One

One

Those cold eyes stared at him. Her face was expressionless, blank. "Tch", he muttered. "I don't like you one bit", he said in a sing-song voice. "I know", she said . He shuffled about, dragging his legs behind him. He glanced to his left where his sword lay. It shone brilliantly in the moonlight.

"Don't even think about it", Sandy said. Chuck  moved towards a bookshelf. They were in his father's library. His father had passed away over a week ago. Sandy, his cousin was the caretaker of his father's unofficial will. His father's name was Desmond. He had at one time or another, admired his father's achievements. Even the more murky ones.

Every man dreams at one time in their life of being exactly like their father, until they grow up and their admiration fades away. He picked out a large volume of Shakespeare's works. His father was an avid reader, of anything he could get his hands on. "Knowledge is power", he'd once told Christopher. That was Chuck's real name. His friends called him Chuck. It wasn't a special nickname, just something random. A name under which he hid whenever he and his friends participated in something particularly heinous.

In the first page was a note. He picked it up rather grudgingly and handed it over. Sandy was twenty-one, almost the same age as Chuck but she was far more mature and responsible. "Your father", she said folding the note neatly and placing it back on the table, "wanted nothing but the best for you", she said.

"And how would he know what was best for me? He was never here!" Chuck said. Sandy rolled her eyes slightly, Chuck caught her expression. He pursed his lips and stared directly into her eyes. Her cold hard stare didn't falter.

"Your father's gone now", Sandy said. "And like it or not, you're caught in his shadow. Whether you like it or not, his decisions in the past are affecting you in the present right here and now. Your father had a knack for solving problems. Some would call him a fixer", Sandy said.

Chuck laughed. Sandy could tell that he was trying as much as possible to irritate her. So far she had let it slide. When they reached their destination it would be different. "Come, Christopher. With me you will be safe".

"With you I won't have to worry about those out there because you will kill me first", he said. She nodded. "Right. You saw how I took out those six guys with guns. You know if I have to I will forcibly take you. So do you want the easy way or the hard way?" He raised his hands up in surrender.  "Okay. Have it your way", he said. "We leave at dawn", she said. Chuck frowned. "Wait, why not now? I mean those guys..." Sandy looked at Chuck. "Really? You're telling me how to do my job?"

Chuck kept silent. "Get some sleep." She moved towards the door. "Wait, where, where are you going?" Chuck said his voice quaking. "Just to handle some business. Don't worry. I will be back before you know it". She opened the door and slammed it behind her.

 

A wiry old man was working on a typewriter when he stopped and moved his head. "Stop", Sandy said. "Don't turn around". The man kept his hands fixed on the typewriter keys. "Why are you here Sandy?" he asked. "You know", she said, her voice barely above a whisper now. The man tore up the page on which he was typing from the writer. He handed it to Sandy. Sandy snatched it and read it. "Thanks, Arthur", she said.

He nodded grimly. "I hope we won't meet again. It's always bad news with you", Arthur said. "I hope the same thing too", she said. After a minute or two Arthur turned around. Sandy was gone. 

 

Chuck was nineteen when his father called him into his library/study. He offered Chuck a seat. Chuck reluctantly sank into his chair. He'd wanted to refuse but there were very occasions on which he stood up to his father. His father was a terrifying man. He just didn't have an idea how terrifying, and that was what scared him most of all.

"There's something I have to tell you Christopher", he said. Chuck almost grit his teeth. "Is it about grades, Dad? I swear I will do better. I will get all A's next time. I..." but Desmond was already shaking his head. "It's not about grades son", he said. "Am I in trouble?" he asked nervously. His father pondered over that for a minute, with a far off look in his eyes. "Maybe", he said.

"Desmond, you know a man of my standing has a lot of enemies. People who would kill just to get where I am. And those people will use any means necessary to do so. Including you and your sister, Amy", Desmond said. Amy was Chuck's younger sister, she turned sixteen just three days ago. That was partly responsible for his father taking such drastic actions. Chuck swallowed hard. "Are..are we moving, Dad?" he asked. "Have you talked to Amy about this?" he asked. His father nodded. "Yes, though I didn't tell her everything. She's still far from ready. You on the other hand..." his voice trailed off. "I've waited. I can't wait anymore. You just have to deal with it".

Chuck's eyes slid down to the ground. Chuck wasn't exactly Desmond's greatest achievement. Brash, immature, Self-centred were just one of the few adjective used to describe him. The painful thing was that there were all probably accurate. He didn't need his father reminding him of that. It hurt. What hurt even more was when he said, "I know there's a bit of me inside you son. You can be a better man. Better than I was, better than I am".

"I might be gone very soon. I want you to be ready, because when I'm gone people will come after you. Bad people. So...when the time comes"-There was a knock on the door.

That was when he met Sandy for the first time. Her cold black eyes stared back at him, her face held the same cold expression he'd come to dislike. "You asked to see me, Sir?" she said. His father nodded. "Yes, this is Sandy. She will be there when the time comes", Desmond said. Chuck looked appalled. 'When? When the time comes? Dad, who are these people? Why are you talking like this? Why don't we go to the police or something? Are you involved in something illegal?" Every time his father shook his head.

