I froze. It was gone. I'd only laid it down while I stopped to survey my new location. But someone had just lifted it from right under my nose and now all the secrets it contained were in hands unknown. I hoped it was them who took it and not some hapless street thief looking for a way to finance their next fix.
It became crucial for me to get out of public view. I needed to avoid CCTV cameras, step away from passers-by and go somewhere I could think. On finding a busy cafe, I ordered coffee and took a corner seat well back from the plate window and the glare of the street outside.
The papers it contained were innocent enough, just fake contracts waiting to be signed by equally fictitious companies. Nothing damning there. But the laptop was an entirely different matter. Sure, it was encrypted - but if it was they who'd now got their hands on it, the game would be over for me. And if it was anyone else took it, they'd eventually be targeted and their life expectancy correspondingly shortened - and without them ever knowing why.
Well, I mused, wouldn't it be good if the world actually knew about the true state of reality, realized mankind's rightful place in the universe, understood how time itself works around, for and within us? Or would that just fry everyone's minds? It had certainly blown mine when I found out nearly a week ago.
Shit, maybe I should be grateful to be relieved of having this weight solely on my shoulders, to feel as Hercules did after he tricked Atlas into taking the world back off of him. But even if the evidence was now in other hands, theirs or a stranger's, they would never stop hunting me.
Finding my untouched coffee now cold, I made for the counter to settle my tab. Heading for the door the cafe owner called out behind me: "Hey mister, don't forget your briefcase."