As in the previous weeks, Danielle had gotten little sleep that night. Concerned about the current circumstances, it wasn't just the two strangers who had apparently been sent by Cardiff that caused a queasy feeling in her stomach. Rather, it was the confusion about her unforeseen protector that kept her mind busy. Unsure of what his real motives were, the options didn´t help to find an answer. Was it money, he would try to bill her for his services? Was it an personal reckoning with Cardiff that motivated him or did he simply suffer a so called superhero syndrome?
Unidentified Batman and Robin duo solves New York´s crime cases, she imagined the headline when her cell phone ringing snapped her back to reality.
Staring at the display, which suddenly radiated an unreal threat from a withheld number, she paused. In the past, always careful to only deposit her prepaid number in indispensable situations, the display of the anonymous caller seemed like a bad omen. Hesitating for a moment to ignore what sounded like a warning, she nevertheless decided to accept the call with sweaty palms.
"Hello?", she asked, in an old habit of not even mentioning the name of her cover identity.
"Ms. Benson?" You don't know me, but we do have a mutual acquaintance since yesterday."
Reflexively trying to interrupt the conversation with the unfamiliar voice, she remembered John's insinuation that he wasn't working alone.
"You can call me Mr. Finch", the man, wo did not give her a chance to question, let her know. "Usually I prefer to stay in background, but right now I don´t see another choice than contacting you directly. I'm calling because I need to warn you. Cardiff's fellows seem to have tracked you down. They have just entered your hallway."
Unable to suppress the icy shiver that ran through her body, Danielle froze.
"What? John told me that I was safe here", she bursted with a certain annoyance at her unaccustomed fervent faith in a stranger.
"We assumed that. In the meantime, however, the situation has obviously changed. Do you have a way of leaving your apartment other than through the hallway?", she heard the urgent tone in the voice of yet anothter stranger, which showed no doubt about the seriousness of the situation.
"I can take the fire escape." Shifting her gaze to the right, she looked at the aging scaffolding outside her window, which had made her choose Apartment as a possible escape route in the past.
"Then hurry up and come to the 4th street, corner 7th. I'll pick you up there", the man, who seemed even more mysterious to her than John, instructed her. Ultimately, she decided, at that moment there was no choice but to believe his words, when she heard the sound of a tool in her door lock.
"Uh oh, that's not good at all." Harold's glance fell on the small laptop he'd fitted on top of the passenger seats glove box a while back. Although he usually preferred the seclusion of his office at this early hour, today he couldn't help but check on one of his companies as an alleged auditor. In addition to his voluntary assignment with Mr. Reese, he still didn't have the heart to turn his back on earlier projects. It was not just about the profits with which he financed his current task. Rather, it was a sentimental value from days when his world was still in balance.
"This is really inconvenient", he murmured, reaching for his cell phone. His gaze fixed on the 13 inch monitor, on which he observed the two men who fit Mr. Reese's description in the case of Danielle Lawrence aka Jenna Benson. After his employee safely escorted the young woman home yesterday, he had installed a surveillance camera in the hallway, for which he had written a program to notify of third-party activation the same evening. Uncertain about whether Ms. Benson would answer the unknown caller, he had to admit certain a relief when she finally picked up. Contrary to his original plan, which he called off on his way to the 7th corner, he decided it was time to take her to a safe house. He had just reached his destination when the brunette woman hurried in his direction.
"Ms. Benson." Danielle turned to face the opening passenger door. Behind the driver's seat sat an unassuming, well-groomed man. "We just spoke, I'll take you to a safe place", he let her know briefly.
Not sure if she it was a good idea to trust another foreigner after just fleeing from two strangers, she decided that at this moment it probably was her best alternative. She had made it down the fire escape when she heard the voices of her two suspected kidnappers at the window. Coping with the last floors similar to Super Marios, she had gone as fast as her legs would carry her towards the agreed meeting point. Not being able to say if and when she left her pursuers behind, they seemed to have lost track of her for the moment at least.
"Mr. Finch, I suppose", she took a seat next to the man who apparently wasn't able to turn his head to the right.
Cervical spine fusion, the paradoxical fact she'd learned in a previous course on multimodal skeletal injuries flashed through her mind.
"I'm relieved you took my call. I think that you usually don´t appreciate unknown numbers very much", he confirmed her assumption through his statement.
"Just as you don't seem to appreciate giving out your number."
Harold frowned. "You're probably right about that."
There was a moment of unified silence as Danielle took a closer look at the man behind the wheel through the rearview mirror.
"Somehow you almost look how I pictured you", she remarked with a hint of a smile.
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment."
"Well, I think, it is. After all, I could just as well have imagined a typical CIA Man in Black, whose penguin appearance makes it almost impossible to tell them apart from any other colleague."
Harold took the exit that led them toward Williamsburg.
"Compared to this option, it's actually a compliment."
The ringing of the cell phone that was paired with the cars intersystem interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Good morning, Mr. Reese," the man who called himself Mr. Finch greeted his employee, activating the car's speakerphone.
"Where are you, Harold? I'm having your green Sencha, but if you don't arrive soon, I can't promise it will still be hot."
"I'm sorry, I forgot to inform you about an appointment that I had to cancel at short notice. As it seems, the two unidentified gentlemen from yesterday have located Ms. Benson's apartment."
Not being able to tell why, Danielle somehow seemed to sense John's sudden tension through the line. The silence, which lasted no more than a split second, made her pause nontheless.
"Where are you Harold? Is Danielle safe?", she eventually heard his focused voice.
"Don't worry, I'm okay. Even though I don't know how your friend knew I was going to have some unpleasant visitors, he was kind enough to warn me in advance. The most dangerous part about it probably was the fire escape, which obviously only got installed for decorative purposes."
"I'm taking Ms. Benson to our safe house in Williamsburg", Harold spoke up again.
"I'm on my way", John let him know briefly before cutting the connection.
"Safe apartment in Williamsburg... sounds almost like there's more than one of those places", Danielle tried to keep the conversation going.
"I think we should focus on your situation rather than on information that won´t serve you", the man, who was even more difficult to assess than it was the case with John, replied.
Out of the corner of her eye, Danielle watched as Mr. Finch gave her a careful sideways glance.
"The interior has a pretty strong new car smell. Can you at least tell me whether you stole it directly from a car dealer?", she asked, directing her gaze to the service road they had reached in the meantime.
Harold gave her a confused look before pulling into an empty parking bay of a clearly better situated area.
"The car is mine. You don't have to worry about the police stopping us if that's your question. However, you are right about the unpleasant smell. If you like, complain to Mr. Reese for which I had to give up my old car."
"What happened? Did he have an accident?"
"You could call it like that, only that he intentionally caused it by driving full speed into the side of another vehicle to stop the driver."
Danielle furrowed her eyebrows.
"Do not get me wrong. Mr. Reese had a good reason for what he did. He always has… or let's say at least most of the time."
Pointing to the entrance of a well-kept apartment building, Harold turned off the engine.
"We have arrived. I would say, until Mr. Reese joins us, I'll familiarize you with the appartement first", the man, that despite her otherwise good intiution of human nature still remained a mystery to her, suggested.