Chapter 37: Walk in the park.
Last Friday, after the game.
Brittany's POV:
Brittany looked down at her phone as she and Kate wandered through the mostly empty hallways of the school in silence, waiting for a reply to the message she'd sent earlier.
G: Where are you? Is it safe to talk?
B: Leaving school. Don't worry. Kate's too distracted.
G: Distracted? Why?
Brittany paused for a moment as she read the message over, feeling a pang of annoyance in her gut. 'Of course he'd ask about Kate. Why wouldn't he? It's not like I'm the one he's seeing.' She thought before letting it go with a small sigh. She hated bringing Kate up because he always latched onto it.
B: Humphrey went to the hospital.
G: Really? Didn't think he was such a wimp haha.
B: Never mind that. Where the hell are you?
G: Got to go. Doubt I'll be coming back to that shithole.
It took her a minute to realise what he had said but once she did Brittany let out a small gasp and began typing a reply frantically, knowing that if he put his phone down they wouldn't talk again for days like always.
B: What? Wait. You're not coming back? What about me?
G: We'll talk later. This is good. Trust me.
'Trust him!?' Brittany thought furiously, stuffing her phone into her bag a little more forcefully than she intended as she scowled. 'When has he ever looked out for me? He just does whatever he wants.' Lost in those thoughts she didn't notice that her small violent outburst had been enough to grab Kate's attention until she spoke.
"Everything okay Brit? Boy troubles?" Kate asked her, a small, kind smile on her face as she looked at her friend. It seemed to be accompanied by a small tinge on guilt, no doubt Kate realising she'd ignored her friend all the way from the gym to the school's entrance where they now stood atop the steps.
"All boys are trouble." Brittany replied after a moment and a small sigh, a smile creeping onto her own face as she responded to their old joke. It pained her that she and Kate weren't as close as they could be but what held them apart was too much for her to overcome. 'Especially now', she thought morosely as she mimicked Kate's quick 'bye' and watched her half-run over to her waiting car.
Garth's POV:
Garth frowned for a moment as he slid his phone back into his pocket, his head full of thoughts about Brittany. There had always been something about her that had annoyed him slightly but he never knew what it was exactly. She was pretty enough he'd admit, although not as much as Kate. No, it wasn't that. It was the way she treated him. He couldn't say why or how but he knew that much at least.
"Urgh, enough!" he whispered quietly to himself, shaking his head to clear it and turn his thoughts to the immediate task at hand as he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Enter." The gravelly voice that answered Garth's knock was all too familiar to him as he opened the door and entered his father's office which was much clearer and more well lit than his last visit. As he entered he was unsurprised to see it was also full of all of his father's top 'associates', as they liked to be called. He knew they had a job in the works this weekend which meant a thousand details had to be attended to such as bribes, assigning man power and resources, planning the job and so on.
"Finally. Let's begin." His father said as Garth entered, looking him over with his usual judgmental gaze before returning his attention to the table in the centre of the office. Garth knew better than to say anything or try to apologise from past experience and merely took his place in silence, waiting for the meeting to begin.
One hour later.
Garth frowned as he looked over the street map on the table once more, committing the details to memory. He still didn't entirely understand why public opinion and support was so important to men like Winston and his father. Some of the most dangerous men in the country pandering to the masses? It didn't make sense but right now it didn't have to. As much as his father's cagey attitude annoyed him Garth had also never known him to withhold information that he needed to know.
"Come here."
His father's gruff command cut through Garth's musings and made him look up sharply to where his father was waiting for him to approach. He realised that as he'd stood thinking the office had mostly emptied, leaving just a handful of people left, most of whom where talking amongst themselves or on the phone. After clearing his throat nervously Garth did as his father bid, wondering what he wanted since he couldn't think of anything he'd done wrong. Even armed with that belief he couldn't help but grow nervous before the slightly shorter man, knowing that at any moment he could snap with violent and painful consequences.
"I'm ready for this." Garth said as he reached his father's side, preempting the question that he was sure would come up sooner or later. To his surprise however his statement was dismissed with a grunt and an idle wave of his father's hand.
"Of course you are, this is nothing. You'll be surrounded by experienced men. How you perform will show what else you're ready for." As Tony spoke Garth knew he was assessing him once more but this time he barely noticed, too distracted by the words he'd heard, basically a glowing compliment coming from his father. 'I will do this perfectly.' Garth silently resolved to himself, sensing an opportunity to finally take his rightful place as his father's right-hand man.
5:00am Monday morning.
"Shit!"
Garth flinched reflexively as he entered his father's office, the word his father spat out carrying enough venom to fell any man.
"How could this happen? We control half the city and can't steal one lousy truck!?" Tony continued, Garth breathing a small sign of relief that he wasn't on the receiving end of that anger. He, too, was mad that the assault team had failed but from what he'd heard Winston wasn't as unprepared as they'd been led to believe.
"You saw the footage Boss! That truck is military grade. We would've needed a tank. Besides there's no way they'll make it on time now, we crippled the truck." Bobby, the leader of the assault team complained, trying to shift the blame away from himself. 'Can't blame him there,' Garth thought to himself with a wry smile. He was so consumed in his thoughts for a moment that he almost missed what was being reported to his father but one word caught his attention and sprouted an idea.
