The hand that shoved him was calloused, not rough. Jimmy knew it was a ham-fisted attempt at help. Now aware of the grime clouding his eyes and dust of God-knows-what choking his throat, his mind barely registered the three other doors slamming shut around him.
The voice he heard, though, was a cold reminder of who just saved him.
“Get us back home, boys. Avoid civilians, but as fast as you can.”
“Yes, Mr. Haldrin.”
Jimmy felt something soft and flimsy placed in his hands, flopping over to one side.
“Best not let the stuff stay on your face, James.”
Jimmy quickly opened up the handkerchief and vigorously rubbed around his eyes and mouth. As he did, pent-up nerves finally found a release.
“Are we on a first name basis now?” He spoke through a nervous laugh, nearly giggles. His body began to twitch, uncontrollably so, making it nearly impossible to finish cleaning his face.
“Mr. Farmer,” said Mr. Haldrin in a sharp tone, which caused Jimmy’s laughter to catch. “Hold the O.S. bar with your right hand.”
As if he had to see it to believe it, Jimmy watched as his own shaking hand reached up and grabbed the bar above the door.
“Good,” Mr. Haldrin continued. “Now, breathe through your nose. Slower. Hold it.”
Mr. Haldrin paused for an unspoken count before directing, “Let it out.”
He repeated this three times, and with each rendition, the shaking slowed. Finally, it ended completely, leaving Jimmy’s arms feeling like wet cement. If any of the other men held judgment on the display, he was grateful they kept it to themselves.
“Did you hit your head?” Mr. Haldrin asked.
“I don’t think.”
“That was not the question. Thought has nothing to do with it. Did you strike your head?”
“No,” Jimmy said, before sheepishly adding, “Sir.”
“No need for the formalities. I needed to help you through the adrenaline drop. It happens to all of us, doesn’t it, fellas?”
“Yes, Mr. Haldrin,” said the bodyguards in sync, though the one driving gave a brotherly grin through the rearview mirror.
The cloud of dust that consumed them all was now a mere murky spot in the rear window by the time Jimmy felt comfortable enough to speak again, but the entire time, a question had been forming in his mind.
“How did you know I was there?” Jimmy asked.
“I always keep an eye out for friends,” answered Haldrin.
That answer only flamed the forgotten fear he had hours before. Had Haldrin’s men followed him all day? Had he seen the woman enter or leave his apartment? Already out of his depth, would this day, with its many twists and turns, crash one more wave on his head?
The car kept moving, the questions kept churning, and all Jimmy wanted to do was go home and forget to have ever wondered about his friend Paul. His stomach clenched at the thought of his friend’s name. Though, as horrific as the scene was, he wasn’t concerned about Paul’s safety.
“Did you have me followed all night?” Jimmy asked. Jean and the kids had to be safe. If nothing else, he needed to know that.
“You knew you were being watched,” Haldrin answered.
“That was not the question,” Jimmy repeated back, earning a wiry smile.
“You got some stones on you, Mr. Farmer. I respect that. If I had had you followed, you might consider yourself fortunate. Don’t forget, we saved your skin.”
“That’s still not an answer.”
Jimmy glared at Mr. Haldrin, hoping to goad the man into some response, but the man appeared perfectly content to let the noise of the small city fill the silence. Both stared out their respective windows until the begrudgingly familiar orange lantern could be seen.
“Take us to the back entrance, will you, fellas?”
Jimmy marveled at how casual Mr. Haldrin sounded, but scoffed at how eagerly the men agreed, like it was an order.
Jimmy was the last to get out of the car. He had considered bolting for it then and there, but the large hand reaching to help him out felt just as inescapable as Haldrin’s reach. One guard walked in front of him, the other behind, as Haldrin entered the back door to the tavern, right into a small and discreet hallway.
“Lou, can you have Johnny and the boys whip us up some omelettes? Colby Jack and ham.” Mr. Haldrin snapped his fingers. “Bacon, not ham. And can you send up some of that cranberry bread toast in the meantime?”
“Sure thing, Mr. Haldrin,” answered the bigger of the two bodyguards.
“This way, James,” Haldrin said, directing Jimmy to a door he immediately recognized as the rear door to Haldrin’s own office. “Have a seat.”
Jimmy instinctively took the same seat from his first visit. The room was impeccably dust-free and exactly as it was that first night, aside from a few unusually clean spots on the carpet. For a moment, he imagined Lou over-scrubbing Bobby’s blood out of the fibers.
“Thank you for coming for me,” Jimmy said. Despite his questions and accusations, he did owe Mr. Haldrin at least a thank you.
“You’re welcome,” Mr. Haldrin answered, fiddling with the coffee machine. “But we weren’t there for you.”
Relief flooded Jimmy at the response. If Haldrin wasn’t there for him, then that meant he wasn’t being followed, right?
“Then how’d you know to find me?” he asked.
“A word.” Haldrin turned around, two mugs of coffee in hand. Despite the late hour, Jimmy accepted the drink. “Did you hear it?”
