“Where are we meeting the rest of our crew?” Michael asked Zane.
“We’re going to meet them a few blocks away from the facility. They’ll be in armored trucks, and they’ll have plenty of body armor and firepower, so once we meet them, we’ll get changed.”
“Do we have any idea of how to get into the facility?”
“We think that we do. Dan and I have had someone spying on the place since yesterday, and I don’t believe that this facility has an elevator that acts as a transport to the underground like the other one. My guy has noticed several people going in and out of the back of the place. I think that there’s either a large lift, or more likely, a simple set of stairs somewhere in the back.”
With his questions answered, Michael sat back in his seat. He was worried about what was going to happen. Lately, he felt like he was in better shape mentally. He had even been able to make an escape plan back when they were all imprisoned, but he hadn’t fired a weapon since he was in the army. He didn’t know if he could shoot a rifle without losing it. I should have just gone into witness protection. I’m going to get everyone killed with all of my second guessing, Michael thought.
* * * * *
The next morning, Lee was still feeling a bit under the weather, but he shook the feeling off and started getting ready as fast as he possibly could. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t wait to get back to work. He burst into the bathroom where he saw something extremely unexpected. There stood Trish. She was just stepping out of the shower, and she was only wearing a towel.
“What . . . what are you doing?” Trish asked in an angry and very surprised sort of way.
“I’m sorry!” Lee exclaimed as he ran out of the bathroom.
Why in the world was I ever jealous of what that pervert thought, Trish wondered.
Trish would have normally beat Lee half to death for doing such a thing, but he was already beaten up badly enough from back in Tampa. Oh God, she is going to kill me, Lee thought as he shut the door to his room. Eventually, the three of them got ready and were on their way to work. The drive wasn’t as odd as Lee expected it to be. Trish only shot him some hard looks, but otherwise, she didn’t maim him in the way that he expected her to. Once Lee arrived at his work floor, he was met by Megan.
“We’re going to have you listen to a little chatter today,” Megan said.
“Chatter?” Lee asked in confusion.
“Yeah. You listen to people’s conversations on phones that we have tapped. If they say anything suspicious, you write down who they are and what they said. Then you can come tell me.”
Lee got to work on his task, but his enthusiasm quickly faded. For thirty minutes he listened to a man argue with his wife, and then for an hour he heard a man talking to a tech support person about his wireless internet. The task he had been given was not only boring, but as far as he could tell, it was meaningless. Lunch rolled around, and a thought occurred to Lee. He got up from his chair and walked straight into Megan’s office.
“Hey, would you like to grab some lunch with me?” Lee asked Megan as he poked his head into her doorway.
Megan looked a little torn by his question, but eventually she gave him a smile.
“Sure, why not,” Megan said.
The two of them walked downstairs to the lunch area where they both sat and ordered.
“So I have to ask. What happened to you? It looks like you went through quite an ordeal,” Megan said while motioning toward the bruises on his face.
Lee explained how he had been captured while leaving out all of the details that he wasn’t sure if she should know or not.
“Oh, you poor thing,” she said as she reached across the table and gently touched his bruised jaw.
“What about you? What’s your story?” Lee asked.
“Well, let’s see. I went to Harvard, and I was at the top of my class. I was recruited because I can work with anything or anyone.”
“I wasn’t asking about how qualified you are. I meant on a more personal level.”
Megan could sense that Lee wanted a little more from her and that this lunch was obviously an, I’m interested in you and want to get to know you kind of lunch. She didn’t know if she was comfortable with that yet, and because they were both at work and she was his boss, it made his behavior even more awkward.
“I don’t know what your intent is, but us meeting here and you getting to know me on a more personal level could be considered a little inappropriate,” Megan said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do anything wrong, but if it’s a problem that we’re meeting and talking here, then why don’t we do something after work? Then I could get to know you a little better, and you wouldn’t have to worry about someone else interpreting it the wrong way.”
She thought for a moment. She knew that going on what was basically a date with an employee was wrong, but the truth was that she was working all the time, and there was no time to look for anyone anywhere else.
“All right. I guess that would be fine,” Megan said.
Lee got her phone number and address. He walked away from that lunch happier than he had been in a long while. Finally, everything is falling into place, Lee thought. He sat back down at his desk and listened to more meaningless chatter. You’ll be out of here soon, Lee thought to himself.
* * * * *
That same morning, Trish and Jess were looking through all of the files that they recovered from the flash drive.
“What are we even looking for?” Jess asked.
“We’re looking for something important that we can make an easy op out of,” Trish answered.
“Oh, well that’s easy,” Jess said.
“What do you mean?”
“The facility in Silver Springs is easily the smallest and least secure out of all the facilities that we know of. It would make a statement to Markus if we took that facility, and it would be fairly easy to do.”
“You’re right, but that facility no longer has a purpose. It isn’t even a threat.”
