Madison stepped into the coffee shop, it was their regular place. The barista grinned when he saw her. "Hey, there's my favorite rich girl. How's life over at C.I.T. with all the other geniuses?"
"I'm not a genius Liam, but it's great. Just get me the usual. How's Mass U?" Madison leaned on the counter, enjoying the scent of fresh ground coffee.
"One French vanilla cappuccino coming right up. I was accepted, I start this fall, on scholarship of course with the rest of the peasants." Liam turned to get her drink.
"Come on Liam, I'm not that rich."
Liam set the cappuccino in front of her, "Your dad is the Chief Operations Officer at the biggest tech company in the country. You and Emma live in that swanky apartment in House Tower. You two go to the best college in the country. And let's not talk about that fighter jet sitting in the parking lot. Face it love, you're loaded."
Madison pulled her wallet out of her jacket with a chuckle, "Fine Liam, I can never argue with you. You should go into law instead of business."
"I'll cover it" before she could pull the money out of her wallet, a hand reached around her and tossed a few dollars on the counter.
"Keep the change." Madison turned to see a tall, well-built, man in a suit looming over her.
"Thank you Mister…" She scanned her memory for a name, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't match one to the man's face.
"Williams, Robert Williams, it's good to see you again Madison. Can I have a few minutes of your time?" The man gestured to a table in the back of the shop.
Madison paused, "I'm meeting a friend…"
The man checked his watch, "Yes, your roommate, Miss Delano, she's caught in traffic. We have about fifteen minutes until she arrives. In the meantime, shall we sit down?" He gestured again towards the table.
Madison looked pensive for a moment, but relented, "Sure, and you can tell me how you know where Emma is right now." She threw a look Liam's way, he nodded, receiving the intended message. If the man in the suit started acting funny, he was getting a baseball bat to the back of the head.
She grabbed her coffee and followed the man over to his table. He'd made himself at home already, his newspaper was spread out across the table, his briefcase was beneath the table, his fedora sat next to his cup of coffee. He took the chair against the wall while she took the one opposite.
He reached down and pulled a sheaf of papers out of his briefcase, "They are the shadow warriors, the unknown soldiers, the unsung heroes of our age. A bit dramatic, but I like the opening, the paper itself is quite good as well. Your facts are used well, your inferences are logical, and all in all, it's an interesting read, a very good paper. Your professor is an idiot for thinking otherwise."
That took Madison by surprise, "You've read my paper? I just turned that in yesterday. Who exactly are you?"
The man looked down at his newspaper, "Madison, you're a smart girl, I.Q. 190. So let's play a game, you tell me something about myself, and I'll answer one of your questions for every observation you make."
This man is going to be frustrating, but alright, Madison thought. "Let's play this game."
The man leaned back, obviously waiting. Madison looked at him again, this time looking at the details, not the face.
"I know that Robert Williams isn't your real name. I know you're associated with the government, most likely intelligence. I know you're former military, most likely special operations. And I'm assuming you're a friend of my father or mother."
The man looked impressed, "Entirely correct, the family connection is easy enough to make based on how I introduced myself. My military background, a bit more difficult, but I'm guessing you know how a military man carries himself. I'm curious as to how you know I work in intelligence, and how you knew the name was false."
Madison took a sip of her cappuccino. "Robert is the third most common first name in the United States, Williams is third most common last name. Not as obvious as John Smith, but still odd enough of a coincidence to notice. You suit is nice, too nice to be law enforcement, but not nice enough to be corporate, so government."
He crossed his arms, "There were plenty of other explanations for my suit, how does that lead you to intelligence work."
He's testing me, Madison realized, either that or he's just really irritating and likes to play games. "You have a paper I turned in yesterday, you probably have my car's phone tapped and possibly my home phone, and you have a tracker or a tail on my roommate. If you don't work for an intelligence agency, then I need to call my father and request a full security detail."
The smile was back, "You're everything I hoped for Madison."
"I believe that by the terms of the game, I get four questions." Four observations, four questions, though Madison had a lot more than that.
"Ask away."
"What's your name?"
"Christopher Payne."
"How do you know my father?" The name meant nothing to her
"We served together." Madison searched her memory again, she'd grown up with her dad's war buddies always around the house, hell it was how she met Emma. But this man didn't appear in any of her memories.
"You said that we'd met before, when?"
"You were about two at the time, so late 2049." That explained why she didn't remember the man.
"Why are you watching me?"
The man, Payne, looked at his watch, "Miss Delano is due in about two minutes, so if you want the answer to that question, give me a call. But please, keep this between us, enjoy the coffee Madison."
Payne placed his card on the table and walked out before Madison could get another word out. The card had the man's name, and a phone number, but no agency or company name.
"Hey Maddy, Hey Liam," Emma's voice rang through the café. She paused when she saw the look on Madison's face. "Mads, something wrong?"
Madison shook her head, whatever the hell just happened, it wasn't something to talk to Emma about, at least not yet.
"I'm fine Emma, just a nagging question I need to answer."
OK, now we're getting into the actual story. I'll admit, the first chapter was mainly just an introduction.
So, tell me what you guys think.
R&R people
