The Woman in Sunglasses

The Woman in Sunglasses,

by Amy Hallett

She was going to be late. There was no way around it. This had been her one shot and now she was going to be late. To make matters worse, her phone only had a tiny bit of charge left. She needed to be sure she wasn't going to make the presentation before she called. She just hoped she had enough charge to do so. Why hadn't she bought a new charger last night like she was supposed to? Why is she always so forgetful? At least she had remembered her small leather notebook, it held all her notes for her big presentation.

The train had already arrived twenty minutes later than usual and it's occupants were feeling the frustration, pushing each other aside so that they could get a seat, each one declaring just how long they had been waiting for the train. Tracing her fingers along the notebooks soft leather, she couldn't help but notice the majority of folks immediately pulled out their phones as soon as they found seats. The only ones not on phones were a small group of elderly people who seemed to all be headed to the same destination, judging by their fanny packs and a woman who appeared to be in her late 30's.

She wore a long dark coat, a thin brimmed hat sat on long dark hair, and wide sunglasses sat on a thin pale face. She was raising her sunglasses every so often to furiously write in a little black notebook. A much older version of her own. It looked as though it had seen many lifetimes, its leather backing worn and almost tattered. Every so often she would stare off into the distance with her sunglasses, pause and then rise them slightly to scribble.

Suddenly the train grinded to a halt unexpectedly much to the dismay of it's passengers who all were jostled as it slowed. Once at a full stop, everyone looked up from their phones to see what the hold up was as if someone in this passenger car had noticed something everyone else had not. They had arrived at a train station, but not one that had been a scheduled stop.

Without explanation the conductor got on the intercom and alerted us all that all passengers were to be diverted to another train due to an issue with the passenger car . Groans of protest were heard from nearly every passenger. Some of the more elderly passengers voiced their concerns over not being able to find their way due to a change in transportation and she found herself feeling sorry for them. Sighing deeply, she decided that now was probably the best time to call her boss to let her know she would miss her presentation.

As she reached into her pocket to pull out her phone, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Standing before her was the woman in the sunglasses, clutching her little black notebook. She took a seat next to her and in one lone breath said, "I'm so sorry to catch you off guard, you see, I've lost my phone. I just noticed you taking yours out and, you see, it's really an emergency that I make a phone call. Truly an emergency. Please, can you help."

She looked at her skeptically for a moment. Her phone was about to die after all. She was going to miss her big presentation if this took any longer, but this woman looked to be in earnest need. Not ever being one to be able to turn away a stranger in need, even if it was highly inconvenient, she sighed slightly before smiling.

"Sure, I suppose you can use my phone. You'll have to be quick though, my battery is about to die. I'm only at seven percent." She explained.

The women in sunglasses nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, I understand. Thank you so much! You are so kind!" She beams at her and holds her hand out.

She is reluctant to hand her phone to a complete stranger but figures, what harm can it do? They're in a stopped train car. The moment she hands it to her, the woman in sunglasses stands up and moves to end of the passenger cart where there are no passengers seated, she assumes for privacy. Feeling less comfortable, she keeps an eye on her as she paces back and forth, holding her notebook close to her and speaking frantically into the phone. She strains her ears to listen but the chatter from the people around her drown out the woman's conversation. She can faintly hear here say, "Yes! I understand!" but she isn't sure. When the conversation is over the woman looks flustered and her eyes are filled to the brim with tears.

"Thank you, so much, " she says with extreme gratitude. The girl reached out and grabbed her hand and held it tight. "Seriously, you may have just saved a life!"

She looked at her phone battery and saw two percent. Good, she may be able to call her boss just yet.

At that moment, the doors of the train opened and the woman in sunglasses handed back her phone, grabs her things and darts out the doors. She settles into her seat and realizes the woman has left her little black notebook and taken hers. Remembering how frantic the woman had been during the phone call, she decides to keep the notebook safe, feeling like she may perhaps see the woman again if this is her regular train.

Knowing she shouldn't look, she can't help but give into temptation and flips it open. Inside is six pages of notes with code written on it, As she flips past the sixth page, she notices part of the pages have been cut out to hide a hard drive and she wonders what this is. Finding no answers to her questions, she slips it back into her purse as the train arrives at her stop finally. She looks out the window to see the woman in sunglasses watching her. She pauses and mouths the words 'thank you' before taking off at a full sprint with her belongings.

As they switch trains, she learns it will only be another ten minute delay. Thank goodness she plans to always be early. She may not even have to call her boss. She settles into her seat and realizes she is still clutching the little black notebook. Studying it quizzically and finding no answers to her questions, she slips it back into her purse as the train arrives at her stop finally. Hopefully she sees her again and they can exchange notebooks. Hers was a beloved gift from her father and she take sit everywhere.

Several hours later, the work day ends, uneventfully. The big presentation went well and her boss is singing her accolades. She's flying on cloud nine and has totally forgotten all about frantic woman on the train, or her strange little black notebook. It's not until much later , when she is sitting down for her dinner that she turns on the news. Some big-wig CEO has been kidnapped and his wife has gone missing. She's wanted for questioning. The news flashes a picture of the husband and wife. The husband she doesn't recognize but the woman she does. She almost drops her fork. The woman in the sunglasses.

