Import_US Invasion - 3. Call me; beep me, if you wanna reach me

Chapter 3

Call me; beep me, if you wanna reach me.

There are several ways in which the agency contacts me. Today I was in chemistry when I got the notification that I have a call coming. Very pedestrian, I prefer it that way. I asked to be excused and walked into the deserted hallway. It’s a video call and Dario is on the other end. Dario is our mission’s instructor, he gives you your task, itinerary- including flight plans, passports and extra gadgetry you would need.

In my case I also get an invitation the US Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs. I’m not really going there, that’s one of the many covers we’ve given to my parents for my abrupt departures. These generally include made up appointments with leading physiotherapists, nutritionists, coaches and the likes.

I walk into the boys’ bathroom and check that all the stalls are empty before I can respond to the voice recognition software they installed set so no one accidentally answers my phone. Even I’d have a hard time explaining how they are staring into the face of a guy located in a very high-tech room with several monitors lining the walls and sophisticated looking gadgetry.

“Talk to me” I say now sure that I am alone.

“Shadow we have a mission that needs your immediate attention. Does the name Fitzgerald Moore mean anything to you?” he asks.

“The former head of security at the Pentagon, right?” I say. Although I’m pretty certain I’m correct.

“Yes, during the Ford administration. He’s going to be killed tonight. They are detaining him on fraudulent charges of treason, sedition conspiracy and espionage. He knows something they don’t want to make public and in turn they’re trying to shut him up. He’d gone undetected for the last 7 years since he’s resignation, that is, until he was apprehended two nights ago”. Dario states in his usual robotic tone barely making eye contact as he’s busy typing away.

“What’s my objective?” I ask.

“They are transporting him to a secure location in the desert. You need to retrieve him before he is successfully Trans located. Once he’s in the military base, it would require a much larger team to get him out. We don’t need that kind of attention. I have sent you the location of where they are keeping him until sunset. We have eyes monitoring their movement. We want him. He may have information that could prove useful. Once you have him in your possession, you’ll alert the Black ops and they’ll take it from there”.

“When do I leave?” I ask.

“Your flight is in 2 hours, I’m sending all the particulars to your mobile as we speak. Good luck agent” he says in closing.

I nod and before I could discontinue the call he finally looks up.

“Shadow, I can’t stress how important your success is. The big guys asked for you specifically-get it done alright?” he says.

“No problem” I say and hang up.

+++

8:45 pm, Old Industrial Area, Near Yuma desert.

5 hours later I’m in a maintenance vehicle in Arizona going over my equipment. I was assigned 2 other agents, seniors- Hoff and Lochte. On these occasions when you need back up, there is some inter- agency interaction but it’s duly noted that the kid is in charge. Which does not always sit well with these ’more experienced’ guys.

This is one of those times you need your wits about you and a steely resolve. The average teenager would be intimidated by the imposing figures of the older trained agents. Not us. We know what we are capable of and I guess carry that air around us. That doesn’t deter them from trying to discredit you or take over the operation. It’s no secret how important this mission is. They’d also like to benefit from the mission being a success.

It’s a pretty hostile environment, not for the faint hearted. I couldn’t be bothered by their ladder climbing ambitions or their stench of disdain. I have a singular thought process in mind and that’s all that garners my attention.

The sun has set. It’s a pretty warm night for the desert milieu, certain this inclination wouldn’t last. I’m dressed in typical spy gear, an entirely black ensemble of army style pants and leather combat boots. A form fitting tank top, which lines my lean muscular physique ideally for fluid motion.

“So we have a brief birth of opportunity between the city and the desert where the dunes allow for sufficient cover” says agent Lochte in an awfully gruff voice. Not sure if it’s from all the steroids he clearly pumps into himself or just reserved for my benefit.

“They can’t place any permanent security in that region because the dunes are always moving” finishes his buddy Hoff.

“No” I say nonchalantly as I load my gun. I’m ambidextrous so I’ve mastered the art of using two firearms at once. The pair is used as a single weapon in my head, as extensions of my limbs and work in tandem with one another. They are HK P30, a 10mm pistol with great handling and feed time.

