The Manifest

Chapter 39

     There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. Edgar was well aware of the bomb he just dropped on the old man. Hopefully his heart would handle it so they could discuss it further. Norsberg, as the PI could tell, was a man of many words so to keep him so silent for this long was quite a feat. Edgar was a little surprised how long it was taking the old man to respond. This was, after all the result he was paying him to achieve. Perhaps it was the speed of his discovery that made it so surprising. He must have expected Edgar to look around for months, maybe even come back with his hand out for additional funds before coming back with an actual result.

     "Can you confirm her identity?" he finally asked when he was able to regain himself.

     "Not officially, but she did admit to being the person we're looking for. It's something to go with for now." Edgar quickly consulted his watch, "I'm going to get Jerome to look into official finger printing and maybe some DNA testing when we get back, which we could start in a few hours now."

     "That was actually the reason for my call." Norsberg suddenly interrupted, "Your hideaway above the Thai restaurant has been exposed and raided. It's no longer a secure option."

     "How do you know this?" Edgar asked, stunned by this revelation.

     "After what happened with poor Mr. Tuck, I made sure your new locale was staked out so that I could help in anyway I could." Norsberg responded with a sigh, "Unfortunately, there were too many bad guys at your base for us to risk trying to go in to save your people."

     "What happened to them?" Edgar demanded, his temper getting the best of him.

     "They've been arrested. Your computer geek was smart enough to make sure he was apprehended in public, so he and Ms. Johnson are in custody. I have a feeling their safety is more than guaranteed now that you have one of their relocated passengers in your possession." The old man said, processing the situation, "Right now you have the bigger bargaining chip, gamble with them wisely my boy."

     "I'll do my best." Edgar replied, "We're obviously going to find another location to camp out. I'll get in contact with you when we're settled in."

     Edgar closed the phone. As he walked back to the truck, he kicked the side of the truck about have a dozen times in complete frustration. Devon jumped out of the truck, and walked up,

     "Headquarters has been compromised," Edgar informed his driver. "They've arrested Jerome and Jessica."

     "I know." Devon said, not surprised, "Moth was out getting a slice of pizza when it happened; she called me over an hour ago."

     "And when were you going to enlighten me with that particular development?" Edgar asked, obviously angered by his holding out.

     "Well, I was just going over that right now." Devon admitted, "It was going to be on the road, definitely before we dropped off Cyrus and his men."

     "Well thanks for filling me in. This changes everything!" Edgar was furious as he took another swift kick into the side of the truck.

     Suddenly the door to the back opened and slammed rather quickly. Cyrus, obviously confused by the pounding sounds on the side of the truck, came out with a mean look on his face.

     "What the hell is going on out here?" Cyrus snapped, eager to express a little frustration of his own.

     "Our location has been compromised." Edgar replied. He paused for a moment and came up with an idea, "We're gonna have to stash these people at your place for a while."