I receive a message from Jörn but it is not through the usual means. Instead it comes to me through the Cabaret website in the ‘chat room’ that was set up during the contest from the launching of “Party in My Closet” which has taken on a life of its own
I have glossed over possible reasons for weeks about why shipping had stopped, using excuses it is due to bad winter weather but not wanting to destroy Cabaret’s recent success I had managed to get some distributors to agree temporarily to ship some orders direct. Even as my mind has not really been focused on Cabaret; besides being distracted for obvious reasons, my personal commitment to it has felt impaired by conflicting thoughts of where I truly stand with Jörn
yet I have found any excuse that provides some way to keep myself occupied with some illusion of normalcy which requires that I not look too deeply as to why I may chose any task as long as it seems to provide something, however menial, that is somehow necessary in some way, which is why I have continued to keep up with things going on at Cabaret, checking in every morning and going over orders and sales, reading through emails from customers
Jörn appears in the chat room messaging platform that only automatically pops up on my screen if someone directly addresses me through my username which is ‘Le Chevalier’ ....and I only realize it must be him when I see the username ‘GretaWearsFishnets’
as I am half asleep at the desk I bolt awake at the appearance of it and glance self-consciously at the cameras
The message in the dialogue bubble reads:
<I have a new # to give you>
At first I have to wonder over the possibilities this could be someone else in his spy world either trying to trap me or just some wild coincidence —but I don’t think much is known elsewhere of his fishnets or his Greta cover
Still I hesitate as how to reply.... and —as I was about to ask if it was him and actually start to but— then backspace realizing how idiotic that is ....and then his message comes with just a phone number to call
I reach for my mobil and start to tap it in when a call immediately comes in with the number
his voice lowered, comes in crisp and dry,
“it will be safer to talk now,” is the first thing he says; I notice he sounds different now; less tense and exhausted
“Where are you?”
“I ....Duva —I still can’t say. It’s better the less you know—but first, Willem said you tried to call a few times last night. What was it? Is something wrong?”
“Oh did I? Gosh—my phone must have butt dialed you,” I say
“Three times....?” he says after a slight pause
“Why do you have a new number?”
“They took my other phone —they’re trying to search for things but I wish them luck, they won’t find anything.”
“They?”
“The government officials. They’ve been holding us....” he’s vague
“‘Been’? Are you still there?”
“Uh— no....”
“Stina?”
“And her ensemble....” again he is vague
“So they let you go?” I ask
and I don’t know if I imagine it or I think I hear him hold back a laugh before he says,
“maybe not willingly.”
“Jörn— so.... ‘not willingly’ ....what does that mean?”
“Uh.... it is necessary to collect some evidence and that is just not possible while they keep us locked up, is it? They think we are linked to some activities that were perpetrated by —the clowns we have been after. Which was exactly their intention. With us locked up they are free to carry out the rest of their plans ....Duva, those things I asked you to do....”
“What things?” I ask
“In my emails to you that I sent —remember ....? There were the ones about the underground tunnels and then the other one about— “
“Shit! Oh my god! I —I completely forgot!” and only now I turn in the swivel chair to go back to the emails, babbling excuses as I do this, “sorry, I must have been brain dead with hunger, no, I never read them through,” and apologize again but say as I search through the list of mail for this one, “are you guys like ‘on the run’ or something? Are you both fugitives wanted by Dutch and Swedish government?”
“To name two, but —I need you to do this now—I gave you instructions on where to find some documents, can you find the emails?”
“I think —yeah— here.... I just found them —here’s the one called ‘docs’ —are these emails safe?” I ask
“Duva, this is my work, I built firewalls on all our devices and networks—” he says with strained patients
“—our....? Our?”
“Yes.... so—you see the email?”
I open it now and look at it and —force myself to focus on all the words as there are a lot of instructions.
“Oh....” I say when I realize .... what it reads ....and still holding my phone, walk over to the tall filing cabinet by the bathroom door.... it says it is behind .... but it isn’t easy to move the cabinet, “wait, hold on, this is too heavy for me ....” I say and put down the phone to try to move it; it is far heavier than my own weight but I lean onto it anyway with all of it and manage to tilt it aside adjacently. There is a hidden little built in cabinet with a locked little metal door. I pick up the phone, “wait....” I say and go back to the email where it says where I will find the key.... it says the built in dry bar ....where the phone charger was —but under it. I have to get down onto the floor and.... cobwebs and dust I feel an envelope stuck on the underside of the unit “I just found the envelope with the keys,” I say into the phone
“It’s the yellow one,” he says and quickly says, “don’t loose those keys! Put them back when we’re done.”
I find the one with the yellow rubber thing on it and go back to the little hidden door behind the filing cabinet and it opens,
“oh, what am I looking for?—I forgot what you said—“ and in the dim light see the little cabinet is filled with various odd things ....discs, papers, passports, metal boxes....weapons— “oh my god, there’s a gun!”
“You’re looking for a thumb drive— a flash drive; there are several in there but this one has a red piece of tape around it.... Duva? Do you see it?”
I find it,
“yes.”
He says now,
“go back over to my computer—“
“Jörn, but it never lets me on!”
“Well, in the email I tell you where you’ll find my password for it but —that will take too long so I’ll just tell you now—are you in front of it?”
“Aren’t you watching me?”
“I’m currently walking somewhere and have to see where I’m going,” he says and then tells me the password. Then he says, “I need you to start downloading some files ....”
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