by Mike Gomes
“I knew you flipped a long time ago." Gabriella slowly turned her head to the man. "How much are they paying you to betray everything you know is right?"
"Much more than the other side. They pay upfront as well." Trevor let a smile spread over his face as his cheek rested on the stock of the rifle. "The beauty is, I get to collect from both sides on this one. The story’s gonna go, that they shot you from a distance. And then I shot them. I've already got their money, and I'm about to get it from your side. The bomb will go off tonight like it's supposed to, so the terrorists will think everything went as planned. Two days from now, I'm gonna be sitting on a beach in Bali drinking a cocktail, and wondering what am I to do with so much money for the rest of my life."
"You got it all planned out," Gabriella said. "That’s some nice work following every detail and watching every small thing that could possibly upset your grand plan. Or did you?"
"I am going to be the man that goes down as killing the Mantis." Trevor smirked. "I know you hate that."
"You didn't think of everything, Trevor?" Gabriella gave the man soft smile. "Did you think of everything?"
"Stop all of psychological crap," Trevor snapped. "You’re not gonna knock me off track, and you are not gonna get me to think something else."
As the words drifted from his mouth, Trevor's eyes suddenly began to lose focus, blurring his vision. His head started to drift off quickly, as if he had been given nitrous oxide from the dentist's office drifting off into the twilight sleep.
"You didn't wipe down the rifle before you picked it up. You started to assemble it without cleaning it first. I knew you would, because you’re a slacker." Gabriella gently pulled the rifle from the man's hands as his body slumped forward. "It was rather simple, I just put the contents from a vile I had on the rifle, knowing the rest you would take care of for me. You did it that way every single time we practiced. Your little show of intimidation and combination of your breathing through your mouth, is what is making short work of you. You could smell it if you breathed more with your nose, but then again, your adrenaline is probably running so high your sense of smell would be compromised."
Falling to floor in a heap, Trevor's body splayed itself out at the woman's feet. His breaths became less frequent, until they stopped altogether.
Gabriella rubbed down the rifle with a cleaning agent, then used the scope to focus in on the man still working. He was trying to get the pressure cooker in position while arguing over what was right with the other man.
"One shot," Gabriella said out loud to only herself. The crosshairs danced between the two men, not affording her the opportunity to take them both out with one shot. "Separation time. Separation time."
Letting the crosshairs drift down, she locked in on the homemade explosive that sat on the ground a few feet from the arguing men. Then letting her finger rest on the trigger, Gabriella drew in a deep breath and held it steady in her body. Everything around her went silent, and all her senses locked onto completing her task.
This moment of complete clarity and focus, with nothing from the outside world drifting in upon her, was the one thing that Gabriella loved. It was a different place, where she could become one with a firearm, and nothing could stop her from her assignments.
Letting her trigger finger pull and softly engage the mechanism, it clicked, allowing the bullet to explode from the end of the rifle, piercing its way through the air and reaching its target of the metal casing of the pressure cooker. In one fraction of a second the cooker exploded, igniting a fireball and a shower of ball bearings and nails through the air.
The two men on the roof saw their lives flash before them and were dead before their bodies hit the ground, bombarded by shrapnel that ripped them apart. The roof crumbled and cracked, dropping chunks to the ground as people prepared for the days of celebration that laid ahead.
"Time to go," Gabriella said to herself, quickly disassembling the rifle and placing it into its bag before tossing it over her shoulder and exiting the room.
Chapter Three
Northern Chili is unforgiving. The weather moves in and out of the mountains like an assassin in the night. The brave and hardy souls who live on the land are throwbacks to homesteaders laying their claim to a plot of land and cultivating it as their own.
The simple ranch sitting in one of the tucked in valleys didn't have much. A farmhouse and a barn were the only standing structures on the main plot of land with acres of fields around it. Cattle and goats perused the land, not in need of fencing to hold them into the wide expanse that held very little by way of trees. Ranchers had the luxury of simply breaking out binoculars to find their herds that were happy to stay in the constantly growing grasses to keep themselves well fed.
"The new barn is amazing," said the strapping man with muscles showing through his T-shirt. With tan skin and a wide smile, Antonio looked like he could be a model for photoshoots in an outdoor magazine. Ruggedly handsome was an understatement. "We haven't lost any animals to the predators this summer, and the equipment is doing better than ever. It’s been protected by the barn."
"All thanks to you, handsome," Gabriella purred, coming up from behind her husband as he washed the dishes in the sink. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she could feel the strength of his body, and the pride that he held looking out the window at the barn the two of them had built together.
"That's very nice of you to say, but I can remember more than one day that you were up high on the framing putting in boards with me." Antonio leaned back and kissed his wife on the forehead. "We're a good team, Gabriella."
"Well that's why I married you, for the teamwork." She pulled herself away and rubbed her hand in the middle of Antonio’s back. "But we both know everything is not good."
"Money?" he asked, placing the dish in the drying rack and turning to lean against the sink. "I saw the bank statement too."
