Chapter Eleven

Dressing quickly was never something Ronald did well. He knew how to work under pressure, but stylistic contrasting fashion and tapping on a keyboard didn’t usually take place in public. So a button-down shirt wasn’t tucked in, and the cargo shorts were redressed from the floor in the bedroom.

He sat in the passenger seat of a car that smelled new. The satchel on his lap, he stared out the passenger window as the vehicle accelerated through side streets instead of main avenues. Anyone who knew the city understood using side streets sometimes took a few wrong turns before going right again. But it kept the vehicle moving, away from most of the red lights and wide intersections, and eventually, they’d get to wherever they were going.

“I bet you have some questions.” The voice caressed Ronald. The same voice he loved hearing when they lay in each other’s arms on long nights when both just wanted each other’s company and hid away from their friends. “I know you have questions,” William said again. “Did I say you look good?” 

“I don’t want your adulation,” Ronald whispered. He caught the scent of William’s aftershave. It was an aromatic reminder that he didn't imagine his former lover. The man was there, driving an expensive car and swerving through the side roads on the way to Theodore Roosevelt Bridge that led out of DC. It was the closest exit from DC where they were. The Rosslyn, Virginia route took them west along Interstate 66. He glanced at the profile. A mask of concentration on the road ahead and severe glances to the rearview mirror for the way behind.

“I know I owe you an apology.” It came out as if edged with guile, but William smirked at Ronald when he caught him looking. “It’s been a long few years.”

“Are we being followed?” Ronald asked, mildly bored.

“Yes,” William replied.

“Does this have anything to do with you missing for three years?”

“I think so. But I’m not sure.”

He considered the time away, William’s inability to talk about his status in the military, and the fact he went missing for a few years. Compounded with the fact the man showed up out of the blue, dressed in a stylish suit, and smelling as Ronald remembered him, it went beyond the hurt he should have felt. Something exciting was going on, and Ronald felt like William had lived this kind of life for a long time; long enough to take it in stride.

“Look, I know you have a lot of questions. And I promise I’m going to give you the answers you deserve. After that, it’s all up to you. But first I need to have you turn off your cell phone. We need to get the sim card out of the phone. We’re going to pull the hard drive from your laptop, and we’re going to get rid of all of it.”

Ronald lived in and around Washington for many years. He knew convert operations happened every day. The trouble with covert operations was the fact he’d never been involved in them before, and since he didn’t think they were going on, he felt that ignorance was better than knowing the truth. In his experience with reporting the news, most people involved in secret agendas usually ended up a target.

That’s when he asked, “Does this have anything to do with the exposé I wrote about Edward Goldberg and his money laundering business?”

“Is that the guy that died in the bathtub?” William asked, and added, “I think so. But I’m not really sure.”

“So, you know about that?”

“I do.”

“Are you still a lance corporal?”

“Not for a very long time.” William jerked the steering wheel, jarring Ronald in the passenger seat. “I’ve been here a few weeks. I know you did something to someone to piss them off enough to want you dead.”

“What?” Ronald didn’t hear anything after, “You’ve been here how long?”

William took his eyes off the road long enough to blink at Ronald. He gave his best apologetic grin. “I even drove you home one night from the bar.”

Ronald had to think. He’d know if William drove him home. Then it sunk in; unless he was too drunk and too depressed to get a good look at the car driver. “That was you.”

“And someone is definitely trying to get rid of you.”

“There was a taxi that jumped a curb.” Ronald thought about that, because while DC cabs were notorious for their inability to stop for pedestrians, that particular taxi appeared to have a scheme that included running over Ronald before it retook the street.

“And you don’t think beer bottles explode on their own, do you?”

That made Ronald a little sick to his stomach. How did William know about that? Two options pushed their way to the front of Ronald’s mind. Either William was the person who did the shooting, or he removed the person who did the shooting.

“I think it’s lucky you decided to stay home today.”

“How long have you been watching me?”

William didn’t answer immediately. He tried giving Ronald one of his grins again, but Ronald didn’t want to see it. “I’ve been watching you for a few weeks. I read your work all the time. When I saw the investigative report you did on Goldberg, I caught the next flight to Dulles. Goldberg orbits some dark circles. He’s one of the names on my ‘to-do’ list.”

“Can I assume when you say that without sounding ominous you’re suggesting you had him on a hit list?”

“That would suggest I’m associated with some nefarious people.” He gave a minor pause considering their current situation. “I know a little about him from some of his overseas associates. But I’ve never had him as a direct target.” It was a mildly ambiguous statement, but it had to do. William glanced in the rearview mirror again. “Did you turn off your phone?”

“Yes.”

“Is your laptop off?”

Ronald opened the satchel and pulled out the small laptop, flipped it open. “Oh,” he said and shut it down. “I didn’t know it was on.”

“That’s okay.” But there was a concern on his face.

Ronald looked at his phone again. “That’s funny.”

“What?”

“I thought I turned off my phone.”

“It’s on again?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see it?” Deftly, William drove with one hand, barely took his eyes from the road as Ronald handed him the cell phone. William held it in the palm of his hand and smashed it repeatedly against the gear shift handle. Then he returned the phone to Ronald in two pieces. “Take out the sim card and throw the phone out the window. They turned on your phone remotely.”