Four

The Director's phone rang. He picked it up. The voice on the other line was one he disdained. The Minister of Defense. Unfortunately he had been informed of the recent crises and had taken a personal interest in the case of Desmond out of all the others. He kept goading Director Allan for more information on the case. For the time being, Director Allan had decided to ignore his phone calls. But after receiving over twenty missed calls even he was getting worn-out by the Minister's persistence. He had many other cases to handle and none of them could be handled by the idiots in the parliament.

He picked up the phone."Hello, Director Allan", the curt voice on the other line began. Director Allan could just picture him with his tongue in his cheek. He was definitely irked. "Hello, Minister Fields", Allan said. "How fares the watch?" Just like him, cutting right to the heart of the matter. Whilst that was a quality Allan himself approved it also left him with one character flaw, his attempts at manipulation were easily seen through. He lacked finesse and patience.

Spy work was like hunting. It took patience and skill. Rushing things either got you killed or worse, compromised. It sometimes took years to gain a terrorist group's trust and years still to bring them down. Director Allan himself had engaged in such undercover work himself for seven years. For seven years, he was away from American soil. For seven years he didn't speak to his family.

When he got back home, his wife asked for a divorce. She was terrified, frustrated and worn-out. "I can't do this anymore Allan. I've tried and I can't..." she bit her lip and held back some tears. "I thought you were dead. Just when I thought everything was going back to normal you show up here at my doorstep. They told me you were dead. And I'm not sure it wouldn't be better if you stayed that way". Then she slammed the door in his face.

"Nothing of relevance to report sir. I promise if we gain anything of significance you will be the first to know", the director said for the umpteenth time. There was a sigh and then silence. Then the call ended.

The Director pressed a button. "Get me, Sandy Travers", he said.

 

Chuck moved around, taking it all in. The sights and scenery of eastern Europe. France truly was magnificent. Sandy slapped him on the back. "Stop jumping around. You're not a kid anymore. Didn't your father ever take you out of the country?" Sandy said. "No", he said. "Amy got to go thought. Several times. It's my first time out of US. Well, second. The only other time was because of an exchange program." Chuck had a far off look in his eye. "Germany was pretty great too", he said.

"Maybe you should visit Nigeria whilst you're at it. Or Chad."

Chuck ignored her. "So, this is it", he said. They'd taken a bus and stopped not far off from one of GESCORP's top executives' villas. The CFO Thomas Hardyman. They'd walked the rest of the way. His house was right in the centre of many of France's best resorts.

They stopped in front of the gate. Just beside the gate, on the wall, was a bright blue blank screen. Sandy grabbed Chuck from behind, opened his right eye wide and brought his head closer to the eye-scanner. It scanned and then the various locks gave way and the gate opened inwards.

She released her hand from the back of his head. Chuck frowned. "That was very rude. Please don't try that again", Chuck said, suddenly turning serious. His eyes glittered in the night. His face almost looked like he was scowling. It was too difficult to tell.

They entered and began to walk. The house was on a hilltop and the road to it was paved, cut right out of rock. A car came racing to meet them. It spun around in circles and the driver's door opened. A young man not much older than Chuck came out. He was wearing a baseball cap and a NASCAR attire. "Hey, Chuck. Nice to see you. And you", he said immediately diverting all his attention to Sandy. "What's a beauty like you doing with someone like him?" He spoke in a British accent. He had neatly packed his hair into the cap.

"Cut the crap, Oslo. You're not British. You just did that because of Sandy", Chuck said. "I don't know what you're talking about mate", Oslo said. "Please stop that. Your accent is horrible", Sandy said. Oslo's face sunk. "Really?" he said. "I spent four years in England. Trust me. It's not great", she said.

"Well then", said Oslo. His British accent disappeared as fast as possible. "Mr. Hardyman will see you two in the living room ", he said. Sandy looked at Chuck confused. Chuck looked at her and realised she didn't understand what Oslo had said. "That isn't the whole house. It's just a big chunk. The living room is over there", Chuck said pointing northwards. "It's kind of a minibar as well", he said.

"Well, get in", Oslo said.

 

They were seated in Thomas Hardyman's 'living room'. It was a spacious set of rooms that was the size of an average apartment. There were no windows, only open spaces between the walls and the roof. The cold air blew, ruffling the hair of all three. Hardyman took out a remote and pointed towards them. Glass immediately came up and sealed the space, taking away the chilly draft.

"What can I do for my godson?" Hardyman asked.

Although Desmond and Arthur were co-founders, Thomas and Desmond were best friends. And soon after Desmond's marriage, Chuck was born and Thomas was his godfather.

He smiled, with an arm outstretched on his couch. Chuck glared at him. "You know I find it funny, that a man such as yourself, my dad's best friend and CFO had no idea of what some of your company's resources were being used for. It's either you're incompetent or something else is going on here. And I doubt it's the former", he said sitting up.

Thomas stopped smiling. "What exactly are you insinuating?" he said.

"I'm just stating the facts. I haven't said anything yet. So how did you hid your involvement in my father's projects?"

"Involvement? Why do you think I was involved?"

"My father being the CEO didn't make him autonomous. He was still held responsible for certain decisions. There was a board and a set of directors and shareholders. For you to keep his activities quiet you need to make some unethical decisions. Even someone like you wouldn't obey my father blindly under those circumstances. He could lose everything and so could you. You must have had more than an inkling of what he was involved in".

