Chapter Six: The Search for Mr. Long

Geneva, Switzerland

Ray arrived at the Geneva International Airport, and after clearing immigration, he went to the arrival baggage claim area, picked up his luggage, and went through customs clearing.  Out of the airport, he hailed a cab and gave the driver an address to an antiquated pension house right in the center of Geneva’s financial and business district. He paid the driver as the cab pulled in front of the pension house. At the entrance, Ray took a deep breath, exhaled, and went inside as the doorman held the door for him.

As he entered and checked the area, he crossed the lobby and went to the check-in counter and stated his business. After all the prerequisites and formalities of checking into a hotel, he asked the young, pretty, blonde girl at the counter,         

“Is there any package or message for Mr. John Smith?”

“Just a moment sir, let me check.” With a cute smile, the pretty receptionist answered. Still with that same cute smile, the receptionist returned with a parcel and a package both addressed to a Mr. John Smith.

“Here you are, Sir! Have a wonderful day.” The receptionist complimented.

“Thank you, Ma’am. You too!” Ray countered, smiled, and waved as he headed towards the elevator to his room.

Inside, he settled on his bed still holding onto the parcel, figuring out whether to open them or go out and meet Daniel, his radio Communicator and Intelligence officer in the Special Ops. Deciding to open them, Ray ripped-open the package first, where he expectedly found one Gluck 17 and an AK 47 Russian assault gun, which were nestled in-between the dividers. He hid the AK 47 under the mattress of his bed and pocketed the Gluck 17. Next, he opened the parcel and scrutinized the items. Inside were several marked keys to different safety deposit boxes, a sniper rifle, maps, and instructions all set up by Daniel. He unpacked his luggage, dug up his duffel bag from deep inside his luggage with a specially-made hidden compartment in the middle, which can avoid airport’s scrutiny. He unfastened the latch, which secured the bag inside the compartment, detaching the bag hidden inside the compartment. He examined the contents inside the duffel bag. Well satisfied that everything was in order, he closed the bag, slung it over his shoulder, and stepped out of the room.

He walked out of the pension house. He turned to his right, and saw the cafe where he was supposed to meet Daniel. He beckoned the French server who approached him with a basket of  bread. He ordered a cappuccino and thanked the server. A few minutes later, someone in a black suit came up behind him and sat across from him. The man’s face was covered in dark sunglasses. Only his cheerful bearing was the only manner giving away his true identity.

“How are you, Danny? Thanks for setting up everything on this side of the world.”

In his usual funny way of behaving, Daniel replied as he grinned, “No problemo, man. Now all you have to do is cover my a*s with the brass. I’m not going AWOL and lose my benefits.”

“Don’t worry, man. I already took care of all the details. You are at the French Riviera with this beautiful starlet you met at Cannes. You are billeted at the Riviera hotel for the week. I have already instructed Susan, our Internal Assistant, to forward all calls and telecoms to me if anyone needs to contact you or me. Satisfied?” Ray said.

Pleased, Daniel nodded with approval.

“Hey! Got to go, man. Do what you need to do, and I’ll finish what I have to do. Take care!"

Ray nodded at Daniel, pulled out his wallet, drew out 20 Swiss Francs, and placed it on the table. Danny gave the thumbs up as he smiled.
            Ray got up, slung the duffel bag on his shoulder, and started to walk towards the bank - his first thing in the list of items to accomplish in Geneva. Upon reaching the bank, he entered, passing the two security guards at the entrance. He walked straight to the manager’s desk and inquired.

“Hello, maybe you can assist me. My name is David Jones, and I’m here to access my safety deposit box. Here is my key and box number.”

Without looking at him, the manager stood up from his big desk, extended his hand, and shook Ray’s hand as he replied.

“My pleasure, Sir! I am Mr. Sklunk, the Manager, and I’ll be at your service. If you could give me a few seconds, I’ll get the keys, and I’ll accompany you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sklunk. Do you mind if I sit down?” Ray asked.

A bit surprised, Mr. Sklunk reacted. “I’m sorry. I apologize for my rude behavior. Please forgive me. Please, please take a seat.”

