The Manifest

Chapter 18

     Tuck was the first one to show up for work the next morning. He took the mail up to the main office and opened the doors before retreating to his office for breakfast. He has his usual spread of black coffee with two pounds of sugar and a few cheese croissants, which he usually needed to finish before Edgar arrived or his partner would attempt to steal them. He had always considered buying more to share, but that never really worked out either. While on his way into the office, he had called the bank from his cell to make sure that the two hundred and fifty large was successfully transferred to the account info Devon handed him the previous night. Seemed important to have that taken care of before the rough bounty hunter and his crew woke up that morning. Tuck was in favor of giving them all incentive they needed to get going that morning and the bank confirmed that transfer was completed.

     Tuck took a seat in his office and started to read his mail, and munch on his continental breakfast. While filing through his mail, he noticed something that was rather weird. There was an envelope that had no address written on it. Upon spotting it, Tuck put down his breakfast, and dug into one of his drawers. He put on a pair of latex gloves and handled the letter with absolute care. Tuck slowly used his letter opener and tore one of the sides out with it. There was only one sheet of paper inside and he slowly slid it out of the envelope. Once the two were separated, Tuck grabbed two zip lock bags from another drawer in his desk and immediately put both the envelope and the letter under plastic so that neither would be further contaminated any further than they already were. Only once the two were sealed and secure, Tuck turned the paper over to finally read the contents of the letter:

TALKING TO Ms. JOHNSON WILL ONLY LEAD TO TROUBLE. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING. WALK AWAY FROM THIS CASE WHILE YOU STILL CAN.

     The letter was hand written, but completely printed in block letters so a hand writing analysis would be pretty much out of the question. Tuck could tell the writer used a standard marker, so that would likely lead nowhere as well. He took another look at the letter, and sat back in his chair. At first Tuck thought someone was watching the building, but it was more likely that Ms. Johnson was being followed to see where she was going, and who she was talking too. Since he and Edgar had the pleasure of her company more than once, it was also likely their building was definitely being watched now. He took a moment to think about it while munching down a croissant, but didn't finish them as his appetite was ruined for pretty much the rest of the morning. The next person to arrive that morning was Jerome. He came in carrying a tray with three cups of coffee, which was good since Tuck had just finished what was left of his own. He took the cup from Jerome and held up the piece of paper stuffed in the clear bag.

     "Our first threat." he said with a sarcastic smile.

     Jerome took the bag, and read it. He was also surprised, "I have to be honest... this came a little sooner than I thought it would. I bet they've been following her to see who she talks to."

     "I'm sure the length of her second visit last night didn't impress them too much either." Tuck said as he took a sip of the coffee, "Thanks"

     "Call me a lemming, but it's the best way to start my day." Jerome said as he never took his eyes off the letter, "Did you pull any prints on this?"

     Tuck responded by holding up one of his hands which still had the latex glove on, "Not my first rodeo, kid."

     "Fantastic." Jerome said, "I need a chair, a desk and about two rolls of plastic wrap."

     "You can use my desk, but you'll have to hit the corner store on the first floor for the wrap." Tuck said as he took another sip of the coffee. It didn't taste too bad actually.