The Manifest

Chapter 45

     Jerome and Jessica hadn't seen each other in what seemed like days but was only a paltry twelve hours. Mr. Carlson had raided the cafeteria and had the guards bring three platters of whatever was being served that day for them all to eat on one of the interrogation rooms. As agreed, Jessica and Jerome were able to eat together and talk to one another for the first time since their capture. Carlson ate with them, to not only prove the food wasn't tainted, but to listen in on what they were saying in case they made any proverbial slips and let out something that could indicate where they could find Edgar and their people. His strategy didn't seem to be working too well as the two of them didn't speak often and concentrated on their food. It didn't matter too much anyway because Jerome's cell phone started to buzz and ring in his coat pocket. There was no doubt it was Willis as the number wasn't appearing on the display. He looked back up at his dinner guests,

     "Excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back." he stepped up from the table and walked out the door. As he closed the door behind him he whispered to the guard to his left, "Increase the sensitivity of the mics in the table in case they try to sneak something by us." The guard nodded and moved to the other room to pass the orders. Carlson took a few more steps down the hall and then opened the phone, "I was beginning to wonder when I was going to hear from you again, Mr. Willis."

     "I apologize for that," Edgar's voice responded, "But I had to make sure the line was secure so we could chat without any outside interference."

     "Alright." Carlson acknowledged, "Now that we are talking, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out what I want."

     "No it doesn't." Edgar confirmed, "So you want your men back. I think a two for two swap sounds good to me."

     "I want the woman as well." Carlson immediately chipped in, "If she's no included, there's no deal."

     "I don't think you understand the position you're in. Not only do we have one of your 'residents', but we have two of your goons who have provided us with some interesting intel that would make for good reporting. I have a buddy at the New York Times that would kill for some of this stuff. It's got Pulitzer written all over it." Edgar let that sink in for a moment before continuing, "I'm sure you realize why I want to keep her. She is after all the objective of my assignment."

     "No offense, but she's part of mine as well." Carlson said, not budging an inch on this issue, "If you don't include her in the trade, we have nothing further to discuss."

     "I understand, but you have to realize what position this puts me in. I have a job to do as well." Edgar continued, "My employer requires some sort of satisfaction for what he's paying for. I'm willing to consider your terms, but I think we need to settle the smaller details in person."

     Carlson was slightly surprised by this request, but decided to play along "I assume you had a location in mind?"

     "As a matter of fact I do." Edgar answered, "Grab a pen and I'll give you the information right now."

     Carlson took out a pad and started to write down the specified location, "You're still in Washington?" he admitted, rather surprised.

     "I will be that day." Edgar chided back, "Make sure you are at this location or you can kiss any kind of deal being made good bye."

     "Smart choice for our meeting," he confessed, as he wrote it down. "Very public and with many exit points. Since you have something I want, I can assure you that I have no intention of trying to apprehend you. I want this to be a fair deal, and to assure that I'll go alone as requested."

     "I appreciate that, as would my employer." Edgar said as he seemed very cautious about giving anymore details than that.

     "Is he going to be attending?" Carlson asked trying to make sure what was going on here.

     "He's not very mobile." Edgar responded, "So you'll have to settle for little ol' me instead. I don't have much time left so we'll end things here. We'll meet at the specified location at noon. We'll do lunch."

     Carlson was going to respond with his own witty retort, but the line went dead too quickly. He turned the phone off and slipped it back into his pocket. He looked back at his notepad and stared at the address he had been given from Edgar. Was it a setup, or was Edgar merely eager to meet his adversary? His reasons for requesting this face to face was irrelevant. If this is what he needed to do to get his people and the resident back, he was going to make sure Edgar was satisfied to agree to his terms. He walked back towards the room where Jessica and Jerome were eating but instead walked into the room that was watching them through a one way mirror. He softly closed the door behind him.

     "Have they said anything we could use?" he asked.

     "No sir." one of the people listening in said, "All they've talked about was how they've been treated and what they should do. Jerome seems sure a trade is in the works and is informing her to remain patient."

     "Alright." Carlson said, "Keep listening and keep an eye out for anything. I'm going to go in and see if I can pry something out of them."

     Carlson walked out of the room and then walked back into the room where Jerome and Jessica were still eating. He seemed all smiles as he sat down at the table with them and resumed eating his own meal.

     "I just spoke with your boss." he said casually trying to act as if everything went as he expected it to, "He didn't say much and set plans to talk at a later time."

     "Paranoia is something you develop when working on cases like this." Jerome replied without looking up, "If Edgar has who I think he has, which I think he does since you're talking to him and offering us up as bait... then he's a tad more paranoid than he was when he started this case. It means he likely doesn't trust you. He probably asked for a public face to face negotiation, didn't he?"

     Carlson tried to keep his cool, aware that Jerome was trying to get him to show his hand far too early, "I'm not surprised, and I wouldn't mind a face to face myself. It gives me an idea of who I'm dealing with. Intel I'm obviously not going to get from you."

     "What more do you need to know?" Jerome asked now playing with his food since he was full, "He's an ex-cop that is in uncharted territory. He's likely questioning anything he's ever believed from JFK right down to the theories of how life came to be. Because of that, Edgar is likely the most unpredictable he's ever been. Have fun with that."

     Jerome cracked a smile, knowing that he had probably put the fear of God into his captor. Carlson didn't like where this conversation was going and excused himself from the room. Since he had a date with the man holding his people, hanging out with Jerome and Jessica seemed to be a useless task. As he left the room one of the guards asked what they should do with the two prisoners in the room. He paused for a moment to ponder the question.

     "Leave them in there to finish eating," Carlson said. "He got us in contact with Willis so we should keep our word to him."

     "For how long, Sir?" one of his men asked.

     "Give them another hour, see if any of them slip up." Carlson said, "If they don't, return them to separate cells until they're needed again."

     "Yes, Sir." The mans aid, turning back to watch and listen to the two prisoners as they ate their meal.

     After that Carlson left for his office to update his superiors about his contact and negotiations with Edgar Willis, but also to make plans for his trip to the capital.