“It’s no big deal, Sir. I understand your situation. You are a very busy man. There is no harm done.” Ray responded as he sat down.
          Mr. Sklunk searched inside his lower, left drawer for the keys, gave a sigh of relief as he found them, and exclaimed, “Here are the little ones! Sir, shall we?”

Ray smiled and said, “Right behind you, Sir!”

Down at the lower casing where the safety deposit boxes were located, Ray scanned the area, found his box, and gestured to Mr. Sklunk. Ray placed in his key first and gazed at Mr. Sklunk to follow suit. Both turning their keys at the same time, the box’s hatches opened. Mr. Sklunk pointed Ray to several private stalls and said,

“Take all the time you need, Sir. Once you’re finished, shut the hatch, and it will automatically lock itself.”

As he pulled out the case inside the safety box, Ray picked the third stall nearest to the exit. Once inside, Ray emptied all the items in his bag, checking them one by one. He deposited his Canadian passport, a number of credit cards, and some Canadian dollars in the case. Still concentrating on what else to include, he abruptly heard a noise.

It was not a voice talking, but the kind that was trying to be silent. Ray repacked everything back into his duffel bag, drew out his gun, and without a sound, opened the sliding door of the stall.

Outside the stall, moving in silence, he outlined a suspicious man, profiling him, Ray concluded that the man was not a bank client or an employee of the bank. Without any second thoughts and hesitation, Ray shot the man in the head. He picked up his duffel bag and the safety deposit box right away, and ran out of the stall. He put the case back into the safety deposit box, and shut the hatch.

He went back to search the dead man for any identification. To his surprise, Ray found a personal dossier of himself inside the man’s jacket pocket, with a photo of him taken at his house back in Sound Beach.

As soon as he gathered up the dossier with the photo, he went right up to the bank lobby as if nothing occurred down at the lower casing. Ray stepped out of the bank building, and from there, Ray ran towards the nearest Eurail train station, and deposited some of the items from his duffel bag into a safety deposit box. Afterwards, back into the main streets, he detected a man in deep, dark sunglasses lurking around who seemed to be following him. After a few minutes, the man disappeared. Ray hailed a cab and headed to the airport.

Inside the airport, Ray went straight to the safety deposit boxes, and deposited some of his items there too, as this is the standard operating procedure for the Special Ops. Familiar with the way his resources need to be spread out, Ray made it always available for him to have an easy access wherever he might be, in case of any danger or life-and-death situations.

Afterwards, all done and finished with his chores, Ray headed towards the airport exit. Again, he saw the man with the deep, dark sunglasses, and Ray, who was very quick, ran after the mysterious man. Ray chased after him through the sidewalks of the airport, with cars and taxis almost running over them as they went through the airport driveway. At some alley near the perimeter of the airport, Ray closed in on the man as Ray jumped over him, almost stopping him from continuing to run and move. However, at this instance, the man reacted quickly and gave Ray a mighty blow on the face, and was able to free himself and escape. The man took out his gun and tried a shot at Ray, but missed. He ran out of sight, and Ray reacted and tried to shoot back but also missed as he lost visual of the man.

Ray tried further to chase after him but failed as the man vanished from sight. He picked up his duffel bag from the ground, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the smeared blood on his lips and chin where he got smacked. He got a hold of himself and carried on as he took a cab towards downtown Geneva.

Downtown, Ray went to a local car rental shop and inquired with the staff person, who was cleaning one of the cars in the garage. He presented himself as Neils Heisenberg and showed his German passport and some amounts of cash. The staff person entertained Ray by showing him a red Bufori Sabre, and insisted for him to take a test drive. Without trying out the car, Ray smiled and laughed, and went for a regular sedan. After signing some papers, he went out and drove right through the cold, windy streets of downtown Geneva.

As the sun began to set, Ray drove right through the outskirts of the city, into suburban Geneva. Ray headed towards the residence of Mike Long, after learning of his address from the envelop package and information that Daniel had provided.

Once in the suburbs, he turned onto a street where the neighborhoods of Swiss houses are closely-packed together, with their roofs still covered with snow, which was left from the winter.

