The overseer of the left and right game misunderstood what he saw on the four internal cameras in the vehicle.
It wasn't love. Not in the sense that one falls in love at first sight. The person recording from the back seat, upon meeting John, found him to be absolutely incredible because of his aloof demeanor. Yet, he knew what he was doing, and within that, it is evident that he could protect them if anything went wrong. It was strictly said that no introductions were to be made, but she couldn't help herself. She leaned forward and whispered, "I'm Shelly. I broke the rule, I know, but I'm Shelley."She sat back down, and when John looked in the mirror, they made eye contact, and something happened. Not love, but recognition. For Shelley, it was just a sign that she was acknowledged, but for John, it was realizing that this person, Shelley, was his daughter. She didn't know that. How could she? But John knew because, over the years, John had been keeping tabs on her. His former job was hacking for a clandestine government agency. Using those skills, he kept up with his daughter's life, but from afar. Her mother married and moved with the man she loved to Las Vegas. Shelley lived as normal a life as possible, graduated from school and college, and then moved to Hawai'i. One day, John figured it was time to stay out of Shelley's life and let her live it, never expecting that she'd be sitting in the very vehicle he was driving for the left, right game. Now he knew what the overseer meant, and he hoped that at the end there'd be a cul de' sac and the game would be over. As luck would have it, John started on Ho'okala Street and ended up on Pu'uhina Place. That was quick; the game ended in under 10 minutes. The vehicle was filled with a collective, "Aww!"
Making a U-turn at the cul-de-sac, the vehicle emerged onto Pu'uhina with the intention that John would drive back to the starting point, which was the parking space in front of his home in Waialae. The vehicle was supposed to come out on Pu'u 'Ula'ula St. Instead, the vehicle was now turning into the parking lot at Dave's Ice Cream, across the street from Waimalu Elementary in broad daylight, not in the evening when they started on Ho'okala. Instantly disoriented, everyone's mouths were filled with the taste of something metallic, and there was a loud ringing in their ears. It would be another minute before they could freak out and lose their minds. The only person clearly handling the strange event was John, because he'd been through something similar before when he worked for a clandestine government agency, but not to this degree.
The overseer chimed in on the earpiece. "What just happened, John?"
"Like you dreaded, a portal." John sighed. "A strong one."
"Where?" John could hear typing on a keyboard from the overseer's side.
"Coming out of a cul-de-sac in Pearl City," he replied. "We were less than ten minutes in."
"Everybody's freaking out?" The overseer asked.
"Pretty much," John sighed.
"That means they don't even realize this conversation is happening," the overseer stated. "What about that girl?"
"It's not what you think," John insisted.
"It's not?" The overseer was being sarcastic.
Ignoring the statement, John asked, "What's next?"
"Get them out of there, take them back home, thank them, and give them their envelopes," the overseer instructed. "Someone from my office will pay them a visit in a few days for a debriefing."
"Debriefing?" John snickered. "Am I gonna get one of those, too?"
"What do you think?" The overseer asked.
"I think if that's the case, then you should know, I'll debrief you first before you ever get to me," John promised.
***
Three days later, men in black suits and ties stormed John's Waialae house to debrief him, but they found nothing. They only ended up at John's place because they couldn't find Shelley at her place. The overseer himself headed the assignment, hoping at last to meet John face to face, before his debriefing, but no such luck. On John's bed was a note left for the overseer.
My daughter Shelley and I have gone to figure out our left, from our right.
Wish us luck
John
PS
The bomb is attached to a pressure-activated plate
which you are all
standing on.
Somewhere out there, is a man in his 60s' with his twenty something year old daughter taking every left and right turn they can find in a dense neighborhood, moving from portal, to portal. Maybe they're coming to a place near you.
.gif)
No comments:
Post a Comment