Training Four Murder

by Diana X Dunn

  Sara shrugged. “I’ve heard the same rumors.”

  “Babies that had been abandoned before they were born were adopted by one particular agency. That agency raised the children, providing all the basic necessities as well as intensive training. From what I’ve heard, training started from birth. The babies weren’t even given proper names, just code numbers, so that they were never able to feel they had an identity that was truly who they were.”

  “Again, I’ve heard the same rumors. I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone who’d been a part of the program, though.” She’d told half a dozen different people that same lie in the past month. Everyone one of them seemed to believe her.

  Mr. Ross nodded. “The other thing I’ve heard is that the agency feels that they have a lot of time, money, and effort invested in the program,” he told her. “I’ve been told that dying is the only way out.”

  Sara raised an eyebrow. “That makes it seem unlikely that any former agents are looking for work, then, doesn’t it?”

  “It does, and yet I’m curious about your background. It’s very vague.”

  “Of necessity, due to the nature of what we both do for a living.”

  “Yes, of course, and yet…” He trailed off, looking back down at her resume.

  “I can give you a name, someone you can contact to ask about me, if you’d like,” she offered.

  He seemed to give the matter some thought before he shook his head. “Let’s talk about something else. What do you know about Rex?”

  The question didn’t really surprise her. Rex seemed to be the main topic of conversation just about everywhere in the espionage world at the moment. Everyone wanted to find him and a number of different governments and agencies were offering substantial financial incentives to anyone who could take the man down. Several criminal organizations were also trying to find and eliminate Rex.

  Sara had her answer ready. “I’ve heard of him, of course. My former agency is putting a lot of time and effort into trying to find him. That isn’t something I’m particularly interested in pursuing myself.”

  “Was Rex part of why you left your last job, then?”

  “No, not at all, although I didn’t really agree with the amount of resources that the agency was putting into hunting for one man. I didn’t have anything to do with the hunt, though, and I’d made it clear to my supervisors that I wasn’t interested in being a part of that team.”

  “Why not?”

  “Chasing down a madman isn’t my idea of fun.”

  “I understand Rex is obsessed with someone. Speculation on the street is that he’s obsessed with the same ex-utero agent who is now looking for work.”

  “I find that difficult to believe. Everything I know about the agency that employs the ex-utero agents makes me believe that they’d be taking better care of their agent than that.”

  Robert nodded. “I thought the same thing, actually. That agency looks after its agents. If Rex was obsessed with one of them, the agency would find that agent a safe place to hide until Rex was neutralized.” He flipped back through her resume. “You list a lot of different jobs on here, but I’m really interested in what you’ve been doing since you left your last job. You’ve been out of work for a few months now, right?”

  “About that, yes. My former agency offered to help me find another position, but I really wanted to cut all of my ties. That meant that I had to create my own new identity, which wasn’t something I was accustomed to doing for myself.” That was true, but her years of training had left her more than capable of creating whatever she needed. It was a skill she was using now to learn more about Rex.

  “Creating identities is a very specialist skill,” Robert told her condescendingly. “It’s one of my areas of expertise, though. Perhaps I can help you create something new if you come to work with us.”

  She only just resisted rolling her eyes at his ego. “Thank you for that, but it isn’t necessary,” she assured him. “I’m a quick learner. I think you’ll find that my current identity is solid.”

  Which was all part of her plan. When she’d started out, back in September, she had left obvious personal fingerprints all over her first new identity. Rex had that one figured out in days. Each subsequent identity was carefully crafted to help her work out exactly what Rex knew about her. He could find her now, only if he knew the name of someone from her very distant past that she had buried in her new identity. Only someone who had grown up with her or had access to the extremely classified records held at her former agency would be able to link that person from her own past with Sara Weber.

  Robert was nodding slowly. “And now you want to get out of the field?”

  She ran a hand over her face. “I’m tired of chasing and being chased. I guess I’m just ready for a quieter life. After all those years in the field, the last few months have been, well, different. I’ve found that I quite enjoy the difference.”

  He frowned as if he didn’t believe her. Sara remained carefully quiet, watching him and waiting. “And that makes you want a job with me?”

  “The job opening, as I understand it, is for an instructor. I think that could be just about the perfect job for someone who wants to get out of the field, but stay in the business.” That someone wasn’t really her, but she didn’t add that information.

  “You could be right about that,” Robert acknowledged. “What do you know about Ross Security?”

  “I know that you started the company ten years ago after a long and successful career as a police officer in Chicago.” Was that a lie, she wondered? Her research had revealed to her that he had been mostly successful at avoiding getting caught when taking the bribes and kickbacks. That money had been the primary source of funding for starting Ross Security after he’d left the police. Mostly true, she decided.

  “I walked the streets in Chicago and fought my way up through the ranks,” he told her with a grim smile. “I took early retirement after I got shot in the line of duty.”

