Chasing the Elusive 'H'

Chapter 8

(‘H’s’ Point Of View)

“Please tell me that you were able to distract the investigator today…” Emilia asked, her voice sounded both irritated and drained at the same time.

It was how she answered her call that upset me. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she hadn’t changed my caller ID yet. “I was able to, fortunately… So, you were only able to get half of everything ready by 9am this morning?” I asked for her confirmation.

“Yes, I was able to plant the decoy in the truck, it’s ready for your investigator to ‘discover’ and take in for examination. John and I need another night to get your equipment prepared for a swift transportation at short notice.” She reported.

“I’ll make sure the system is down again tonight then, but please try and get it done tonight, I don’t know how long I can hold out…The sooner the items are in place, the sooner we can move on and disappear until we hit next…”

“Understood…” She confirmed. “Do you suppose the investigator will be on the scene tomorrow to check out the truck again?” She asked further.

“Not sure, I’m about to make some arrangements to buy us more time in case you’re both unable to complete your job tonight…We can’t risk not being ready, as I can’t ensure that we wont be followed or seen. But this will be the last day I put my neck out on the line to make sure that we are prepared to go in and get out within minutes…understand?” Not a word came from the other end. “Until I give the word, make sure that John knows to transport the truck back to our hideout at a moments notice.”

“He already knows his role Robin.” She assured, confidence heard in her voice.

“Good, then I should have nothing to fear.” I regretted my sarcastic tone. “…Sorry, I didn’t mea…”

“It’s okay Robin, I understand…It’s a stressful situation we’re in…” Emilia interrupted.

I sighed. “I just can’t help but feel like…”

“Shhh…Just focus on your part of the job to ensure that our job goes swimmingly and leave the rest to us.” She tried to assure me.

“Okay, Thanks…I.T.G should have it’s system down at 8pm sharp when the cleaners should be off site. You’ll be invisible again until midnight when the system reboots, but try to be out before that time. Call me if you need more time, and I’ll instruct you from there.” I informed Emilia.

“Thank you, but four hours should be more than enough time to complete the job…” Emilia sounded sure of her abilities.

I hung up shortly after her last words were said. My next task was to ensure another day of distracting Abigail from the main part of her investigation. I started to find her phone number in my contacts list, but before I hit the call button a thought occurred to me.

I couldn’t shake the feeling or possibility, but something did strike me as odd about what she did today. I was glad that she didn’t go back to see the truck today to investigate further, but that begs the question… why didn’t she?

*Flashback*

“I actually need to go back to the station. I have more answers I need to find out about the case.”

What did she find that would give her a big enough lead to toss aside the truck as evidence? Surely she saw something else in that video. It’s too bad I already deleted it from the system to check it out again. Whatever it was…it took her attention away from the truck.

Abigail must know something…

Perhaps I could ask about it?…No, of course not…If I did, I’d be painting myself as suspicious. I may just have to trust that what I have in place to grab her attention works, as it’s already too late to change the plan set out for her. If anything, I should be extra careful when we disappear. Pulling out the big guns and tampering with the local traffic cameras to ensure our departure from the service street isn’t recorded. I’m certain that’s how she found us in the first place…There is no other explanation.

“Let’s see her find us, when there’s nothing on the system ‘to’ find.” I smirked.

Holding the phone, I punched the call button to start my conversation with Miss Mason. A few rings went through before …

“Hello?…” She sounded so…sweet. Pure of heart, sweet. If I wasn’t careful, this woman was going to be the end of me. I quickly collected my composure and continued my plan.

“Well, Hello there…” There was a slight pause, and when she didn’t answer I continued, “I hope you didn’t forget that I would call.”

“…Robin? Is that you?” She asked nearly instantly after my little hint.

“Were you expecting someone else?” I teased.

“N-no I wasn’t” she answered quickly, hearing a tone of anxiety to her voice.

“So what are you up to tonight? Anything fun?” I tried to gauge what she was up to by going in a round about way.

“I’m at the station, researching.” She answered.

“About the suspicious truck case?” I pressed further.

“Yes.” she said flatly. I was kind of surprised that she taking this case so seriously. My curiosity was going to get the better of me, so I fought hard to not ask anymore questions about her investigation.

“…I’m sorry if I seemed rude, you know, leaving before you finished your meal this afternoon.” I started, it was the only topic that came to mind first.

“N-no don’t be, I was late after all… a-and you had to go back to work too.” She sounded so cute, trying to make me feel less guilty about going back to work shortly after our ‘date’ started.

“So about that… Tomorrow, are you still up for it? Or am I too much for you?” I pressed. There was an odd pause, I didn’t know what to make of it. It felt like our conversation was drawing to a close, so I added hurriedly. “I feel like Chilis for a first date didn’t do it for ya, that’s all.” Wait, why did I care if she enjoyed the ‘date’ or not? This isn’t m...

“Chilis was fine, I just…I really need to work on this case. I feel like I’ve hit a dead end.” She sounded drained.

Just then a thought came to me. “Oh, shoot my phone is about to die. I-I have some information for you. But It’s too complex to tell you over the phone…Meet me at the Windsor riverfront tomorrow at 10am, on the walkway. I’ll explain then.” I tried my best to sell the act to her with rushed speech.

“Wait…What?” She responded, I can hear the anxiety from her voice on the other end.

“Phone is low… I’ll see you tom-” I deliberately hung up mid sentence to make it seem that I just lost power to my mobile phone. “Let’s see ‘Detective Barbie’ pass up this opportunity to learn something about the case.” I said to myself.

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