"Wait. Say that again." Garth interrupted, ignoring the fierce looks that his father sent his way. After a moment of silence the relatively young man who'd been reporting the news seemed to realise that Garth's order would stand and began to speak once more.
"A-as I was saying, it appears that a mechanic named Shawn, Winston's usual choice will be heading to the airport along with a young man named Humphrey…" He repeated, his voice trailing off as a smile spread over Garth's face which captivated the attention of everyone in the room. Garth couldn't help but to smile, a silent prayer of thanks for the coincidence and a swell of pride in his own ingenuity within him.
"Yes that's what I thought you said." Garth said into the tense silence of the room, his voice brimming with confidence as he addressed those assembled before turning his attention to his father specifically. "I have an idea…"
Humphrey's POV:
My eyes snapped open as my ringtone abruptly dragged me from my slumber. I didn't even bother checking who it was as I fumbled for my phone, answering in a dreary tone as I stuck it against my ear.
"Morning Humphrey, sorry to wake you."
"Morning boss, what's up?" I said after a moment, my sleep addled brain taking a while to connect the familiar voice to its owner, which was Shawn, my boss. I let out a loud yawn as I looked at the time, feeling a slight sinking sensation as I realised it was only five in the morning and wondered what affects having a permanent bed was having on me since prior to living here I could wake at any hour and be ready to go immediately.
"Like I said, I'm sorry but I was hoping to ask you a favour."
"Go ahead." I said, sitting up a little and rubbing sleep from my eyes so that I could listen properly. Once Shawn finished his very brief explanation that was decidedly light on details I quickly got ready and then walked out and sat on the verge at the top of Charlie's driveway, waiting for Shawn to come and pick me up for this 'urgent job' that he hadn't had time to give me details for. The frosty JC morning air bit at my skin as I made me clasp my hands together in hopes of preserving a little body heat, the distant sounds of a city waking up doing little to distract me.
"Hurry up Shawn." I muttered quietly into the still air before jumping slightly as the tranquility of the morning was shattered for the second time by my ringtone, my cold fingers struggling to extract it from my pocket.
"Hello?" I said shortly, too cold to bother with too many pleasantries.
"Hello, is this Mr. Humphrey Miller?"
There was something very familiar about the voice that answered as I confirmed my identity but it wasn't until they continued that I realised why I knew the voice.
"This is Brian from JC General. I'm the nurse who assisted with your scans yesterday, do you remember me? I'm sorry to bother you so early but it's come to our attention that you left yesterday without being administered an injection..."
One hour later.
I sat in the passenger seat of Shawn's truck, a bandage on my arm and a take-away coffee in my hand as he barrelled down the highway, heading West. We were heading to Vancouver International Airport, a roughly 9 hour drive in order to complete a urgent job request but we'd had to stop at the hospital on the way out of town despite my objections that I was fine. Apparently there had been an accident involving a semi carrying a load of exceedingly valuable artwork for the new gallery that was opening in Jasper City and while the driver would recover from his injuries, no other truck could be used to carry the artwork. This meant that Shawn been hired at the last moment to drive down to the location, repair the truck as necessary and then get it and the cargo back to Jasper by tomorrow morning.
It was no small order and he'd chosen me to go with him since if any of his other workers were to go they'd have to close the shop for the day which would cause all sorts of problems considering how busy they were.
"All good in there Humph?" Shawn asked now that we were on the highway proper and he could afford to pay a little less attention to the road. I scowled slightly at the nickname he used for me, I hated it more than any other but then again he was my boss so what could I do? Plus since I didn't want to explain why I didn't like him using it he was stubborn about it.
"Yeah it took all of two seconds once I was actually in there." I replied, moving past the nickname after a moment and turning my thoughts to the hospital we'd just left. Again. 'Waste of time' I thought to myself but kept it to myself since I knew Shawn's views on safety. "Apparently it's to counter something to do with the scans they did." I added aloud with a slight shrug.
"Huh. I've never heard of anything like that." Shawn said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself more than me. Things fell quiet between us for a few seconds before a question I'd wanted to ask earlier came to the front of my mind.
"So why the huge rush on this one?" I asked him after taking another sip of coffee and letting out a sigh. I'd wanted it to help me wake up quicker since I'd likely end up driving a fair bit of the way and it was just an added bonus that it was a good coffee.
"Apparently there's to be a big gala for the grand opening of the gallery, invitation only. The guests are all very important people and the invitations are already sent. If they're going to have any chance of getting the gallery ready in time they need the artwork there by tomorrow morning." Shawn explained to me, changing lanes to get around a rather slow old beater.
"So we have to drive 900 miles, fix a truck we've never seen in a few hours and then drive it all the way back again?" I said with a chuckle, confirming the facts of this rather strange job and how difficult it was likely to be. Shawn chuckled as well as I spelled it out, shaking his head as he gave me a weak smile.
"Not exactly a walk in the park is it?"