The Agent #2
I only stared as he appeared, smiling, in the doorway, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, his brows pinching together. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I almost didn’t have words to say to him. My throat burned with curses and threats, but my heart ached from the hammer that’d slammed through it. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to douse the rage and find something to say.
“Did you kill him?” I asked. The question was absurd once said aloud. Logan couldn’t have. He loved my father. He loved me. He would never…
“Kill who?” His brows stitched in confusion. “Simone, what are you talking about?”
“My father.”
He let out a laugh I might’ve believed if I didn’t have evidence in my hands. “What? Of course not! Why…why would you even think that?”
My fingers tightened around the papers in my hand, unintentionally calling his attention to them.
He stared at the papers as he leaned against the doorway, blocking the exit, and crossed his arms. “What have you got there?”
“How…how could you? And then just pretend as if…” I could barely stomach the thought, let alone say the words. My chest ached as if a knife was piercing through it - the sharp tip of the blade plunging directly into my heart.
Logan’s feigned smile of obliviousness fell into a line. The warm, bubbly man I knew disappeared, leaving me alone with a stone-faced stranger. “I did what I needed to do.”
“Why? How? He was your best friend - practically your brother!”
“He wasn’t my brother,” he said with a scoff. “Brothers are loyal; they don’t turn on each other.”
“You turned on him!”
“I did not,” he replied firmly. “I offered him another option. It didn’t need to end the way it did. If he’d just accepted the money and kept his mouth shut, he’d still be here.”
“At what cost? His integrity?”
“A small price to pay in exchange for staying in his daughter’s life.”
I quieted, his words yet another slice through my wounded heart.
“Simone,” he said, softening his voice as he walked closer to me. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this. But, you must understand, this is bigger than me. If it hadn’t been me…”
I dodged the hand he tried to put on my shoulder. “What? You would’ve given him to those brutes?”
“I showed him mercy. They wouldn’t have. I promise he felt no pain in the end.”
I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing. “And what did you get in return? A raise? A promotion? Fast-track to the top of command?”
“Simone,” he said, raising his hand again.
I rose from my seat on the bed. “How much was your best friend’s life worth?”
My words must’ve hit a nerve. The patience in his eyes disappeared, and a livid stare conquered his face.
His hand grabbed my neck as he lunged forward, and he shoved my body back against the wall.
His fingers dug into my throat as he spoke, cutting off more of my air with every word.
“Listen here, you little brat, you will not question my decisions. Matter of fact, if you know what’s good for you, you will never speak of this conversation ever again.
I don’t want you to end up like your father. ”
“It's too late for that,” I choked, finding my voice through the pain. I flung my knee up, hitting him straight in his ribs. He grunted at the first blow and released me by the second. I grabbed the lamp off the nightstand and slammed it against his head.
As he stumbled onto the floor, I swiped up my father’s letters and the jewelry, stuffed them in my bag and ran towards the door.
I sped down the hall towards the stairwell, ignoring Logan’s calls echoing behind me.
The two agents he assigned were standing in the living room doorway when I reached the end of the steps, their brows pinched together at the commotion. One look at the expression on my face, and no doubt the buzzing in their earpieces, and their confusion transformed into malice.
I swore under my breath as I turned on my heel, racing down the hall towards the back door. I damn near pushed it off the hinges as I pushed it open.
Their footsteps boomed on the wooden floors behind me, practically in sync with my rapid heartbeat slamming through my eardrums.
I ran around the side of the house towards the driveway. Knowing I wouldn’t get far on foot, I climbed into the car Logan drove us here in and prayed that the spare key he gave me worked for it.
My chest fell in relief at the hum of the engine. Ignoring the three men storming towards the car, I threw my arm over the passenger seat and sped backwards onto the street. The tires screeched against the concrete as I made a hard turn and put the car in drive.
I pressed the gas pedal to the floor, catapulting down the road.
I didn’t know where I was going. Didn’t know if there was anywhere to go.
All I knew was I needed to get far away from here.
I zoomed through the quiet, empty streets, searching for back roads to disappear within.
A glimpse of black flashed in my rearview mirror, and I looked up to see the other black SUV behind me.
I applied more pressure to the gas, trying to put more distance between our cars.
Something long and black poked out of the windows. Two hands grasped, pointing it straight at the car.
I harshly tugged the car to the right as a rain of bullets poured out of the gun’s mouth. But, as I moved, so did their aim.
Bullets riddled against the back of the car like hail. If the windows weren’t bulletproof, they probably would’ve shattered already.
They must’ve realized they were wasting bullets and pulled the gun back inside.
I took the moment to turn down one of the backroads, surrounded with nothing but tall, empty trees. The road swirled through the woods, making it hard to maintain my quick speed, but easier to get farther ahead of them.
I almost let out a breath when I glanced in the rearview and didn’t see their car behind me. If I made a few more turns while I was out of sight, then maybe I’d be able to shake them off for good.
Just as I approached an opportunity for a turn, their car appeared again. This time with a larger weapon hanging out the window, one the man holding it had to hang damn near on the windowsill to hold.
With the flick of his finger, a slim rocket sailed through the sky and slammed directly into the back bumper of my car. It exploded upon collision, lifting the car up off its back wheels and onto the front bumper.
My head snapped forward, slamming against the steering wheel as the car flipped over. The first roll was all pavement. The second, it swiveled onto the nearby grass. The third wouldn’t have been the last if it hadn’t collided into a tree.
I grimaced at the pounding in my head and disorientation of my vision as the car stopped, laying wheels up. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pushed through the pain and felt around for my seatbelt.
My fingers brushed against the inch of exposed metal on the buckle when I heard something clatter inside the car.
Cracking my eyes open, I watched a small sphere roll across what used to be the roof towards me.
It was a grenade - with a missing pin.