"I'm beginning to think it's completely impossible to be off the grid." Gabriella looked out the window at the open fields. "I've done just about everything we could to make it come true, but in the end, we need to have some money to be able to make the improvements and survive out here."
"Gabriella, we knew this coming in. We knew that there would be times we had to get money. Moving cattle or anything else to market is really hard. When we need to make an improvement, we end up taking a barter of sheep for lumbar."
"After the life we've lived we should be allowed to have that." Gabriella gave a gentle smile. "Every time I have to go back to it, I hate it even more."
"Let me take this one," Antonio said as he moved over to the table, sitting down in the chair next to her. “I’ve been feeling good lately and think I'm ready to get back out there."
"Antonio, you've done more than enough," Gabriella said softly. "You did the last three missions for us, and you broke your back on the last one. Three months laid up with a blown-out disk is not something you just come bouncing back from. I love you, sweetheart, but you're retired now."
"Retired? I'm a young man," Antonio Exclaimed shaking his head. "You just can't put a guy out to pasture in the prime of life."
"Good sir, it's coming from a higher authority this time, your wife. I'm making the call on this one," Gabriella insisted. "You wouldn't want to risk the wrath of the Mantis, would you?"
"Oh good God no, not the Mantis. Keep her away from me, she's evil." Antonio let out a hearty laugh, knowing that the reality was that his wife, should she choose, could dispatch of him at any point in time, though he was sure she wouldn’t. "Do you know how hard it is to be married to a woman that can kill you?"
"Well it's not like you live a squeaky clean life, Mr. Spy." Gabriella shifted her full attention to her husband. “The first six months of our relationship I had to worry if you were gonna kill me or not."
"That was a trying time, wasn't it? It's always difficult to date when you're in the spy business."
"It's especially hard when you're in the underground spy busine
ss."
"So what is it that we do about this money?" Antonio asked. "Is this gonna be as simple as you going out and finding some really easy job, or do you think it’s gonna wind up being more significant?"
"My guess is it will be more significant. I'd like to get enough money to hold us at least for six months."
"You know what six months means?" Antonio said. "Six months is a kill mission."
Gabriella’s eyes looked up to lock with his, knowing the words he said were true and that there was no way to avoid what needed to be done.
Kill missions were part of her stock and trade, and the regular group of people she called upon that could use her skills never had the problem of not having significant work for her to do. If there was one thing that was true in the world of special operations, it was that there was plenty of killing that needed to be done, and only a select few that could do it with such precision as the Mantis.
"Who do you think you'll call on?" Antonio asked, visibly upset about his wife taking on this kind of mission. "England always liked your help."
"They are always a good bet.” Gabriella cast her eyes away from her husband knowing that they would be filled with disapproval. "Problem is, the Russians pay a lot better. I know I have a bad history with them, but the money’s always in cash and they pay immediately."
"And if they find out who you are, they will be able to kill you as soon as they want to." Antonio was frustrated by the conversation. "They believe they own you, Gabriella. They see you as their property, and that for all the training you should still be with them. If they find out who you are…"
"But they have no idea who I am," Gabriella insisted. "They think I'm someone that ran from MI6. They don't know that I'm that same little girl that grew up with them. I'm not gonna let them get close enough to find out either."
"It's dangerous. And I don't think it's worth it." Antonio shook his head. "We’re not strapped for money, it would just be better to have more. Take something easier and get back fast."
Chapter Four
The downtown bustle of Madrid, Spain, was equal to any other major metropolitan city that held commerce, fashion, and sports at its center.
The love for Real Madrid Club de Fútbol was a fever for everyone in the city. The buildings were decorated, and the streets were lined with banners and flags and anything else that could bear the name and symbol of the team. The swagger was not lost on the woman with the green eyes as she sat in the café sipping a cup of tea from a cup that was emblazoned with the symbol of the team upon it.
"Men and their football." Gabriella shook her head at three grown men decked out complete in all the clothing of the team. Her allegiance in the game lived further to the north, in England with the Tottenham Hotspurs.
"Ma'am, may I help you with anything more?" asked a young male casting down a gentle smile, he looked no more than twenty years old. His looks were classic Spanish and clearly able to charm the toughest of adversaries.
"No thank you, Mateo." Gabriella gave the man a smile in return.
Sliding her hand in her purse, she slid out the pay-as-you-go mobile phone that she picked up from a kiosk at the train station just hours before. Its life would not be long, only one phone call then after that it’d be dropped into the closest trash bin on the street, ready to be destroyed at a moment’s notice.
Tapping out the numbers on the keyboard, Gabriella showed no sign that she was about to engage on an international quest.
"Hello," came the voice of a man.
"Hello, Nikolai, it's your old friend." Gabriella smiled to herself as she knew the words were seeping into the man's ears and going to his brain.
Before the days of her marriage, Gabriella had known this man in a deeper and more intimate relationship. They had come together by a common attraction leading to love and romance that was undeniable.
"Is that so?" Nikolai said with a playful tone in his voice. "This must be a call about business, because the ones for fun never seem to come from you anymore."