Thomas just stared at Chuck. "Why are you telling me all this? You don't think I'm involved in his demise do you?"

Sandy looked at him. "Of course we don't", she said sarcastically.

Chuck looked at him. "They're the CIA, Thomas. You can't hide stuff like this from them. They know you happened to be in the same place with my dad in 2006 and 2008. I'm assuming that was when you found out or he told you. So what happened afterwards?"

Thomas shrugged. "If your father didn't tell you then I'm not sure I should either. You aren't exactly trustworthy yourself", he said looking at Sandy.

"What are you"-"He's saying he thinks the CIA is behind your father's death", Sandy said without batting an eyelid.

Chuck laughed. "Is that it? I already considered that possibility the moment you arrived to protect me after my father passed. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". Then turning to Hardyman he said, "Look, I don't want anything to happen to you but if you don't help us I'm going to publish all the things you did to cover up my father's covert operations. And that would end up with you either sued or dead. "

Hardyman sneered. "You're bluffing", he said.

"Do you think I would come all the way here for a bluff?" he said.

"You would if you were desperate. Even if you aren't there's no way you could. The CIA wouldn't let you. You would be exposing them as well".

"I don't care. I'm not CIA. I'm Christopher. All that matters to me is catching my father's killer and I will do anything it takes", he said. He didn't look at Sandy as he said these words but she could tell he was dead serious. His words almost sent a chill down her spine. She felt slightly queasy.

 

As they left the mansion Sandy decided to talk. "I didn't know you weren't on our side", she said. It was a dark and she couldn't see his face but she sensed the anger in his voice. "I told you I hate spies", he said.

"You know if our interests ever collide I will be forced to"-"Do what you must", he said. They continued the rest of the trip back in silence.

 

Chuck knocked on Amy's door. He'd let her cool off for an entire day before going to talk. He wanted to set things right with her. After all, she was one of the only people he could trust. There was no answer. He felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps he had waited too long? Maybe he should have apologised earlier?

Apology wasn't something that came easily to Chuck. Especially since Chuck liked honesty and most of the time he wasn't sorry. He would rather agree to disagree. This wasn't one of those times though.

"Amy? Are you in there? Are you mad at me?"

Still no answer.

"I'm sorry, Amy", he said. That phrase usually elicited some response from her. Still no answer. Chuck was beginning to panic. No answer for this long was uncharacteristic of Amy. "Amy?" he called out. Then he started banging on the door. He tried the doorknob. It was locked.

He saw Agent Shawn coming from the other end of the corridor. He rushed to speak to him. "Where did you go?" he asked. "I went to the bathroom", he said looking slightly piqued by Chuck's demeanour. "What's wrong?" "Why did you leave Amy alone?!" he yelled.

"I didn't. Agent Sandy offered to take over for awhile".

Agent Shaw's key card hung around his neck. Chuck swiped it. Shaw just looked at him as he swiped his card through the lock and opened it. Sandy's room was empty. The windows were locked.

Shaw came up behind Chuck. "I don't understand", he said slightly perturbed.

Shaw rushed out and went back to his room where Sandy was calmly seated. "Where's Amy?" he asked. "Now how would I know?' Sandy said. She sat with her legs crossed and she sipped a bit of coffee.

"I know you switched places with Shaw", he said.

"Even if I did, hypothetically, why would I?"

Chuck clenched his fists. His mind went back to the day before. "Do what you must", he'd said. "You..." he said. Those were all the words he could say.

Sandy set down her cup. "Understand that until this case is resolved I will not allow you to carry on as if you're in charge of this investigation. To the CIA you're just an asset and assets can be dealt with as liabilities at any time", she said.

"Like my father?" Chuck said.

Sandy's face softened. "That's not what I meant."

"But it does apply doesn't it? Come on Sandy aren't you a little curious as to whether or not the agency did this? Maybe he was compromised by chance and the agency decided...or maybe you're the one who did him in", he said.

He started to turn around. "Either way you have no choice but to work with us. Do what we ask and Amy will be returned safely. Failure is not an option".

Chuck said nothing but Sandy could see his mind was busy trying to piece how and when Sandy had managed Amy's abduction. "Or was it yesterday? Before I went to see Hardyman? I hadn't seen Amy the whole day. Maybe ..."

Maybe after he took the phone against Sandy's wishes she anticipated the problem and dealt with it immediately. In that case, Shaw would have been in on it.

Chuck felt a knot in his stomach.

"Every agent is trained to be proactive. It's the difference between those who survive and those who get killed. It's not about being proactive but how far ahead you can plan". "Where is she?" Chuck said.

"Really?" Sandy said, her head tilted slightly to the right. "You really think I'm just going to tell you where she is?"

Chuck's heart started to beat faster. His head started to pound and legs felt rubbery. He sank to his feet, his vision becoming blurry. "What...what did you do to me?" he said. He felt his consciousness slowly but surely slipping. "I drugged you when you had your breakfast. It's a slow sedative so it can take as long as three hours. Sorry, we have to move you since...well I doubt you will even be able to comprehend in your present state".

"Sorry? Look who's back to her usual nice self", Chuck said.

Then everything went black.

Reviews

[Nana]

Being drugged. That's never a good sign.

[Jared Grace]

Thanks for the reviews, Nana