Time Traveller. Part 3. The Mill. The Caches. Encounters.

The police officer did not let go his grasp from the young man’s arm. The man who they assumed was from the security company was on his side.

- What are you doing here?

- The same as all these people. Being curious about what has happened.

- I know you. I have seen you before, I’m sure.

The man wearing glasses pretended he was just a tourist and dismissed the security man’s affirmation.

- It’s not possible. I’m not from here. I’m just spending the day at the beach. Was the mill broken into?

- Don’t try to be funny, young man.

- I’m not trying, officer. In a small village like this, even a robbery is a big event, you know.

- I thought you said you were not from the region.

- It’s easy to guess, isn’t it?

- I’ll take care of him.

The security guard grabbed the young man’s arm with a grip that felt as strong as a powerful claw.

- Hey, let go of me. I did nothing.

He spoke out loud and that made the people in the area turn their heads to their direction. He then looked around and saw his two friends coming closer, ready to take action and help. He shook his head, discouragingly. They understood the message and stayed away, observing from a safe distance, together with the other locals, who started circling around them.

The evidently bigger and stronger man tried to pull the young man away, under protest, attracting even more attention to them than before. The small crowd soon completely surrounded the three characters who were in that increasingly heated argument.

The burgled mill itself had been forgotten for a minute or two.

That was an opportunity to be taken advantage, before anyone would notice it, so the pale man slipped into the building and climbed the steps to the upper floor. A few minutes later he came back downstairs, almost unnoticed and left through the unattended open door.

***

- That was an insane but very brave move.

- I have to agree. I could not leave that chance untaken. It would not be fair, after all this trouble.

- True!

- Come on. We need to help him now.

- Did you get anything from up there, after all?

The pale skinned man smiled demurely.

- We will talk about it later. Let’s help our friend. I have a good and convincing argument. If they want to take one, they will have to take all of us. Let’s make the crowd come into this with us and bring them to our side.

- You’re absolutely crazy, my friend, but that’s a great idea!

Amidst the whole turmoil, they did not allow the police and security guard to take the young man wearing glasses away with them and he was soon released. Those two men were not happy, however.

The three friends got off as immediately as they could. They had a couple of things they would need to work out straight away.

***

The Jeep turned around the roundabout and took the right exit. They were back on the A28, heading south.

- They would not be there for no reason.

- That’s what I thought.

- That incident just confirmed my suspicions.

- There’s one piece still missing in this story…

- Yes. The man in the hooded tracksuit…

- What he wants, we kind of know already… What we need to realize is who he is and what he knows…

- And if he is a friend or a foe…

- One thing is true: we are one step ahead… still… but we need to go and visit that lighthouse again down in the city… And it must be done immediately!

The two friends stared at the pale skinned man, who was holding the phoney ‘geocache’ he took from the mill in his bare hand.

***

- Shame! What could have happened here? I can’t find it anymore. Where is it?

- What? What do you mean you can’t find it anymore?

- I think I know what could have happened. I wonder if…

- Do you think he got here before we did?

- Yes, I do.

- And what do we do now?

- I don’t know, but if he hadn’t realized it, yet, he will soon find out that we hold the other piece of this puzzle and maybe he will come to the sensible conclusion that we will need to work together, otherwise somebody else might…

- Are you serious? He is not a friend, as far as we could find out.

- We don’t know it yet…

- Then what is he? Who is he?

- Think with me: if he ran away from the police and those guys, he is not an enemy at all…

- Well, he broke into the mill, didn’t he? That’s not an innocent move. He knew exactly what he was doing.

- We’ve got to find that man and get some answers to all these questions.

- But how? How can we ever come to find him in this city? We have no clue as of to where he is and how to contact him…

- We need to find a way. I wonder if there’s a way to communicate… He might not be far from us… from here… from this whole thing…

- You are correct!

The three men turned around at the same time. A man with a dark hooded tracksuit was standing at the door of the lighthouse. His face was in the shade.

- That ‘cache’ is no longer there, as you have already noticed, for sure. I was waiting for you!

