A Drone over New York
Chapter 13

The subway rattle continued underneath him. He’d been going in circles for the past five hours, changing subway lines every few stops, trying to notice if anyone was following. But his mind couldn’t take it now. He was close to breaking. The movement only served to drive home that for the first time, he didn’t know what to do.

Was he on the C line, or the D? Was it an express? When should he change next? He looked around the subway car helplessly. Was that the same guy as before? The one in the blue shirt? He could swear he remembered the girl in the sunglasses before.

The shock of what happened in the street was still with him. He desperately needed a shower. He needed to get out of his clothes, to make himself clean. All the people around him made him want to scream. But he needed to stay here, stay calm on the outside. Act normal. He was safe down here on the subway.

Keep moving and keep alive, he told himself over and over again.

The train screeched its way to a halt. People started toward the door. Others were waiting to take their place. It was time to change lines. To head back the other way.

People changed and the sense of déjà vu was in itself déjà vu. Another train, another seat. Counting the people in a blue shirt. Trying to make rhymes about what they were wearing, the combinations of clothes. It was useless now, but he still tried. Man in a blue shirt, dark suit, and red tie. How many of those were on this train? How many were on the last? He needed to get off somewhere. He needed somewhere safe. He needed to get away from all these people.

The only problem was, where?

Going home was now out of the question. They knew who he was. They knew he was in possession of the video. He was lucky that Anton told him to stash it somewhere. Anton’s warnings were worth their weight in gold. He still had the key too. He counted his lucky stars they hadn’t found it.

In his hurry to get away, he had only managed to grab his broken burn phone and the now useless subway pass. His new laptop and phablet had been too shattered to grab. He had just left them there, on the ground in the alley for whoever wanted them. They were broken and useless anyway. He was lucky they weren’t going to be a liability. No one would replace anything on them.

The two “muggers” had made off with his wallet. He now had no money, and nowhere to go. His next move was going to either make him, or break him.

Another thing that troubled Max was that he had also forgotten to grab his gym bag. All his clothes were in there. He had nothing now. Only the slightly torn and bloody clothes on his back and a broken burn phone. He hoped the SIM was still working.

Max racked his brains for the umpteenth time, trying to work out where to go. Once again he considered riding the subway all night, the way homeless people did in the winter to avoid the cold. But he needed to sleep. He needed to get off and check his emails. He needed to close the sale. He needed to escape.

The question still remained: Where could he go?

Max had been seen at the hotel, so there was also no going back there. His backup plan had failed. He was careless, and it had resulted in him being spotted.

Options started to flood in. Naturally he thought of the work safe house. But his muggers knew who he was, so they would for sure be on the lookout at the company hotel. It was no secret Martha had the teams stay there in times of trouble. He had also missed the day. That would raise questions. Too many questions to answer right now.

Another option was Callie. Max knew he could hide out there. He could convince Callie to keep things quiet. She didn’t know much better. He could convince her that it was normal. She might believe it. On the other hand he could just tell her everything. Tell her that he was the one making the sale and that he was the cause of all the trouble. He could ask her to come with him. She would come. She always talked about how much she loved the beach. At least he hoped she would come. But Callie had been a little homesick recently. She probably wouldn’t want to leave forever. If she left and returned, word would get out where he had disappeared to. She wasn’t great at keeping secrets for too long.

Other friends, past and present, all come flooding in. But Max knew few addresses. Most of them were his ex-girlfriends. He knew even fewer people’s phone numbers off the top of his head. Without his phone it was useless.

He contemplated going to Anton’s work and hiding there. Surely they would look after him. He could even ask for a job at the AP. Anton had always said he had a standing job offer there. But if he did that, it was like he was conceding and giving up on the deal. There was no way he was going to do that. Not now. Not after today. Even if he gave up the footage to Anton, that wouldn’t change the fact that someone was after him. They might just continue to chase him to make a point.

He really was struggling to come up with where to go.

Max was staring at the ground when he noticed a small puddle forming in front of his feet. A guy who just got on the train was soaking wet. Max looked around and realized everyone was damp and the subway now smelled like a wet dog. People were clinging to umbrellas. A summer storm outside could be the break he needed.

He checked his watch. It was past midnight now. He had been down here longer than he had realized. The skies outside would be dark, and the clouds and wind would limit the civilian or corporate flying. Rogue drones would never risk being out in a storm.

It was the closest thing to a perfect time to get off, but the question still remained: Where to?

Max quickly tried to compile his desperate list. There were not a lot of options. Too many people were already involved. Too many people were at risk. He couldn’t risk exposing Anton again. If his digging was doing anything, then someone would be watching him. Going to his own coworkers was out of the question too. He might be able to spin something they would believe, but the police were sure to check with them.

Max sadly didn’t have that many old friends based in New York, and even fewer who he knew where they lived.

Only a few names and addresses eventually came to him. He hoped one of them could help.

First of the list of names to try was in Midtown. He hadn’t seen his old college roommate in around three or four months. Max knew they had been slowly drifting apart, but it was worth a try. He lived in one of the high-rises that Max hated. They lacked character and the charm that enabled you to live in such a small space.

The doorman greeted him as he entered. Max gave his old friend’s name and room.

“Sorry, sir, but Mr. Daniel moved around a month ago,” he replied once he looked it up on the system.

Max’s heart sank. He should have known.

“Did he leave a forwarding address?” Max asked, hoping he had only moved across town to somewhere half respectable.

“Yes, it’s in Boston. Would you like it?”

Max said no, then his head sunk as he walked out of the sterile building and back to the subway. He still had a couple left.

In truth he knew it was really only one. The other he didn’t really want to consider.

He caught the subway out to Brooklyn. He hadn’t spoken to his cousin in around five years. He was a nice guy, older, married with a kid. Or was it two kids? It was the only family he had in the city. Max strained his mind to remember what stop it was. He’d only been there twice for various house parties. The guy moved in a very different circle from Max, so Max stopped going to see him. Max had made the mistake of going there with a girlfriend once. The party had so many kids running around, it sparked a conversation that Max didn’t want to have with the girl. She was nice enough, but after that party she wanted a little more from the relationship than Max was willing to give. It was a shame.

It was around 1:00 a.m. when he finally made it to the stop he thought his cousin lived near. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but once he walked outside, a few of the landmarks looked familiar.

Max walked the streets by sense and memory. Luckily his cousin did not live that far from the station. It was awhile before he found the house, but something looked different about it. He noticed a light on inside, so Max decided to wait a bit—see if he could catch a glimpse of someone. Ringing the doorbell when two kids were likely sleeping would not be a good start. He waited until he saw someone through a front window. He looked much too overweight for his cousin. His cousin had been a fitness freak, so no way would he have put on that much weight.

Max finally had to concede it wasn’t him. He must have moved too.

Now there was really only one last option for him to try. If this didn’t work, then he was in real trouble.