After passing a series of houses, he stopped by a house corresponding to the address he was supplied. He took a U-turn and parked on the opposite side of the house. Then he took out his binoculars from the duffel bag and looked through them, Ray could view the inside of the house and the living room, through the window. Ray also detected a well-dressed man who was coming down the stairs, and was met by his two children. The man carried the toddler and kissed him. He also embraced the other older child.  In his car, Ray pulled out and checked the documents Daniel gave him, identifying them with the photographs that were included in the documents.

Ray determined that these were Mr. Long and his children. Now satisfied with the confirmation of the identity of Mike Long, he continued to observe the man stepping outside the house through the front door, and stopping by the porch. Ray noted Long’s wife, who was carrying their toddler, tiptoed to kiss her husband as she and their children said good-bye to their father.

Mr. Long walked towards his car, yelling, “I’ll be back soon my darlings!

“Need to finish up on some of the stuff at the office. You know how it is in the UN, honey.” He said as he got into his car, turning on the ignition.

“Well, get back as soon as you can, alright? The kids are going to miss you.” His wife reminded him gently.

“I know. Alright, I will honey. I’ll be with you guys as soon as I can.” He replied, smiling back at his family. He started to drive away, waving at his picture-perfect family, as he yelled goodbye to them.

Mike Long drove past where Ray was parked and headed towards the bridge and out of the neighborhood. At this instance, Ray observed Long’s wife and children waving  at their father as he drove out of sight. When Mr. Long was finally gone, the family went back to their house, as Ray quickly started up the car ignition, and followed Mr. Long. The good thing was that Ray was able to catch up with Mike Long at the intersection onto the main highway, where there was a slight traffic and delay, still maintaining the two-car surveillance rule. 

Only a few cars behind Mike Long, Ray was expecting they were headed towards downtown to the UNEP office building. But instead of turning towards the city proper, Mr. Long turned his car to the highway leading outside  the city towards the outskirts -- further out of the suburban area. With no idea where Mike Long was heading, Ray continued to follow behind, but keeping enough distance, and pacing himself to prevent from being detected.

They cruised on the freeway about a few miles and crossed a bridge onto another highway. After about an hour of driving, Mr. Long finally exited the highway and entered a small county-town, with Ray following right behind.

After driving through the crooked roads and streets of the town, Mike Long finally stopped by an old-looking antiquated apartment, which appeared to have been abandoned for some time. The walls were smeared with white paint. Soft, melting snow still covered the roof, while green moss-like grease covered the gutters. Mike Long parked along the driveway, got out of the car, and entered the apartment. Ray stopped and parked a few paces before the house on the opposite side, near an abandoned building. Ray noted some men coming out from the house and greeted Mr. Long as he went inside.

Ray took out his binoculars again. He peeked through the window of the house and detected some men standing around the living room, who seemed like the bodyguards. Somebody, who was kidding around with them, was an older man, who Ray recognized right away as Mr. Singh, Kevin’s Boss.

“What the heck is he doing here?” Ray thought to himself.                       

Beside Mr. Singh, two girls were seated on the couch -- sideways from Ray’s point of view. Ray saw the first girl and thought to himself, “Must be the gal Kevin’s dating.”

“Now where’s Claudine?” Ray thought out loud.

At this point, the first girl moved her head backwards and revealed Claudine seated next to her.

“Thank God! You’re alright.” Ray said out loud to himself. He scanned the area around the house using his binoculars, and tried to check if there might be a way into the house from the back. He noted from where he was, that on the main side of the street adjacent to another antique building, was a pathway leading to an alley going to the side of the house. He also discovered that there was a broken entrance both in the two abandoned buildings, one near him, and one near the house -- both opposite of each other. So Ray stepped out of his car and walked casually towards the antique building beside the house.

Upon reaching the old building, he let himself in through the opened, shattered, broken door. Once inside, Ray climbed up the stairs three steps at a time until he reached the roof. From the rooftop, Ray can view the left side and the back side of the house. From this vantage point, he can now confirm that the way towards the old apartment was through the back side, which lead to the two different windows of the bedrooms.

