Not So Typical Monday

  Like every Monday, Alicia was at her office working on some programs. Then she received a notification that she had a new email. She opened her email box and opened the email. It was a strange email. It took her some time to realize the email was encrypted. She wondered who sent her an encrypted email and why did they send it. In a few minutes, she deciphered the email. It was coming from her friend Joey from college. He was asking her to meet at the café in a few hours. Alicia was surprised. Joey and she were old friends, but him sending her an encrypted email didn’t make any sense at all. So, she decided to meet with him and find out what is going on.

  While Alicia was dealing with this, Joey was trying to clean his trace. So, no one would find him or Alicia. Joey was in a bad situation. He was wanted by the CIA. They were thinking he stole the codes of the national security system. That was far from the truth. Joey needed Alicia’s help to clear his name. He was really sad about getting her involved in this problem, but he didn’t have a choice. There was no one else he can trust, and she was the only person he knew who is good with computers. He believed he can get the information he needs from Alicia without getting her into this mess.

  At lunch break, Alicia went to the café that Joey mentioned in his email. Joey was already there waiting for her. They sat down.

  “Why did you send me that strange email?” Alicia asked.

  “You know, you could start the conversation with a ‘How are you?’ instead of that you got straight to the point.”

  “You are looking pretty healthy to me. So, I don’t see the point of asking that.”

  “You haven’t changed a bit. Still don’t give a damn about manners. Well, then I will get straight to the point too.”

  “Are you going to get to the point today?” She interrupted him.

  “If you let me, yes.” He fired back. She rolled her eyes and gestured him to go on.

  “Look, I need help with some kind of programming okay. There is going to be a rendezvous, and I need to learn the location. I was hoping you can help me.”

  “I can help you with that, but I still don’t get why you did send me an encrypted email.”

  “Look Alicia, I don’t have enough time to answer that question, and answering that would cause you trouble. So, will you please help me without asking any questions? Please?” He pleaded.

  “Okay, I will help you, but after you dealt with whatever you are dealing with you are going to answer my questions.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  Joey handed his computer and the USB to her. Alicia started to work. The program she was dealing with was pretty complicated. All of the messages were encrypted, but it didn’t too long for her to decipher them. As she was going to tell him the location a bullet broke the window of the café. Joey quickly grabbed her and pulled her down.

  “Is this have anything to do with you?” Alicia asked him.

  “Well, probably. We should get out of here now.”

  “I would rather you explain why someone is shooting at us.”

  “Look, I will explain everything to you, but not right now okay. You had to trust me. Do you trust me?”

  “Of course, I do. So, what is the plan?”

  “Just follow me alright, but first there is something I had to do.” He said and broke the computer and took the USB.

  They crawl to the back door of the café. Joey broke the window of one of the cars and opened it. “Get in.” He said to her.

  She got in the car and said, “Are you aware we are stealing a car?”

  “Yes, I am. Don’t worry if we can get to the rendezvous point on time, it won’t cause any trouble to us.” He started the car and drove away. There were cars following them. Joey drove like crazy, but he made them lose their tracks. They stopped at a car park and changed cars to make sure no one is following them.

  When they got in the new car Alicia asked, “So, are you going to tell me what is going on?”

  Joey took a deep breath and started to explain, “Well, the people who shot us at the café were from the CIA.”

  “Tell me you are not a criminal.”

  “I am not. I am working for them. My partner Marty stole the codes of the national security system and faked his death. So, the CIA thinks I stole the codes. You and I are going to that rendezvous point so we can stop him before he gets away.”

  “You and me? Joey are you crazy? How can I help you to catch your partner who is a CIA agent?”

  “Look, you don’t need to help me at that part. You are just going to tell me the location and time. We will go there, and you can stay in the car if you want to.”

  “Do I have to come with you?”

  “Yes, you have to. CIA saw us at the café together. They probably think you are my partner in crime. So, until we catch my partner and get those codes back you are stuck with me.”

  “Okay, then you may want to drive to the airport before your partner gets away because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on the run.” She said.

  They drove to the airport. Joey saw his partner getting onto a private jet. They were too late. Before Joey can take his gun. His partner shot them and got on the jet. Joey was going to run after him but then he heard a groan and turned his back. Alicia was shot and was lying on the floor. He ran to her and carried her to the car. He knew he had to catch Marty, but he had to help Alicia first. He can worry about other things later.