Outsourced

10

After leaving Gordon, Dan stopped off at Shrini’s apartment hoping to catch him at home and got lucky when Shrini buzzed him in.

“Hey, dude,” Shrini said, greeting him at the door. “I’m surprised to see you. I thought you were going to call.”

Dan closed the door behind him and told Shrini to get out the bottle of tequila that he knew his friend was keeping. “We’re celebrating, man. The two of us are going to be bank robbers. The next Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid.”

“All right, dude!” Shrini clapped. “Although I hope we have better luck than those two!”

Dan took a seat as Shrini searched for the tequila and a couple of clean glasses. He was amazed at how calm he felt. Almost as if he had had some kind of breakdown at Gordon’s and was now just numb to the whole idea of the robbery. Whatever it was, he was grateful for it.

Shrini had brought out the tequila, along with a lime and some salt. He poured the two of them shots. “So your friend, Joel, is going to be joining us?” Shrini asked.

“That’s right. Gordon’s on board also.” Dan cut a slice of lime, sucked it, and then swallowed down the shot, feeling the warmth explode in his stomach. He poured himself another one. “We do have a change in plan. Joel insisted that a friend of his be included.”

“You must be joking.”

“Sorry, man, I had no choice. This guy is going to be getting us untraceable guns. If I didn’t agree, Joel was out. Which meant the robbery was out.”

“Do you know this person?”

“I met him once years ago. Kind of a shifty individual.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either, but Joel insisted on it, both for the guns and that he have someone backing him up that he can trust. I can’t blame him.”

“No. This is unacceptable. We could have gotten guns elsewhere. We can’t be adding people that we don’t know. There is too much at stake.”

“I don’t like this either, but this is where we’re at. Look, we’ll all meet tomorrow to go over the plan. You’ll get a chance to meet Joel, we’ll both get a chance to meet his friend. If either of us feel uncomfortable we’ll call it quits.”

Shrini made a face as if he had swallowed something bitter. “This is just not right, dude.”

“I hear you, I really do. But what harm can it do just meeting tomorrow, see how we feel?”

“Okay, we’ll meet. But this truly pisses me off…” Shrini seemed to lose his train of thought as he stared at his friend. “Dude,” he said, grinning sourly. “You’ve got a shiner. What happened, someone punch you out?”

“One of your many girlfriends. She asked if I’d take a message for you and this is what she gave me.”

“Very funny. So what happened?”

“Nothing worth talking about. I’ll pick you up tomorrow a little before ten, then we’ll swing over, pick Gordon up and drive up to New Hampshire.”

“We’re meeting in New Hampshire? Where, at your friend Joel’s house?”

“Yeah, his place is secluded, as good a place as any for us to meet. You okay with that?”

“I guess so.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“What’s the hurry? We still have over three quarters of a bottle left.”

“Sorry, buddy, I’ve some things I need to do, you know, to prepare for next week.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time if I were you. I’m seriously thinking of backing out. Believe me, I’m not happy with your friend trying to take over.”

“Shrini, again, I don’t blame you. But just think it over. Ten minutes, that’s all it’s going to take us. We’ll be in and out of that bank so damn fast. Joel bringing his friend along isn’t going to change that.”

“But we don’t know him. We don’t know if he’ll talk afterwards.”

“You’re right. We don’t know him. But Joel does. And he’s not going to do anything that could fuck himself.”

Dan took another shot of tequila, felt it burn down his throat, then clapped Shrini on the back before leaving. Walking to his car he felt exhausted, bone-weary. He sat behind the wheel and closed his eyes for a few seconds’ rest. When he opened them again it was dark outside and he felt like he had swallowed a handful of sawdust. He had to sit for a minute before his eyes could adjust to the night. According to the clock in his car it was nine twenty-three.

He expected hell from Carol when he arrived home. Or maybe a freezer burn. Instead, he was surprised to see concern in her eyes as she met him at the door. Even more surprising, she showed him a weak smile.

“I was worried about you,” she told him as she took hold of his hand.

“This is embarrassing,” he said. “I stopped off to see Shrini and when I got back to my car I fell asleep. Just plain crashed. I didn’t wake up until ten minutes ago.”

She put her palm up against his forehead, trying to feel if he had a fever. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I think so. I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of months. I guess it all finally caught up with me.” He let out a short laugh. “I’m surprised no one in Shrini’s complex called the police on me. I was out of it for a good seven hours.”

“I have some good news,” Carol said. “You got a call for a possible job.”

Dan’s voice cracked when he tried asking who had called. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time getting his words out.

