Thinking of the list, I reached into my pocket, and pulled out the folded piece of paper. Handwritten in blue ink was the following list:
cb Gram, Ed
suit -- Cleaner
buy TP, PT
Bank Dep
wine
shoes for Wed
res. Hotel
car oil
don't forget --txt Melody re Sat!
Scanning the list, I shoved it back into my pocket. This morning when I had found the list in Jack's jeans pocket, I hadn't given it much thought, but that was before the doorbell rang and everything turned upside down.
***
I decided to do the wash. That was the decision that changed my world on that Monday morning. I didn't have to be at my waitressing job until that evening, so I here was at 9:30 in the morning going through through the clothes in the hamper. I always check Jack's pockets because he's always leaving cash and change in them. Jacks' my fiance. He moved into my little condo on the Potomac River about a month ago, and I was in homemaker heaven. Oh, everybody had warning me that I was going to set a precedent that I was the only one who could cook, clean, and do the laundry, but I didn't care. I loved taking care of Jack.
I wasn't surprised when I found the folded piece of paper in his back pocket, and after reading the list, I tossed it on the dresser. It looked like fairly normal stuff, but I was excited about the hotel reservations and for whatever reason he had to clean his suit. It was my 28th birthday on Friday, and it appeared Jack had big plans!
Smiling, I picked up the laundry basket and headed for the stairs down to the bottom floor of my condo. I loved this little place. It had big open windows that let in the sun, and I had painted the walls in pastel greens, blues, and yellows. Technically it was still owned by my father, but he had let me lease it when I started grad school at George Mason last year.
I bounced down the stairs and turned the corner toward the little laundry room tucked in beside the kitchen when the doorbell rang. I put the laundry down and glanced down at my tattered T-shirt and yoga pants. I wasn't really dressed for company, so I crept up to the door and peeked through the peep hole hoping to avoid some kid selling candy or magazines.
There was a woman standing outside my door wearing a black trench coat and pants. Her auburn hair was severely knotted at the back of her head, and her piercing blue eyes were staring directly at me through the peep hole.
"Devin McKenny? I'm Special Agent Renee Haverty. I need to speak with you about matters of National Security," the woman spoke directly at the door, her eyes never leaving the peep hole.
"Sure you are," I barely breathed out loud. I wasn't about to open the door to this scammer. National Security? I didn't have anything to do with National Security. I was a waitress for god's sake!
As if she could read my thoughts, the woman pulled out an official looking badge and held it up so I could see it through the peep hole, "This is regarding your boyfriend, Jake Sprence. I need to speak with you, Ms. McKenny, and I would rather not shout what I have to say through your door. Here is my boss's direct number. Call him if you'd like to check out my story." She held up her phone to the peep hole displaying a number for Special Agent Monroe.
"Hold on," I mumbled and placed the call. It connected with the assistant to the director of the FBI. I opened the door.
Special Agent Haverty marched into my condo, her eyes moved every where looking at everything, but her head hardly moved at all. I wondered if she had a crick in her neck. She brushed past me and went to sit on my salvaged leather sofa. Most people relax back into the soft leather, but Special Agent Haverty sat rigidly upright with a small notebook and pen in her hand.
I sat down on my red, flowered arm chair. I had salvaged the frame from a dumpster, and reupholstered it myself. I'd like to say I sat up straight, but I'm afraid I slouched a bit.
"Ms. McKenny, can I call you Devin?" Special Agent Haverty said authoritatively.
I nodded.
"Devin, your boyfriend--"
"Fiance," I corrected.
"All right, fiance, Jack Sprence, has gotten into some trouble. You are aware that he works as a government contractor and sometimes works at the Pentagon?" Haverty consulted her notebook.
"Yes, I'm aware. What is going on?" I was starting to get that feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong.
"Well, Devin, Jack Sprence did not show up for work this morning, and he has some classified information on him that we need returned to the Pentagon immediately."
"But, Jack left for work this morning around 7:30. What do you mean he didn't show up? Was there an accident?" The bad feeling in my stomach grew.
Haverty consulted her notebook, "No, there was no accident. As far as I know Jack is fine. We just don't know where he is, and we need to find him as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where he might be?" She looked up and met my eyes unblinkingly. After a few seconds I looked away.
"No, no I don't have any idea where he is," I replied honestly. "I'm sorry. Now, I really need to get going. I have a lot of errands to run this morning before work, " I stood as after a pause Haverty stood too. She walked to the door.
"Here is my card. It is imperative that you contact me if you hear from Jack," she put the card in the little dish on the table by the door.
"Thanks," I said, and I closed and locked the door behind her.
I grabbed my phone from my purse and texted Jack, Where are you?
I sat for five minutes, holding my phone, while my stomach tightened with worry. No answer.
I pushed the call button. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. "Jack, weird stuff is happening, and I need to talk to you. Call me back," I disconnected and waited another five minutes.
When nothing happened, I went upstairs to change my clothes, keeping my phone close in case Jack called or texted. After I had put on jeans and a purple sweater, I sat down on the bed wondering what to do next. I remembered the note. I grabbed it from the dresser and read it again.
cb Gram, Ed
suit -- Cleaner
buy TP, PT
Bank Dep
wine
shoes for Wed
res. Hotel
car oil
don't forget --txt Melody re Sat!
Nothing on the list would help me find Jack. I noticed the two names, Ed and Melody. I didn't recognize either of them, but then Jack knew a lot of people that I didn't know through his work.
The more I looked at the list, the more confused I got. Why would Jack need to pick up toilet paper and paper towels? We'd just stocked up on those at Costco last weekend! And why would he need oil for a car? Jack didn't own a car.
And then I remembered a conversation we had in the parking lot of Wal-Mart one day a few months ago.
"Devin," Jack had said as we carried our bags toward the Metro Station. "Have you ever noticed that billboard over there?" He pointed to a billboard which showed a woman hurrying toward a Metro entrance.
"Sure," I said. I'd seen it a lot of times. It was advertising for the Metro.
"Advertising is subliminal. It's the key," Jack said, and I laughed. It was a weird thing to say, but he's always watching sci-fi, so I figured he was making a reference to the last movie we watched. I don't really remember what the movie was called, I slept through most of it.
He looked at me seriously for a second and then he laughed too. I's forgotten all about it, but now I wondered if it had been a message.
I texted him that I was going to Wal-Mart, and he should meet me. I threw on my shoes, grabbed my purse, and locked the door behind me.
The trip on the metro was quick, and I found myself in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart staring at the billboard. A giant woman was looking at the Metro map and exclaiming that it took here everywhere she needed to go.
Looking at the list, I noticed the capitalization of the words was rather odd. Some words were in caps while others were in lower case. I looked at the billboard and noticed that the billboard had unusual capitalization as well. Was it a code?
I flipped over the paper an wrote down the Capital letter in the note -- GECTPPTBDWHMS
Paper Meet to Bring He'll Toward Pentagon
They didn't make any sense until I moved the words around: Go East toward Cleveland (Park?) to Pentagon. Bring paper Don't worry he'll meet (you?) soon.
Well, it appeared I might have a lead. Or I might be crazy. I started toward the Metro to find out which.
TO BE CONTIINUED
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