Man in black - sequel

14.Deal.

"Jeremy, where is she?" I asked, scanning the crowded café.

Bel. That's all I had—a name. No photo, no description, nothing. Just a stupid assistant who thought a single name was enough to find someone in a sea of strangers. And with the place packed—eighty percent of them women—I was starting to question my life choices.

"In the café. Did you find her?" Jeremy's voice crackled through the phone.

"Obviously not," I groaned, rubbing my temple as the coffee machine buzzed in the background.

"I told you, her name is Bel, and she's wearing something black," he said, tsking like I was the one being difficult.

"And I told you—no one here is wearing a black dress. What the hell am I supposed to do? Yell her name like some lost puppy?" Frustrated, I threw my free hand up. "Bel! Bel, where are you?"

The second the words left my mouth, a shadow loomed in front of me.

A girl.

Her dark hair was pulled into a half-up bun, her gaze scanning me from head to toe like an X-ray machine.

"Bel," she said flatly.

"Huh?" I blinked.

She rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "I am Bel."

Without another word, she turned and walked toward an empty table, taking a seat and pulling out her phone.

Taking that as my cue, I exhaled into the receiver. "Found her. Bye." I hung up and hurried after her, sliding into the chair across from her.

"I don't see you wearing anything black," I said, eyeing her skeptically.

She barely looked up, simply raising her hand to reveal a black beaded bracelet.

Well, damn.

I adjusted my black Nike cap, pulling a pen drive from my fanny pack and setting it on the table. She didn't seem like the type for small talk, so I got straight to the point.

"I need you to extract all the information from this."

Without hesitation, she picked up the pen drive and slipped it into her jacket pocket. "I'll get in touch when it's done." She stood up, already preparing to leave.

"What about the payment?" I asked, thrown off by how quick this was going.

"I'll let you know once it's done," she said, patting my head like I was some clueless kid. "Get whatever you want to eat. It's on me."

And with that, she walked off, leaving me sitting there, utterly dumbfounded.

"That was... weird," I muttered to myself.

**************************

I glanced at my phone for the hundredth time—still nothing. It had been nearly two weeks since I last saw Bel, and there wasn't a single update. Not from her. Not from Jeremy. Nothing.

Even Jeremy was clueless. She'll contact us, he had said. We can't reach out to her.

Like, what is she, Spider-Man or something? Why all the secrecy?

...Wait. What if she's not even a she?

No, hear me out—what if she's actually an alien? And the next time I meet her, she'll rip off a mask and go, Took you long enough, Alicia William, but you're the only smart one who could decipher my ruse... ha. ha. ha...

I shook my head, pushing away the ridiculous thought as my phone buzzed.

The caller ID read Simon.

Ugh.