Chuck rose up in anger and slammed his hands against the table. "Tell me Dad!" "I promise I will son. Just not today. Not all at once. You wouldn't be able to bear it", he said. "Does include Mom too? How she died?" His father didn't answer. Instead he looked at Sandy. "She's you cousin. She will be keeping an eye on you from now on. You are not to communicate with her until...she will tell you when it's right. And as far as we are both concerned this conversation never happened".

 Sandy opened the door. She handed him a sheet with some information on it. "This is my basic information. So that people won't find it suspicious when they see me around."

Chuck looked at her and exited the room.

He fingered through the entire volume but he didn't find anything on his first try. He yawned. It had already been three years since then. Sandy was older and more imposing. He hadn't heard from his sister in years. Even after the reading of the will she hadn't wanted to see him. She left immediately afterwards. "What did Daddy tell you, Amy?" he thought out loud.

"Stay away from your brother".

Chuck jumped. "You're here", he said. "Well, was that relief in your voice just now? I must be dreaming", Sandy said. "Don't make any attempts at humour. It doesn't suit you at all", he said. "What did you mean when you said 'that' right now? Where you also there when he was talking to my sister?"

Sandy shook her head. "But I knew your father. That was probably what he said". Chuck nodded. At least she's safe, he thought. "I've been trying to make sense of something ever since I met you. It still doesn't add up. If you really are twenty-one, that means that you are just a year older than my sister and yet my dad sent you to protect me. But you don't look old enough to be my age, and why would Dad give me any information on you? Is it just to reinforce your false identity?" Chuck grabbed his head. "None of this makes any sense", he said in frustration.

Sandy sighed. "Do you know what your father did?" she asked. Chuck nodded. "He was CEO and founder of GESCORP. The other founder was Arthur Pensway -Why is Arthur important?" he said in response to Sandy grimacing at the mention of Arthur's name. "He isn't the one who killed my dad is he?"

Sandy groaned. "You ask too many questions. I and Arthur are not on the best of terms that's all. You have nothing to fear from him."

"GESCORP was one of  the leading companies in many industries including e-commerce and industrialization."

Sandy nodded. "He worked for the government too on numerous occasions. His business contacts and resources were vital to the closing of many cases by the FBI and the agency. He even helped MI6 once."

Chuck looked at her. "Is that it? Are you in the agency? Langley?"

Sandy shook her head. "I don't have the liberty of disclosing my association. Let's just say your father got in too deep at one point and he was compromised."

"My father was a spy?" Chuck said. He felt a sour taste in his mouth. He hated spies, they were full of lies. "Sort of. He wasn't your conventional spy. He just lent his expertise to the government from time to time. He didn't do any of the groundwork."

"So how was he compromised?" he asked. "We don't know", Sandy said. She had to force the words out. This was definitely not something she was proud of. "Our only theory is that someone in your father's organisation is a spy", she said.

"That's all pretty quaint. But what has that got to do with me and Amy? Why are we involved in this?"

His eyes widened and it dawned on him. The reading of the will left him and Amy as majority shareholders. "You're saying whoever it is, is after Dad's position? " Sandy nodded. "Wouldn't that make Arthur guilty?" Sandy shook her head. "There could be another reason why the spy is after you", Sandy said. She was peeved by Chuck's blank expression. " The spy believes that your father left you not only his inheritance but access to classified information. The thing is if the spy thinks so he's probably right. Or of course it could be both. Either way you're a threat that must be taken care off".

"What about Arthur? Wasn't he involved?" Sandy shook her head. "He wanted nothing to do with it. He just specialized in helping to cover up Desmond's connections to these cases".

Chuck swept his hands over his face. "I can't believe this is happening. I'm not being hunted by just professional assassins but spies too? "

"I went to see Arthur. He arranged for our transportation."

"What if he's trying to kill us?"

"Even so, he won't try to do so just yet. He's not stupid. He knows it would be too much of a coincidence that you're attacked at a location that only your father, himself and the agency knows. That would make him a lead suspect. Besides pretending as if he's not one gives us the chance to watch him more closely. If he is involved, he will make a mistake".

"What if he suspects?" Chuck asked.

"Your resources are probably spread pretty thin. You have other things to attend to. My Dad and whoever aren't enough to hold all your forces. So you will probably be spread quite thin. Whoever the spy is you aren't going to catch him by just doing what you always do. Spying. She/he  must have been pretty good to get through your security. And they are probably familiar with a lot of your protocols. You guys shouldn't be too confident", Chuck concluded.

Sandy almost smiled. There really is a brain in there, she thought. "Get some sleep. We leave at dawn. And for future use, the pronoun 'he' for the unknown is more adequate. The whole he/she thing is quite tiring."

Chuck looked at her and shrugged. Then he looked around. "Wait, I'm sleeping here?" "Make yourself comfortable", she winked at him and turned off the lights.

Reviews

[Nana]

Spy stuff. Nice one there.