Wondering what to do next, she remembers she still had the notebook in her purse. Going through the pages, she still doesn't recognize anything that makes sense to her. Just a series of numbers and a hard drive. Already feeling like she has invaded enough privacy and now may personally be involved in a crime, she knew better than to see what was on the hard drive, but she was curious about the number that was called. She looked at her phone and didn't recognize the area code.

Off to Google, she thinks to herself. Entering the phone number, she is frustrated to find nothing in her relentless searching, leaving her to assume the number that was called was probably the number to a burner phone. More curious than ever now she eventually accepts defeat in her search and realizing how late it is, decides to make a decisions about what to do about this tomorrow. It is late after all.

Ring! She jumps up out of a deep sleep. Ring! She looks at her phone. 4:45am. Who the hell is calling this early? She has to be up for work in an hour. Ring! She doesn't recognize the number right away and sends it to voicemail. Since she's already up, she figures she might as well start her day and heads into the kitchen for coffee. Ring! The phone rings again, startling her. Ring! Seriously, who the heck is it? Wait! She recognizes the number as the number the women had called yesterday! Ring! Her heart racing, she decides to answer. She's not sure why she feels compelled to and her voice shakes as she says hello.

"You have the hard drive. " A dry voice says on the other line. She gulps, unsure of what to say or do. She stays on the line and listens. "The deal was the hard drive and the two hundred million dollars for the husband. "

"I'm s-s-sorry. I'm not sure who you think you are talking to. " She stammers, barely getting the words out.

"You're working with Katherine. You have the hard drive. She left me a message saying the hard drive was with this number. I want it AND the codes." the dry voice continued, not believing her claim.

Feeling the seriousness of the situation she felt like she had no choice but to continue listening as he gave detailed instructions as to where to leave the notebook. Grabbing a pen, she jot down the location and time he gave her.

"And if you don't, I will kill you. I have your address from your phone number, so think wisely." What on earth had she gotten herself into her wondered as she put her coat on, fighting an anxiety attack. All this just from letting someone borrow her phone? I mean, seriously? What the hell was on that hard drive? She just wanted out of this whole situation. It was best to just do as he says and be done with this.

Deciding that today was not the day for the train, she hopped into her car and drove to the nearby bus station where he told her to put the hard drive into locker 339. Getting the key from the attendant, she looked around her nervously, nothing looked out of the ordinary. She placed the hard drive in the locker and locked it, just as she was instructed to do. It was done. Her part was over. Her hands were shaking as she gripped the stirring wheel the whole ride home. She was definitely calling into work after this. She had earned it. Her boss thought she was just burnt out from the presentation. She let him think that. As soon as she got home, she curled back up into bed and closed her eyes. Before she knew it she was out.

Ring! She opened her eyes groggily. Looking at the clock she sees she has slept for over seven hours. This felt oddly familiar. Ring! She reached for her phone and didn't recognize the number. With hesitation she answered, "H-hello?".

"You did it. Thank you." She recognizes the voice. The woman in sunglasses.

"You! What did you get me into?" She wants to launch into a million questions but doesn't really know where to start. Luckily she doesn't need to, the women in sunglasses seems content to explain herself.

"You really saved a life. I'm sorry to have gotten you into this mess. My husbands ex partner kidnapped him and held him for ransom. He threatened me that if I didn't hand over all the company files and two hundred million, they would kill him and I." She speaks as if she doesn't need a breath. "When you dropped off the hard drive, I wired the money from a dummy account, and he released my husband. Once my husband and I were safe the dummy account pulled all the money from his account and routed it back to an offshore account. The FBI just raided him and all his buddies. I'm so sorry to drag you into this mess. I can't tell you where we are, but we're safe, and you are now too. Thank you so much for letting me use your phone. You may have really saved our lives. I'll be sending you something in the mail. Keep an eye out for it." And without any further explanation, she hung up. She instantly called the number back but it was disconnected.

Her mind reeling, she wasn't sure what to think. Had her life been in danger? Was it still in danger? Should she call the FBI? She wasn't sure what her next move should be. She sat at her kitchen countertop and just stared at her phone. Replaying all the events of the past 24 hours. As she was mid countless replays there was a knock at the door. Oh for crying out loud how many more surprises does she need today? She thinks to herself. Looking out the peep hole and seeing only a mail courier, she opens it cautiously. He's holding a shoebox sized box.

He holds it out to her, she accepts it and thanks him. It's addressed to her, not return address. She opens it as soon as she shuts the door and finds herself looking at roughly twenty thousand dollars in cash and her notebook. On top of it is a note that says, "Hope you don't mind. Got your address off your phone number. This is the least we could do. Thank you again. PS. Here's your notebook back. " No name. Nothing else.

In shock, she looks at the pile of money sitting in front of her. Weighing her options, she reaches for her phone and calls her boss. He picks up after the first two rings. "Marco, I'm taking a vacation." There's silence on the other end.

"Did you hear-" She starts. He interrupts her. "You never take a vacation."

"Then it's definitely a good time for one, see you in two months, " she laughs as she hangs up the phone.

Looking at flights, she can't help but think they may have made out with two hundred million dollars, but twenty thousand dollars was still a hell of a thank you.