Love in the Eyes of Death

The Riptide Conspiracy

Half the names on the list have been crossed off.

That is not what Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Georgia Goodwin was expecting to see first thing in the morning when she reached her cubicle in the Chicago-Sun Times office. There was a list on her table with half of the names crossed off, and a Post-It note attached to it, with the caption "I know what happened to these people", and below it a number.

Georgia recognizes the names that have been crossed off. They were PharmaCorp employees that had been killed in freak accidents. Four of them have been killed in a plane crash, while two more names have been killed in a car crash. Because of how mysterious it is, she approaches the in-house mailman, Brian, in front of Sarah's cubicle. Georgia approached Brian and said, "Hey, Brian. Do you know who sent this". Brian replied "No clue. There was no return address on that. One of your insiders, maybe?" Georgia said, "Maybe. Thanks, Brian", giving him a smile before walking back to her cubicle.

The second she sat down at her cubicle, she reached for the phone and dialed the number on the Post-It sticker. The phone rang four times, and there was a mysterious guy on the other side of the line, saying "Hello?". Georgia replied, "Hi, this is Georgia Goodwin from the Chicago Sun-Times, are you the one who....". The mysterious voice cuts her off mid-sentence and says "Pretend we're dating." Realizing how serious the situation was, she agreed to play ball.

"Hey darling, I didn't know you were calling. What's up?"Georgia said as she talked to the mysterious voice in code. The mysterious voice replied "Hang up the phone after I'm done. There is a parking lot two blocks from your building. I want you to go there, head to the second floor, and look for the license plate BD 45641. I have a juicy story for you." After the mysterious voice said all that, he hung up the phone.

Trying not to look too inconspicuous, she then said "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, babe. I'll come over right now" and puts down the phone. Georgia then packed her stuff and proceeded to walk to the elevator. The second she pressed the down button on the elevator, she was approached by her editor, Perry Pinkman.

"Going somewhere?", Perry asked. Georgia said, "Yeah, my boyfriend's grandmother had an accident last night, and I have to be there for her." Perry then replied "Alright, you have your day off now. Take care." Most people believe Perry to have a heart made of steel, but not many know he has a soft heart inside of him. Among those people is Georgia, who he considers to be one of the closest people, which is why he let her have a sudden day off.

Once Georgia reached the lobby, she reached for her headphones and scrolled through her phone for some music until she found a song called Mr. E's Beautiful Blues by Eels. It is a good song to start the day even though she will meet a mysterious guy in some parking lot. Unbeknownst to her, she did not notice a car following her.

When she arrived at the parking lot, she proceeded to take a flight of stairs and found her car. It was weird because there was no one in the car but regardless, she went in. The second she was in, a random guy entered the car at the same time as her. The random guy said, "Took you long enough." Even without any introduction, she knew who the guy was. He was that mysterious voice she called in her office. "You're the guy that called me?", Georgia asked. The mysterious guy said "Yup. Mark Weid, nice to meet you." They proceeded to shake hands. Mark asked, "Are you followed?". Georgia then replied, "No, at least I don't think so". "Good. We'll be heading to Oak Park. There's someone I want you to meet there. Any questions you have, I'll be happy to answer on the way there. Sounds cool?" Mark said. Without being given a chance to protest, Georgia hesitantly nodded her head. After getting an answer, Mark started the car and left the parking lot.

The car that followed Georgia noticed the car leaving the parking lot, and proceeded to follow them. There were three mercenaries in the car. The mercenary called his employer and asked "We got the reporter. You want us to kill him?" The employer responded "No, let him go. He might lead us to Dr. Sinclair." The mercenary said "Copy that." and hung up the phone. The mercenary in the backseat cocked her APC9K submachine gun, getting ready for some bloodshed.