16

 

    Lena rolled over and stared at the man in bed with her, she sighed and smiled, the sheets were tangled and smelled of their frantic lovemaking. She felt raw and dirty, and wanted a shower, also there was a nagging feeling at the back of her head, an impending doom but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. He was amazing and normally she wasn’t such a s**t but she was pissed off and figured, what the hell she wouldn’t be seeing him again may as well have a one night stand. She looked at the sleeping man and crept out of the bed as quietly as she could. Lena was worried about Tripp and frankly she didn’t want to be here anymore, there was a cold feeling of dread in her stomach and it was creeping up her spine making the alarm bells in her brain go off. She looked for a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled a note for Brandon. The dog nudged against her leg and she pet his furry ears, she was going to miss the dog and Canada but since there was a homicidal maniac on the loose she needed to run. Lena grabbed her things and made her way out the sliding doors to the beach.

            She looked at the house one last time and then started walking back to her place, she would have to tell Tripp what happened, he would probably be pissed and sulk for awhile but then things will kind of be back to the way they were in the beginning. There was a faint buzzing coming from somewhere and she looked around then realized it was her phone in her pocket. She looked at the number and sighed, it was Ally, probably to tell her Vivian got blown up, headquarters was blown up, everyone was just f*****g getting blown up.

            “Hey Ally what’s up.” There was a cool breeze coming off the lake and Lena shivered, she sat on the sand and huddled for body warmth, wondering why Ally was calling her.

            “Well I have some news, Van Bastian is on the move we have her being tracked and apparently she is in California right now. So guess where you are going?” Ally sounded perfectly cheerful on the phone even if it was a false cheerfulness.

            “I don’t know where are we going?” she examined her nails in the moonlight and tried not to sound edgy and irritated. She just had a great fling with a hot guy, so why was she so damn edgy.

            “Well my girl you and Tripp are going to California to be thrown into the Lion’s Den. We are trying to lure out Van Bastian so we can take her in. Don’t worry there will be plenty of backup.” Lena looked at the phone and opened her mouth to make a comment about like last time, but she was cut off, “yes I know and you’re probably going to say well last time we had backup and they turned out to be working for the enemy, I know but this time its people that we know and trust.” Ally let out a sigh and Lena heard her grunt.

            “Yes well we trusted Sumyi and look what happened there!” Lena couldn’t help but let her voice drip with venom. She really didn’t have the time to deal with this it was bad enough she would have to go back and try to soothe Tripp’s bruised ego. The wind started picking up and Lena thought she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and there was no one there, she was awfully paranoid for someone who just got stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. Ally was still talking nonstop about the new assignment but Lena couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

            “Lee are you there? I know that we screwed up in the past but come on you and Tripp are our best agents we wouldn’t let anything happen to you intentionally.” Lee dropped the phone and her world turned black she tried struggling but it was no point in it because the person holding the mask over her head was strong. Not to mention the mask must have been soaked in chloroform. She let the darkness slip over her and the last thing she heard were Ally’s frantic cries.

            Sumyi flipped the phone closed and smirked, her plan was in action now all she had to do was put the final piece in its place and then everything will be complete. She patted her sister’s cheek and the eyes rolled helplessly in her head. Sumyi adjusted the speed of the IV and piggy backed another bag, if she could keep her sister comatose and breathing then everything would be good and she can finish what she set out to do.

            “Poor Gerald Aunty Sumyi is going to take care of you,” she closed her sister’s eyes and started humming, “hush little baby don’t you cry, now it’s time for you to die.” She looked around the room and decided to raid her sister’s closet, “you always had such pretty things sissy, and I hated that about you, daddy never bothered to buy me such pretty things.” She ran her hands over a Dolce and Gabbana suit, then over a cashmere sweater, she closed her eyes and thought of all the times she wished she could have the pretty things like she saw the tourists wearing. Sumyi felt tears sting her eyes and she ripped the clothes off their cedar hangers. It wasn’t fair; even though life isn’t fair it just wasn’t fair that she was dealt the hand she had to live. She glared at her sister lying helpless on the bed; it would be so easy to kill her, maybe just cut through that flesh that was once soft and supple but now haggard and gray. Many years of heavy drug use will eventually catch up to her but sometimes it is just took so long for nature to take its course.  She could just up the dosage of the drip and have her overdose, the central nervous system, going into shock, a nice seizure if you will that will fry the circuits to Tracy’s brain. Sumyi sat on the floor of the closet running the cashmere sweater between her hands, staring at her sister with a primal blood lust in her eyes.  If anyone walked into the room right now they wouldn’t be struck by the extreme warmth coming from the fire but the icy cold of animosity, the penetrating stare of a woman that was more feral than human.