- What?

- It’s not going to be effective fighting against each other. It doesn’t make any sense. We’ve got to work together and quick. These people are dangerous and they want the same as we do, but with a different intention. And they are getting closer and closer…

- And who the f… I mean, who the hell are you?

The man uncovered his head. The three friends were in awe.

- How can this be possible?

***

All Along the Coastline (Part 2)

The sunlight, being filtered through the leaves of the large tree, seemed to flicker onto the face of the young man wearing glasses. He slowly opened his eyes, still half dizzy and with a terrible headache, as if he were hungover. The images were slowly coming into focus, like in a contemporary art film.

Lying uncomfortably on a dark green wooden bench in an unknown city square, all dirty and dishevelled, he could be taken by a beggar or a junkie, who had fallen asleep in the open, for lack of a better place. The few passers-by dodged as if he were dangerous or inconvenient to their decent beings. He sat up and looked around. He did not know where he was. From the position of the sun in the sky, it seemed it was already mid-day, but he had no idea how he ended up in a place like that. He could smell fresh and spicy food in the air and he felt hungry. He tried to reach his wallet, but without much hope of finding it. He felt stolen and it made him angry and nervous. He did not know where he was and did not know how to get help. He looked around again. He needed to wash, change clothes, and eat something.

- These are really the greatest holidays of all!

The irony came into the mind of the young man who made an effort to get up and start walking. His head was spinning. He halted and waited a little, trying to regain his strength. He took a deep breath and walked, determined not to let himself fall, nor lose his balance, at any cost.

- What the hell! I'm a trained soldier. I will not fall here, now. I must reach the sea, or the river, at least.

He looked up to try and follow the course of the sun in the sky. He heard the toll of a church bell. He looked around, trying to find out where the sound came from. If there was a bell, there was a church and probably a clock. He crossed the square and saw that he was well ahead of a small chapel. Its facade was all decorated with painted tiles. The clock marked 1:15.

He walked toward the chapel, which was in the highest part of the place. Behind it, he saw the river flowing to his left. That was certainly the direction of the sea. He ran his hand through his rumpled clothes and strode down the narrow street.

***

The strange-looking man, dressed in a tailored, dark suit, made to order, walked slowly to the window. His brows were furrowed and his face was heavy. He seemed to be very worried.

The sun was shining outside on a typical summer day. The air-conditioned room set for the constant temperature of eighteen degrees Celsius, was furnished with but a few practical pieces. Besides a large table with a dozen chairs, there was only a small counter, discreetly installed in a niche at the corner of the room, with a modern coffee machine. It was on the second floor of the building, in the farthest room from the entrance, where important decisions were made, and often these had quite significant consequences in the food industry. N. & M. Enterprises also had an influence on businesses not as innocent as food production, but few people knew for sure what type of businesses they were.

The man watched the movement that was happening at that moment, at the ground floor, without moving any muscle of his inexpressive face. He looked up and concentrated on a spot beyond the well-designed garden, next to a small grove beyond, practically hidden from anyone who’d come from the front of the building.

Carefully chosen, the quieter and more discreet office was in the back of the building. A white van with large red letters painted on both sides was parked outside, close to the street. He ran a very pale hand over the top of his bald head and down to his face with no trace of beard.

The door opened behind him and he heard the secretary's voice, low, but very firm:

- They are here.

The man took a deep breath and turned slowly.

- It's about time. Bring them in.

The secretary left and returned shortly thereafter with two men dressed in black and another man, younger than both of them. A little farther back, another security guard was dragging one other young man, who wore tortoise shell frame glasses and had his clothes very dirty and wrinkled. This latter one was still looking unconscious.

***

- No. They know nothing. That must have been an unfortunate accident. A coincidence...

- But they will now suspect that there is something big behind this whole story. In fact, they are not fools. They must have suspected by now...

- We have to get rid of them. We cannot leave loose ends.

- We have already left. Now we have to fix all this mess.

