AllFreeNovel
Share Us
33
RAE
“Ralph?”I shouted. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I stood from my chair, kicking it over to FNG in anger. “I just sat through an hour-long story about you tracking someone in Marrakech, and it was all fake?”
FNG looked stricken by my anger. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with, now I was listening to stories about him gallivanting around the world making movies?
“You didn’t let me get to the end of the story.”
“Yeah? What would have happened? Did you shit your pants after drinking the local water?”
His face flushed bright red as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t want to talk about it. It was a horrible time in my life, and that’s all I’ll say on the subject.”
“Yeah, it must have been so horrible for you. Meanwhile, the rest of us were back here, trying to figure out where the fuck you were!” I rushed over, gripping the arms of his chair as I got in his face. “I saw you blow up in a plane,” I whispered. “I thought I was going crazy!”
“Technically, I did blow up. I mean, a version of me did. Part of me died on that plane.”
“Maybe all of you should have died,” I hissed, “because the rest of your days aren’t looking too bright right now.”
“But you don’t even know why I was with the suit!”
I pushed off his chair, storming away from him. It didn’t even matter at this point. Everything out of his mouth was lies. “I don’t have time for this. I have real work to do.”
I sat at my desk and brought up the files I was sorting, but I couldn’t concentrate. I was too angry. There had to be more to the story, something more than a silly film to explain why FNG had gone missing for over a year. And I wouldn’t be able to concentrate until I figured it all out.
I spun around in my chair and glared at the man still sitting in my IT office. “So, if you were making a movie with this suit guy, what was the point of it all?”’
“Well—”
“And don’t lie to me,” I snapped. “I will kick your ass and bury you in a shallow grave where animals will tear your remains to pieces. If you really think you can’t die, why don’t you give me a reason to test that theory?”
“Ouch,” he said, flinching back in his seat. “You didn’t even let me finish the story.”
“I told you it was a waste of time,” Dash said from across the room. He was immersed in his work. About the time FNG started talking about going back to this suit guy’s lair, he decided the story was no longer appealing.
“Fine, if you want me to believe you, then you’re going to have to start by giving me some answers. Who is the suit?”
“Uh…I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s classified.”
“You already told me his name was Ralph.”
He snapped his jaw shut, refusing to give me any more information. I spun back to my computer and got to work. “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, I’ll find out on my own.”
My fingers flew across the keyboard as I started searching for the elusive suit named Ralph. That could be his real name or a code name. And he was in Marrakech last year at some point. I still wasn’t clear how long after FNG went missing that this whole charade took place. So, I added in the most likely parameters for the date. Then I narrowed it by race and age. I couldn’t be certain that this man was older, but I got the feeling that he was at least in his forties by the way FNG talked about him. And to obtain that amount of wealth was certainly a red flag.
And then there was the way FNG described the property. There was a fountain out front—a very nice fountain. If I did a grid search for properties with a fountain, I might find something. He also said there was a separate house at the back of the mansion, so I narrowed my search even further, then added in an aerial search of properties near Marrakech.
That didn’t get me much luck, as there were many rich people that owned houses in the area that were rich. But I could still search other aspects and narrow the list down even further. A man like him would most likely own a yacht or a plane. Rich men loved their toys, and in Morocco, it was even more likely that this man would have a yacht since he was so close to water.
If FNG was with this man, it had to be for a reason other than some kind of movie deal. He had to be on one of the alphabet agencies’ radar for illegal activities. And since Morocco had no extradition, it was the perfect place to lay low and conduct business with no one watching.
“What are you doing?” FNG asked, looking over my shoulder.
“I’m hacking into the CIA.”
