The Agent
“Hello? Earth to Simone,” Gabriel’s voice broke me out of the half-asleep trance I’d fallen into.
“Huh?” I asked, blinking back into reality. I tore my eyes away from the building we were surveilling and met Gabriel’s stitched brows of concern.
“Are you good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
After the phone call last night, I was able to breathe a little easier and fall asleep. But his voice followed me into my dreams. Taunting me from afar. Luring me closer. Grabbing me in a hold I couldn’t escape.
No matter how many times I shook myself out of it, reminded myself it wasn’t real, the dream would just start itself over in a different font.
I’d painted concealer on the bags under my eyes and chugged down a large coffee before I started work this morning. Today was my first time in the field since Lorenzo’s death. I needed to look functional, so Logan wouldn’t throw me back on desk duty.
Being out and about was good for me. It’d distract me from the bullshit with my so-called “secret admirer.”
I was already pissed at the fact he’d called my phone, but knowing he had the audacity to hack in my cameras and watch me without shame was infuriating. I couldn’t wait to lock his ass up - make him realize how valuable privacy really is.
Gabriel turned his attention away from me as some chatter came through the speakers.
Earlier in the week, Gabriel came by with other agents to bug the place.
He and I have been following this renowned arms dealer for a little while now, tracking his activity and collecting evidence against us.
This was yet another deal we’d discovered. Another page in his growing file.
The dealer’s voice, deep and gruff, was familiar, but his tone wasn’t. Usually, he was very cold and straightforward. Today, there was a warmth in his voice as he explained in great detail the weapons he was able to supply.
Gabriel and I exchanged at a glance, confused by the change.
Then, we heard a woman’s voice respond to him. Soft and raspy, she cooed a short compliment.
“A female buyer?” Gabriel asked, his brow raising.
“Well, at least we know he doesn’t discriminate,” I said with a shrug.
“Yeah, but he’s clearly distracted.”
Flirtatious laughter filled the air as the dealer continued flirting with his buyer. I almost thanked God we didn’t have eyes inside on this one. Watching two criminals hook up was not on my list of arousing scenes.
“That’s men for you. They only think with one head.”
“Hey, hey, not all men. I think with both of them while I’m flirting. God forbid they’re crazy and I gotta find a way out of there.”
We quieted again, listening as the two over the speakers conversed about their deal.
“Do you have the funds?” The dealer asked. “Or were you trying to pay with something else?”
The woman laughed, low and jagged. “This merchandise is off limits. The money’s in the bag.”
We heard the shuffle of fabric and the screech of a zipper. Paper rustled as he counted the wads inside. “You might have to give up something,” he said. “You’re almost a quarter mil short.”
“Am I?”
“Mhm.” Slow footsteps padded against the ground. “But, it’s nothing your pretty little mouth can’t fix.”
Silence followed as he assumingely got closer, likely trapping her between a wall and his body. I had half a mind to go in and help her, but we didn’t know the full situation yet. If she started screaming, I was definitely busting in there - case be damned.
Rather than the yell we were expecting, a gunshot boomed through the speaker.
“Shit,” Gabriel muttered, jumping up out of his seat. While I pulled on my bullet proof vest, he grabbed the walkie on the car.
“Owl three to command, we’ve got shots fired in the warehouse on Trefler Street,” he said. “I repeat, shots fired in the location on Trefler Street.”
I hurried out of the surveillance van and ran down towards the fence of the building, keeping out of the perimeter guards’ sights.
They weren’t particularly worried about their posts at the moment. Hearing the gunshot as well, all of their heads turned to the interior, waiting for a response from their boss.
More gunshots went off inside, and they all abandoned their posts to rush inside.
“What the fuck is going on?” Gabriel asked as he jogged up next to me.
“This was a set-up,” I explained. “No female buyer arrives short-handed - not unless she was planning to kill him all along.”
Our eyes darted back to the building as more shots filled the air. “And clearly, she’s not alone,” Gabriel muttered.
I stepped forward, and Gabriel grabbed my arm.
“No,” he scolded. “We’re waiting for backup.”
“We don’t have time for that.” I shrugged off his grasp and stepped under the hole in the fence. “Come on!”
Gabriel jogged behind me as we approached the entrance of the warehouse. We leaned against either side of the entrance, listening for any more noise.
The gunshots had finally stopped, leaving an eerie silence in its place.
Gabriel walked in first, and I covered his back.
The lights of the first floor flickered, most of the bulbs damaged from the shootout.
From the doorway, we were met with our first batch of bodies.
Burly men with beards and tattoos lay scattered around the floor, riddled with bullets.
We carefully stepped around the puddles of blood oozing around them and made a beeline for the closest stairwell.
On the upper level, we discovered even more bodies - along with tons of tables lined with parts for automatic weapons. This must’ve been one of their assembly warehouses. Why would the dealer bring a buyer here?
More importantly, where did they go? From what I could see, nothing seemed to be missing. Why kill him if they weren’t going to rob him for everything he had.
“I’ll check the third level,” I told Gabriel.
He was frozen beside me, examining the amount of guns in the room. “I’ll call the evidence team,” he replied. “We’re going to need a lot of hands to clean this shit up.”
Leaving him on the second floor, I trotted up to the third and last level of the warehouse. My heart thumped in my ears with every step, anticipating the worst.
This was the last place the attacker could be if they were still here, meaning I was likely in for a fight.
I almost exhaled in relief when I arrived on the empty floor.
Keeping my gun cocked and ready, I scanned around the room.
The dealer’s body was laying on the ground, eyes wide with a single hole in his head.
A line of metal briefcases sat open on the table beside him, holding an inventory of state-of-the-art rifles. Not one was missing.
But, there was one seemingly out of place.
Rather than silver and open like the others, this one was black and closed.
I cautiously approached it. My brow rose at the note taped to the top.
For Agent Nichols, it read.
My stomach twisted in knots as I remembered my words from last night. The gift I’d stupidly asked for.
Was this it? Taking out the dealer for my operation, so I wouldn’t have to deal with it? But, how’d he get into my files? Those were sealed underneath the FBI database.
I didn’t know what resources this man had, but they were terrifyingly good.
I knew I shouldn’t entertain his games - especially in the middle of a destroyed operation, but I was curious to see what he’d left.
The ends of the briefcase clicked as I unhooked the latches and pushed it open.
My eyes widened at the bouquet of colorful wires and ticking red numbers.
His gift wasn't jewelry or perfume or even an item of his clothing with his scent lingering on it.
It was a fucking bomb.