52: Homing Beacon

Mike and Sophie sat at a coffee table and waited for a miracle by the hands of the tech wiz. Carter had been more than hospitable to the guests. The coffee table had a variety of refreshments on offer. Sophie didn't hesitate for a second and took a cookie. Mike didn’t touch anything. Aaron shadowed Carter as he examined the disassembled phone under a horde of lenses. He had plugged the phone with a device Aaron had never seen it before. It looked like a smart phone but it had no colors on it. It only showed alphabets and digits. Aaron didn’t understand what was going on at all but he refrained from asking too many questions. Mike finally surrendered to his hunger and picked up a cookie. Carter momentarily looked up and saw the look of puzzlement on Aaron’s face. He took pride in what he did so he didn’t mind sharing his secrets.

“This device is what we guys call a ‘Backdoor’. Every question has an answer and every problem has a solution. This little gadget reverse engineers the problem”, Carter enthusiastically explained. It wasn’t everyday that someone gave a crap about the things he loved. Everyone else that he worked for, only wanted the results. It made him feel lonely. “It’s like when a fort is guarded by a thousand soldiers at the front gate but you show up inside through the sewers. The gadget finds the sewers. You feel me?”, Carter added. Aaron hastily nodded. He enjoyed the picture. “You know? Like yours, my cousin was also shot by those bitch ass cops and he didn’t even do nothing. He was just minding his own business at some Walmart parking lot. A cop stopped him. My cuz turned around to see the cop but his hands were in his hoodie pockets. The cop didn’t think twice before giving him a hole in the chest”, Carter spoke and shook his head slowly. Aaron kept nodding and responded with an occasional ‘Yeah’ and ‘You bet’. It didn’t sit right with him. Sophie had concocted a believable lie on the spot. She had told Carter that the phone belonged to their dead cousin who was shot by the cops. According to her story, the evidence about the shooter was in the locked phone and they didn't trust the police with it. Carter had fallen head first for it. Carter seemed like a nice guy and Aaron felt terrible for fooling him like that. But then again, he didn't have much of a choice. Mike was getting a bit cranky. He was wondering if any of his men would find some suitable guy in a short notice. It was almost midnight and he wasn’t seeing much progress. The device pinged loudly. Carter pumped his fist and shouted, “Bingo!”. Mike and Sophie joined Aaron behind Carter’s shoulders. “We’ve found the sewer!”, Carter happily announced. Mike and Sophie looked at each other in confusion but Aaron knew what that meant. Carter unplugged the gadget from the phone and typed a password on the phone. The phone beeped and unlocked on the first attempt. All four of them rejoiced on the success.

“I owe you an apology”, Mike spoke as he approached from behind Carter and handed him five hundred bucks.

“It’s on the house”, Carter said and refused to take the money. Mike forced the bills into Carter’s shirt pocket. He didn’t resist. They were thinking about their next course of action. They knew that getting the phone unlocked was just the first step. They all stared at the unlocked phone that sat on the work table. It started ringing. All four of them went into shock. They had enough on their plates as it was. None of them had the courage to read the caller’s name. Aaron reluctantly stole a glance at the screen and the name of the caller ran a shiver through him. The screen flashed ‘Mr. Hudson’. The phone kept ringing. Aaron couldn’t gather up the courage to pick it up. The ringing stopped. The silence in the room was deafening. Aaron and Sophie exchanged terrified glances. They could almost hear their own heart beats. Mike was in a relatively better state than the two but even he didn’t know what to do. Carter, on the other hand, was only jumpy because of the reaction of the girl and the boy. The phone started to ring again. It was from Mr. Hudson again. Aaron realized that there was no escaping it so he reluctantly stepped forward and picked it up. He pressed it to his ear and waited for any sound from the other side. There was just heavy breathing. Seconds felt like eternity.

“You shouldn’t have done that boy! You shouldn’t have done that!”, Rick gravely spoke. Aaron wondered what he meant by that but he soon realized that he was holding a dead man’s phone. He winced. “You’ve just killed another one of my loved ones. Yours will pay as well”, Rick Hudson gravely muttered. Aaron felt every word hit him like a truck. He looked at Mike who mouthed him to put it on speaker. Aaron did. “I know exactly where you are! Did you really think that I won’t be able to track my employee’s phone?”, Rick added. Aaron realized his grave mistake. The mention of tracking was enough to scare Carter out of his socks. “But I won’t come”, Rick continued. “I just realized, what I wished to do to you, was unfair so I’ve changed my plans”, Rick’s voice croaked on the phone. Aaron wondered if he was about to negotiate for peace. It would be against the character of the man. “You never came after me so it’ll be fair if I refrain from doing so myself. You’ve taken my loved ones from me so justice demands that I do the same to you”, Rick announced grimly and Aaron felt a blazing rage brew up inside him. It was enough to make him tremble with fury.
“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!”, Aaron yelled at the top of his lungs. Rick ignored him and went on like a recorded message.

“I’ll kill everyone you love, one by one, piece by piece, limb by limb. When you are left with nothing but their haunting memories and beg for death, I’ll stand over you and bless you with it”, Rick gravely said in a terrifying emotionless tone. Mike, Sophie and Carter stood there motionless in horror as Aaron kept yelling abuses at him through his bone chilling speech. “And I’ll use my powers this time. You defiled my son’s corpse. I’ll make sure your loved ones are breathing when I do the same to them”, Rick continued. Aaron felt his voice vanish as soon as he heard that Hudson was going to use his powers. Mike and Sophie were stuck at the defiling of the corpse and stared at Aaron for some explanation. “There’s a present for you at your workplace. If you don't come to receive it, the entire building gets leveled”, Rick threatened and Aaron was in no mood to test the man. “Take good care Hal-eck! It’s no fun if you die before others”, Rick concluded and hung up. Carter stared at Aaron, scared beyond any repair. Sophie and Mike were thinking about that defiling of the corpse and so was Aaron but he was more anxious about another thing. He couldn’t help but be pessimistic about the present that awaited him at Bjorn.