The Archfornicator of Canterbury

21 His name is Dick

Two men were sitting in a beat-up VW Beetle parked a few hundred meters down the street from the US Embassy. Their colleagues in a Toyota Corolla were parked on the other side of the Embassy, so that nobody could get near the front gate without being noticed.

A black Mercury approached the Embassy. The gates opened, and the car glided in.

"Did you see that."

"Yeah. None of those guys match the description. Those four all work at the Embassy."

Inside the building, Richard Black was nervously pacing back and forth in his office when the phone rang.

"Hello."

"What's with the goon squad."

"Jack. Jesus. Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you'd be OK."

"I found what you sent me to find in Shannara."

"Really. That's great. Do you have it with you."

"Maybe. Suddenly I'm not so sure anymore."

"Don't play games with me Jack. Come in and hand it over. I'll make sure you get a nice bonus. How does an all expenses paid vacation in Hawaii sound."

"Not too shabby. I might not enjoy it too much though with a bullet in my head."

"Don't be silly Jack. You're acting paranoid."

"I may be paranoid but it doesn't mean you're not out to get me. How about we do a trade."

"A trade."

"Yeah. You get what you want and I get something I want in return. Something other than a bullet."

Black's attention was suddenly drawn to a person standing in the doorway. It was Special Agent Frank Kozinsky, who mouthed the words "WE'VE TRACED HIM". Black responded with a silent "GO" and waved his hand. Kozinsky disappeared from the doorway.

"What do you want Jack. Let's make a deal."

"First I want you to call off the goons. Then we'll talk."

"You're not making any sense Jack."

"You know Richard you truly are a Dick. Catch you later."

Jack Back hung up the phone and hurried out of the coffee shop.

The Archfornicator of Canterbury by Olli-Pekka Rinta-Koski
is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.