            Sumyi shook her head and came back to herself, she always went to that deep dark place when she didn’t get her way, and it was what made her so valuable as a killer. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room with an armful of clothing, not like sister was going to need them at this moment. Now all she had to do was track down Ally and George it shouldn’t be hard, George wasn’t the only tech geek that worked with the agency.  She flipped open her laptop and checked the coordinates on Vincent, Tripp, and Lena. They were all being tracked unbeknownst to them, she knew where Lena was without even having to look at the screen, George and Ally were a whole different story, she punched in some coordinates of their last known destination. She watched the map show up and then zoom into the different streets and then she narrowed it down to one single house on the block.  All one could hear in the room is the soft whirring of the computer, the clicking of the keys and the occasional grunting that escaped Sumyi’s crimson painted lips. The computer screen flickered and a bright red dot appeared on unknown coordinates, she tried to zero in on the blip on the screen but couldn’t. She knew this is where George and Ally were, but she couldn’t lock onto the signal it was jammed. She groaned and then cracked her knuckles, smirked at the screen and walked away.

            “No problem I’ll just keep an eye on it and then I’ll eventually crash through the firewall protecting them.” She flipped the light off and decided it was time to call it a night. Stretching Sumyi smiled to herself and crawled into the giant four poster bed, everything was going just as she had planned, soon the Van Bastian empire will be hers, and hers alone. She looked over at a picture of her and her father and blew a kiss to it, “I am doing it all for you daddy.” She turned the light off and sunk down into the slumber of the disturbed, visions of death and carnage running through her head.

Tripp blinked his eyes and took a minute to readjust himself with his surroundings, he blinked again and found the cat staring at him, and her green eyes emerald slits and regarding him with a mild annoyance at being disturbed from her slumber. The room smelled of sweat and Lee’s perfume, Tripp took the cat off his chest and placed it on the bed and looked around, he felt like he had a hang over but he didn’t remember drinking the night before. He looked around for Lee and didn’t see her around; maybe she took the dog back to his owner. Actually, Tripp rubbed his forehead and groaned, he didn’t remember much from last night at all, and he wondered where Lee was and what kind of mood she was in. He made his way out to the kitchen and drank some orange juice from the container. He let the cold, tart, sweetness soothe his parched mouth and quench the fire in his stomach. The air smelled stale and like a bar, he shook his head and looked around him wincing as the harsh brightness from the overhead lights and the sun glinting off the lake felt like a thousand swords piercing his brain. Tripp was beginning to worry about what happened last night when pounding at the front door snapped him out of his stupor.

            “Alright I’m coming as fast as I can, just keep your shirt on.” The pounding on the door coincided with the pounding in his temples. He opened the door and found a man in a uniform holding a clipboard and a cardboard box. Tripp raised an eyebrow and stared at the man, he rubbed the stubble on his chin and continued to stare at the man, “well can I help you?”

            “Yes I am looking for Michael Franklin Ashford?” the man chewed on something, he reminded Tripp of a giant cow. Tripp smirked at the visual and winced again as the sun glinted off the windshield of the delivery truck. Tripp’s senses were dulled and he didn’t respond right away and then he slapped his head and groaned. When he was up here he was Michael Ashford, how could he forget? His wounds started throbbing and he knew he needed to take more medication but he needed to get packed and collect the cat and get to the airport, of course he had no idea where they were going. The deliveryman cleared his throat and looked at Tripp with annoyance.