“The people inside of the facility are a threat, and like I said, it’s small and it makes a statement,” Jess said.
“All right, let’s discuss this with Mr. Campbell,” Trish said.
The two of them walked to Campbell’s office, and after knocking, they entered.
“Do you have something for me?” Campbell asked.
“Maybe. How would you feel about crushing the facility in Mississippi?” Trish asked.
“Why would we do that? Right now it’s the least relevant facility.”
“Because, it’s the smallest and least secure location they have, and it sends a message that no one within their organization is safe,” Jess answered.
“Okay. Let’s just say that I’m interested in your idea. Who would be at the forefront of this operation? Zane and Dan are tied up in Atlanta right now.”
“How about Nathan and Sam?” Trish asked.
“They are on their way back here, and I suppose that they could take a break from what they’re doing for a day or two,” Campbell said.
“Plus, Nathan is from there. I’m sure that he would love to be able to go back, even if it was only for a couple of days,” Jess said.
“All right, I’ll see what I can do about putting together a small team. Good work, you two.”
As Trish and Jess exited Campbell’s office, Jason walked up to them.
“Can I borrow Trish for a moment?” Jason asked.
“Sure,” Jess responded as she continued walking to her office.
“What’s going on?” Trish asked.
“We’re about to conduct a few interviews with some of the people we thought might be traitors. I knew that you wanted to sit in, so I came to get you.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
They made their way to what looked like an interrogation room where they met Burt. The three of them interviewed a half dozen people, and each one of them answered all of their questions right and with
no sign of deceit. They were all very frustrated.
“Well, that was a complete bust,” Burt said.
“No, we still have one person left,” Jason said as he called the final man into the room.
What Trish saw next shocked her. The man who walked into the room was someone from her past. When she worked for Markus, she had worked with this man on many occasions. His name was David Houston, and he was just as shocked to see her as she was to see him. Upon seeing her, a wave of panic appeared on his face. He sat down anyway, but it was obvious that he was very bothered.
“Is something wrong?” Burt asked the man.
“No, not at all,” David said.
“He’s the one we’re looking for,” Trish said.
“What? How do you know?” Burt asked.
“Because I used to work with him.”
Security was let into the room, and the man was taken away. Trish felt bad about selling out David. He had always been so kind to her. He was the exact opposite of Jacob. He was compassionate and smarter than anyone else that Trish had ever gotten to work with. It was really no surprise that he was chosen to pose as a CIA agent. He had the perfect golden boy attitude and look. Trish began to walk out of the room.
“Where are you going? Don’t you want to ask the guy some questions once he’s restrained?” Jason asked.
“No, I need some air,” Trish said and exited the room.
* * * * *
In the early morning, Nathan and Sam awoke. Sam took her shower first, and only after Chloe had been removed from the bathroom was Nathan allowed to do the same. The three of them made their way to a small airport just outside of town where a plane had been arranged to take them back to Washington. When they finally boarded the plane and were seated, Nathan’s curiosity got the best of him.
“So what is your real story? I mean, since that whole back story that you gave me last night was bull,” Nathan said to Chloe.
“Nathan, you really shouldn’t talk to the prisoner. Remember what happened last night,” Sam said.
“What’s wrong? Are you a little jealous, blondie?” Chloe asked.
Sam simply reached over and grabbed the vein on the side of Chloe’s neck and squeezed it. After a few seconds, Chloe was asleep.
“You know that one day you’re going to make a prisoner slow in the head from doing stuff like that, right? Nathan asked.
“Maybe, but it will probably be because you talked to them,” Sam said and smiled.
* * * * *
Trish went to the roof of the building. She needed time to reflect and remember what had been. A few years ago, she and David were sent on a mission to kill a man who had run away from one of their facilities in Dallas. The man simply wanted out of a life that he didn’t know would be so immoral when he got into it, but in his line of work, you didn’t get out, especially when you knew as much as he did. This man’s name was Garret Red, and he was the second in command at the Dallas facility. The two of them tracked him all the way to Arizona. It wasn’t hard to find him. That was where Garret was originally from, and he simply wanted to go home. When they found him, he begged for his life. Trish never wanted to kill a person to begin with. She only wanted to work on a more intellectual level. David was not so different from Trish, and neither of them had the heart to kill the man. They let him go. David advised him to leave the country as soon as possible, and the two of them went back home. Officially, Garret Red was dead. Trish and David went on close to ten more missions together. Throughout each mission, they did things their own way. They somehow always found a way to finish their task with a clear conscience, and it didn’t take long before the two of them were more than work partners. Trish, a woman who had only used people, was in love with David, and David was just as in love with her. The two of them talked about disappearing together, but then one day, David was just gone. She asked her superiors where David went, but she never got an answer. When she pushed the issue, she was transferred to an irrelevant facility in Mississippi that only housed records. As she snapped back to reality, she knew that she had to be the one to question David. I can’t let anything happen to him, she thought.