A different shiver ran through Jimmy before he dared to say it.
“Congregabis?”
“Nice to know you observe under pressure, but do you know what it means?” Mr. Haldrin leaned back, giving the impression of a professor administering an exam in his high-backed leather chair. Jimmy felt all the more the dunce as he shook his head no.
“It’s Latin. Literally, it’s a directive: you will gather. It takes on a more sinister meaning.” Haldrin leaned forward. “The Harvest.”
Jimmy had heard the name before. He knew it, but his brain hurt trying to remember exactly where.
“What does that mean? Why would so many say it?” Jimmy asked.
“My best guess is one of the psychopaths that rise to meet these newfound heroes. The law of escalation goes both ways. And the Vigilant clearly are too much for lowlife organized crime bosses.” Mr. Haldrin gave a self-deprecating gesture toward his office. “From what I’ve gathered, The Harvest is a person or persons who somehow take control of others and gather.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Jimmy knew it sounded stupid as he spoke.
“Mr. Farmer, by now you ought to know few of us in certain circles are up to good things.” Jimmy would never live that line down, apparently. “There are always unnecessary casualties. Innocent lives, not men wearing a badge or, well, men like me. The Harvest kills for the sake of killing.”
A shadow moved over Haldrin’s face.
“There’s a head deserving of a bullet.”
“That doesn’t explain how you knew to find me there,” Jimmy said.
“Not everything is about you, Mr. Farmer. My network detected a large group of people gathering. We had recognized the pattern, and I had hoped that it would take a mind meddler to fight one. Find The Harvest, find your heroes.” Haldrin sipped his coffee. “They are remarkably predictable when innocent lives are threatened, but that mess was more than we were prepared for. We were on our way out when Bob saw you. I couldn’t leave a man behind.”
“Wait a second.” Jimmy pressed. “You saw that coming but did nothing? You could have stopped them, could have called the police. Who knows if anyone died in that building—”
“Three, by our count. Including a dog.” Mr. Haldrin inhaled and slowly exhaled. “The Harvest will pay for that.”
“You could have stopped it!” Jimmy felt himself shouting.
“I did not cause the gathering, nor did I know precisely what this madman intended.” Mr. Haldrin stirred his coffee but kept his eyes locked onto Jimmy’s. “I couldn’t expose my men and risk any missed intelligence gathering. As previously mentioned, we were outgunned. When we saw you being taken, we acted, and it’s good we did.”
“They were still people,” Jimmy said. “Whatever was controlling them, those were regular people.”
“I am aware. It’s why we knocked them out. She will wake with a headache. You would not have.”
Jimmy remembered the woman’s smile. He remembered the others closing in without urgency, as if there had been nowhere he could run that they could not eventually reach.
“Found another,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what she said when she grabbed me, what they all said. They said, ‘Found another.’”
For the first time, Mr. Haldrin seemed caught off guard. Another grim shadow spread over his face, and he tightened his jaw like he was chewing on something.
“You need to be on the watch for more than strong men holding walls.”
Jimmy snapped to attention at this.
“I am sure he is safe. That crowd couldn’t move him if he wanted to stay put. Do you know him?”
Jimmy shook his head in a lie.
“Your loyalty is admirable, James, but your poker face needs work.”
“I was just stunned at how anyone could do that,” Jimmy dodged. “He was saving people. Is that really something you’re gonna go after?”
“Yes, he was saving people. Noble work.”
There was a knock on the door, and at Haldrin’s signal, a waitress opened the door with a small cart. Mr. Haldrin smiled and greeted her, offering to take the tray full of omelettes. Though an hour ago he was full from Jean’s cooking, Jimmy’s stomach rumbled at the sight.
Jimmy wolfed down the food, barely noticing as Haldrin continued to think.
“Whatever you believed your situation this morning, right or wrong, things have changed. You’re involved, perhaps deeper than you wanted or intended,” Mr. Haldrin finally spoke.
“I know nothing about The Harvest, whether or not they’ll remember you or claimed you. By my count, there were at least five heroes in that crowd, our mutual female friend not included. Who’s to say which of those six saw you, and now my involvement is publicly entangled with yours.”
Haldrin took two bites of his own omelette, smiled, and spoke almost to himself.
“I’d give half my considerable net worth to learn my cook staff’s secrets.”
“The bacon was the right call,” Jimmy added.
And, for the first time, the two men shared a laugh together.
If only it had ended there.
“I’m going to have one of my guys drive you home. Going forward, I can have you watched constantly, wait until things settle down.” Mr. Haldrin finished his coffee. “I would recommend you write everything down once you get home. Our mutual friend has been known to elude our watch, and I’d hate for you to forget what happened tonight.”
Jimmy could feel his eyes popping at the notion, confident no amount of that woman’s meddling could erase the picture of Paul’s face as he dug through the debris.
“I’m not talking about the heroes. I’m talking about the threat to you, James.” Mr. Haldrin pointed a finger across the table into Jimmy’s chest. “Found another.”
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