The Watchers. (Episode 2.)

I was curious to know what the mail contained because Specimen X sure knew how to put you on the edge, I went through the usual procedures to decrypt the message and all I saw was
     
“Standby. Next mail at 2300hours”

That left me somewhat disappointed and even more curious, they never told you to standby unless it was a very big operation and a big operation meant more agents on ground. The question was who was the target? I had this gut feeling it was Dr. Benny, I just couldn’t wait to see him go down. I shut my eyes to block out memories of the night my fate changed.
I had gotten incriminating evidence against Dr. Benny, all I needed to close the case was to bring him in alive, Eva took me off the case and made me take a compulsory week off, because according to her she felt I needed to relax because I was stressed and allowing my emotions cloud my sense of reasoning, she warned me but I didn’t listen, perhaps if I had listened I would still be at the Bureau. On that fateful night I had gotten an anonymous tip-off about a supposed big deal that was going down. My plan was to get there, confirm, and then call for backup. I got to the location, stealthily stepped into the building, it didn’t look like anything was happening there, I was beginning to think it was a false tip when I saw five dead bodies of what looked like a family, I checked five of them and they were still warm, that invariably meant they had just been killed minutes ago, I looked around to see if I could get any leads and noticed there were security cameras, but it didn’t look like they were functioning. I hurriedly left the building through a back door and jogged to the next street where I packed my car, I was about to radio my findings when I heard dispatch call all available units to go to the location I had just left. As I drove off, I pondered, something was amiss, and who radioed it in? There was supposed to be a deal, what happened? Why was the family killed? Was Dr. Benny involved? Who was the anonymous caller that called me about the deal? How did he get my number? These were questions I was going to deal with whether I was off the case or not. Four days later I was picked up for questioning.
      “Agent, you know the procedures already, I really do not want to do this interrogation, so let’s get straight to the point. What the hell happened in there?” The interrogator asked
      “How am I supposed to know, I wasn’t there” I denied.
      “You have no idea the shitload of mess you’re in, so I’ll suggest you quit the crap and start talking” The door opened and Eva stepped in.
      “Agent Devlin, I’ll take it from here” Eva said as Devlin angrily left the room.
      “First, you defied an order, what do you have to say about that?” Eva asked
      “No I didn’t”  I denied again
      “Oh yes you did and that singular act of disobedience has gotten you into a lot of trouble, Agent Bode” Eva said with calm resolve. I shifted in my seat, something was definitely up.
      “What’s this about? Why am I being questioned?” I queried
      “Your firearm, how many rounds have gone off since you reloaded?” She asked
      “None” I answered.
      “Are you sure?” She asked
      “Affirmative Ma’am” I replied, she opened a file in front of me.
      “Look at the pictures, notice how five of them were killed? Shot to the heart, your style”. Eva said
      “I still don’t know why I’m here” I said. 
      “Five bullets were pulled out” She replied as she pushed the evidence bag to me.
      “Okay, where do I come in?” I asked, I was beginning to feel irritated
      “I don’t know, you tell me” She said as she folded her arms, sat down and looked at me intently
      “Eva, I think I’ve been patient enough, can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?”  I bellowed
      “Your firearm, is it always fully loaded?” She asked
      “Yes, why?” I asked
      “When last did you fire rounds off it?”
      “I haven’t fired since the last reload.” I answered
      “And when was that?” She asked
      “three months ago, I think, Eva what’s happening, what are these questions for?” I asked.
      “Normally we are not supposed to allow you come in here with your firearm but this is an exception, please take it out” Eva said
      “Okay, I still don’t know what’s going on” I said as I took my gun out.
      “Take the magazine out” She instructed, I did as instructed and to my amazement I noticed some bullets were missing.
      “I don’t understand” I said
      “Please count the bullets” Eva said. I didn’t need to, I saw what was happening, I had been framed.
That was how it happened, there was a doctored video evidence that showed me entering the house, showed the shots being fired, showed when I left through the back door. Eva knew I was framed but there was nothing she could do about it. I don’t know how my bullets mysteriously left my gun without being fired, I had no choice but accept fate.
I rolled on the bed as I relived the memories of being on deathroll in prison, terrible experience before Specimen X came to the rescue and turned me into a killing machine, at least I was killing for the right reasons, targets were individuals that posed serious threats to national security.
It was way past midnight and I couldn’t sleep, I thought about the events of the previous day, the lady I met that evening at the bar, she was an interesting lady, I was certain I had seen that face before, I just couldn’t remember where. I went to my computer to see if I could do a background check on her, then it struck me that we didn’t tell each other our names, how could we have missed that detail? I smiled at the thought of the fact that I was seeing her again and in no time I was asleep.