"Nikolai, it's not that I didn't enjoy the time that we had, but things in life change." Gabriella enjoyed the playful banter and teasing between the two. "You were my first real love after all."
The conversation came simply and easily as if they'd only spoken the day before. The ability to pick up where they left off after years of separation between them, showed in undeniable affection and instinct for what each other needed. Something they had not had with another in their life.
"But I must admit, Nikolai, you are right," Gabriella admitted. "This is for business. You know how I operate, I don't like to have missions going unless I absolutely have to. And when I'm interested in doing work for the Russian government, you're the only man that I call." Gabriella gave a smile he couldn’t see, while she felt a twinge in the back of her mind from the training she had undergone so many years ago at the hands of the KGB. "I was hoping you might have something for me."
"Oh, there's an amazing mission sitting and waiting for you right now," Nikolai said with sarcastic enthusiasm and a brightness in his voice. "The KGB has got itself a rogue agent. Busted free from capture and even killed a man. He's one of their best."
"Do you have a file on him or anything electronic that I can pick up?" Gabriella asked, raising her eyebrow in interest, at the same time making sure that others around her were not listening into the conversation to any extent.
"Well, his name is Nikolai," he confirmed from the other end of the phone, causing her to pause in silence as she took in the information first at face value, and then looked deeper when she didn't hear a last name.
"Nikolai?" she asked, knowing the answer.
"Yes, Nikolai," he confirmed again. "My old employers decided that they felt I wasn't quite up to par anymore. They thought I was involved with theft and treason. But I can assure you, nothing would be further from the truth. I've been on the run for a few weeks now."
"Well I must apologize, I can't take this mission. And no matter who would come to me with it, I still wouldn't take it." Gabriella smiled again at the man that she knew couldn't see her. "You're the only one that would get away with this, Nikolai. You're the only one that I wouldn't go after. Besides, you're my only contact with the KGB."
"I personally have some work for you though," Nikolai spoke softly as he leaned forward in the chair of the hotel room he sat in, while looking out the window to make sure nobody was approaching. "There is one man that can bring my downfall. He was my partner for a long time, and the only reason I've gotten away from them to this point, because I know he did some pretty shady things while in the KGB. Things that the Kremlin would not be too happy with."
"I'm afraid that I can't do anything on the house at this point. My financial situation dictates that I look for pay." Gabriella felt a twinge of shame in herself.
"I'm not expecting on the house," Nikolai said. "I have diamonds. I can pay you say $25,000 in diamonds, that you can easily move anywhere in the world."
"And do these diamonds have anything to do with your problem with this man?"
"Of course they do. One of the things that I used to get away from this man, was the fact that he had stolen a large amount of diamonds while working for the KGB. Once I broke away from him, I went to his apartment, found the key to the safety deposit box, and got myself there to take the diamonds from him." Nikolai sounded pleased with himself. "All said and done, I left with a tidy sum that I'm sure he was expecting to use for his post KGB life."
"That's a good way to make enemies," Gabriella chided. "Sounds like you two weren't that close to begin with."
"Victor was always a good man. The kind of guy that you could trust in battle. But it was also very clear that Victor was number one in his own mind." Nikolai watched a gray sedan pull up outside the building, and two large gentlemen exited wearing black suits. "Victor always had a lot on his mind. It wasn't just about whatever mission we were on, but what was going to happen after. He put himself in position for promot
ions and anything else that came down the line. It didn't matter who got in his way, he’d just find some way around them. But then it all came to a head when I got the promotion and he didn’t. We stayed partners, but the animosity in him grew exponentially. His post KGB life took on another meaning that had nothing to do with collecting a salary in his old age. He knew he was going to go rogue by the time he was thirty."
"Sounds like you knew what he was going to do too," Gabriella sighed.
"As soon as the writing was on the wall, I knew that would put the brakes on with him and I. I didn't let him into anything personal." Nikolai watched the two men in suits enter the front of the hotel. The men looked out of place and confused, they could easily be salesmen looking for an address, but the Russian knew better.
"So where can I get this guy?" Gabriella asked, anxious to start the mission for her friend.
"Well that's the hard part. I'm sure he’s still in Russia right now," Nikolai sighed. "But if he's feeling well enough, he will volunteer for the mission to get me. It was the diamonds that I stole from him that he was hoping to keep for his retirement. That's all the leverage I had over him to keep him from killing me. Now that I've got the evidence, my story about him stealing them means nothing."
"You should've thrown him in the fire when you had the chance," Gabriella huffed. "You know that none of us want to leave loose ends behind. You made a mistake."
"Worst thing is, that big mistake happened more than once. There was probably three or four different times I could’ve killed him. Right at the end I could’ve taken him out, but I still felt a certain loyalty to the guy. But not anymore. Either he or I are gonna die in this."
"The KBG will never let you just be on the run and stay hidden. Even if you don't make a sound, they’ll keep following and keep coming after you. What's gonna be so different if I kill Victor?"
"That's the other thing that I want from you. I want you to make the body unrecognizable. There needs to be some way they think it's me that died, and not Victor."