A Drone over New York
Chapter 11

It was a long, slow journey back to the cheap hotel. Max tried not to let his guard down, but it was hard. He was losing count of the people he had tried to remember. The stories he tried to make in his mind had become a jumbled mess.

The million other things that ran though his mind didn’t help. One of them being that the deal was only going to get more complicated so he needed to tread even more cautiously. He also needed to check in with his office. Kate would be worried if he didn’t reconnect at some point during the day.

However, Anton’s warning played through his head. If he made the wrong step or typed the wrong thing, it might cause everything to become undone. He needed to be careful. Surely a quick email would be fine, he thought. His company server was secure, so it should be hard to trace. Also, he was on a train, so as long as he turned off his phone after he sent the message, they shouldn’t be able to replace him.

He gave a look around the subway car. It was half full of tourists and too hard to notice anyone in particular. He was starting to think looking over his shoulder was only going to distract him from getting the deal closed.

He pulled out his normal phone, turned it on, and hammered out a quick message:

Hi Kate,

Have you got another still yet?

Just been to the doctor. Bad news is I’ve come down with something really bad. Good news is that the doctor has told me it’s just a 24-hour thing though and I just need to rest.

I am going to spend the rest of today at home if that is ok. I hopefully should be fine tomorrow.

If you need me to look over anything, send it through.

Max

p.s. let me know if anyone else is ill.

He waited until the message was sent before he turned his phone off again. He gave a quick look around the car. No one looked like they were watching him.

The sooner this was over, the better.

As he changed lines, he decided to grab another bagel. This time it was a BLT. It wasn’t exactly what he would call healthy eating, but it was cheap. He didn’t have a lot of options left. He didn’t know how long the money in his pocket had to last for. The prepaid credit card still had a bit of money on it if he needed it. But he knew he had to keep that as an emergency.

Putting back on his hoodie, cap, and sunglasses, Max braved the outside one last time. It was the final rush between the subway station and the nasty hotel. Five New York City blocks was all, plus a few extra to make sure he wasn’t being followed. Once at the hotel, he could lay low until the deal was done.

He walked fast, kept his head down, and never gave the drones a chance. Finally he walked through the old door and realized he needed to change the original plan.

The lady at the front desk hadn’t moved. She was still watching her screen. Max didn’t want to guess what show it was. Odds were it was something trashy. He couldn’t even tell if she had changed clothes since last night.

“I’m going to need the room for an extra day or two,” he said, drawing her attention away from the screen. It was not something he really wished to do, but it was a necessity.

“One day or two?” she ground out in her monotone, seemingly annoyed at the interruption of her show.

“Two.”

“That’ll be $220, payable now.”

Max pulled out the money, carefully prearranged to ensure he wasn’t flashing anything more than he needed.

She snatched the money from his hands and counted it. She gave him a small glance as she slipped it into a small slot in her desk.

Max didn’t move for a moment. He wondered how much money was sitting in that drawer. His cash was not going to last long. He had a lot coming soon, but it might take a few days for it to be available for use. He would have to get better at preserving what he had. All that money was just flushed away.

“You need anything else?” the woman in front of him rolled off, unaware of what Max was thinking.

Max’s attention was suddenly drawn back and he realized what the woman was asking. This hotel was that kind of place. She gave him the ever so slight of smiles.

Max felt himself blush. “No, thanks,” he said as he turned and made for the stairs. It was not something he wanted to think about as he climbed the three flights.

The reality of trying to get away with his “stunt” was starting to sink in. Yes, they would pay, but it would take three to four days for him to funnel the money into a useable format. Then he had to get out of the city. He had to get somewhere away from the cops, away from the drones overhead. Chicago was a good option, so was Boston. He could even move out west. He thought that was probably the better option. Make a fresh start. He had a few contacts out there that could help him get settled and get him started again. Then again, if he was making a fresh start, why not do it properly? With the type of money he was going to have, he could leave the country. He could head to Caribbean or somewhere in Southeast Asia. Max had always dreamed of just packing up and heading to Thailand, so why not just do it? Open a beach bar. Relax and enjoy himself. Spend his days under the sun and run the bar at night. He had the money to do it. He could make it work.

He smiled to himself. It was the best idea he’d had since he had started this whole thing. He could just pack up and live the life he had always wanted to.

The question of how to get out of the country jumped into his head.

He could rent a car and drive up to Canada. From there he could catch his flight. He needed to look at flights out of Montréal, though, as they might need to stop at LAX. It might be better to head across country first. Try and get to LA, then head to Thailand. But that had risks as well. There were lots of options now. He would have a few things to look up online. Some stuff was safe enough to look up at the hotel, and he was guessing flights to Thailand would be fine.

The thought of sitting on a beach cheered Max up a fair amount during the long three-flight climb.

When Max opened the door, his heart sank. The cleaning lady had been through. He had forgotten to put the Do Not Disturb notice on the door. She had probably been through his stuff, looking for whatever she wanted. He lost a watch the first time he stayed here. But he had taken precautions this time. He had all the valuable stuff on him. It still didn’t leave him with a nice feeling.

He headed over to the window to close the blind that she had opened. Just as he reached it, two drones whizzed past. Max threw himself against the wall, out of sight, but not fast that he didn’t catch a glimpse of another drone across the alley.

It was just hovering there. Old words from Dale rang through his head.

He swore under his breath.

Max still had to close the blind. The only problem was that the string to pull the blinds was on the other side of the window. Why had he jumped to this side? He cursed his own stupidity.

He had to chance making a move.

After what seemed like an eternity of two minutes, he finally summed up the courage to make his move. He dropped to his knees by the air conditioner at the base of the window, then crawled over to the other side as he kept his head down. Reaching up, he let down the blind.

But he needed to look again. He had to chance a peek out and see if it was what he thought. He reached out, and with two fingers separated the venetian blinds just enough to look out.

The drone was still there, waiting. It was hovering, not moving. It was watching him. It was looking for him.

After a few moments it sprang to life and zoomed off, up and away, the Enexup logo brandishing as it turned. But there was little chance it was a Enexup drone. Enexup programming didn’t let them hover at a height like that.

He was busted.

He had to get out.

Fast.