Brad had taken every precaution he could think of so he could speak to Elaine and Jolene without prying eyes and ears. He understood that, no matter what he did, he wasn’t going to be able to lose his tails, so he might as well try to take them somewhere where they’d have trouble hearing or understanding what he was talking about, some place they’d look really suspicious using something like directional microphones. Whatever, this happened to be one of those situations where face-to-face discussion was absolutely necessary. No sense in chancing that someone might be listening in on their conversations.

This included the somewhat unorthodox suggestion via his communicator’s notepad application that they leave their communicators at Elaine’s place. No explanation beyond a simple No time to explain was offered.

He also led them to the busiest restaurant that he could think of. He felt a little bad about blowing off Elaine’s pizza suggestion, because honestly it sounded pretty good. He’d have to make it up to her later. But for now, a junky fast food burger place was going to have to suffice. Thankfully since it was the middle of the lunch rush, they’d get just enough time to chat about his idea. The best part? His entourage wouldn’t be able to get a seat without drawing undue attention to themselves, and the only way they’d get in with him is if they specifically outed themselves, even under the more benign excuse of being charged with his protection. The fact that his tails as well as the others’ tails would be stuck outside would definitely draw attention to what Brad was doing, but here he had plausible deniability, especially when he couldn’t think of any other solution besides just flagrantly broadcasting his ideas on the communicators for all to see and hear.

Once they were seated at the table and Brad was sure nobody was actively paying attention to them, he outlined his idea to them.

–

“I don’t get it,” Jolene said. “You’re just going to put in an anonymous tip about the mine, claiming to be a whistleblower about some iffy experiments going on in there? Won’t the big guys at the top see it as just a prank?”

“Given the mine’s history and the official cessation of operations, someone’s going to have to show up to investigate it. After all, there’s a couple thousand people who live within a few miles of the place. That’s an awful lot of risk for the Feds to just try to sweep under the rug, and while I don’t have as much damning information as Rami, I think I can make this work,” Brad replied enthusiastically.

“But why are you hanging Rami out to dry?” Jolene asked, puzzled.

“To be frank, I don’t trust him,” Brad replied curtly. “True, our alien buddy didn’t seem afraid of him, but it just felt kind of odd that Rami suddenly decided to work with my dad. I don’t like it. Plus he said he wanted whatever was in the mine. I don’t know what his plans are with the aliens, and the fact that he wouldn’t tell us doesn’t inspire a lot of faith from me.”

“To be fair,” Elaine began, “he was kind of under the gun. Even when we were let out of the facility he looked like he had a lot on his mind.”

“I realize that,” Brad retorted, “but if we’re going to be on the same team, we need to be on the same page, and I don’t appreciate being left in the dark.”

“Are you sure that that’s not what this is about?” Jolene asked. “I mean, he didn’t seem like he was doing it maliciously or anything.”

“I…look, I don’t know about any of this. Either way, this whole thing with the mine is bigger than any of us and I don’t want to be involved with it any more than I have to. I just want to spring the aliens and turn the whole thing over to the Feds so I can wash my hands of the whole thing and return to the small time.”

Elaine paused for a while, considering what to say. Brad had a point. Which was the worst part. His danger sense was usually pretty spot-on. And to give him credit, this was way above what she was able to pay him for. If, at the end of the day, he wanted to just collect his paycheck and dip, she couldn’t really blame him, though she knew Brad better than that. If it was about the money, he would have specifically mentioned it being about the money.

Or maybe she was just telling herself that because she truly thought that highly of him.

“Okay, I think I’m willing to give your idea a try. So what’s the plan with the aliens?”