Uber drivers, what ride do you regret accepting because it went COMPLETELY sideways?
The Adrenaline of Espionage
Uber drivers, what ride do you regret accepting because it went completely sideways? Uber drivers, what ride do you regret accepting? A woman got in and offered me a $300 tip if I could follow her husband’s car instead of taking her to the address she’d entered.
I think that bastard is cheating on me.
Girl, what?
Okay, I am not taking a tip from you.
Let’s go get him. I responded.
Minutes later, his black Mercedes pulled out of their driveway right on schedule, and Sophia practically bounced in the passenger seat. She kept practicing the speech she’d prepared about what she’d say when we caught him, getting more fired up with each version.
I was hyping her up. The two of practicing lines like we were in Broadway. Honestly, it was a bonding moment, and I couldn’t wait till I got to see this guy’s face when we caught him.
We followed him through downtown and Sophia was in full detective mode, pointing out every turn like we were in a spy movie. I was nodding along and telling her how she was so pretty and deserved so much better when his Mercedes suddenly turned left instead of toward any hotels.
Wait, where’s he going? Sophia quickly said.
My GPS showed we were heading toward the industrial district where all the warehouses and abandoned lots were. Not exactly the Jet 2 holiday destination for secret affairs.
The energy in my car shifted, and I felt my hands tighten slightly on the steering wheel without really knowing why. We went quiet and the Mercedes pulled behind a warehouse that looked completely abandoned.
Besides the three other cars that were already parked there, they were nice, the kind that looked wrong sitting in front of a place like this. Sophia stared at them and said, “Maybe she works here.” But even she didn’t sound convinced.
I pointed out it was almost midnight, and the building looked dead, and she went quiet. I told her we should probably abort the mission, but she pulled out a picture of them and their kid.
Please, I need to see who he’s meeting.
Come with me.
My stomach felt tight as we parked down the street and walked toward the building. There was a grimy window on the side and we had to stand on an old crate to see through it.
Sophia went first, and I watched her face change. All that fire draining out and leaving something confused behind. When I looked, I saw maybe 15 men in suits standing around a table having some kind of meeting.
No woman anywhere. Just these seriously looking guys who kept glancing toward the door like they were worried about being interrupted.
Where’s the other woman? Sophia whispered.
And I didn’t have an answer. Her husband was right in the center of them, laughing and shaking hands, looking completely comfortable.
Nothing about this made sense for a cheating husband. And that not making sense felt somehow worse than if we’d just found him with another woman. I asked what her husband did for work, and Sophia just said insurance.
One of the men opened a briefcase, and everyone gathered around to look at something inside. The way they all leaned in made my skin prickle.
Their body language was wrong, too careful and focused. Sophia’s breathing had gotten faster next to me.
Her husband picked something up from the table and examined it. And even from this distance, I could see his expression changed to something cold and focused.
All the men were nodding at whatever he was saying, and something about the whole scene made my mouth go dry.
We should go.
Sophia grabbed my arm and pulled me down from the crate. Her hand was ice cold and shaking.
Something’s wrong. This isn’t what I thought it was.
We started walking back toward my car, trying to look casual, but my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. We were maybe 20 ft away when I heard shouting behind us.
I turned and saw men pouring out of the warehouse, and one of them was pointing directly at us. Sophia took off running, and I was right behind her, my keys already out and shaking in my hand.
Then headlights exploded from both ends of the street, cars appearing so fast it was like they’d been waiting. We were boxed in completely, and my hands were trembling so bad I couldn’t get the key in the lock.
Unlock it. Sophia was screaming and yanking on the passenger door and I finally got it open and we threw ourselves inside.
I jammed the key in the ignition just as an SUV came out of nowhere and slammed into my passenger side. The impact threw me against my door and my head cracked against the window hard enough that everything went white for a second.
