by Mike Ryan
“Twenty thousand,” she whispered, shocked at the number.
“This is a major security breach. Not only are thousands of files in jeopardy of falling into the wrong hands, he also download the identities of thousands of agents, including their codenames, aliases, contacts, etc.”
“So what do you think he’s up to?”
“We have no idea. He’s either working for somebody or he’s working for himself and intends to sell the information to the highest bidder.”
“That’s not Heath.”
“That’s not the Heath you know. But the video doesn’t lie…does it?” the director asked.
“No.”
“Your mission is twofold. One, find Davis. Two, he contacted someone named Ryan Turner. The NSA tracked an email he sent to Turner, who just so happens to live in Pasadena.”
“What did the email say?”
“It was very vague. I’ll send it to you as part of your package on the mission.”
“So who is this Turner?”
“I’m emailing you what we have on him but he appears to be a nobody. Why Davis would contact him we don’t know. But find Turner and see what Davis has told him. They may be working together somehow.”
“OK.”
“One more thing…you’re getting a new partner for this assignment.”
“Who is it?”
“His name is Jim Cole. He is…”
“I’ve heard of him. He’s cold, ruthless, relentless, dangerous, and…”
“And he will do what’s necessary in the event you are unable to bring Davis back in.”
“Why would I be unable to bring him back?” Parker asked.
“I’m not a fool, Ms. Parker. I’m well aware of your romantic history with Davis,” Nelson explained.
“Director…,” Parker started, stumbling over what to say.
“Please, I’m not interested in the details. Despite your history, you’re being sent because you know him better than anyone.”
“I understand and please be assured that any attachments we may have had are clearly in the past and in no way will affect my job.”
“Very well. Just the same, Cole will do what’s necessary if you fail.”
“Which is?” Parker asked.
“He will kill him. Cole has already been briefed and is en route to Los Angeles as we speak. He will meet you at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Good luck.”
Parker sat back and stared at the wall, still reeling from hearing Davis had gone rogue. They’d been so close that she had a tough time believing it. She still felt that there was another reason for what he’d done. Maybe he was on an assignment so deep that it required him to appear to turn on them. She was going to cling to that hope. Regardless, she wasn’t about to let the kill-happy Cole get to him first.
Burbank, California—Cole was already waiting for Parker when she got off the plane and immediately recognized her from the file photo he was given of her.
“Agent Parker. Pleasure to meet you. Heard a lot about you,” Cole greeted.
“Likewise.”
Cole was thirty five years old and a twelve year veteran of the agency. He was a big guy, standing six-two and well built. He was highly thought of as he always finished a mission to completion, regardless of his own personal safety. Nothing was more important to him than completing his assignment. He’d been shot on three previous occassions, twice in the left shoulder and once in the leg. He loved his job and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. His love for violence made him ideally suited for the kind of work he did. Personal feelings never clouded his judgment or got in the way of his duties. His motto was job first, everything else second.
Strangely enough, the reputation Cole had was basically the same one Parker had. Though she had model type looks with the blonde hair, blue eyes, and a knockout figure, she packed quite a punch on her five foot-six inch frame. She had quickly become one of the agency’s go-to agents on the tougher assignments due to her dedication and willingness to do whatever it took to get the job done. She was well versed in mixed martial arts and was equally dangerous with a gun or a knife.
“Where do they have us staying?” Parker wondered.
“They got us condo style apartments on Bellevue.”
“Why there?”
“Oh, Turner’s gonna be in the middle of us. We have an apartment on each side of him.”
“Wonder how they made that happen so fast.”
“I believe the tenants were told of the bug problem and were given a generous sum to move,” Cole said. “There’s a team moving everything in as we speak. Turner’s at work so he has no idea what’s going on.”
“So how do you wanna make contact?”
“I say we just go over to his apartment and beat the information out of him.”
“And what if he’s not actually involved in anything?” Parker asked.
“Then we’ll know,” Cole replied, unconcerned.
“Why do you seem to like hurting people so much?”
“Just part of my DNA I guess. This coming from a girl who’s rumored to have over eighty confirmed kills over the last six years.”
“I do what has to be done. But I don’t enjoy it.”
“I guess that’s what separates us. I love it,” Cole happily told her.
“I can tell.”
“So you have a better idea?” Cole asked.
“Why don’t I just introduce myself as a new neighbor and gain his trust? I can get into his apartment and access his computer.”
“I guess if you wanna do it the hard way.”
Chapter 2
Parker and Cole drove to their new apartments and started to unpack their belongings. It was almost six o’clock and they figured Turner would be home soon. They put some boxes by their front doors to sell their covers that they were just moving in. About twenty after six, Turner pulled into his usual spot and started walking toward his apartment, bags of groceries in his arms. As Parker saw him coming she walked out of her apartment and toward her car to bring in some boxes. Turner noticed the boxes on both sides of his apartment.
“I didn’t even know they were moving out,” he said to himself.
Turner saw Parker carrying the boxes and cursed himself that he was carrying groceries instead of offering to help his beautiful new neighbor.
