The Titan Code

7. First Night Findings

HERMES left after exhorting me to talk to Alex to discuss our plan. I'll admit I quite enjoyed talking to him as a person without feeling obliged to impress him- he'd seen me at my worst so I'd hope there's not much left to be embarrassed by.

I checked my phone and was glad to see Alex had finally replied. Wow, a 12-hour turn around time, how very helpful in this situation. I know people aren't always glued to their phones but honestly.

Sorry, had an busy morning. I don't know if I can do it either but have to try. Ring me when you're free to talk about plan. A

I don't know what I was expecting but really I wanted more. He might not be a great sharer or maybe he thinks I'm weird or possibly both. I ask if he's free to talk now and he replies immediately to that, irritatingly. I call, bracing myself with Hermes' advice and a plateful of cake.

"Hi, Alex, how are you?" I say with an appropriate level of friendliness. 

"Oh yes, fine, fine," he replies airily, "sorry about not replying sooner, by the way. I had an emergency meeting at work, bit hard to do with a few hours' sleep."

His accent sounded typically Southern to me, just a generic poshness which is a major contrast to my Northern, guttural dribble. His clipped, basic response throws me a little- is he annoyed? Does he even want to talk?

"Yeah, I know what you mean... So, you have the beginnings of a plan, then?" Might as well cut right to it.

"Well, not a plan as such," he answers after a pause, "I think we need to focus our efforts to get as many clues as possible."

"Oh right, what do you mean?"

"Well, if we go to the same place one of us can listen in, maybe record the conversation, and the other can go off and explore to find any signs about the whereabouts," he explains.

Okay, that sounds manageable, that's not too scary as long as I'm not the one stalking a couple of murderers on a dark night. I feel okay about this.

"Yeah, yeah that's a good idea," I tell him, "we can search online for any news articles about Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the area. I know there'll probably be a million links but it's a start. Nobody's going to kidnap some boring old wifey at the bottom of the street, are they?"

"That's... That's an excellent thought, Ella," comes his surprised voice, "yes, possibly Mr. Smith is a prominent businessman or a local councillor. See, you doubted yourself but you've brought up a very salient point."

His suddenly encouraging, softer tone caught me off guard. That unexpected nice side to him has appeared again so it makes me wonder why he's routinely quiet and sullen. 

"Well," I say with a slight smile, "I get a good idea once every few years. That's it until 2022, now."

Alex's booming laugh fills the speaker and I have to pull the phone away from my ear. I chuckle a little, too, and it helps to relieve some of the lingering anxiety. 

"I spoke to Hermes today," I tell him as the laughter abates, "did you know he's been watching us for a few years?"

"Not in as many words but it makes sense, doesn't it? He has to find out what we can do and how it effects us. Ella," he adds gently, "I'm glad we're doing this together. I think if it were just me I'd overthink and worry myself to death but between the two of us we stand a good chance of doing this."

I hold my breath for a moment feeling a sudden wave of unbidden affection for the people in my life. Everyone else has faith in me but myself so maybe it's time I listened to them and started showing a little confidence in my choices.