“What?” asks Hoff, who is clearly the leader of the two presses.

“You think they don’t know where they are weakest? They’ll be expecting that. That’s why we’re hitting them at the warehouse, now while they have the perimeter covered”. I say adjusting my utility belt. I keep it meticulously equipped with what I believe are the bare essentials. I’m about speed and precision. This means staying light at all times.

“Listen here junior, we’ve been doing this for the past 15 years” says the meathead Lochte.

“Good, you’ll make great backup. Hang back here until I give the order to move” I’m not interested in making small talk. Retrieve the target and get back home to finish my homework and maybe catch the vampire diaries. Not too much to ask for I’m certain.

No more is said as Hoff drives us around back to a dark loading zone; the lack of light will render the vehicle undetected. The two men check their guns too and give me the okay. I position my earpiece and notify Dario that we are in position. He’s working as our eyes in the sky with satellite imagery.

“How many?” I speak, knowing he hears me from wherever headquarters is. Its best that we field spies who run the threat of being captured don’t know where HQ is located. Between missions they’ll communicate with you on a different radio frequency every time.

“You’re in luck; they didn’t want to draw undue attention so they’re working with a skeleton crew. I see five on the perimeter and from the thermo-scans four people inside the building. I assume one of them is Moore so other three are presumably armed “he says in my ear.

“Alright, I’m going in” I say with the clear cut determination I execute on all assignments. There’s only one outcome possible, I bring Moore in alive. I’m yet to fail on the field since I’ve come of age. I don’t intend on starting now.

“Stay put, I’ll let you know where to move the vehicle if necessary” I say to the two men in the car with me.

“Wait, you want us to sit in here and do nothing?” asks Hoff in an incredulous manner. I worried if his eyes could stray any further from their sockets.

“Yes” I say impatiently. How thick are these guys? I work alone. I don’t need two trigger happy numskulls sabotaging a clean job.

I put on my night vision glasses and exit the vehicle. The warehouse is rather large, square building with the typical industrial exterior of metal and concrete. It’s flanked by two large cylinders. I surmise that whatever this place was, used to be a serious hazard to the Ozone.

It’s pretty rundown now, I’m guessing once the place closed down opportunists came in to strip it of its materials. The ones that could be carried away easily that is.

Looking up at the single floor building I see that the roof is the easiest way in. To remain unseen of course. There are huge windows painted black all along its length, I bet there are no bars. However, to get up there I need a boost. I spot a pile of discarded crates conveniently against a wall. But to get to the crates I’d have to step out of the dark and into plain sight.

Out of the cover of the shadows, I remove my glasses and place them in their case. Just then a stray thought permeates my concentration. Maybe I should have carried a hair tie with me-though I really do hate those things. Only have my hair back during gymnastics but tonight is quite windy. Not overly so, just enough to carry my black locks in the air.

I see a man turn the corner and clearly making his way to chosen my spot. Another not too far from me on the opposite wing of the site. Dario said five, where are the other three? Probably on the other side, if I do this quickly I wouldn’t have to worry about them.

I want to go in silently and take them by surprise. So I can’t use my pistols just yet. I slip back into the shadows, now you can see how I got my codename. I was always the quietest in training; you’d never know I was in the room until I wanted you to. I crept on the fringes by the shadows; catlike reflexes helped me scale walls and literally walk on my toes. I’m very agile and light on my feet.

The man nearest to me looks out into the night as if he sees me but is actually checking for a way to block out the wind to light up his cigarette. He ends up turning his back on me- bad move. I use that opportunity to slink out of my hiding spot. I move over to his side and tap him on the shoulder.

He looks up and before he can say anything I punch in in the throat. Effectively crushing his voice box and cutting off oxygen supply. A quick kick to his side had him doubling over and I finish it with a blow to the back of his neck. He goes down without a sound. Just when I was about to move his body, to musk my presence from the others, I hear footsteps approaching. Shit. They are much too close for me to finish dragging him off.