With this new discovery, he developed an idea as to how his rescue would go, as well as his escape route. Satisfied with his well-thought plan, he got out of the roof and climbed back downstairs.

Out of the building, into the street again, he got back to his car, turned on the ignition, and drove passed the house, turning right towards the main highway.

While cruising through the crooked roads and streets of the town, Ray drove back and entered the main highway, crossing the bridge again towards the city. After driving more than an hour, Ray arrived at Geneva’s city proper. Entering downtown, Ray headed back to the pension house where he was staying.

He parked his rented car at the parking space corresponding to his room number and walked right up the main entrance and towards his room.

Upon entering his room, he took off his clothes and walked right to the bathroom, into the shower. After a few minutes, he turned off the water, picked up a towel, and wiped his wet body dry. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. On the opposite side of his bed was a dressing counter, where he picked up a drinking glass, and filled it with water from the bathroom sink. He sat on the bed, drank his glass of water, and reminisced about Kevin, Carolina, and mostly about Claudine. His heart filled with mixed emotions. How he missed Claudine, and the thought that he might never see her again, especially after everything that had happened today. He remembered all their times together, recalling the first time they’ve met…

#

Sound Beach, USA. Year 1979

It was quite late in the night when he passed through the Sound Beach Community. He passed by the Center Hall along the main road on his way to his new home. The newcomer Ray Reynolds turned into a narrow street where groups of homes were settled alongside by the beach.

He walked alone through the night as he carried all his belongings in one compact duffel bag. While glancing at what was written on a piece of paper, he found himself arriving at his designated home. While he was about to enter his new home, right across his house, a young woman fumbled with her keys as she tried to open up the front gate of her house, when she dropped the box of things she was carrying. Ray immediately could tell from the boxes in the car parked in front that she’s moving in. Ray approached her as her belongings were scattered all over the ground.

“Oh man!” The young woman said, reaching down on the ground to pick up her things.

“Need some help?” Ray asked politely, reaching down too as he helped pick up some of her things.

“You’re moving in?” Ray asked.

“Yeah, thanks.” She replied gratefully, and got a little embarrassed. “Sorry, we’re new here, and I’m still having a hard time opening the door to our own house.”

“No problem.” Ray replied, beaming. “Oh you mean you and your husband?”

“Oh no. My brother and I. I’m not married.” She replied, putting back the things on the ground.

“Oh I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” She stopped to stand up and offered a handshake. “I’m Claudine. My brother and I got this house from our parents, who passed away a couple of months ago.”

Claudine McAllister, and his brother Kevin, inherited this house from their parents, and was passed on to them before their parents died. They still haven’t decided yet if they would sell the house. So they shared the house for the time being. Claudine, now twenty-two, was finishing up her bachelor’s degree in New York University where she got her scholarship. When their parents died, she lost her scholarship for the next semester from all the emotional distractions, which made her lose focus on her studies. Her rent was not an easy matter either, as she had to work double time to keep up with her studies and pay her bills. That’s why moving here into their parents’ house would help her out with the finances, having no rent to pay. Now, she was able to transfer to a local university here, which was fifteen minutes out from Sound Beach, so she could continue her studies.

Her brother, Kevin, who was working for the United Nations, was always busy anyway, and always needed to go out of town. As the executive assistant to the chief of the Early Warning Bureau of the United Nations Environmental Programme, Kevin was always required to be with his boss whenever and wherever there would be a UN conference out of town or even out of the country. So most of the time, the house would be left all alone for Claudine.

She smiled, and her eyes twinkled as she and Ray looked at each other closely.

“Oh I’m sorry about your parents.” Ray said as he carried the box. “I’m Ray. So you’ve been flying out here and New York? Must be tiring.”

“Tell me about you. Why are you moving out here too?” Claudine said as she continued to smile at Ray.

“Yeah, I will be stationed here at the Southeastern Base.”

“Oh, the Marines?” Claudine said.

Ray kept silent, keeping the fact that he’s in the elite special force. Claudine smiled back as she put the last remaining things back into the box Ray was holding.