04:58:03AM.
I opened my eyes, there was no nightmare and I had a wonderful sleep, I felt so good. I just needed to do yoga to keep body and mind in sync.

09:15:28AM.
Since I was on standby and didn’t really have anything to do, I decided to take a stroll to a cinema nearby, see a couple of movies and prepare for my date with the lady from yesterday. I saw the first movie, was at the counter to pay for the second when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned round to find the lady from yesterday.
      “Holla Amigo, is this some coincidence or hath fate brought us together again in so little time?” She asked.
      “Shakespeare isn’t our thing Ma’am” I replied
      “Errnnggg, you’re such a spoilsport, I see you came to see a movie, now if you will, may I suggest we see one together?” She asked.
      “Please, go ahead” I answered.
Seeing the movies with her was fun, she was such an interesting movie partner, we saw two more movies before leaving the cinema and agreed we would meet at 1900hours to have a couple of drinks at the same spot she met me yesterday. I got to my hotel room, turned my computer on to do a background check on- “wait a minute” I still didn’t get her name.

18:59:12
I headed to the lounge and there she was, seated at the bar with a drink.
     “Wow, you’re here early” I said.
     “Well, yeah I am” She said with a shrug and a sweet smile.
     “Thanks for the company earlier today”
     “No, I should be thanking you for allowing me” She said as she rubbed my cheek, her palms felt so soft.
     “So I’ve been thinking”
     “What about?” She asked
     “I didn’t get your name” I answered.
     “Papi you didn’t ask, we’ve not been formally introduced”
We were introduced, I gave her a pseudonym, and she gave her full name. We drank, talked, laughed and had fun for hours.
      “Can we go to your room now?” She whispered in my ear.
     “Wh-wh-what?” I said, almost choking on my drink. She laughed
     “The expression on your face was priceless” She said amidst laughter.
     “Nice, you got me there” I replied
     “It’s time for me to go baby, can’t thank you enough, haven’t had fun like this in like forever” She said.
     “Same here” I said as I walked her to her car. She turned around, held my head and kissed me then whispered in my ear.
     “Be a good boy and I’ll let you take me to your room” She winked and left. I just stood there, this was happening way too fast. I looked at my wristwatch 10:56PM. I went to my room to wait for the mail.

11:00:00PM.
New Mail.
"Agent BO11X You Have Been Activated.
Target: Dr. Benny McPherson.
Brief: Following recent developments, the target has been linked to a series of bomb blasts, we got credible intel that he’s planning something big which would adversely affect lives and properties. He is a threat to national security. He’ll arrive at the Oriental Hotel at 1200hours. There would be an ambulance parked outside your hotel, we will be in control of the all communications, traffic lights and traffic cams.

Objectives: Be behind the wheels of the ambulance at 1205hours. Drive the ambulance to Oriental hotel, Drive neutralized target to Heliair Helicopters, A chopper will be on standby, fly target to DNMM(flight plan would be kept open), move target to aircraft. Follow target back to the United States. Rendezvous: black bus 12’0 clock from aft of aircraft where “chucks on”

Good luck Agent."

So I wasn’t taking the shot, there was someone else like me somewhere close and there was a watcher too, in fact there were two watchers, I wish I knew who they were but Specimen X policy didn’t allow one know any other agent except your instructor in training. I felt disappointed though, for two reasons, one being that I wasn’t taking the shot and the other because they were just going to neutralize Dr. Benny. The psycho deserved a permanent neutralization.
Big day tomorrow, I had to sleep and be sound.