Chapter Five

Alex sat quietly and thought about Mr. Darcy’s offer for several minutes.  The rational part of him screamed that now would be an excellent time to get out of a strange situation before things went from mildly uncomfortable to really, spectacularly bad.  The rest of him wanted to know what, exactly, a “troubleshooter” did. 

It sounded like it was right up his alley.

He had questions for Mr. Darcy, though.  Alex cleared his through, and shifted in his chair.  Mr. Darcy, who had waited patiently as Alex thought, looked at him expectantly.

“I have some questions,” Alex said.

“Of course you do.  And I may have answers for you.  Ask,” Mr. Darcy said.

“Is the work dangerous?” Alex said. 

“Of course.  Extremely,” Mr. Darcy said.

A small part of Alex became very excited at that answer.

“Will I have to hurt people?  I gave my service in the military, and I’m not interested in more violence,” Alex said.

“I won’t order you to hurt anyone, if that’s what you mean.  There’s always the possibility that you’ll have to defend yourself, but that will be up to you,” Mr. Darcy said.

Alex sat quietly and thought some more.  He was OK with danger.  He was OK with defending himself.

“What is it that you do, exactly?” Alex said.

Mr. Darcy smiled slightly. “I solve problems, Mr. Minor.  My organization solves the problems no one else can, or care to, solve.  For a fee.”

“How big is this organization?” Alex said.  “I can tell you’re not doing too badly from your office, but all I’ve seen so far are you and Megan.”

“And we’re the only ones you’re likely to see, for now.  How big is my organization?  We are everywhere, Mr. Minor.  I told you I have a small army whose sole purpose is to make sure no knows about me.  They aren’t the only people on my payroll.”

“OK, how many other people like me do you have working for you, then?” Alex said.

“If you agree to work with me, five.  Perhaps you’ll meet the others, again, that depends on you.  But that won’t be for a while.  And, honestly, I’m looking for people who can work alone,” Mr. Darcy said.

“Are you always this mysterious?”

Mr. Darcy smiled once more, and said “Yes.”

Alex laughed, despite himself.

“OK, so what happens if after I’ve started working for you, I decide I don’t want to work for you anymore?  I’m not interested in being a slave to some mysterious organization that gives me the option to either continue working for them or be killed, or imprisoned, or something else that’s less pleasant than a cheap cake and a half-hearted going away party,” Alex said.

“I don’t think you’re actually worried about that, Mr. Minor.  And in any case, I don’t think you need to be worried about it, from what I’ve seen, you were made for this job.  You won’t be bored, I assure you.  And I doubt you’ll find better compensation elsewhere.  You will be have a very comfortable lifestyle working with us.  But, if you decide that you no longer want to work with us anymore, then I’ll simply ask you to keep your mouth shut about us, and wish you the best in your next endeavor,” Mr. Darcy said.

Alex thought about this.  He wondered if it was the truth.  He wondered if he’d make it out of the office and back home alive if he turned down Mr. Darcy’s job offer.

And he wondered if he’d be blowing it entirely if he walked away.  This gig sounded like he was being recruited to be the hero in an action TV show from the 1980s.  Who didn’t want to grow up to be MacGyver?

Alex came to a decision then. He still wasn’t sure what exactly he’d gotten himself into this time, but since he was apparently already waist deep in whatever it was, he might as well dive in the rest of the way and find out.

“When do I start?” he said.

Mr. Darcy smiled widely, and said, “You already have.”

He stood and reached across the desk to shake Alex’s hand.

“I’ve taken the liberty of having your bicycle loaded into a car.  The driver will bring you home tonight, you must be exhausted after today.  Go ahead and continue working at Godspeed Messengers.  I’ll be in touch when I have a project for you,” Mr. Darcy said.

Alex stood up, and was reminded once again of how incredibly sore he was.  His entire body hurt.  He really had no idea how he was going to get back on a bicycle and ride more the next day.

Something occurred to him, then.

“Say, Mr. Darcy, what’s in the envelope I delivered for you today?” Alex said.

Mr. Darcy smiled widely, and said, “That is none of your business.  Have a good evening, Mr. Minor.”  

When Alex walked back into the front office, there was a driver in a black suit, complete with a chauffeur’s hat waiting for him. 

“The car is ready for you,” the chauffeur said.

“Have a good evening, Mr. Minor,” Megan said.

“Good night,” Alex said.

Apparently, between his arrival and his departure, the elevator had been repaired.

Thank god, Alex thought.

The driver led him to a black towncar, with dark tinted windows.  It looked like the sort of car you’d see dropping executives off at the airport.

