It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter

Alan Doherty's arm piece pealed shrilly in the darkness. He dived towards his nightstand, knocking various items to the floor. He grabbed the flashing device and pawed at it. A familiar face appeared.

"Stilson, what the fuck? It's 3am - don't you ever sleep?" The video feed showed Stilson fully dressed in his standard black suit.

"Doherty - switch to the news stream. Now. Channel 324," his voice was tight, excited but controlled. Doherty gestured and scrolled until the news anchor's beige face filled one corner of the display. He brought the sound up.

"... Big story of tonight is that Senator Joseph Rigsby, known to most as 'Big Joe' has been found murdered in a hotel room in Oklahoma City. Security officials are confirming the cause of death as we speak but initial reports claim he was killed by a PID - personal incendiary device. His aide Peter Shelworth was also fatally wounded in the attack."

"Shit!"

"It gets better, keep watching," said Stilson from the opposite corner of the screen.

"The person responsible for the attack has been confirmed as one Tanner Griffen, a known hacker, agitator and career criminal. He was tracked leaving the scene of the crime and is currently on the run."

"Oh shit!" Doherty's voice was incredulous.

"Security forces are closing in on Griffen and expect to have him in custody in the next few hours."

Doherty shut off the video stream and Stilson once again filled his arm piece. "I don't get it Stilson, what the hell is Griffen doing in Oklahoma?"

"Assassinating senators by the looks of it."

"But why?"

"Why does he do anything? Money most likely. Rigsby was a known dissenter against OraCorp, which aligns him with Griffen, but Griffen would kill his own grandmother if the price was right."

"So, what about Thorner?" Doherty rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the bright screen in his darkened room, "is he on a wild goose chase to Oregon or was he in on it and trying to throw us off the trail?"

"Don't know. We have no idea how clever this Thorner guy is, or how connected he is to Griffen. All I know is we have a lead - Griffen has resurfaced and is on the move. I've already called in - you and I are going to make the pickup. Put some clothes on, I'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

Doherty shut off the arm piece, bounced off the mattress and switched on the bedside lamp. He sat on the side of the bed for a moment, processing what he'd just learned. It didn't make sense. Why would Griffen pull off a high-profile data heist, appear to travel to a dustbowl town in the middle of nowhere only to disappear and murder Big Joe hundreds of miles away?

Whatever was going on, they only had one lead, and it happened to be the perpetrator. He got dressed and made his way down to the lobby of his apartment building. Stilson was already waiting in the car, passenger door open and engine running.