“I have his name written down. He’s going to try calling tomorrow morning at eight. Why don’t I make you something for dinner? How about some scrambled eggs with ham?”

“Sure.” Dan followed Carol into the kitchen and took a seat at the counter. He found the paper where Carol had written down the guy’s name. Martin Phillips. Dan didn’t know him. “Did he say anything about the job?”

“Only that they’re looking for a software security expert. You’re certainly that.” She wrinkled her nose for a second. “I almost forgot. Joel called around nine. He seemed upset that you weren’t home and said he’s going to try again at ten.”

According to the kitchen clock it was nine forty. He sat back and watched as his wife prepared the scrambled eggs. By the time she finished, it was seven minutes to ten. He shoveled the food down, wanting to make sure he was alone in the den when Joel called.

“You must’ve been starving,” Carol remarked.

He grunted something out in acknowledgment. He was just getting up from the table when the phone rang. He stopped Carol from answering it, telling her that he would take the call in the den.

“I tried calling at nine,” Joel complained after Dan picked up. “Where the fuck were you?”

“Sorry about that. I had things to do.”

“Bullshit. You know what a pain in the ass it was having to drive out two times to a payphone? Fourteen miles each way, schmuck!”

“I’ll tell you what. You can bitch and moan all you want when I see you tomorrow. We’ll set up email accounts then also.”

Joel’s voice changed, becoming somewhat reserved. “We’re on then, huh?”

“You tell me. What did your pervert buddy say?”

“Fuck you. Be here at twelve sharp, understand?”

Joel hung up. Dan stood frozen for a moment before putting the receiver down. When he looked up he saw Carol standing in the doorway watching him.

“Why so secretive?” she asked.

“What? No, nothing, just typical Joel stuff, that’s all. Have you been standing there long?”

“No, not long. I wanted to ask you on my way upstairs if you would like to go to bed early tonight. It’s been a long time since we’ve gone to bed early together.”

“Sure. That would be nice. I just want to stop off first and see the kids.”

“They’re both in their rooms.” She hesitated, an odd expression on her face as she studied him. “Did Joel do that to your face?”

“What are you talking about? I told you yesterday I slipped getting into my car. Believe it or not, that’s what happened.”

“Dan, is anything wrong?”

“No, of course not.” He forced himself to maintain eye contact. A hotness flushed his face. “Why do you ask?”

“You looked so angry when you hung up the phone. Or maybe intense. I don’t know, I never saw you like that before.”

“Nothing more than this out-of-work bullshit. And you know how Joel can be. He was going on some rant about the liberal scum in Massachusetts. I guess I wasn’t in the mood for it.”

“He called twice just to talk about that?”

“Not exactly. He had a question about a possible job lead.”

“Why was he calling from a payphone?”

“Was he?”

“According to the caller ID.”

“Really? Maybe he was at the mall.”

“But he has a cell phone. I know that he usually calls from a cell phone because of the caller ID.”

“This is Joel we’re talking about. You’d have to ask him. I’m going to go see the kids and then meet you upstairs.”

As he walked past her he could hear the blood pounding in his head. He had to steady himself against the wall for a moment before he could trust himself to move. He knew Carol was staring at him from behind – he could feel it on the back of his neck. What he didn’t know was whether she suspected something or was just digging. Probably just digging. He tried to remember whether he said anything damning during his phone conversation that she could’ve overheard. Jesus, why’d he have to hurry off to the den like that? He knew Carol well enough to know that it wouldn’t take much to get her curious.

Standing outside his son’s bedroom door, he took a deep breath as he composed himself, then knocked and walked into the room. Gary was lying on the bed watching a baseball game. He turned and smiled sadly. “Hi, Dad,” he said. “Red Sox are losing. Lugo just popped up with the bases loaded and two outs.”

Dan pulled up a chair next to the bed. Gary was ten and physically took after Carol. Small for his age, thin, blond hair, almost feminine good-looking features. Even so, he was a good athlete, playing shortstop for his baseball team. While Dan hoped that Gary would catch up in size, with his good looks and easy-going manner he had no doubt that when his son grew older he was going to do well with the girls no matter what his height ended up being.

He tousled his son’s hair. “I can’t believe how spoiled you kids are getting. Two World Championships in four years. You can’t expect them to win them all.”

Gary grinned widely, said, “Sure I can!”

Dan smiled at his son. “Shouldn’t you be going to bed soon?”

“They’re in the eighth inning. Can’t I wait until the end of the game?”

“What’s the score?”

“Nine to two,” Gary said dejectedly. “But they can still catch up. Let me watch the rest, please?”

“Okay, but right afterwards you go to bed, promise?”

