"Mr. Howard?" a voice rang out from down the hall. "Call for you...in your office."
"Fletcher Howard!? John quietly exclaimed. "Wharton warned me about this guy!"
The tall buzz cut Mr. Howard stuck his head out the door and yelled back, "Well, who is it?"
The hallway echoed with the clicking of heels as the chubby office assistant sauntered down the hall. Her hair was blonde, most of it anyway, with streaks of red matching her much too short polyester pencil skirt. Mr. Howard quickly stepped into the hallway shutting the door behind him and openly eyeballed her.
"What's in there that you don't want me to see?" she asked coyly, "Are you two-timing me?"
"And why would I do that?" he asked while looking to see if anyone was around. Satisfied, he reached out and grabbed a handful of her ample buttocks.
"Fletcher!" she feigned indignation. She slapped his hand, giggled,and began to walk away.
"You have a call?" she reminded him.
"Who is it?"
"Gerard Allen."
"That's Colonel Gerard Allen to you. He so likes the title," he added sarcastically. He followed the office tart down the long hallway to his office and shut the door.
This was a two fisted, double uppercut to the jaw for John. Fletcher Howard, the Fletcher Howard taking a phone call from his uncle. What the hell!? What possible explanation could there be for that?
Fletcher Howard's windowless office sat at the far end of the warehouse, close to the loading dock and clearly did not match the upscale wardrobe he seemed to sport daily. It was tastefully decorated in all things beige, the only punch of color being a dusty gold and red "Commendable Service" plaque hanging on the blank wall. He looked at the phone on his desk, pausing in a moment of reluctance before picking it up and punching the blinking hold button.
"Fletcher Howard!" he announced.
"Colonel Allen," barked the voice on the other end. It was indeed Gerard Allen; John's uncle and he was not happy. "What the hell took you so long? Look, we need to draw him in. The only way to do that is to bring his father out," he continued.
"We don't have his father, remember? We've got his mother, but they'd never let us take her out, even for this," a frustrated Fletcher shot back.
"Aren't you the guy who claims to have all this clout with those moron giants?" the colonel goaded him. "Anyway... We don't need them. He just has to think we've got him. You still have that crusty old pilot Aiden, don't you?"
"Yeah," Fletcher affirmed."Just dope him up and put the word out that John Ferrum is going on trial. That'll bring him in."
"Will do. Gerard? We just found it," Fletcher proudly announced.
"The Location? You've located the tupu horore?" the first sign of enthusiasm Gerard had shown for Fletcher's efforts.
"Well, not exactly but it won't be-"
CLICK.
"Long now."
Fletcher slammed the phone.
"You prick!" he muttered to himself.
Without warning, John's phone lit up and sounded the alarm. Ethan's LuvBug app had just found the perfect girl. He quickly stifled it. But was he quick enough? They all looked at each other in stunned silence trying to answer that question in each other's eyes.
YOU ARE READING
John Frum The Reluctant Messiah
AdventureThere were always people watching. Even as a child he could feel it. Everyone knew he was special. Everyone except him that is. Now, through a series of fateful events, John finds himself alone, hanging upside down from the crumpled mess that was hi...
