The Manifest

Chapter 7

     The big man sat in his car and chewed on an egg sandwich he had obtained from a local fast food joint on his way over. When you're doing surveillance, fast food was always the way to go as the grub was quick and always filled the tummy sufficiently to make sure he could stick to the task at hand. He continued to sit there and do nothing, but his patience always paid off because he was compensated very well to sit there and do as he was told. To pass the time, he always had on his favorite radio station, a sports network that did nothing but talk sports 24/7. No loud music to distract him, just voices which never kept him too distracted from the target. At the moment he was watching an apartment building, waiting for his objective to wake up and take off for work. Not the most glamorous job in the world, but he owed someone a favor and he was eager to pay that back.

     About an hour or two into his watch, he got a call on his cell. He turned down the radio and picked up the call, "Gibson here."

     "How goes the watch?" the voice on the other end asked.

     "It goes." he answered, "She hasn't left for work yet, and she should soon or she's going to be late. She might have to take a cab again if she takes any longer to get ready."

     "Well make sure you stay on her." the voice commanded, "I want a journal of all her actions and everywhere she goes today. I want to make sure she doesn't try to do what she did two days ago. If she does, I want a full list of everywhere she goes and everyone she talks to. Understood?"

     "Perfectly." the watcher responded, "How long do you want me to keep an eye on her?"

     "Just watch her while she's at work. I'll get someone to relieve you for the night again around five or six this evening." He paused for a moment, "I want to be informed if anything happens."

     "I'm not a rookie." Gibson chided back, "You'll hear from me if anything happens. But honestly; how long do you want to keep this up? I mean it's been two days since she talked to any PIs. There's a good possibility that she may have given up the cause."

     "Let's just say I want to be absolutely sure."

     "Hey, it's your money." he quickly responded, "I'll stay here for weeks, if you want me too. It'll help put my boys through college."

     "Excellent. I owe you one now." the voice said as the line disconnected. Gibson sat there for another half hour listening to the DJ whine about how crappy the hockey teams are before finally acquiring the target. He watched as Jessica Johnson emerged from the building and hailed a cab, as the watcher had predicted during his call. He slowly pulled out and followed after the cab got a decent head start. It wasn't like he needed to be close because he knew exactly where the cab was going.

     Just like yesterday, chances are Ms. Johnson was going back to work to make her living and move on with her life. While he was sure of this, the person asking this favor of him wasn't too sure and wanted to confirm this was the case. As the cab pulled up in front of her place of work like it had the day before, he pulled his car into the usual same spot and stopped for the day. He had magazines, his radio shows, and a lot of drinks in a cooler to keep the whistle wet. He sat there and watched Jessica as she paid the cabbie and entered the building less than five minutes before her shift was to begin. He knew this because he paid off someone to print the schedules of the entire staff for him. Asking for one name would have been too suspicious, so he took them all just to get the one he wanted. Knowing her schedule made it easy for him to keep track of her when she went on breaks and on her lunch. It also made it easier for him to take his own breaks, knowing that she was in the building and doing her thing. It wasn't easy, but the man on the phone was paying the bills so it was worth the effort. His day had just begun, but he was ready for anything that would come his way.