“Promise. Thanks, Dad.”

Dan kissed his son on the forehead. Before leaving, he looked back and watched the concentration on his son’s face as he lay on the bed, eyes glued to the ball game. It touched him that his son could be so passionate about something as simple as a baseball game. With a note of regret, he realized it had been a long time since he had felt anything like that.

Susie must’ve been listening for him because as he was closing Gary’s door she opened hers. She tried to look uninterested as she walked out of her room plugged into her iPod. She stopped and gave him a sullen stare before taking the earplugs out and muttering hello.

“Hi, Princess,” Dan said. “I was just about to knock on your door and see how you were doing.”

“I guess I saved you the trouble,” she said, her bottom lip pushing out, fortifying her sullen appearance. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Can you take Julie and me to the beach tomorrow?”

“I can’t, darling. I have to meet with some people tomorrow.”

“Mom says you have an interview at eight in the morning. We could leave later.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to meet with some people after that. Maybe Saturday?”

“Whatever,” she said. Her mouth seemed to shrink as she stared straight ahead. “Julie and I can always take a bus to Salisbury beach.”

“I don’t think so. I don’t want you taking a bus all the way up there by yourselves.”

“How would you stop me? You won’t be home. You’re never home. Even though you’re not working you’re never home.”

She stared at Dan, her eyes challenging him to argue with her, and then she turned on her heels and rushed back into her room, closing the door hard behind her.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Earlier, he would’ve been eaten up by guilt over having to turn his daughter down so he could plan a bank robbery. Now he just felt nothing inside. He had finally gotten used to the idea of what he was going to be doing. There was no longer any fear, just numbness. More than that, though, he felt committed to it. He had robbed that bank so many times in his mind that he was now anxious to do it in real life. The thought struck him – if he was offered a job, then what? He forced the thought out of his head. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

He showered quickly and brushed his teeth before going into the bedroom. Carol was waiting for him, lying on the bed wearing one of his old T-shirts as a nightgown. He got in next to her. She moved closer to him, moving her thigh so it was on top of his, her mouth searching for his mouth, her breath hot, her hands touching his chest. Then her hands moved lower. He tried playing along, but he couldn’t shake the numbness he was feeling. It was almost as if she were trying to get a rise out of a dead man. After a while she gave up. She pushed away from him and turned over on her side.

“Goodnight,” she said, her voice flat.

“I’m sorry, Carol, I guess I just have too much on my mind.”

“It’s been weeks since we’ve even tried doing this.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Forget it. Let’s not talk about it. I’ll make sure you’re up early for your interview. Goodnight.”

Dan closed his eyes. Still nothing but numbness. Not quite peace, but also not the torment he had been routinely suffering each night. No thoughts racing through his mind. No images of the robbery gone bad playing out in his head, no imaginary police sirens, no shootouts, no bloody bodies. Just an emptiness filling him up. After a while not even that.

Carol woke him the next morning. Even after passing out for seven hours in that parking lot, he had still slept soundly through the night. With all the stress he had been under he figured his body needed the extra sleep.

He offered to make breakfast, but Carol insisted on doing it. While he sat at the kitchen table and watched her, he couldn’t help wishing he had time for another shot with her in the bedroom. She looked fresh, relaxed, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her skirt making her hips look so damn slender. When she brought him a cup of coffee, she let her fingers linger on his hand for a long moment. Her smile was as pretty as any he had seen in years.

“Good luck with the interview,” she said. “I have to head off to work, but call me. Let me know how it goes.”

He nodded and told her he would. She gave him a quick kiss and squeezed his hand. He watched as she left, thinking to himself for the first time in a long time how beautiful she was. It was only seven fifteen. He sipped his coffee. When his cup was empty, he got up and poured himself another one.

At eight o’clock the phone rang. When he answered it a man introduced himself as Martin Phillips. He told Dan he was vice president of Software Development for a new startup that was forming and that he had found Dan’s resume online and was intrigued by all of his software security experience. He hesitated for a moment, then remarked how he couldn’t tell from Dan’s resume how much JAVA programming development experience he had.

“I’ve been learning it on my own,” Dan said.

There was another hesitation from Martin Phillips, then with his voice significantly less cheery than it had been, he said, “So you don’t have five or more years of actual work experience with it?”

For a moment Dan could feel the blood boiling inside him. He heard himself tell Phillips to go fuck himself. There was a momentary silence before the line went dead. Dan stared at the handset, a bare-fanged grimace tightening over his face. Then, as his facial muscles relaxed, he called Carol, reaching her at her desk. He told her the phone interview went well and that he had a second interview scheduled for the following week.