Wrestling the Kraken

Angela

Angela

Angela was still at the station when she received the call from Stavo. She waited in her lab, hugging her purse, staring at the ground. Did she do the right thing? Was her professor in danger now that she tried to reach out?

The door opened to her lab and she darted up. It wasn't Stavo.

"You okay?" Del La Rosa asked. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Yeah, of course." Angela said, trying to laugh it off. Being jumpy wasn't going to help matters at all. "What can I do for you?"

"This was dropped off for you. I didn't open it. Seemed personal." He handed her a card sized envelope.

Reading the return address, her pulse quickened. It was from her professor. "Who dropped this off?"

"Just some kid. Said he was paid to deliver it to you."

Angela gave him a weak smile, tilting her head down. "Thank you." she said and turned her back, walking to the other end of the room.

Del La Rosa tried to say something more, but decided against it. He gave her one last look, before heading out.

She lifted the flap and could see the edge of a photo sticking out just above the lip of the envelope. Knowing what she would find, she closed it back, looking to the ceiling. She gathered herself up and lifted the flap once more. Removing the photo in one swift motion, she treated it like a bandaid.

There was only one polaroid inside and it showed the professor gravely beaten, but alive. In the white space at the bottom, a message was written for her in black marker: strike one.

The door to her lab opened again, startling her. Stavo rushed over to her. "Come on, we need to get out of here." He said and tried to urge her out, but she wouldn't budge. She stood there frozen. "Angie, come on."

"I don't think I can go." She said, in a daze.

The photo was still in her hand. Stavo reached out for it, seeing no objection from Angie. There wasn't much coming from her, except the semi-paralysis she seemed to be under. The bigger picture came into view, when he viewed the photo and he felt like an idiot. He should have known, should have sensed it, when he noticed something was off with her lately. How long was she dealing with this on her own?

"Who is he? Who's got this over your head?" Stavo asked.

Angela shook her head. "I-- I can't--" She started to say, then broke out in tears.

Stavo grabbed her close, wrapping his arms around her. He looked down at the photo in his hands. "I need to get you away from here."

"They're watching. They said they'd always be watching and they are. I shouldn't have tried to tell you about the report."

"Angie, look at me." Stavo tried to lift her face. "He's still alive. They need him to be, so they can get you to do what they want, but there's gotta be someone on the inside, here, working for them. Someone who saw you talking to me, that's why we got to go now."

Angela lifted her head and nodded, wiping the tears away. "How do we leave without tipping them off?"

"We don't. We let them see us."

Angela scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to see where he was going with this.

"Trust me." He said.

It was either trust him or trust them.