I stand bolt up when the guy rounds the corner. I angle to my left and send a kick to the side of his head that launches his head crashing into the adjacent wall. He lets out a cry of pain and quickly pulls out his gun. I’m close enough to him to thrust my fingertips into the soft pectoral muscle connecting to his arm. His limb goes numb and he loses the steady grip he’d need to fire. That split second it takes him to realise this is all I need to kick it out of his hand. I kick the back of his knee inwards so his own stance and weight sends him kneeling in front of me. With a swift move I place my hands on his head and snap his neck.

I breathe out, that was uncharacteristically careless of me. I should have waited. It doesn’t matter now. I took care of the problem. I move them both out of sight and place the two crates on top of each other. I take a couple paces back; I need a running start to reach the ledge. I run towards the wall, leap onto the crates and launch myself up and grasp the concrete ledge and hoist myself up.

I made the 14 foot vertical jump easy enough. Now to climb up the building to reach those windows facing the sky. The building may be decayed but the top was saved the disgrace of being stripped by vandals I make my way up with clever foot placement and years of experience.

Up by the windows I realise they can only be opened from the inside. I pull out my glass cutter to pry a big enough whole for me to see inside. Like I thought-no bars up here. There is a landing right below the windows, where you can view the ground level from an advantageous position.

I glide inside and with the sparse lighting I can make out four figures down there like Dario said. I’m trying to devise up a way of disposing of the baggage-that being the federal agents. Just when I’ve come up with a plan that would include the two idiots out back, there’s a sudden commotion below.

Some frantic message being carried over their radios. The static too loud and the distance between us too great for me to make out the call.

Next there’s shooting from the back and the guys inside draw their guns. In a fluent manner which only trained officials can work, they are moving to the back entrance with my target. What the hell is happening? I can’t strike now. Three armed men on guard and the tiny detail where I have to bring Moore in unharmed. Fuck!!

I look out the window I just entered in. Trying to make sense of the unexpected raucous that broke but I have a feeling I know what the answer is. From the top of the building I can see our vehicle has clearly been moved. It’s those two idiots! Hoff and Lochte..

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!?” I shout over the earpiece.

“Look kid, we’re making this job easy for you. We saw that there are only three guys out here so we could take them out. So you can finish your sneaking and grab the target, like a diversion” he shouts over the overwhelming sound of gun shots.

“They’re on the run because of you imbeciles” I say annoyed as all hell.

“What do you mean?” he asks sounding confused.

“There was a back entrance not on the original blueprints, get the car out front NOW!” I say climbing down using rails and pipes lining the walls of the building. I land below and run in the direction they took Moore out and see the Jeep their driving away in hurtling down the abandoned road.

DAMNIT!!

Two seconds later the morons round the corner in the maintenance vehicle we used as cover to travel these industrial regions.

“I need you to drive like your life depended on it- better yet, it could just” I say not masking my anger for anyone’s benefit.

“How were we supposed to know there was a backdoor” defends the meathead.

“That’s the point. You wouldn’t have to if you let me do it my way. I had them in sight” I say with a lot of venom hanging off my tongue.

They at least have the decency to look ashamed afterwards. No time to wallow. I cannot fail. It’s not in my genetically altered DNA.

“They’re headed to the highway” I point out to Hoff who is behind the wheel.

“What would you like me to do?” he asks submissively. Great. Now he knows his place, perfect timing.

“Get me close enough” I say making a move for the sliding door of the van. They take a less busy lane on the outer fringe of the road and try to speed away. I notice then that we are not taking the route to their base, so they’re avoiding the dunes.

They’re leading us somewhere. I don’t know where, I don’t have the time to try figure that out. But one thing is clear; they’d most likely have more men waiting for us. We’d be following them into an ambush. I need to get to Moore before that happens. Messy. A messy job this has become.

I only have one option available to me. I slide the door open while we are racing down the highway and lean out the vehicle careening down the busy road. There I take aim and fire at the back tires of the Jeep using my twin pistols simultaneously.

They burst instantaneously and the car swerves erratically as the driver tries to regain control. They almost topple over but luckily he recovers sufficiently to stay grounded. They deliberately stop their vehicle horizontally on the road. It’s clear what this is coming down to.