            “I’m Ashford what can I do for you?” the man thrust the clip board in Tripp’s face and he signed and then the package was shoved at him as well, the man turned and waddled down the walkway to his truck and drove off. Tripp had a few choice insults tickling the tip of his tongue but he just let it go. Maybe it was from Ally and George with the information on their next assignment.

            “Lee we got mail come on out, and we need to get ready hurry the hell up.” Tripp looked down the hall but didn’t hear anything, he looked at the clock on the wall and figured he would let her sleep a little bit longer, the pain was throbbing along with his headache and he muttered under his breath. “Wonder what this is, there’s no return address, George and Ally would have at least sent something with a return address.” Sweat started beading on his forehead and his breath became labored, he was having a really bad side effect to the pain killers and whatever else he did last night, the room started to spin and Tripp decided it was best to sit down before he cracked his head open on the floor. He examined the box and then slowly opened it, he wasn’t sure what to expect when he opened it, he was just hoping it wasn’t something laced with Anthrax and a bomb ready to go off. He gingerly picked through packing peanuts and found a dvd player, with a note attached to it. He opened it up and pushed the play button, nothing happened at first and then he saw two people making out and then the act of making love, the camera angles were off so he couldn’t tell who they were and why he should care, then it flashed to the face of the woman and he saw it was Lee.  He became overwhelmed with several emotions at once, turned his head and threw up on the kitchen floor, the stink of vomit and betrayal in the air. How could she? He didn’t realize that the movie had kept playing and that it showed her on the beach looking uneasy and guilty. He felt anger well up in his stomach and then his heart felt leaden, how could she, Tripp became numb, it was the only emotion that he did well. A new face flashed up on the screen and he felt a cold lump form in his stomach.

            “Hello my dear Trippy poo, if you’re watching this then I should tell you that your dear sweet Lena is nothing but a two timing s**t. But you already knew that from the first little bit of the movie, no that isn’t why I’m actually sending this, that was just some salt to rub into the wound.” The woman smiled and he felt like punching the screen, how the hell did Sumyi find out where he was? “Oh control your temper you hot head I know by now you’re probably wondering several things, how could she? Well I know that the man she was with was quite the charmer but you already knew that. You’re also probably wondering how I knew where you were? Well my friend George and Ally aren’t the only ones with their bag of tricks, besides the VanBastians have quite the little tech lab themselves. Listen up though hot head because your time is short and I know George and Ally will be calling you to tell you where you’re being dispatched, but oh no here comes the conundrum my friend. Do you follow orders, come after my sister and I and wipe out the VanBastian empire, or do you save the girl?” the screen flashed to an unconscious Lena bound and gagged, she had bruising on her face and she was filthy. He clenched his hands into fists and smashed them on the table. “Calm down tiger, since I do enjoy a great game I will give you clues to where she is but as we speak your precious Lena Caine is being trafficked to somewhere, where she will be sold into the “entertainment” business, from what I saw with the man she was with she’ll be good at her new trade as a sex slave. Oh I know human trafficking is so naughty of me, well I used to be in the business myself so I made some contacts. So I ask you Tripp, do you save your precious Lena Caine? Or do you come after my sister and I and let Lena rot? The choice is yours hot head, I’ll call you later to get your decision.” The screen went blank and Tripp growled, he picked the dvd player up and threw it against the wall.

            “That b***h!” he stalked to the bedroom and found his phone, he punched in George and Ally’s number but got their machine. “When you guys get this message call me ASAP Lena has been trafficked, we need to see if her tracking device is still working and if there were any more clues as to where the VanBastians are.” He hit the end button and sat down on the bed, she slept with another man and then she got kidnapped, what the hell happened last night that he drove her into the arms of another man? He looked at the cat who was sleeping on the pillow, he felt tears prick at his eyes, he was assigned to be her partner and watch her back, instead he keeps getting her in trouble. The wounds were a reminder of his incompetence as an agent, he got up made his way to the bathroom and found the bottle of painkillers, and he opened them and took out four, made his way back to the kitchen found a small bottle of vodka in one of the cupboards and downed the pills with the rest of the vodka, he needed to escape to think on what he was going to do, part of him just wanted to leave her to rot where ever she was, the other part wanted to rush off and save her. So many thoughts running through his head, he felt heavy and leaden as he made his way back to her room and laid his head down on her pillows, her scent was all around him, she was an addiction he couldn’t shake, but he certainly could escape. Escape that’s what he thought as the room slowly grew black around the corners of his vision and continued to spin, escape from the damnation into which he got himself.

