That came both as a surprise and also a relief since we needed it tomorrow. If it was ready.
‘Take it. I’ve finished,’ Ferris’s voice echoed from a dark corner of the room. All the lamps were broken and all the candles spilled so I couldn’t really notice him there, to begin with.
‘Did you install everything?’ I asked, trying to get a better look at his face.
‘Yes. All should be good now,’ he answered, but without moving from the spot he was at.
‘You have your own meeting with the governor in the morning to talk about funding. Are you ok to do that?’ I asked, knowing I couldn’t leave him, not before I knew he had fully calmed down. His meeting became irrelevant in the meantime since I was going in to search for anything we could find, but we did need a backup plan in case something went wrong on my end.
‘Do I not seem ok?’ He asked as a fine irony.
‘No... You don’t. What’s going on?’ I took a step towards him, walking into the lion’s den.
‘Redecorating,’ he drove his head backward to support it on the wall behind him as I was getting close enough to distinguish the shape of his body.
‘Just don’t register to Architecture school any time soon.’
‘What is it that you really want, Bea?’ I could see the red sparkles of his cigarette lighting a cloud of smog as he had a drag.