“Of all the days to go to the store,” he said, reaching his door. He put the bags down on a chair outside as he put the key in the door. He looked back at Parker, who flashed him a smile as she went inside her apartment.
“Things are finally looking up around here,” Turner said. He heard the door open to his other new neighbor’s apartment and saw Cole grabbing a box. Cole looked at him, but not as friendly as Parker did.
“Or maybe not. Definitely not as pretty,” he joked to himself.
Parker waited for a little while before going over to introduce herself. She didn’t want to appear too eager. She practiced the story she wanted to tell him in her mind a few times to make sure she had it right. An hour went by and she went over to Turner’s apartment and knocked on the door. She knocked on the door three times with no answer. She waited a few seconds and then knocked three more times. She heard what sounded like Turner hurrying over to the door.
“Coming, coming,” he shouted, opening the door.
“Hi,” Parker smiled.
“Hi.”
“Umm, I’m Alex. I just moved in next door,” she said, offering her hand.
“Ryan,” Turner replied, shaking her hand.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt your dinner?” she asked, smelling that something was cooking.
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I just threw on a couple hamburgers. No big deal.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll come back another time. I don’t want to interrupt you and your family eating.”
“What? No, it’s OK, really. Besides, it’s just me. No family here to speak of,” he replied, talking fast. The unexpected presence of a beautiful woman made h
im nervous.
“Well if you’re sure.”
“Believe me, it’s not a problem,” Turner said. “Umm, would you like to come in?”
“Thank you.”
Turner let Parker in and looked up to the ceiling as if he was thanking someone for bringing a beautiful woman to his door.
“So what can I do for you?” Turner asked.
“Well, I have a really big problem and I was hoping you’d be able to help. If you can’t just say so and I won’t mind, really.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Well I just moved here from New York for my job and my boss was sending me an important email attachment that I need for tomorrow and I just unpacked my computer and it was broken,” Parker lied.
“Oh, that’s terrible. I’m pretty good with computers. Want me to take a look at it?” he offered.
“Really, that’s very sweet of you, but the screen’s cracked.”
“Oh. Yeah, you’re out of luck with that one. That’ll be an expensive fix.”
“I know. I just don’t know how else I’d get that email. I was wondering if you possibly had a computer I could borrow for five minutes?” she innocently asked.
“Yeah, sure. I have a laptop, desktop, tablet, whatever you need. The desktop’s in my bed…I’ll just grab my laptop for you,” he said, getting it from his bag.
Turner put the laptop on the coffee table and turned it on as Parker sat next to him on the couch.
“As soon as it powers up you can log into your email,” Turner said.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I brought a flash drive to transfer it if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. I’m sorry, I didn’t offer you a drink. Would you like anything? Water, soda, juice, beer?”
“Yeah,” Parker smiled. “A water would be nice.”
“One water coming up,” Turner said, getting up to go to the fridge.
Parker put the flash drive in the laptop. It was a specially formatted flash drive that allowed the entire contents of the computer to be downloaded onto it. It would take a few minutes so she’d have to stall for it to be completed. A minute later Turner arrived, two waters in hand.
“You able to pull it up?” he asked, handing his beautiful visitor her drink.
“Yeah, thank you. They’re some really large files so it might just take a minute or two.”
“Take your time. What kind of work do you do?”
“Oh, I’m a Coordinator for a security company,” she told him.
“That sounds interesting.”
“Not really. We handle personal security for a lot of athletes, musicians, actors, celebrities.”
“I guess you meet a lot of cool people then.”
“Not really. I do most of the detail work. I very rarely meet any of our clients. I get moved around a lot.”
“So how long will you be here for?” Turner wondered.
“I’m not sure yet. Probably not too long.”
“Excuse me, I’m gonna check on those burgers I got cooking.”
As Turner was in the kitchen, the flash drive finished copying the files. Parker removed it, turned the laptop off and closed it.
“All finished?” Turner asked as he came back in the room.
“Yep. I can’t thank you enough. Maybe I can return the favor one day.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
“Well, I really should get going.”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Turner asked. As soon as he asked he thought it might’ve sounded like he was coming on too strong. “What I mean is…I made a couple and I know you just moved in so I wasn’t sure if you had a chance to eat or anything yet.”
“That’s very sweet,” Parker smiled. “I grabbed some fast food earlier so I’m good. Thank you for the offer though.”
“Anytime. If you have any more computer problems, feel free to come over.”
“Thanks so much. You’re such a sweetheart.”
The smile on Turner’s face was so big someone probably would’ve thought he’d just won the lottery. Of course, if he had his way from their initial encounter, and he was ever able to sweep her off her feet, he’d feel like he had.
Parker then left and walked over to her apartment. Once she got in she immediately went to her laptop and put the flash drive in to check the contents. She really hoped there was nothing incriminating on there as she thought Turner seemed like a nice guy. Her initial impression was that he didn’t seem like he was involved in anything but she was well aware that people were not always what they seemed. It wouldn’t be the first time she met a nice guy who turned out to have some secrets but she still hoped for the best. She sent Cole a text to let him know she was checking the drive and she’d let him know her findings. She sipped on her water as she opened every document on there, deleting it once she was finished. Three hours later, she finished looking at every document that was on Turner’s laptop. Nothing that indicated he was remotely involved with Davis in anything. She called Cole to let him know.