  Sara nodded. While she no longer had access to the sophisticated computer equipment she once took for granted, she had far better than average skills at finding information that was publically available, even if it was well hidden. She had read the reports that were part of the public record and had read between the lines as well.

  He’d been shot by an illegal substance dealer who very well may have been paying him to look the other way when it came to his business operations. The reports hinted that the dealer had gotten tired of bribing Robert and had shot him instead of paying. That the dealer had gotten killed in the ensuing chaos surprised no one.

  “After your recovery, you moved out west and set up Ross Security. It quickly became known as one of the best in the country for home and small business security.” That was lie number six. While the company was moderately successful, primarily because it was cheap, it was nowhere near one of the best.

  Robert smiled at the compliment “I’ve tried hard to build up a business that I can be proud of,” he told her with a grin. “And now I’ve decided to expand.”

  Sara nodded again. “I’ve heard rumors that you’ve purchased a huge training facility and are planning to start training agents in areas outside of just security.”

  He nodded. “That’s right,” he grinned. “I’ve purchased a facility that was formerly used by a certain government agency that I cannot name. It has classrooms and sleeping quarters and everything that a school for international espionage needs to get started. What I need now are instructors.”

  Sara grinned. “Hopefully that’s where I come in,” she told him.

  Robert tipped his head to one side. “It may well be,” he told her with a smile.

  Chapter 3

  January 2121

  “Your suite is just down this corridor.” The animated receptionist who had previously graced Robert Ross’s office gave Sara a huge smile as she led the way down the hall. “Robert’s put you in one of the remodeled suites. The place was a mess when
he took over.”

  Sara nodded, half ignoring the chirpy woman who couldn’t have been much more than twenty. Her name was Candie Owens and Sara found that everything about her, from her name, to her personality, to her youth, was annoying.

  “Here we are, then.” Candie stopped in front of one of a long row of identical doors. Only a crookedly painted number on the door distinguished it from its neighbors. “Suite six. I hope you like it.”

  She waved a keycard in front of the door’s security panel and then turned the knob. Sara shifted her suitcase from one hand to the other as she waited impatiently for the door to open. Her companion frowned and waved the card in front of the reader a second time. A green light flashed, indicating that the door had unlocked. As Candie tried the knob a second time, Sara felt her apprehension increasing. This time the knob turned, but the door still didn’t open.

  “Sometimes they stick a bit,” Candie explained as she grinned at Sara. She held the knob firmly and gave the door a hard push, then a second, harder one. She nearly fell over when the door suddenly gave way.

  “Right then, here we are,” Candie smiled brightly, presumably trying to cover the awkwardness of the situation. She held the door open for Sara and then followed her into the suite. While Sara carried in her case, Candie tapped on the system control panel for the suite and after a moment a few lights began to flicker on in the space.

  “This is the living space, obviously.” The woman shuffled back toward the door to allow Sara to have an unobstructed view of the room.

  All of Sara’s apprehensions were magnified as she looked around the dimly lit living space. The furniture might have been new, but it looked cheap and uncomfortable. She took in the long and narrow couch, molded plastic chairs and inexpensive video screen with a single glance. One small window, partially covered by a crooked privacy screen, let in even less light than the dim electric lights that were dotted across the ceiling were providing. Everything was a dull, muddy grey, from the furniture to the walls, and even the ceiling.

  “Isn’t it great?” Candie enthused. “Everything is brand new. They just finished painting in here last week.”

  Sara didn’t bother to try to pretend that she liked it. It was cheap and horrible, but it was going to be home anyway. She shrugged at the other woman. “I’m glad I didn’t see it before the work was done,” she offered. Candie seemed to take that as approval.

  “Yeah, they did a super job.” She took a few steps forward and then tapped another panel to turn on lights around the rest of the suite. “The kitchen is through here and the bathroom and bedroom are in the back.”

  Sara glanced into the kitchen that was stocked with appliances stamped with brand names she’d never heard of before. She tapped on the drinks machine and frowned as it struggled to life. She made a random selection and waited patiently while the machine gurgled and bubbled as it ran through its cycle. A minute later the front panel slid open and Sara pulled out a steaming cup of what was meant to be coffee. One sip told her everything she needed to know about the drinks machine.

  “Thanks so much for showing me the room.” Sara turned to Candie and forced a smile onto her lips. “I don’t want to keep you from whatever you’re supposed to be doing.”

  “Oh, it’s no trouble,” Candie assured her eagerly. “Robert told me to make sure that you were happy and settled in. That’s my top priority for this afternoon.”

  Sara bit back several nasty remarks. “I’m fine, really,” she assured the other woman. “You go back and do whatever and I’ll unpack and get settled.”

  “Well, if you’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.” It was all Sara could do to stop herself from shoving the other woman out of the room.

  “You can control the security panel from here,” Candie said, waving at a small screen mounted on the wall near the door. “Each suite has its own security system, and there’s a system for each building on the campus as well.”

  “Is my suite being recorded or just monitored?”