“Now boys, here’s your chance to earn your stripes” I say to the other two occupants. Before we even bring the car to a complete stop they are already shooting at us. Chivalry really is dead. We duck quickly and manage to get out. Using the vehicles body as cover. We only have so much time before local authorities are on their way. Not to mention the reinforcements of this squad we’ve cornered.

I look over to the other camp and only see two gunmen from my angle. The other must be obscured by the dark and fury of light.

“Keep them busy!!” I say to the trigger happy men. They finally have the chance to play out their fantasy. This time round they do have my approval.

As soon as they retaliate with their own rapid fire, I roll into the vacant lane that is under construction alongside this one. It’s just a dug out trench right now. I quickly close the distance towards them and make my way to the side of their car. Poor saps are so incredibly overwhelmed by the pointless gunfire of Hoff and Lochte, for a second I’m actually proud.

I walk out of the trench behind them and into plain sight. I guess under the cover of night and the extreme circumstance one could allow their guard to slip. They are all facing away from me, too consumed by the barrage being aimed at them. Well that’s a lie, Moore saw me walking up with my pistols raised. He tried to alert them but his mouth was duck taped shut and he was in hand cuffs. I saw the fear in his eyes; it’s a look I’m too familiar with from my targets when I’m on the job.

My guns click as I set them on the agents facing away from me.

“Good evening gentlemen, now turn around slowly. Guns down; hands up.” I say like the angel of death I am. The utter look of surprise on their faces almost made me pity them. Almost.

The two looked each other in the eye and acquiesced too easily, putting their guns down to draw my attention away from the third member of their group who was sneaking up from behind me. I knew they had to have been a member missing. I saw his reflection on the jeeps window just as he was raising his gun.

In a full spin I shoot one of the agents in front of me and in my revolution take the one behind me almost at the same time. Before the last-man-standing could comprehend how their plan just back fired, I was back around and nailed him square in the forehead. As a gymnast you acquire the skill to spin really fast multiple times and not get disoriented by the motion.

I put my pistols away grab Moore by his collar and hoist him up.

“Hold your fire!!” I shout to the other two.

“And call the clean-up crew. Moore is ours”.

I can hear their celebrating on the other side. We need to vacate this area before local authorities make their way here. It’s the messiest of any of my assignments. Bringing the shoot out here on a public highway but the objective is accomplished. That’s all that matters.

I rip the tape of his mouth and the first thing he utters is “Are you gonna kill me?”

“No” I answer as I walk him to the others and drive off to the designated trade off spot.

Next on the agenda, did I finish my French essay? I hope I did since it’s due in 4 hours’ time. Four of which I’ll be spent on a plane. Sigh.

++++

I got home at 5:30 am, no use lying in bed for 30minutes so I jump into the shower and clean up the dirt from the job. I love my showers steaming hot, Justin always joked that I’d burn all my skin off one day. Showers are beautiful for many reasons: one I find it awfully relaxing and after the last 24 hours I’d had with no sleep, that’s great. Two, it turns Justin into the next Frank Sinatra with a bad case of ‘frogs mating in his throat’. Lastly, it’s where you make all of life’s most important decisions. We can toss out option number two though.

Ryan, he just popped into my mind. It’s not that I don’t find him attractive. He gives of this cavalier air when he swaggers into a room. His calm disposition is a trait I do find myself drawn to. I think there is some cool-gene the art kind just has that make them that way.

Or it’s just the fact that he’s an obvious stoner, I don’t know how Tori doesn’t see it. I can see it in his eyes that he’s not entirely present. Speaking of his eyes, their actually quite stunning. A really pale blue that almost looks grey sometimes. He has a lean almost lanky body but it isn’t skinny at all. Lithe seems to describe it more. He’s body is more compact unlike…unlike Mason.

Omigosh, I’m not thinking of Ryan just because my brain associates him as the complete opposite of Mason am i? That’s absurd. Mason is my best friend, that’s all. And I’m only thinking about Ryan because Tori is going to hound me about him until I officially run him off myself.

