Project Halo Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

 

            Cameron returned to his room with a fresh set of wounds and a missing knife. If he hadn’t walked into his room to see the place looking like it had been through a freaking raid then he would still be complaining over his lost knife. His hand went to his gun automatically and he entertained the notion of blasting some unfortunate soul in the head.

            His clothes were strewn about, his weapons were in plain sight, and his bed had been ripped apart. He moved deeper into the room and felt—more than heard—a crunching sound beneath his foot. He stepped back and picked up the small crushed object, studying it between his thumb and index finger. It was an earpiece…or at least its remnants.

            “Saint?” he turned at the voice, doing his best to keep his finger from squeezing the trigger. Bull’s-eye stood in the doorway, taking in the scene. He did a double take and then entered the room.

            “What the hell happened?” the assassin questioned. Cameron shrugged and handed Bull’s-eye the earpiece.

            “Does that look familiar?” Cameron asked.

            “Your old SWAT unit uses this stuff,” Bull’s-eye said. “Looks like something SWAT would use.”

            Cameron examined the thing more carefully. “You’re right! But I haven’t seen any guys from my old unit around in the compound.” He wondered how Bull’s-eye knew about SWAT gear; even more so, how did he know about Cameron’s unit?

            “Why are you here Bull’s-eye?” His voice sounded venomous.

            Bull’s-eye reached a hand into his pocket and tossed a knife onto Cameron’s destroyed bed. “You left that,” he said and left the room.

            Cameron watched his friend depart and his eyes flickered to the knife. It occurred to him that Bull’s-eye may have betrayed him. He only had to find out why. Cameron didn’t notice the people at his door until he heard the clicking sound of a dart being discharged.

            He leaped over the bed, snatched up the knife, and swung the blade at the nearest attacker. Before he could complete the attack a dart hit his throat and he dropped to the floor like a lodestone.

            One of the surgeons stooped and flashed a laser pointer in Cameron’s eyes. His chest still rose and fell, but the dart had done its job: the assassin was out cold.

            “Alright, take him,” the lead surgeon said.

            The others were already filing into the room and hoisting up the assassin.

            “What about the other one?” A surgeon asked.

            “Dump his body in the river,” the leader said.

            “T-the river, sir?”

            The head surgeon glared at his underling and raised his hand to strike.

            “Dump the body into the river or I’ll see to it that you follow him into its depths.”

            The surgeon nodded quickly and he and the others briskly carried Cameron from the room and went about their assigned tasks. The lead surgeon removed his mask and brought a cell phone to his ear.

            “Hello?” the voice on the other end asked.

            “Sir, we have the assassins—one dead, the other alive.”

            “Did you dispose of the corpse?”

            “It is being taken care of.”

            “Good. Now bring me the boy and our bargain will be closed.”

            “And my payment?” the surgeon asked.

            “You will be paid when I see the boy!”

            The line went dead.

            The surgeon cursed, replaced his mask, and left the room to instruct his underlings. He hoped the fools had not dumped Cameron’s body into the river; if that happened there would be dire consequences indeed and the surgeon had no intention of invoking his employer’s wrath.