“So where do we put this?” Ray continued.

“Oh, I forgot to open the gate, so silly of me!” Claudine said as she opened the gate with her free hands. Ray cheered for Claudine, who smiled back while she and Ray entered the driveway.

“You can leave those here.” Claudine said, pointing to a space near the front door on the porch. After Ray had put the box on the spot Claudine pointed to, they walked out of the gate again.

“Thank you for all your help.” Claudine continued to smile with a twinkle in her eye. She immediately liked Ray, maybe because of his gentle nature and his charm.

“No big deal. Don’t close the gate just yet.” Ray said as he smiled back. He, too, began to like Claudine. She seemed smart for him. Especially the twinkle in her eyes which made her attractive. For now, he seemed to be interested in her.

While staring into each other’s eyes, the trace of a new romance danced around them like music in the air, but was suddenly interrupted when another car pulled in and parked behind Claudine’s red Volvo. A young man in a black suit came out and approached Claudine. Kevin, her big brother, just came back from a UN conference in New York and had promised to fly and drive out here in Sound Beach to help her move in. Running to him, she gave him a hug and greeted him.

Kevin was living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for two years now as an Executive Assistant, where the EWB’s local office was stationed. The two siblings saw each other a couple of times a year when they visited their parents for the holidays. This was the first time they had seen each other again after their parent’s funeral.

“Claudine I’ve got good news!” Kevin said as he ran towards her.

“Kevin! Thanks for coming!” Claudine said gratefully, considering that he was always busy. And right now, she really needed his help. She was counting on his support now more than ever.

“Of course, I promised you, didn’t I?” Kevin replied, hugging his sister. Claudine smiled back and remembered Ray was still around. She introduced her brother to Ray, and the two men shook hands.

“Ray, this is my brother, Kevin. Kevin, this is Ray. He’s helping me out when I was trying to open the gate. He’s a marine being assigned here at Sound Beach. He lives across the street.” Claudine said.

“Oh yeah, Dad said we have to change the rusty locks and handle.” Kevin uttered, remembering what their Father had told them before he died. “I forgot to buy a new lock for the house.”

Claudine was still telling Kevin about Ray and that he was a good help.

Ignoring her, Kevin had insisted with his good news. As soon as Ray heard this, he thought best to leave them alone for their bonding time.

“Hey Claudine, I better go now. Still have to check on my new house. Nice meeting you.” Smiling at her, he then turned to Kevin and shook his hand.

Claudine smiled back and waved at Ray as he began to walk towards the house across the street. She hoped that he would ask her out so she was a little disappointed, as she yelled, “Well, I’ll see you around.” to which Ray nodded and smiled back. Claudine faced his brother who seemed to be so excited about his news.

“So what’s the good news?” as she and her brother entered the gate and into the house.

As Claudine and Kevin got into the house, turning on all the lights inside, they took notice of their parents’ furniture, all still intact and neatly wrapped in white sheets. The living room was still furnished with the cozy white couch and the sofa set that their parents had. There were still some opened boxes that still needed to be sorted out. Claudine remembered her parents’ piano that she used to play with when they had reunions. Even though the two didn’t actually grow up here, they had cherished many memories in this home with their parents ever since they left for college. Their family was originally from New York, where the two had been born and raised. After their parents settled for an early retirement, they had bought this house here at Sound Beach to live a simple life by the sea. Their parents had always dreamed of having a vacation by the beach or a resort. But between their work and their taking care of the kids, they never got around to it. Right after their two kids had entered college and had later on started working to support themselves, they opted for an early retirement. And this was the dream beach house they had bought and settled in, calling it their home.

And now the two siblings recalled all the reunions they had shared with their parents, as they moved about in the house, reminiscing. Claudine finally put her box together with the other unsorted boxes, assisted by his brother. Kevin went into the small dining room and placed a big doggie bag on the table, which he had bought at a take out from a local diner, and took out plastic containers of chicken salad, a couple of beef steak sandwiches, and two cans of soda. He called Claudine for supper and they both ate as Kevin spilled the good news of his promotion as Deputy Chief of the Early Warning Bureau, effective immediately but to be officially confirmed during the UNEP annual conference to be held next year in Nairobi, Kenya. Claudine happily congratulated Kevin and gave him a big hug, as they continued to spend some quality time with each other.