“I just looked at everything on his laptop. There was nothing there,” Parker told him.
“So that’s it then.”
“Not quite. I only got the info off his laptop. He also has a desktop in his bedroom.”
“Well, I guess you know what you need to do then,” Cole hinted.
“I was thinking I’ll ask him to go out tomorrow and while we’re out you can get into his apartment and check the computer.”
“I guess that’ll work too. Not as much fun for you though.”
“Funny.”
“Why don’t we just get in there while he’s at work and skip the foreplay?” Cole wondered.
“Cause we need to find Heath,” Parker said.
“I’ll be in and out in twenty minutes. Plus if I find anything then you can be prepared for your date.”
“Fine.”
As soon as Parker hung up she was about to go visit Turner again but then thought it might’ve been too late since it was almost ten. She decided to go to bed and she’d try to catch him in the morning before he left for work.
The following morning Parker woke up early and kept an eye out the window, waiting for Turner to step outside. About eight o’clock she noticed Turner leaving his apartment and she quickly stepped outside in short shorts and bare feet. She pretended to need something in her car, which was parked two spots away from Turner’s. She walked over to his car as he was putting a coffee mug in cup holder.
“Ryan. Hi,” she said.
“Hey Alex. How are you?” he asked, glancing down at her legs, but trying not to look too often or stare and creep her out.
“Good. I just wanted to thank you again for last night.”
“No need. You’re welcome. That’s what neighbors are for, right?”
“Well, to show my appreciation I was wondering if maybe you were interested in going out tonight and get a pizza or something. My treat,” Parker smiled. “That is, if you don’t have a girlfriend or anything. I wouldn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”
“Uhh, no, no, I don’t have a girlfriend,” he eagerly told her.
“Great. So tonight?”
“It’s a date,” Turner happily answered.
“Six?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll see you then.”
“I’ll pick you up at your place,” he joked.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Turner tried to keep cool but as soon as Alex turned and started walking back to her apartment he excitedly waved his arms in the air.
“OK, don’t get freaked out Ryan,” he said to himself. “She’s just a girl. You’ve been on dates before.” He kept watching her until she disappeared into her apartment. “But certainly not on any with someone who looked like that.”
As soon as he pulled away, Cole burst out of his apartment and picked the lock of Turner’s apartment. He immediately went into the bedroom and found the desktop computer, putting in the
flash drive to see if anything was on the computer. As the files were transferring, Cole started to look in the other rooms. Careful as to not make a mess, Cole went through every drawer, closet, cabinet, folder, and article that he found, but nothing that indicated he had any knowledge of Davis or the files he took. After searching the apartment for twenty minutes, Cole was satisfied that he’d looked everywhere and that nothing was there. He went back to the bedroom and grabbed the flash drive. He made sure everything was in its proper place and nothing looked like it’d been disturbed as he left. Cole then knocked on Parker’s door to let her know his findings.
“Looks like it’s clean,” he told her as she opened the door.
“All right. You have the flash drive?”
“Yep,” Cole answered, holding it up.
“Come in so we can run it.”
As they started pouring through the documents, Turner had arrived at work. He was a marketing analyst at GameTech. They were a company that developed games for video systems, mobile devices, and computers. He’d been there for seven years. It was his first job since graduating from USC. He enjoyed it mostly, but occasionally found it to be a little boring. He sat down at his desk in the GameTech corporate headquarters, which employed over two hundred people, and unpacked his briefcase.
“Hey Ryan, this just came in for you,” a co-worker said, walking by.
He handed Turner a small padded envelope that had no return address on it. It must’ve been hand delivered as it had no postage on it. The only thing written on it was Turner’s name. Turner wondered what could’ve been inside as he wasn’t expecting anything. He opened it took out the contents, which was only an unmarked flash drive. He held it up and looked at it, curious as to what was on it. He plugged it into his computer as he sipped on his coffee. It appeared to be nothing but documents. Turner started clicking on the folders, which were named “Missions”, “Handlers”, “Officers”, “Classified”, “Doubles”.
Turner initially thought maybe it was the files for a game the company was working on. Once he started opening the files he realized it was definitely not for a game. He quickly understood that what he was looking at was top secret government material. He looked around the office to see if maybe someone was pranking him or something. He started reading some of the files and couldn’t believe some of the information he was seeing. The details of some of the missions were unbelievable. He spent the next hour clicking through each folder, not reading everything on there, but just seeing enough to know exactly what was on there. He was eventually able to pull himself away, as addicting as it was, to start doing some of his work. Even as he tried to work though, his mind kept going back to some of the files he had looked it. He wondered why this had been sent to him and if it was a mistake. He couldn’t think of any reason why someone would deliberately send this stuff to him. He was a nobody. Certainly not someone worthy of seeing this type of material.