- With care and a good plan, and to leave no shadow of doubt about our integrity...

- Certainly. N.M.E. must not be associated with any type of scam. We have to remain unsuspected. The success of this company depends on our discretion and certain secrets.

- We will be very careful. I’ll take care of it. Leave it to me.

The man looked serious at the Chief of Security and did not seem very convinced, but nodded slightly, so that the man would leave immediately and he could be alone in the room. He needed time on his own to think.

***

The river seemed calm, quietly running toward the sea. The young man approached the shoreline and stepped into the cool water. The feeling was good. He washed his face and head with that water. He felt like swimming a little. For a moment he forgot that he did not know exactly where he was and that he had no idea how he had ended up there.

He continued his trip toward the sea. Minutes later, when he was already at the beach, he saw the old windmills. He did not recognize the place, but moved on. He needed to find some answers. Afraid he could be misunderstood, with his clothes in that state, he decided to avoid direct contact with the people who passed by him as he walked along the waterfront.

Further on, he spotted a service station, walked to there, and got in. He took a look around and saw that besides a young attendant behind the counter, there was only another man, dressed in a dark suit, sitting with his back to the door and drinking coffee. With that heat, it did not seem like the best outfit to wear, but who was him to find anything strange, after all. Before he spoke to the attendant, the door behind him opened and he saw a bigger man, also dressed in a dark suit, coming in. He did not notice that a white van was parked outside. He just felt a blow and began to fall into a dark pit.

***

- Are you fine?

- Look at me. Do I look good? I'm all dirty, I've been beaten, drugged, dragged and I do not know what's going on. How can I be fine?

- You’re right. It was a stupid question...

- Where have you been? Who are these people?

- I can only say what I know and it’s not that much.

- You were with them at the boarding house. The lady at the front desk told me.

- Yes. I was under a gun. I tried to look natural, not to raise any more confusion, or to be killed right there. These men are dangerous.

- Who are they?

- They work for N.M.E., a company linked to the food industry, but this is just a facade. There's more behind it all.

- And how do you know all these things?

- I pretended I was unconscious and heard their conversation. There is much more that appearances want to show in here.

- And why are we involved in it?

- We were in the wrong place at the wrong time... and we still are...

- Are we?

- They do not know who we are, but they want to get rid of us. We have to find a way out of here.

- How? If they're going to kill us... What's the way out?

- They want it to look like an accident. I heard them talking to their boss. We may have a chance, but it will depend on how many of those gorillas we have to deal with.

- Face armed men, that size? Bad idea. Bad idea!

- Have you got a better one?

***

"Everything was so well planned, so carefully planned before..."

The man tried to find a flaw in the procedure, but he could not.

"Why did these meddlers have to appear at that time? How could it not be foreseen? What detail has passed, so unnoticed? "

He had no doubt that he was going to make a lot of money and change the course of humanity when that little detail was sorted out. He was going to be a very rich and powerful man. His ambition was limitless and overriding many principles, including those related to scruples.

But that interference, at that moment, was not welcome and had to be resolved, effectively and efficiently... And very soon!

- What the hell!

He picked up the phone and dialled a known number. In less than two minutes the Chief of Security rushed into the large room. The man had his back to the door. Without turning to greet the newcomer, he spoke, low, steady and trying to control his emotions to the extreme.

- Take care of those two. And try not to leave any hint of flaws. Now leave!

- Yes sir.

The Chief of Security left, carefully closing the door behind him. He knew his boss very well. That whole control was just a protective cover. He must have been on the verge of exploding.

The man turned his attention back to a place beyond the large, well-designed and neat garden. He could see the pine forest right at the end. The flower bed around the garden was covered by blackwood and other types of asclepius, planted both to provide a fine effect to the eyes and also with a very specific purpose. The man saw the butterflies flying around the colourful little flowers and smiled.

While he was absently observing that beautiful creation, a door opened on the left side of the garden and a group of men crossed the courtyard. Two of them, dressed in dark suits, carried visibly and ostensibly powerful automatic weapons.