The Actor

Simon to the rescue?

Simon

"Hello, Jenny. Hello, Chris."

Chris looked his confusion. "Do I know you?"

"Simon, what are you doing here?"

"I've come to save you. Before you do something you'll regret."

"Uh, okay." She frowned. "How did you know I was here?"

"I'm an agent of the surveillance state. How do you think I knew?" Simon was examining Chris, assessing his height, the set of his jaw, the athleticism of his posture. He had background checked his past, eavesdropped on his conversations, but this was the first time he had encountered the other man in the flesh. 'The other man'. For now, this was as far as Simon was prepared to go. To call him a 'rival' would be to make presumptions and acknowledgements that went far beyond what Simon was prepared to contemplate. A 'threat', yes. He could think of him as that. Not just the obvious threat he posed to Jenny's future, but also the more general threat of his being a civilian, with a civilian's propensity for messing up a well-laid plan with unexpected and inappropriate action. Apparently it was something of this nature that led to his friend's hospitalization, though Simon was still a little hazy as to the full picture. (It is one thing to bug a person's phone, another to have to listen through all the tedious audio the bug collects. Simon had skimmed through it, gleaning what he could while making generous use of the fast-forward button.)

"You've been monitoring us?"

"Of course I've been monitoring you. You were attacked the other day, remember. I wanted to make sure you were safe." In truth, the monitoring had predated the attack on Travis, had started with his bugging of Chris's hotel room. Simon saw no reason to complicate matters by going into these details.

"You think I can't look after myself?"

Simon sighed. "That's a discussion for another day. Right now, it's your own self I'm hoping to save you from."

Jenny was glaring at him, still seated next to Chris on the park bench with limited space to either side. Simon peered disdainfully at the seat next to Jenny – its dampness, the moisture-laden air. "How about we adjourn to somewhere we can look each other in the face when we talk?"

Simon noted how Chris's arm had shifted following his arrival. Previously resting on his lap it now extended along the bench behind Jenny's back. His head, meanwhile, had tilted upward, the better to observe the intruder standing over him.

"Come on," said Simon, "I'll buy you both a coffee."

Chris's head turned now to Jenny, deferring to her the decision. At her nod, he stood up, extended his hand to Simon, shaking it vigorously as if this were a business meeting. "The knight in shining armor rides out of the mist to rescue the damsel," he said. Simon nodded politely.

"This way," said Jenny, rising from her seat. "I know a place." She started walking without waiting for either man to fall into step beside her.

The café was park-side. It had outdoor seating and a waiter with a towel. He wiped dew-fall from tabletop and seats before gesturing to them to sit, departing with Simon's itemized order: espresso for himself, cappuccino for Chris, mocha for Jenny.

"I know what you're planning, Jenny. You can't do this."

"What do you know?"

"I know everything."

"You think you know everything. But go on and say it. Just so we can all be clear."

Simon told them. The plan to influence decision-makers with doctored narcotics. The plan to hack the Yakuza supply chain.