The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 11: Meet Marcus, Again

Being in the military, Mark was up before 6:00am every day. When I called him, he had been ready for hours. The previous night he had gone home and pulled out is combat gear. He had packed as if going into a war: Steel toed boots, a large survival knife, 2 smaller pocket knives, binoculars, bolt cutters, a bundle of rope, a few other handy tools and a Beretta 9mm pistol.

When he arrived at my house shortly before 10:00am he had all of the gear in a black duffel bag in the rear compartment of his jeep.

Mark and I went into my house and I brought him up to speed on the mission. I showed him the money, the key and the letter. We brainstormed to come up with a strategy. I let Mark do most of the planning, as he had the experience when it came to infiltration.

I didn't like our situation one bit, but my family's safety was at stake, I had no choice. It helped that Mark was by my side. His motivation almost made me want to do this... almost.

Mark and I attempted to devise a plan. Mark proposed we come up with a second plan as back-up, just in case something went terribly wrong. I tried not to think of the many possibilities of things that could go wrong. Our back up plan was simple, RUN!

We left my house. Our first stop was the local Post office. The main branch of the Post Office was closed on Sundays but the lock boxes could be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mark waited in the jeep while I went in. The key had '619' engraved on it. I quickly found the matching box. I opened it. Confused by what I saw, I grabbed the contents and returned to Mark.

Back in the vehicle, I examined the contents closer. A three by five index card and a small red capsule full of powder. The index card had two phone numbers written on it. A name was next to each number. The first name read 'Nikolas Dragovic', the second, 'Ivan Dragovic.' Above their names was written, 'THE BODYGUARDS'. Below the phone numbers was more writing and another number in parenthesis, 'IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: ( 9 1 1 )'. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

I looked closer at the capsule. There was small writing on the pills shell. It read,'25mg'. All of the contents of the lock box were like puzzle I couldn't understand. "I don't get it. What am I supposed to do with this stuff?"

Mark took the pill and studied it. After a few seconds, he said "It looks like a sleeping pill, but I'm not positive."

If in fact it was a sleeping aid or sedative of some kind and we could somehow get Jacob Scholtz to ingest it... but how? An idea came to me. "Hey, before we go to the hotel, let's make a quick stop at the mall."

"The mall? For what?" Mark was curious.

"I need a suit." I didn't explain further. Mark gave me a funny look and pulled from the post Office parking lot.

As we headed to the mall, Mark took notice as I was contemplated my next move, "So what's your plan?" Mark asked.

"We need Jacob to order lunch at the hotel and somehow we have to intercept his meal and put this pill in it." I was still working out the details.

"How do you plan to get access to his food?" Mark wondered.

"I'll have to convince the hotels kitchen staff that I am Mr. Scholtz's doctor and that he needs to take his prescription." I never said it was a great idea.

"I don't know Joe. There are so many things that could go wrong with that plan. What if he doesn't order lunch? What if the kitchen staff doesn't believe you're his doctor? It's very risky." Mark advised.

"It's all we've got." I pointed out.

We arrived at the mall and Mark dropped me off at the front entrance to a clothing store. I hurried in, found the men's formal clothing section and picked out dress shoes, a jacket, a white button up shirt, a tie and slacks to match. I think this is how a doctor would dress.