Chapter 16: Cryptic

His phone beeped twice as he walked to the café. He thought it was him, so he did not bother checking.

"He needs to wait for me. I won't fly there, will I?" He soliloquized, his mind suddenly crossing to the ocean of ridiculous thoughts. What if the police were there with him and needed to arrest him, since Jack was already deemed to be a suspect in the case of Bianca's disappearance.

He was looking at the bar in the distance when his phone beeped again. He wondered if it was Belle- since he had left abruptly without an excuse, but then he remembered she didn't have his number, and vice versa.

"Let's see who it is."

He could see Mario sitting in a corner, two bottles of martinis before him. The bar was unusually peopleless that morning.

"Hey, Ma-rio?" He said to the caller, as he neared the entrance, even though he was sure it was not him.

"I'm almost there, okay?"

Why would he call with a strange number?

"Okay, Jack. Later then." The caller said, stressing his first name like