  “Everything is recorded by default. If you want to switch off the recording, you can do that here.”

  Sara crossed the room and quickly tapped in the necessary code to switch the system off entirely. “I’d rather keep my suite private.”

  “Of course. That’s your choice,” Candie told her. “The staff meeting is at four, please don’t forget,” Candie added as she opened the door.

  “I won’t forget,” Sara promised as she pushed the door closed behind the woman. She leaned against it for a long moment, wondering about the situation she’d gotten herself into. “Better check out the rest of the suite, I guess,” she muttered to herself.

  She grabbed her suitcase and made her way down the short hallway that led to the bathroom and bedroom. With a groan she noted the small single bedframe that was covered in an inch thick layer of foam to serve as a mattress. She wouldn’t be sleeping especially well on that.

  “No expense spent,” she muttered to herself as she turned to inspect the rest. The bathroom was serviceable and she was grateful that at least it was clean. After unpacking the suitcase full of clothes she’d recently acquired, Sara found that she had nothing to do. She dumped the disgusting coffee into the kitchen sink and was unsurprised that it seemed to take several minutes to drain. The cupboards were stocked with a supply of the cheapest quality Food and Drink Substitute (FADS) bars available and she grabbed one to munch on while she fired up the video screen.

  The cheap FADS had the exact same nutritional content that more expensive bars contained. They were thoroughly regulated. The big difference was in taste and Sara frowned as she chewed. It was a good thing she wasn’t too fussy about what she ate. That thought brought Alex to mind. He had been a real food fanatic and she had eaten well whenever she had been with him.

  That line of thought was counterproductive, and Sara forced herself to focus on the video screen and block out her thoughts. At ten to four, after several mind numbing hours watching a flickering video screen showing rolling news feeds and old movies that couldn’t have been popular even when they were released, she headed out for the staff meeting. This was her first chance to meet her new co-workers and she wanted to make a good first impression.

  “Ah, Sara, there you are.” Robert Ross smiled at her as she turned down yet another hallway and reached the foyer of the training school’s main building. “We’re just in here, or rather we will be when everyone else arrives.”

  His gesture toward the door marked “Conference Room” seemed unnecessary, as it was the only door that opened off of the foyer. When she stepped inside the empty room she noted that money had been spent rather more generously in this space. The newest and most expensive model Drinksmatic machine sat in one corner of the room. Sara punched a few buttons and then took a grateful swallow of the delicious coffee it dispensed.

  “I hope your suite is satisfactory,” Robert spoke from the doorway as he watched for the rest of his staff to arrive.

  As it wasn’t actually a question, Sara simply shrugged in reply. She saw little point in complaining about the suite. She knew just how far down in the world she had come. Simply having to take the job here was far more of a personal disappointment than the substandard living conditions.

  Candie arrived next and then set about doing her best to maintain Sara’s dislike of her.

  “Hi,” she said in her perkiest tone as she came into the room. “Isn’t this just the most super space? Robert spent a fortune in here, but this is the room we use to interview students and hold special events, so it had to be just right. First impressions are sooooo important, aren’t they?”

  Sara nodded and drank more coffee.

  “Isn’t this the coolest table?” Candie continued to babble, pointing to the large table that dominated the room. “Robert wanted a round table so that no one would feel more important than anyone else. Just like that king guy from ancient history.”

  Sara nodded again, drinking again to avoid having to
talk.

  “You’re going to love everyone else,” Candie remarked. “Everyone is so talented and clever and we are going to have the best school ever. I just can’t wait until everything is up and running.”

  “It’s always exciting to be part of something new,” Sara said in a neutral tone.

  “Exactly,” Candie enthused. “I was so excited when Robert started talking about his vision for a training school last year. I had only just started as his receptionist at the security company. Of course, I had no idea that I would get to be a part of the whole thing. I thought for sure that Robert would use some of his senior staff for the school. When he asked me to act as the administrator, I almost burst.”

  “I can imagine,” Sara said dryly, wishing someone else, anyone else, would arrive. A moment later she was sorry she’d made that wish.

  “I’m not late, am I?” a man in the doorway said as he looked into the room and then back into the foyer where Robert was still standing. “I know I’m not late. You ladies must have been early.” The tone was accusatory and Sara frowned as she studied the new arrival.

  The man stomped into the room with his own frown firmly in place. He looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties, with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes, but Sara thought she could detect the tiny scars that marked low cost facial reconstruction. He was probably older than he looked. His clothes were clean and neat, but not new.

  “I’m Dr. Slade Freeman,” he said now to Sara. “Since Candie isn’t bothering to do the introductions.” He shot a nasty look at Candie who flushed.

  “Oh, sorry, I…,” Candie sighed. “Dr. Freeman, this is Sara Weber, our new expert in undercover operations. Sara, this is Dr. Freeman, our staff psychologist.”

  “I didn’t realize we had a staff psychologist,” Sara said casually as she extended her hand.