“Your bicycle is in the trunk,” the driver said, anticipating Alex’s immediate question.

“Big trunk,” Alex commented.

“You wouldn’t believe,” the driver said.  He opened a door for Alex.

Alex climbed into the back of the car.  It had an all-leather interior, done in a cream color.  Once again, he felt out of place in his sweaty spandex.  The driver, however, gave no indication that anything was amiss. 

The driver shut the door, and moments later was behind the wheel and they were rolling.

When they were about halfway to Alex’s apartment, something occurred to him.

“Hey, do you mind stopping at my bicycle shop?  I need to pick up a couple more inner tubes,” Alex said. And a better saddle while I’m at it, he thought.

The driver nodded, and said, “You’ve got it.”

Alex realized he must have dozed off when, seemingly seconds later, he woke up to the sound of the driver clearing his throat.  Apparently they’d reached the bicycle stop, and the driver had already opened the door for Alex.

“Oh, wow, we’re here? Thanks,” Alex said.  He climbed out of the back of the car, suppressing a groan, and hobbled in to the bicycle shop. The driver followed him.

Todd spotted Alex immediately.  A brief look of worry crossed his face before he smiled his widest salesman smile and came over to greet Alex.

He thinks I’m going to return the bike, Alex thought.

“Hey, how did that new Trek treat you today?  It’s a pretty sweet bike, isn’t it?” Todd said.

“Yeah, it’s great.  So I came in to get a good, all-day saddle, and a couple more inner tubes,” Alex said.

“Sure thing, I can hook you up.  Have you ever had a Brooks saddle?  I’ve got a few in stock.  Long-distance riders love them, and…”

Alex interrupted him.  “It sounds great.  I’m sold.  I just want to get the saddle and get back home to relax, if you don’t mind.”

Todd’s face fell for a second, but he perked right back up again.  “Sure, I bet you’re exhausted.  How much riding did you do today?”

“A lot,” Alex said.  The exhaustion and odd events of the day were starting to sink in, and he suddenly really didn’t want to talk any more than he had to.

“Cool, cool.  I still think you’re living the dream,” Todd said.  He kept chattering, but Alex stopped paying attention.

He had followed Todd towards the counter to buy his saddle and inner tubes, and was still lost in thought and exhaustion when he became dimly aware of some kind of ruckus going on a few feet away at one of the other registers.

Another customer was awfully upset with one of the clerks, or so it seemed to Alex.  Then he realized that the customer was wearing a hoodie, with the hood up, a hat and huge sunglasses.  Oh, and he was holding a gun at eye-level with both hands, pointed at the clerk.

“Hurry up!” the robber shouted.

It occurred to Alex that he ought to do something, and had started to move towards the man with the gun when he saw the driver produce what looked like a black tube, about twelve inches long, from inside his jacket.  With a flick of his wrist, it extended into a metal baton.

Almost before Alex could even process what he was seeing, the driver had swung the baton and driven it under the robber’s gun and into his stomach.   The robber doubled over, bringing his hands to his stomach.  With amazing speed, the driver had already brought the baton back up, and swung it down across the robber’s shoulders.

The robber fell to the floor with a groan.  The driver plucked the gun away from him, and handed it to the stunned clerk.

“Looks like you’re a hero,” he said calmly to the clerk.  He collapsed the baton again, and tucked it back inside his jacket.  He seemed entirely unruffled by the entire experience.

“Ready whenever you are,” he said to Alex.

Todd handed a bag with the saddle and inner tubes to Alex. 

“Here you go, man.  On the house.  Have a good night,” Todd said.

Well, Todd isn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight, Alex thought.

As they were driving back to Alex’s house, curiosity got the better of him, and he had to ask the driver about what had happened at the bicycle shop.

“That was pretty amazing back there in the bicycle shop,” Alex said.

The driver glanced at him in the rear-view mirror, and said, “I’m sorry, what was amazing?”

“You, and how you handled that situation with the robber,” Alex said.  “Are you working for Mr. Darcy too?”

“Working for who?  Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about at all.  I just drive,” the driver said.

There was something subtle in the way he said it that made it clear to Alex that it would be best if he didn’t ask the driver any more questions about himself.  He didn’t say anything else for the rest of the drive.

When they arrived at Alex’s apartment, the driver let him out of the car, then removed his bicycle from the trunk.  Alex was able to get a brief look in the trunk, and couldn’t believe how huge it was.  He wondered how they were able to disguise a space that big.

“Wow, that really is some trunk,” Alex said.

The driver looked at him with a perfect poker face.  “I told you, you wouldn’t believe.  Have a good night, Mr. Minor.”