The Manifest

Chapter 49

     The following night came faster than anyone really wanted it to. Edgar's decision to give everyone as little prep time as possible paid off because his own people watching the front of the mall didn't see any activity that would suggest a double cross. Carlson's confession of bugging the entire coffee shop the night before with scramblers to prevent any recordings made tonight the perfect time to pull off the trade. Zero notice for prep and he had someone watching the spot ever since he left the building and there had been no activity around the main entrance. With so many people coming and going through this entrance, it would be hard to do any kind of work like that without scaring up some suspicion which is the last thing Edgar thinks Carlson wants while one of his residents is still at large. He had his own people come in early and set up. Devon and Cyrus were a bit surprised by his decision to go tonight, but they knew he must have had a good reason to pick that time. It was rather last minute, but that seemed like the best way to keep everyone off their game. Edgar wouldn't have set it so soon if he didn't have confidence his people would be all right with it and he was correct to think that. Devon got into town rather quickly with their captives and was ready to make the deal once he gave the signal.

     Given the impression he got from Carlson, he wasn't anticipating anything funny because what he had was too sensitive to mess around with. Once the 'resident' was stashed away and back behind the iron curtain, all bets would be off after that. Edgar arrived at the mall alone in a rental car around fifteen minutes before the time set and this time Carlson wasn't early as he had been in the coffee shop. He didn't have to wait long, as just a few minutes after he parked in front of the main doors, another car all the way and the other end of the lot turned on its lights and slowly pulled up. It was a van, and its black coat made it hard to notice when Edgar made his approach. As he watched the vehicle approach, Edgar would have been the first to admit he was a little nervous. Not shit your pants kind of nervous but worried enough to take precautions to make sure that he himself didn't become a future 'resident' as well. A few moments later, the van came right over and eventually stopped ten feet short of Edgar's car and parked as well, but left the lights on for a little illumination. Just after coming to a stop, Mr. Carlson stepped out of the van's front passenger seat and slowly strolled over. Edgar walked up and greeted his current nemesis.

     "Nice night for a trade, isn't it?" Edgar said as he walked up, "Not too warm and yet not too cold either."

     "I agree, a nice night for an exchange." Carlson said as he stopped five feet short of where Edgar was standing, "Before we start this thing, I have some Intel I need to pass your way."

     "Concerning what?" Edgar demanded, not in the mood for surprises.

     "It's concerning the demise of Mr. Tucker and your workers." Carlson answered, "I wanted to let you know that the person responsible for it has been apprehended and taken into our custody."

     "Was this person one of your people?" Edgar questioned, eager to see how much info the man was willing to give out for him.

     "He was," Carlson confirmed, "But what he's done over the last few weeks was without our knowledge or permission. Once we figured out what was going on, we acted quickly to neutralize him and any future actions he was planning against you. He will no longer be a problem for anyone. I just thought you might want to know that it was taken care of."

     "I appreciate that," Edgar said as he digested the information. He knew Carlson didn't have to tell him that and keep denying it till he was blue in the face. Yet if he was telling the truth and since it was one rogue in the group knocking people off, it was nice to know he wasn't at large anymore.

     "I also want you to know that I rarely if ever take someone's life when working any operation." Carlson began, "I don't take actions like that unless I've exhausted every other option at my disposal, and believe me I have a lot of them. To me the perfect operation is when everyone is alive and oblivious to what is going on. I've conducted some of the world's biggest black ops miracles, but the reason why you know nothing about them is because no one was hurt in the process. I try to avoid violence as much as possible. I didn't not authorize the killing of your people, and am sorry for the unnecessary loss of life in this matter."