CHAPTER 14

      

      Grinnngggg, grinnngg !!, the resonating ring of the telephone echoed as it vibrated on a petite table, followed by racing footsteps as a middle aged caucasian female secretary raced to answer it.

    " Hello! social mentor! what can I do for you today ? " she answered politely, trying to sound as welcoming as possible to the receiver on the other end.

    " You could lay off the doughnuts, cut yourself some slack ! " the man on the other end of the phone responded offensively, with an annoying laugh.

    " Already dealing with the idiots and it's only 8 : 30 in the morning, "she hissed as she dropped the call , followed by the usual recorded laughs that are mostly accustomed to the audience in a sitcom,

      James adjusted in his seat as he laughed at the consistent flow of rib recking conversations from the popular Mr bean series that aired from 8- 8:30 pm on the boomerang channel, his laughs were in sync with that of the ever invisible audience, until the chime from a ring tone caught his attention, and the sight of the contact number wiped the smile off his face. He pushed up from his seat, a look of disbelief plastered across his face, he narrowed his view to be certain he wasn't mistaken, and after a full on confirmation answered the call.

   " Hello " he said sternly

   " Hello , my dear friend " the voice responded almost cheerfully.

   " I wasn't expecting your call so soon " he responded.

   " Oh... relax, I only need one more favour from you and I promise that's it... for now "

   " I'm listening "

   " Your buddy has something that belongs to me, and I want it back. "

   " Then take it, I don't see how that's my problem "

   " So far he has been able to... slip through my fingers repeatedly, I need you to find him for me "

   " How am I supposed to know where he is ? "

   " You're smart James, I believe you'll find a way "

   " And what's in it for me ? "

   " How does a bigger bag than last time sound ? "

   " Very...nice " he replied with a grin on his face.

      The streets were flooded with cars going to and fro in different directions on the express road, the tingle of air, let in by the open window as he drove, massaged the hand he rested on the door, a rough turn and he proceeded down a boulevard, stopping the car at a thoroughly wrinkled dwarf gate, almost over taken with weeds, bearing the signs, no trespassing, property of the federal government, but the moment he flashed a card at the fairly grounded streetlight, the gate opened, and closed again once he had driven through.

   .   After driving down few metres, he finally parked the car in front of a dilapidated building, and strolled inside the house, that looked like it had been standing since the early 1900's, he pushed open the dwarf gate, creaking as it went, on it another sign that clearly read, do not trespass, property of the federal government, yet he continued inside, passed the spacious cobwebbed lined parlour, and headed for the kitchen, he opened a cabinet, and removed the board, exposing the concrete wall, there was a round red switch fixed to the wall, and once he hit it, the other end of the kitchen wall gave way, revealing a collection of guns, knives, bullets, the works, everything he would need to take out his target.

        

                                                                           *           *          *

    

    " Fifteen of our agents killed, slaughtered, and still no clue as to where that son of a bitch... Fasting, is as we speak, that's unacceptable " said the six foot, dark skinned man, formally dressed in a black tuxedo, oxford labeled shoes, and a carefully crafted tie that spoke volumes of his bank account.

     The man speaking was Thomas Pious, one of the oldest and most reputable agents in the CSS, he made even the senior agents stutter with his commanding attitude, and that was exactly what he did now.

     The agency was yet to solve the mystery regarding the death of CSS agents who had been murdered by Fasting, agent Thomas perceived that there had been an information leak, someone was deliberately leaking information to Fasting, information that helped him escape, and even resulted in the killing of so many good agents.

      Thomas stood in front of the other agents, who now looked sober and clueless, he stared at them with so much disappointment, that none even dared look up at him, none, except one.

   " Fourteen sir " said one of the men on the opposite side of the room.

   " What ? " agent Thomas questioned.

   " Fourteen... of our agents were killed sir. " the man spoke again with confidence. " One of the agents who went for the operation that day wasn't discovered with the other bodies.

   " Is that true agent Paul ? " Agent Thomas questioned, turning his attention to the man who stood beside him, agent Paul was one of the top agents, who ought to have dealt with the situation, but instead was on the verge of being ridiculed by his superior, thanks to an over zealous rookie.

    " I assure you sir ,the situation is under control " he tried to whisper into the man's ear, in an effort to save himself from the impending embarrassment, in the presence of his  junior agents.

    " Agent Paul, I want you in my office immediately " he ordered " and as for the rest of you, I want all the information you can get on this lunatic, and I want it fast, and even if there is the slightest chance of Sunday  being a traitor, I want him found and brought back here, " and then he pointed to the rookie who had revealed the truth. " you. ! I'd like to have a word with you as well ."

      After being dismissed, they followed through with the order, not an idle hand in sight, as the ruffle of paper, clacking of the keyboard, and calls ran through, the rookie agent was already on his way to the boss's office, and the look on agent Paul's face as he walked out could only tell the level of hate he now had for him. Paying little attention to the dagger like stare, he proceeded to knock and entered the intricately designed, spotless luxury that was the office of one of the highest ranking agents he had ever met, and would most likely ever meet .

    " Sit down, what is your name son ? " he questioned.

    " Reuben " he replied.

    " Tell me Reuben, what made you join the CSS ?" he questioned again in a finger crossed stare.