I had no idea just how right my shower musing was going to prove until later that day. I had math with Tori just before lunch and she was prepared to take full advantage of it. I was so tired at that point all I wanted to do was find a dark corner somewhere and hibernate.

“So, how about it?” asks Tori out of nowhere.

“I’m sorry what?” is the intelligent response I have ready.

She looks at me with a quizzical expression before saying “I thought you just had physio, why do you look so beat?” she asked.

Ugh, get it together Hunter.

I sit upright and have to think fast.

“Uh yeah, I was just thinking about that guy you introduced me to” I say.

Wait, what? How was that the best lie I could come up with on the spot? I’m usually good in these situations unless, was it actually a lie?

“Great! So you are going to the charity auction with me tonight. Ryan will be taking pictures of the highest bidders for the paper”. She says all in a squeal so loud the teacher looks back from the blackboard.

She’s perplexed because Vitoria is NOT a disruptive student, so this outburst is out of character.

“Is everything alright Ms Haynes?” she asks giving my sister the benefit of the doubt.

Tori gives the fakest cough in the history of mankind and says “Yes Ms Mc Court, just hay fever”.

The teacher nods and looks away. Wow, that actually worked? I give her a nod that says good work and leave it at that.

I wanted to sleep tonight. Now I just roped myself into another school event. Crap.

As I went through my day I began to think of ways to get out of it. I mean, I don’t even know if I really like Ryan. Then it occurred to me, why do I even need an excuse? Just say no. I’ve always been good at not participating, it won’t seem strange. And then it happened.

I was walking to last period which was biology. I share that class with Mason and Jenny but as I rounded the corner into the hall I saw something that would be seared into the back of my mind for a very long time. Mason was leaning against MY LOCKER and he was kissing Amber Sinclair.

I told myself the reason I got upset was because it was disrespectful to do it against my locker of all places. Why not he’s one further down? I walked up to them with a not too pleased expression and cleared my throat.

Mason was the first to see me and quite quickly pushed her off of him. Amber looked up at him with confusion written all over her face and was about to ask what that was about when Mason spoke up first.

“Hunter I-I came to wait for you here, then I bumped into Amber-“I cut him off because I really didn’t want to hear how this happened. I just want to switch my books and get as far away from this scene as possible.

Amber turns at the sound of my name and fixes herself. She’s a pretty redhead with green eyes. She has pale porcelain skin and a rather generous rack. I hate her already.

“Hunter, we haven’t officially met. I’ve heard so much about you”. She says extending her hand to introduce herself.

I stare at her outstretched hand for a while and then at her. My message been transmitted pretty clear, I have no intention of shaking her hand. A second goes by where she doesn’t know what to do so she slowly drops her hand.

I gesture to my locker, which they are still obstructing my access to. I’m sure she’s a sweet girl but whoring on my locker is just cheap. I replace the textbook I need to and grab my biology one. These two are still parked behind me, when I turn around this time their hands are interlocked.

Is he seriously still trying to walk to class with me? Not happening buddy. I finally speak for the first time addressing the redhead.

“Nice meeting you, Amber.”

“I’ll see you in class Mase” I say in a clipped tone already walking away. Not looking at him afraid of what else I might say.

What is it about the situation that surprised me so much? I mean Mason is a catch, any person would be lucky to have him. Maybe it’s because he’s only had a handful of girlfriends since I’ve known him. So I’m not quite used to the scene that played out in front of me. He did mention his date but I was so preoccupied with my mission it completely slipped my mind. I don’t know how though because now it’s at the fore front of my thoughts

Is my anger warranted? I mean things like this happen all the time in high school right? Kids are always locking lips in some corner. Then it hit me, did I give them the cold shoulder because I was…jealous? That’s an emotion I’d have to Google the meaning of since I’ve never experienced it. I don’t have a reference to match it with.

If it was that, how do I fix it? There is no over-the-counter pill for that is there? That’s the instant I decided sleep can wait. I’m going to that damn auction tonight. Mason is moving on with his life, maybe I should do the same. I mean, there is no said agency rule against dating and marriage. Just never get attached. To fight one addiction, you must find another- I’m sure some guy said that.