A high pitched beeping and Jack sat up abruptly. No. No way. He'd fallen asleep! "God DAMN IT!" he yelled, slamming his palm on the desk. The beeping still wouldn't shut up. What was it, anyway? He felt a headache coming on and slammed the desk again, fumbling about with his other hand for the light switch.
As the light turned on and the white glow blinded him for a second, he realised three things at the exact same time.
One. The beeping was coming from his office camera.
Two. His window was slightly ajar.
Three. There was a purple-bordered note on his windowsill that Jack refused to look at. Fixing his stare on the camera, he stood on his chair to try and figure out how to make it stop. There was an instruction manual in his desk drawer, he remembered, and scrambled about for a moment.
A few silent moments of flicking through pages, and then he dropped the manual as if it had set ablaze.
The Jaguar property-secure camera comes with an anti-theft machine that will set off an alarming noise when turned off. To disable this noise, simply lift the cover on the top and hold both focus buttons.
Turned off.
Turned.
Off.
His hands quivered and he stood on his chair, flipped the cover and turned off the alarm in one swift movement. The silence closed in on him and he breathed out, with a few 'It was nothing I panicked for nothing' thoughts calming his heartbeat. Without even thinking he glanced down at the final, purple-bordered note.
Hello.
A long, deafening pause followed as Jack processed what he was seeing.
Into the darkness outside his room, he said, "How are you?"
And the darkness replied, "Good, yeah. The usual."
It was a man's deep voice, certainly deeper than Jack had read the notes in his head, and as he walked through the doorway, Jack took in a few things about him.
He was tall, with dark hair and eyes. Certainly someone who could blend in easily. He slipped what looked like a coin into his pocket and reached out with a tan hand. "Hi, Jack."
Uncertain, Jack took the hand and shook it. The man looked down and grinned. "Sorry, I gave you a fright. That camera gave me a fright, I tell you."
Jack's hand was shaking, he realised. "You didn't have to drop in," he muttered.
"Yeah, well." He paused. "My name's Mark, by the way."
"Mark." Jack glanced at his watch. "You didn't have to drop in," he repeated, "at 4:30 in the morning."
"Beauty sleep, huh?" Mark grinned. "I get it. I've just been told I must meet you," he continued, the volume of his voice dropping, "and I thought I'd grab the opportunity."
"Right." Jack found a smile growing on his face. "Mark, I don't suppose this has anything to do with a Mr Robert Yewett?"
"Oh, that guy?" Now there was a game between them, a game that only two men like them could play. "Bit of a tosser, really. Just here on a bit of business, get to know you, all that."
"And I'm guessing you're liking what you see already."
"Of course," and Mark bowed to him, and Jack was suddenly hit with the idea that Mark was playing with him, like Jack often played with the girls he met. Raising one eyebrow, he watched as Mark stood up again and went on. "You a busy person like I am, Jack?"
"Of course. Boss on my back a lot."
"I'm with you on that one. Moved to Annapolis just a month ago. Boss dragged me here, stayed a night in one of the Yew Hotels." A new emotion crossed Mark's face for a second, and he seemed to have abruptly run out of things to say.
"Nice, aren't they?" Another pause. "Well, I don't suppose you'll be staying too long. Got to get into work early tomorrow." A certain air of tension hung over his words, and he let it stay there.
"No, I'll be going. Just wanted to show off my cool breaking-and-entering skills. They have to come in handy sometime, right?"
"I could call the police." And Mark genuinely laughed at that. "It's, uh… good to meet you, anyway," Jack finished.
"Yeah, you too," Mark replied, and he looked to be telling the truth.
"Before you go, though," Jack called after him as he walked into the lounge, "how'd you get in here? I want to stop you coming in at 4:30am again."
Mark looked at him, and bit his lip slightly before answering, "Sorry, but you left your door open."
"Damn it!" And with a final chuckle, Mark gave him a half-wave and left the way he'd arrived. Through the bloody unlocked door. Jack unleashed his frustration on the closest wall, and as he clutched his fist in regret, he took a moment to contemplate Mark. He was the one who he'd been talking to, huh?
And again, as the odd thought returned to him, who was his boss? He was clearly more skilled in the 'sneaking around' department than Jack was. "But I'm still the more seductive one," he mumbled to himself, grinning.
He'd figure it out in the morning, when his head wasn't as foggy and his heart wasn't racing as much as it was now.