     " I wanted to be of help to my country sir " he replied sternly.

     " Right, right, we all love our country, this rock where we were born and raised... how old are you ? " he questioned again .

     " I'm 25 sir " he answered.

     " Well you look 22, I like you Reuben, you remind me of someone, he was about your age too when he joined us, smart, confident... loyal. " he continued.

      " I guess you're talking about agent Sunday ? " Reuben questioned.

      " You're a smart one " he said with a smile, " that's what will keep you alive " he continued, getting up from his seat, " I have known Sunday for years now, he is no traitor, if anything he has taken us the closest we've got to taking Fasting down, and if not for what went wrong with his sister, things might have happened differently. " The man continued, the tone of sadness now evident in his voice.

      " What happened to his sister ? Reuben questioned.

      " You can ask him when you see him, I have a feeling there's a traitor in CSS "

       " And you want me to find him? " Reuben questioned.

       " No, you can leave that to me, what I want you to do is find Sunday, and when you do, you be sure to let me know, " the man said, handing Reuben a cell phone, noticing the confused look on his face, he patted him on the shoulder with his next words being " don't worry, I trust you won't let me down " .

        Coming out of the office, hardly anyone seemed to notice him, and he had chosen to believe that, all the while walking to his desk, until he locked eyes with Shola who gave him a barely noticeable heads up, their superior was playing a tricky game, on one hand he had the others believe they needed to bring Sunday in for questioning, and on the other hand he had trusted him to help Sunday in whatever it was he was after, either way, one thing was clear, Paul had assigned the search for Sunday to two teams of diligent agents, they weren't the best, but most times they delivered, besides, he was just one guy, a few years of experience, but still, no level of martial arts could take out two teams easily, a rational thought that ran through his mind, the problem however would be how he would find an opening if and when they do find Sunday.

         In nothing but a few hours, he witnessed as these agents swung into action, armed, and ready for anything, then it fell to the techs and hacks, a few clicks, some scrolls, and they got a beep, every top agent always had a tracker implanted in their skin, one that would only stop if the agent rips it out or in most common cases, dies. This was how they would find him, but while they sought him out for obvious reasons, Shola had his own agenda, his plan was to get to Sunday before them, that way he could claim his reward, and also the glory of terminating a supposedly rouge agent.

        While the onslaught drew closer with each second, Shola prepared for his next deceptive act, they rode in the dark of the night, the van nearly completely camouflaged by it's death black paint, and equipped with tech that secured the traces of their target, every one of them appearing tense as though they had been asked to invade family, they all knew Sunday, most  because he saved their throats more times than they could count, others because of his commendable work, and that made the operation seem like a betrayal. It was like a weight on the back of their necks, as they bent head down, each sitting across from one another, but an order had been given, and for an agent, that was all he needed.

         While the silence permeated the van, allowing only the sounds of the van's turns and bumps, Reuben stared down at his phone, trying to work his way through hidden loopholes if there had been any, until the commanding voice of a not so close colleague caught his attention.

        " Hey, mind if I sit here" Shola questioned

        " No "

        " Thanks, " Shola replied while sitting down, " you're that rookie, from earlier today, aren't you ?" he continued, making zero effort to curb his arrogance, a question Reuben replied with a positive nod. But seeing as Reuben was as interested in his conversation as a toddler with a newsletter, he shifted the topic.

       " So... fourteen huh ? how did you figure that out " Shola questioned

       " Body count " Reuben replied casually.

       " Right, don't look too nervous, we got each other's back out here, it'll all be fine " Shola replied with a gentle smile, and a pat on Reuben's back,  right before he got up.

          Soon the van eased to a stop, each one of them preparing their guns as they highlighted, and in organized croutches approached the lawn of a nearby house, their uniform blending with the dark of the night in an almost excellent camouflage, Reuben followed behind, observing their movements and techniques, then they split in two groups, the first of five agents made an advance towards the front door, moving as quiet as possible, despite the heaviness of their hard boots, from where he croutched Reuben could see the house, as well as the agents who were about to break down the front door.

         They leaned against the wall by the door, and waited while one of them raised four of his fingers, a count down for the invasion, dropping one finger at a time, and as soon as all fingers were down, they kicked the door down, making their advance with eyes peeled for any sudden surprise.

        Nothing appeared surreal, it was as ordinary as it came, with an exception to the choice of furniture, that looked relatively old fashioned the place was spotless, with not a human being in sight, and the moment they all walked in, they split again, each going to a different part of the house, their guns positioned in front of them at an arrowed angle, should there be any surprises. They maintained contact with the other teams outside with the help of a walky talky.

       " He's in the room closest to the kitchen, " the voice from the other end revealed.

          This time they didn't kick down the door but pushed it open and entered with caution, all three of them, noticing the figure lying wrapped in the bed, one of then whispered.

        " We got him "

        Moving slowly they advanced towards the bed, and swiftly turned the body around, lying with his mouth sealed with duck tape as he mumbled inaudible warnings was another agent, but they hadn't recovered from the surprise when they heard the door close, with what  followed being the echoing offset of multiple gunblasts. A sound that sent shivers down the spine of the other agents, who froze at the sound of it. Sunday had taken them by surprise, it wouldn't be as easy as they had hoped.

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