Chapter 7
Nathan and Sam had already landed in Washington and handed off Chloe to their fellow agents.
“We need to check in, and then maybe we can go home for a while,” Sam said as the two of them entered the CIA building.
“Home? Where is home exactly?” Nathan asked.
“I have a place here that the CIA provided me with. I’ve actually only been there once, though.”
Nathan was curious to see what Sam’s place could possibly look like. The two of them walked straight to Campbell’s office.
“You did a good job out there. Hopefully, we can get some good information out of her, but until we do, how would you two feel about doing some work on the side?” Campbell asked.
“Sure, but what did you have in mind for us?” Sam asked.
“We want to take the facility in Mississippi.”
Nathan was excited to hear that. He wanted to take this opportunity to not only get some unfinished business done at that facility but also to check in on his family.
“Here’s a list of the people that you’ll be working with if you choose to accept this assignment,” Campbell said while handing Sam some files.
Sam took a second to look through them and then started to pass them to Nathan.
“I’m in,” Nathan said before Sam could even hand him the files.
“Jessica said that you would be eager to take this assignment,” Campbell said while laughing at Nathan’s eagerness.
“I think that we can do this, sir. When do we leave?” Sam asked.
“Tomorrow morning.”
As Nathan and Sam left Campbell’s office, they saw Trish.
“Hey, Tri . . .” Nathan said before being interrupted.
“I don’t have time,” Trish barked while throwing a hand up and quickly walking past them.
“What’s her problem?” Sam asked in surprise.
Trish hurried to David’s location. The interrogation had already begun. A large guard tried to stop her from entering the room, but the much smaller Trish grabbed him, hit him squarely in the throat, and tossed him to the side like a rag doll. Then she proceeded to bang on the door until Jason opened it.
“What’s going on?” Jason asked.
“Both of you need to get out now,” Trish said.
“What? Why?” Burt asked while getting up from his chair.
“I’m not going to repeat myself,” Trish said.
The two men were confused, but it was obvious that Trish was going through some type of mental crisis, so they did what she said and exited the room. Trish closed the door behind her and sat down across from David.
“You are going to tell me everything you know because if you don’t, these people are going to hurt you, and I don’t think I can live with knowing that I was a part of you being hurt,” Trish said while sounding depressed but angry.
“I’ve missed you,” David simply said.
“I’ve missed you, too. If you give us something to use, then I’m sure they’ll help you disappear. We’ll protect you. I promise that Markus, or anyone else, won’t be able to get to you.”
“You know you can’t promise that, and you also know that a little torture isn’t going to make me break.”
“Then please just do it for me,” Trish said while laying her hand on his and looking deep into his eyes.
Her eyes were piercing to him. The truth was that he wasn’t nearly as softhearted as she was, but back when they were partners, those sad eyes had made him alter his actions. Those eyes made him a better man.
“Okay. I’ll make a deal with you. Get the guards to give me something good to eat. Then get me a pen and some paper, and I’ll write down everything that I know,” David said.
“Thank you.”
Jason and Burt had been listening from outside, and they were amazed that
Trish was able to get this man, who they had been able to get nothing out of, to just agree to tell them everything. They opened the door, and the guard that Trish had formally thrown to the side entered.
“Okay. Let’s get you that meal,” the guard said while shooting Trish a hard look.
The guard and David walked out and made their way down the hall until they were out of sight. Then Trish and the others heard a gunshot. The three of them and a few more guards ran toward the source of the shot. There on the ground, David lay dead with the guard standing above him.
“He tried to escape,” the guard explained.
Trish could tell that was a lie.
“This man is a traitor, too,” Trish announced.
“Arrest him,” Jason said to a couple of more guards who had come to see the source of the shot.
After the man was taken away, Burt looked at Trish.
“Are you sure that the guard was a traitor, and if so how?” Burt asked her.
“He just lied to us, and think about it for a minute. David was about to give us everything that we needed, and then he ends up dead. How suspicious is that?” Trish asked and walked away.
She was going home. There was no way that she could stay in this place for another minute. She popped her head into Jess’s office.
“You and Lee will need to get a ride with Jason. I’m leaving.”
Before she received an answer, Trish quickly walked away. As she walked, she felt tears starting to form in her eyes. David, the best man she had ever known, was dead, and in her mind, that was her fault. Why did I have to say that I knew him? If I had only just let him go, Trish thought behind those tears.
* * * * *
That evening, Nathan and Sam went back to her house. As she opened the door, and they stepped inside, one thing became apparent. The place was really empty.
“There are no pictures, and there’s no furniture. Is there even a television? Oh, God! Please tell me there’s a television,” Nathan said in desperation.
Sam only laughed at his desperate expression.
“Relax. We can get some furniture and a television if it’s that important to you,” Sam said.
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