The line clicks dead. I look at Chambers, who’s staring at me, watching me with a professional curiosity as I listen to the recording. Her eyes ask a million questions of me all at once.
I don’t know what to think. My first impression is they sound like a complete psychopath. Maybe even a serial killer. And what do they want with me? I’m not being funny, but it could be any one of literally hundreds of people who would gladly see me dead, so running through my job history won’t do me any good.
I stand up and pace around the room for a moment, trying to focus my mind. There has to be something… some detail that I’m missing that will help me.
“Any ideas?” I ask Josh.
He shakes his head. “It could be anyone — pretty much the entire world hates you.”
“Only the people who know me,” I shrug, before turning to Agent Chambers. “You said there were clues at the crime scenes that lead to me?”
“You heard the same recording we did,” she says. “We’re working on the evidence we have at the moment. This is why we wanted you here. Aside from keeping you out of the line of fire, we were hoping you’d help us find out who this person is, so we can stop them.”
“Show me the evidence,” says Josh, sitting down in the chair I’ve been keeping warm for the past couple of hours.
Chambers opens the folder that Agent Wallis had brought in and flicks to the back, spinning it round to face him. Josh starts scanning through the reports and photographs.
It’s really quite amazing watching him work. Normally, I just call him and ask him something, and then he'll call me back a few minutes later with the answer. I have no idea how he manages to do even half the shit I ask of him. The guy’s a genius. But actually seeing him go to work on something is incredible to watch. He looks at each page, each photo, nodding to himself periodically when he finds something I imagine everyone else has missed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Chambers looking at me looking at Josh. I don’t think she finds me attractive or anything like that, thank God — you saw what I was like with the secretary this morning… I just think she’s trying to figure out the dynamic between the pair of us.
“I travel a lot with work,” I say to her, unprompted. “Josh typically handles the logistics and administrative side of my day-to-day life.”
“Whatever,” says Josh, without looking up from the reports. “If I could wipe your arse down the phone, you’d make me do that as well.”
I smile at Chambers, who shakes her head in disbelief.
“It’s hard to believe you are what the rumor mill says you are,” she says to me. “If there was a shred of evidence in existence to prosecute you with, then every agency in the U.S. would be fighting to arrest you. And here I am, sat with the pair of you and you’re both coming across as nothing more than a clueless comedy double act.”
She’s half-laughing as she speaks, so I’m sure how much of that is derogatory and how much is a polite observation. But it makes Josh stop reading the report.
“Clueless?” he says to her, clearly offended. His British accent always makes him sound that little bit more confrontational than he probably means to be during an argument. “You think we’re clueless? Tell me, how many people have you got working on this?” He gestures to the report.
“We’ve got a task force set up consisting of four of our best agents, who are currently analyzing the data,” she says, somewhat proudly.
“Well, let me save you the trouble,” he replies, standing up. “The shootings are the most obvious message. Both victims, like Adrian, are white men in their early forties. The first victim is Alan Holding; the second is Aaron Henderson. The obvious link to Adrian? Both he and the victims have the initials A.H. But I’m sure you’ve already figured that out?”
Chambers frowns, but remains silent. I’m not sure whether she’s dubious of Josh’s analysis, or quietly pissed off that he’s figured that out in less than three minutes. It’s hilarious! I lean against the back wall and cross my arms, enjoying the show.
“But that’s not all,” he continues. “The less obvious link, looking at both their financial statements, is that they both donated a modest sum every month to a charity called Guardian Angels. The link to Adrian being, angels are found in Heaven. As in, Heaven’s Valley.”
Even I’m speechless at that level of deductive reasoning!
He’s on a roll now. “The bomb at the restaurant earlier today is a bit trickier, and working with Adrian is the only way you’d pick up on the link. You reported a poker chip from The Dunes casino found at the scene. That’s the message.” He turns to me. “Adrian, The Dunes casino was in Las Vegas up until '93, when it was demolished to make way for another larger, more impressive, structure.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. Clearly seeing the blank look on my face, he smiles sympathetically.
“It was knocked down so they could build The Bellagio,” he explains.
I stand up straight and stroke my chin. How does that relate to me personally? I think about the other clues. They were cryptic and obscure, but once you understood them, the meaning was obvious. So I need to think of the most obvious reference to something relating to me…
Bellagio… Bellagio…
Then it hits me.
“Well, that sounds an awful lot like Pellaggio, doesn’t it?” I say.
“Bingo,” says Josh, turning back to Agent Chambers, who’s still watching us with fascination. “Whoever this is, the beef they have with Adrian has something to do with what happened in Heaven’s Valley, Nevada, twelve months ago.”
Saying it out loud makes it hit home a lot harder. There’s only one person I can think of with the ability to carry out this level of vendetta against me, and who knows the full extent of my involvement in what happened in Heaven’s Valley. Only one person unaccounted for in the aftermath. One of only two names on my own personal hit list.
Clara Fox.
“You boys ever thought of a job as FBI agents?” asks Agent Chambers, seemingly impressed. “If what you say is right, then we can start putting together a profile of our terrorist and hopefully track them down before they take any more innocent lives.”
“It might not be as easy as that,” I say. “If it’s who I think it is, they’re a stone-cold killer. Highly trained in the art of espionage and deception and being invisible. You won’t get to them unless they want you to.”
“And what have you done to him to make him this mad, dare I ask?”
“Her. Not him.”
“You think this is a woman?” she asks in disbelief.
Josh looks at me with something akin to fear in his eyes, knowing what I’m thinking probably before I do.
“Adrian, if this is Clara, you need to tread carefully. Think about where we are, alright?”
I nod.
“Agent Chambers, am I under arrest?”