Sleeper's Run

CHAPTER TWELVE

"This better be good," Trishna says, as I hop into her car.

"Let's go," I say, looking over at the mysterious van as we drive off.

"Is everything OK?"

"Can I see your phone?"

"Sure. Why?" She takes it out of her purse.

I turn up the stereo's volume and hold Trishna's mobile near a speaker. The continued interference comes up. I take off the cell phone's battery.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll explain it to you when we get to the restaurant," I say, checking the vanity mirror to see if anyone is behind us.

"What restaurant?"

"It doesn't matter," I say. "Just take us somewhere public."

"Eric, are you alright?"

"Just keep on driving, please," I say. "I'll explain everything once we get to the place. You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette, would you?"

"No. I didn't even know you smoked. You're kind of freaking me out right now."

"I know, I'm sorry," I say observing an SUV following us two cars behind. "I'll make it up to you at dinner."

"What I want is to know what the fuck is going on," she says checking her rearview mirror trying to see what I'm looking at. "Is this drug-related?"

"No!" I say. "Just trust me, please."

We turn right and the SUV keeps going straight. A car pulls out from the sidewalk as we drive by and I think it might be a relay vehicle. Trishna notices I'm looking at the car. She pulls over to the side of the road and lifts her armrest producing a gun. The scene is so bizarre I can barely process it. Trishna cocks the hammer and waits for the car to overtake us. She makes eye contact with the angry driver, who honks his horn exasperatedly and flips her off before speeding away.

She takes a deep breath. "OK, what's this all about?"

"What's with the gun?" I say looking at the weapon in disbelief.

"I've had a few close calls since I've been here." She puts the weapon away. "What's going on, Eric?"

"Just drive away please."

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me what's up."

"I'll tell you anything you want, but not here," I say, looking around. "Let's go... please."

Trishna stares at me and takes a deep breath before driving away. The rest of the ride is tense and quiet. Trishna takes us to a nice Italian restaurant not too far from where I live.

She looks amazing wearing almost no makeup, a white top and frayed jeans, but I'm too wound up to think of a flattering come-on. We're seated promptly and I order a bottle of wine.

"This better be good," Trishna says again while crossing her arms. I do notice that she looks particularly hot when angry.

"Someone is spying on me," I say, to which she narrows her eyes warily. I explain to her about the telephone tap, the hack attempts on my laptop, the computer breaches at Corso, and the strange men hanging around my building. I even tell her about the van and the cars I thought were following us.

"Please tell me you don't think I'm crazy," I say.

I have to admit that I must sound like a fucking conspiracy lunatic. Trishna has been listening to me with a poker face and Zen-like patience.

"Oh I don't think you're nuts," she finally says. "At least not because of what you told me."

"So you believe me," I say relieved.

"You just showed me my cell phone was tapped, didn't you?"

Her offhand attitude starts to unnerve me.

"Yeah, but the question is, who's spying on us?" I say while playing nervously with my lighter.

"The government," Trishna says without skipping beat.

"What government? This government?"

"Who else?" she says, sipping her wine.

"Come again?"

"Come on, we work for an American company on Venezuelan soil," she explains. "As you might have noticed by now, this administration has no lost love for the United States. Every setback, political or otherwise, is inevitably blamed on some conspiracy involving the CIA. Corso moves people in and out of the country all the time, so of course they're going to be suspicious."

"How can you be so sure?" I say starting to realize I might just be the biggest dope on the planet.

"You said so yourself; they didn't steal or sabotage anything," she says. "All they've done is keep an eye on you. They did the same thing to me when I first arrived."

"Really?"

"I had strangers lurking around me all the time," she says. "You think what you went through is scary? Imagine being a woman alone in this city. Now you know why I have my little security blanket in the car."

"I don't think those were spies who tailed you."

"Is that jealousy I detect?" she says looking at her plate before locking eyes with me. "Give it a few months. Once they see you're harmless, they'll leave you alone."

I lean back sighing deeply and rubbing my eyes. "I can't believe I called you for this." I feel like a total jackass.

"What happened with the other tech guys at work?"

"They're too busy playing World of Warcraft. Besides, if I had told them anything, we'd be making tinfoil hats at this very moment."

Trishna laughs so hard she almost spits her food out.

"I don't know... it's been rough, you know? I come back home and everything has changed. The people I knew moved away. The places I remember are mostly gone..."

"Hey," she leans forward putting her hand on mine. "It's OK, I'm glad you called me. You've been working very hard since you got here. No wonder you're suffering from some kind of cabin fever. You know what you need? You need to go out and have some fun."

"And what do you suggest we do?" I say taking her hand gently while moving closer.

"Who said anything about we?" she says moving her hair away from her face.

"I think you and I can have a lot of fun together," I say moving in closer.

"Oh yeah?" Her lips are a few inches from mine.

"Uh huh," I say before kissing her.