Part of the Plan

That day was third day of his search; and if he didn’t find someone soon, the council would resort to the back-up plan. He cringed to think of the back-up plan coming into play. Overthrowing the world’s governments was certainly complicated, but it didn’t need to be messy.

He stopped at a bench on the edge of a small park in the middle of a crowded city. It was a clear summer day and people were running this way and that, giving him plenty of places to look for his target. It would take a special kind of person to pull off the task at hand.

He spotted a magician doing a simple card trick to amuse tourists and his two accomplices casually pulling phones and wallets from the pockets and bags of entranced spectators. They would easily come on board, but perhaps were too tricky to be trusted.

He turned away from the group and saw a small crowd of children in a game of tag. Briefly, he amused himself by imagining the children taking on the job. Of course, they could fly under the radar and nobody would suspect them, but children are hard enough to work with as it is. One small boy tackled another as a little girl spun in circles until she fell as well. If the future of the world wasn’t at stake, he might consider mentioning children in the next council meeting.

A woman in heels pushed away a man who was trying to talk to her. Too empowered and willing to stand up for herself. A young man helped an old woman who dropped some change on the ground. He almost considered speaking to the man when he noticed a handful of coins slip into the man’s pocket. He wouldn’t come without a price.

He stood and started to walk toward a café for a late lunch when he noticed a pretty young woman in a sundress walk by. He couldn’t say exactly what, but something about her caught his attention. She smiled softly as she spotted a brave squirrel trying to take popcorn away from a flock of birds that were surrounding it. As her head turned to the side, she was suddenly struck by a tall woman on roller skates and the two fell to the ground. He considered going to help, but decided to watch instead.

“What do you think you’re doing, crazy!” the woman screamed, struggling to climb to her knees and regain balance.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” the pretty girl said, rushing over to grab the woman’s hand and help her stand.

 “Watch where you’re walking!” she huffed before leaving without so much as a thank you.

He knew the pretty girl probably saw the woman on skates distracted by her phone shortly before the crash, but she didn’t say anything. She took all the blame and still helped the woman.

A smile broke across his face, and before he planned what he was doing, he was shaking the girl’s hand and passing her a business card, telling her that his company needed good and honest people if she was ever interested.

Somehow, he knew she would be.

Somehow, he knew she was the target.