He completed the plan precisely as he had conceived it. Plodding, month after month, revision after revision. He sat in the coffee shop sometimes from the start to its closing, sipping one small cup and leaving Louis, the proprietor, frustrated. Louis didn’t dare complain… would not throw Daniel out. Never… as Daniel’s people were good people. And Maggie, the waitress there even took a liking to him. Let him stay there all day long, typing feverishly on his computer, sketching notes onto paper. She would bring him lunch and never even charge him for it.

And in this day and age, they track you constantly, like bugs under a scope. Everything you do, say… they know it and they hear it. How could he have come to this moment? How could he have gotten this far along without an aggressive knock upon the door? Without authorities spoiling his planning?

He smiled as he adjusted the beret upon his head. Clever, that’s all. I’m just too damn clever. For all of them.

It was part of the plan. To be found that exact way. When the day came and sirens rang out and the media helicopters soared above. The plan was to be found right there. In that spot. For their taking. Years of planning had come down to this one moment’s perfection. And it was golden light too. Ideal for the photographers. That’s a good thing.

Louis said to Maggie: “Go get Daniel. Tell him it’s time to go home. And that I’ll pick him up in the morning. Same time.”

And it was golden light too.