CHAPTER 20
Location Unknown
“Yeah, that creep called me every day for years,” Nate said.
Rose, Walker, and Doctor Z all looked at one another. It made him uncomfortable. Who was Harry? The man had been like a steady drip of water: calling, calling, and calling. It was never at the same time of day, either, but rather anytime of the day or night. It was odd to feel either hatred or resentment for someone that he had never met. Harry’s calls and voice had even awakened him from his sleep. Countless nights he had lain restless in the bed if Harry hadn’t called yet.
Doctor Z stood up and asked, “Have you ever met the man?”
“No.”
“Do you think you would recognize him if you saw him?”
It was odd, but for some reason he thought that he would. For years he'd had an image in his mind of what Harry looked like, but for all he knew he had probably met the man a dozen times and didn’t know it.
“I doubt it.”
The doctor’s eyes and voice were probing.
“What if you heard him?”
Nate scratched the back of his neck.
“Well, maybe. At least I think I would, but there were many days when I was pretty sure the person I was talking to wasn’t him. It was like him, but different. I always figured it was either his mood or it was a voice box of some kind. Still, it was spooky. The man knew everywhere I had been, and then he’d joke about it with me on the phone.”
“How so?”
“Oh, I’d be at a bar and he’d call me at the bar and ask me if I was enjoying my martini. Stuff like that. He was like a ghost or something.”
“Someone was watching you, but you were just too stupid to notice,” Walker said in his matter-of-fact tone.
“Thanks.” He directed his attention back to the doctor. “So, why the interest in Harry?”
Doctor Z was staring into space.
Agitated, Nate snapped his fingers in the man’s face.
“Hello! What’s the deal with Harry?”
The doctor’s phone buzzed in his pocket. His eyebrows perched as he read the message.
“Walker, you and Rose finish this up. I’ve got another patient.”
Nate heard the door shut before he even realized the man had left the room.
“Man, he’s a strange one. So where were we?”
Rose took the doctor’s place at his bed and said, “Our insiders have been gathering information on Harry for the past several months. They are being led to believe that Harry is the man in charge of the WHS. They think he’s the brains behind World Population Control.”
“Yes, but why would he be calling me?”
“Because you’re the man that foiled his plans. You’re the man who can foil them again.”
“I just love the insanity of all this, but please continue.”
“Think about it: every time you went to a WHS function there were always a bunch of lackeys all around, weren’t there?” Rose motioned with her hands. “They were jawing back and forth and talking about all the good they were going to do for the world. Remember all of that?”
Did he ever. It had been fun the first few months, but it hadn't taken long before he'd been completely sick of it all.
“Sure I remember. They were all so smug and insincere. Liars, every last one of them.”
“If you had to think about it, would any of them make you think of Harry?”
“No. I mean, I really never hit if off of any of them. I’d recognize some faces and names, but they all would have been all over the papers, too.”
“Sometimes Nate, the best place to hide is in plain sight.”
“Especially when you have a new face,” Walker chuckled.
“What are you saying? I can’t go around those people.”
Rose nodded over at Walker and said, “Let me show you something.”
Walker grabbed a computer and handed it over. She turned the display his way.
“Do any of them look familiar?” she asked.
It was a group photo taken at WHS headquarters in Washington DC. Nate was in the picture surrounded by nine other smiling people. Six men and Three women. One just as disingenuous as the next.
“I know them all by name. Do you think one of them is Harry?”
“Maybe. This picture was taken years ago, and at this point in time we know that this group is the highest authority in the WHS. Harry could be one of them, or one of them might know who Harry is. What do you think about this guy?”
She tapped the screen, and a larger picture of an older and distinguished man popped up.
“That’s Don Baker.” He sucked the rest of his Mountain Dew out with a straw. “He wasn’t so bad; he knew some good jokes, at least. But, he seems too old to have been Harry.”
“How about her?”
“What is this, a line up? Look, if they're all so bad, why don’t you just go send Walker in to kill them all?”
Walker smiled and said, “That’s what I said. I think that Taco Bell’s making him smarter, Rose.”
She shook her head.
“It’s been discussed, but the security is too heavy. You know that. But, if we can find the right one and take a shot, we think we can take down the rest of them.”
“So you want to cut the head off the snake, huh?”
“No, more like a dragon.”
“Then you better hope it only has one head. So what do you want me to do?”
“We’re going to reunite you with your old friends. Just get you in the same room. Walker's got it all set up.”
“What?” Henry felt his food start to come back up. “I’m not a spy. And they're looking for me? No way, I’m not doing that. Can’t you just get me a video or something?”
“We’ve tried.” Rose grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Nate, the next outbreak is coming soon. We don’t have much time. We’ve run into a bunch of dead ends. As of now, you’re Plan C. We are sorry to ask, Nate, but the world needs you again.”
Her soft red lips were convincing, and her pretty eyes were pleading. How could he possibly say no?
“Okay,” he gave in, “but I have one request before you send me to my next death.”
“What is it, Honey?”
He whispered something in her ear.
Rose smiled at Walker and said, “I’ll take it from here.”
Walker grumbled as he shook his head and left the room.
As soon as the door clicked shut, her lips and his were one.