Quiet

Chapter 21 - My Best Judgement

After I show Alan the message from Cynthia, he calmly takes hold of my phone. More than enough time to read the message and examine the photograph of Cynthia and the green cowboy boots goes by, but Alan still hasn't budged from his chair or looked at me.

I get it - he's thinking, but include me. "This is because of my father. They can't hurt Cynthia instead of me." I crouch down and rest my arms on Alan's chair. I don't know what we can do. "We have to free her. Now!"

He looks up with a flat expression and then stares at the front door of the hotel room. I'm not as calm as I look, but he is, and it makes me want to rattle his bald head with both my hands.

"We're not trading you for Cynthia," he says. "No matter what. Sorry."

"But we can't abandon her." I remove my arms off his chair. I don't know what I'm doing, because there's nowhere to go, so I turn around in a circle.

Alan rests my phone in his lap. "No, we're not going to abandon her." He looks scary. Little muscles near his locked jaw jiggle, but that's a good thing. He's big, but I bet he's fast, with knives and expletives flying.

A cape too. I imagine a cape flapping behind him. I can't wait to hear his plan.

"What about the police?" I say.

He ruminates in the chair, as still as a frog on a lily pad. "They're competent. With lots of strengths," he eventually says.

His tone tells me he's leaning toward 'no police'. "You're FBI on official business. Won't the police believe you?"

"Oh, I lied to you about being on official business, my dear. I wanted to get you out of the museum fast, before Keating came." He smiles like the Cheshire Cat with a brown mustache and a bald head. "If we go to the police, we'll be answering questions all night. It might work out in the end, it might be the wisest thing to do, but... they may not do anything until tomorrow or later."

We can't spend a lot of time answering questions at a police station, and Alan knows it. "We don't have that much time, do we?"

Alan nods. He won't get out of the chair until he's made a decision, and then he'll be a whirlwind, I hope. "Is this the same Cynthia your father knows?" he says.

"Um, yes?"

Alan's mustache tilts to one side. "I feel like your father would have mentioned that she's your friend too."

I don't think the secret makes things worse, but I put my hand on his shoulder in case it does. I smile like the Cheshire Cat. "My father doesn't know Cynthia and I are friends. It's a little joke we have going."

While that sinks in, Alan is quiet. "I don't think your father knows they have her. He'd send me a message. It would bother him a lot." Alan hands back my phone and takes out his. "They must think you're hiding alone or with your family." While Alan talks to me, he swipes his phone's screen with his finger. "Where in Nakameguro did you and Cynthia bump into the Yakuza? Which coffee shop?"

"A coffee shop close to the station." I look over his shoulder at his screen. "That one. Why are the Cowboy and the Yakuza working together?"

Alan twists his entire upper torso toward me, not just his head. The hard look I get from him gives me a chill, until he winks. "You should know as little as possible, starting now." He stands up and rubs his hands together. "Okay, tell Mark, the guy you call the Cowboy, that you'll meet him at that coffee shop in Nakameguro at about nine-thirty tonight. Tell him to bring Cynthia. I'll go there with my Navy friends, and you'll stay here."

I don't know if I feel safe here without him, but that's nothing compared to what Cynthia's going through. "Will the Cowboy agree?"

"He has to make the trade somehow." Alan's eyes roam around the room as he thinks.

"What if the Cowboy doesn't bring Cynthia?"

"He probably won't."

I want to ask more about that, about his plan, but one side of Alan's mouth lifts up with his eyebrows. It's a reminder that I must know as little as possible.

"I might not stay here," I say, expecting another hard look.

But his face softens. "I agree. They could be doing this to separate us. Going at some point may be smart, so do what you gotta do while I'm gone. Use your best judgement, but whatever you do, don't take risks. Ditch the phone if they seem to know where you are. Stay safe." He gives me a hug. Then he watches me message Cynthia's account about meeting in the Nakameguro coffee shop. "Let's assume this room isn't safe. Where should we rendezvous?" he says.

It's a little far from here but close to my home and school. "Yoga station."

"Okay, I'll book a room at a hotel there and send you the details." Alan puts on his coat and gathers other things like his wallet. "Don't respond to any more messages from Mark. If he tries to change the meeting place or time, let me know but don't answer him." He looks through the door's peephole. "If you don't hear from me, stay hidden all night. If something happens to Cynthia, something happens to them or me. I'll do everything I can. You lay low. Got it?"

"Got it."

Before I can thank him, his thumb is up, he winks, and he's out the door.

Afterwards, I sit on the edge of the bed. My shoulders sag forward, and I almost cry. He's an FBI agent with experience in hostage situations. He's shot people and been shot. I'm a high school junior who plays volleyball and writes fan fiction. I should not feel guilty about sending him off with a bunch of Navy friends with guns. They can handle this better than I can. If they can't help Cynthia, I can't. I'd be in the way. I'd jeopardize the mission.

I'm as weak as a sandcastle. I'll crumble away if I stay on the bed, so I jump off like it's a brand new day, but as soon as I'm on my feet, the motivation drains out of me. There's nothing I can do for Cynthia except send Alan. Realistically, that's it.

All I can do is use my best judgement, like Alan said. If the Cowboy or the Yakuza come for me, there's only one exit out of this hotel room, just like a trap. The Cowboy and the Yakuza might even know I'm here. They could have kidnapped Cynthia hoping to separate us.

My gut tells me to get out of this hotel now.

Alan leaves Makiko to help Cynthia. Can you blame him?

Makiko leaves the hotel. Can you blame her?

I hope you enjoyed that. If so, please be generous and star this chapter. If not, please be generous and star this chapter.