Vincent woke up and looked around, there was no trace of Lena anywhere, he got up and stretched, his joints hurt and the room reeked of sex, sweat, and dog, he stared at the mutt that was laying at the foot of the bed on his back with his belly exposed to the world. He was actually going to miss the dog; he smiled and pet the soft belly and fur, the dog grunted and whimpered.

            “You want to go out boy?” the dog twisted and let out a bark, Vincent smiled and pat the dog on the head, he may actually keep the silly mutt, it wasn’t that bad, and besides chicks dig guys with dogs. They made their way out into the kitchen and he saw a note on the counter, he sighed, looks like his plaything must have just up and left. He would deal with that later right now he felt like going outside and letting the cool air caress his skin and just enjoy the dawn of a new day. He opened the back door and the dog bolted out to the beach, his senses picked up something unusual he made his way down to the beach and found where Lena had stopped to stare at the water, the thing that set off alarms in his head were the tire marks, and the fact that her bag was still lying there on the beach. He picked it up and looked around, there was a struggle that much was evident, the dog was barking wildly at something and he made his way over and found her sweatshirt on the water’s edge. He picked it up and stared at it, what the hell was going on? He didn’t get any new orders that he was off the case.

            “Come on boy we need to go back daddy needs to make a phone call.” His shoulders tensed and he made his way up the beach back to his house, if that crazy b***h Tracy changed the orders she should have told him, he was the best at what he did and that was why she hired him. He found his cell phone and punched in her number it rang and voice mail picked up. He hung up and dialed the main house number, she would be pissed but he was pissed too, how dare someone mess up his job, he was hired to kill Lena Caine and Taylor there was no time limit so he liked to torture his victims before sending them to the netherworld, if the plan changed someone should have told him.

            “Hello Vincent” a smooth voice with an Asian accent answered the phone; he looked at it and wondered if he dialed the right number.

            “Who are you and how do you know my name?” he really didn’t like the game that was being played with him.

            “Oh Vincent I know so much more about you then you know, I’m so sorry though but your services are no longer required.” She let out a laugh and it irritated him more than the news that he was no longer needed.

            “Put VanBastian on the phone now!”

            “Oh but she is incapacitated at the moment, I’m her sister Sumyi, I will be taking over matters until my poor dear sister can get better.” Something about this really didn’t sit well with Vincent. He might be a killer and a criminal but sometimes his conscience gets the better of him and he does have to do the right thing.

            “What’s wrong with her?” the voice laughed and he grew more irritated

            “Such a hot head like Taylor, she is in her own little drug induced world and does not wish to leave the soft billowy confines of it. I had Caine taken care of, as we speak she is on her way to be sold and used like I was. Now Vincent since you didn’t finish the job I will not be paying you. Also don’t bother coming to the compound, security has orders to kill you on sight. Poor boy, oh well I have other things to do ta ta for now.” The phone went dead and he stared into space. Who the hell was this Sumyi chick? Why didn’t VanBastian say anything about having a sister? The dog nudged his hand and he scratched its velvety ears. He also didn’t know what pissed him off more the fact that he was fired and wouldn’t get paid the rest of his money or that someone else has his job? He got up and went to the bedroom and got dressed, he honestly hated to make his next move but it was the only way he can get into the compound. Who knew he would switch sides so easily, but he still would lie, cheat, and kill if he needed to. His first order of business would be to take out that Sumyi b***h who screwed him out of his fun and his money, it was time Vincent took matters into his own hands instead of waiting for orders.

Reviews

[Marie]

Nicely done.