 “So you seem to like the guy, Ray, is it?” Kevin opened the conversation as they started on the salad. He watched Claudine blushed earlier while talking to Ray. Claudine smiled and kept silent.

A sudden doorbell interrupted them, and both of them went out to check who’s at the door. Claudine opened the door and spotted Ray outside the gate, who was still wearing his green military fatigue. Surprised and excited to see him again, Claudine smiled at Ray. From inside the house, Kevin knew it was Ray, and left Claudine alone in the doorway.

“Hey, did you leave something?” Claudine asked casually, as she approached him.

“No, no.” He replied, grinning nervously. “Would you like to grab a bite with me sometime?”

Claudine smiled but kept cool, even though her heart was jumping up and down inside with excitement.

“Sure, I would like that.”

“Alright, I’ll call you.” Ray smiled and nodded, as he waved good-bye.

It was a start of a beautiful romance, which blossomed over time, and then they got married. And the rest was history.

#

Ray, still reminiscing, placed down his glass of water at the dressing counter and looked deep into the night through the window. Still thinking about Claudine and their sweet romance, when all of a sudden, Ray made out a slight reflection of himself in the window, and noted something red on his forehead, which he recognized as a red laser target �" fully aimed at his head! At that instant, through reflex, he quickly ducked down under the window, just as the bullet shot through the window and barely missed his head. While glancing over the room, Ray eyed the bullet as it ricocheted, breaking the lamp on the stand.

He stopped to think out loud: “What the?! Who the heck was that?”

Ray crawled as he pulled his pants and shirt from atop the bed. Still crouching under the bed, he dressed and looked for his sniper rifle kit and set the rifle up as fast as he could. He continued to edge across the room and picked up the duffel bag he left on the floor near the door. From the duffel bag, he then took out his Gluck handgun and binoculars. He opened the door beside him while staying down and crawled out of the room, as another bullet shot came through the window. After closing the door, he ran towards the emergency stairwell with his duffel bag and ammunition. He rapidly climbed up the stairs and arrived at the rooftop after a couple of flights.

Up on the rooftop, Ray turned towards the west flank of the pension house, remembering the building where the shot came from. He went to the west corner, where he crawled down on the ground -- lying flat on his belly.

He took out his binoculars and scanned the rooms inside the building. He found what he was searching for. In one of the rooms at the ground floor of the building, a standard-issued rifle stand was mounted near the window. There were no visuals of the sniper rifle and the hit man around the room. He casted an eye over the area around him, when Ray caught a glimpse of a shadow down at the alley where the bullets came from. He picked up his rifle, peeked into the scope, and made out a man. He then squeezed the trigger, targeting the right thigh area of the man’s leg, and hit him just above the knee. The man, in an all-black clothing, buckled and fell on the ground face down first.  Ray immediately ran to the stairwell exit and went down the five floors towards the street level.

Outside on the street, Ray turned left and ran as fast as he can muster towards the wounded man.

Upon reaching the site where the man was shot, Ray was disappointed and annoyed as the man was not there, except for a few trickles of blood, which could be traced as the man tried to make his escape. Ray followed suit using the trickles and traces of blood on the ground as a trail. After a block, Ray caught the shadow of the man limping as he tried to make his way to get away. Ray went into his jogging mode as he gained distance towards his assailant. Upon reaching the wounded man, Ray pushed him from the back sending him to fall face first onto the pavement. Towering way above the fallen man, Ray used his right foot as he turned him onto his back, to scrutinize the face of his assassin. With instant recognition, Ray recalled this was the same man who had been following him at the airport. Without a word, Ray placed his foot and stepped on the bullet wound on the man’s thigh.

Without much prompting, the man uttered, “Please, go. These people are dangerous, let up and return to the States.”

“Who sent you?” Ray asked, not moving and not releasing his foot to relieve the pressure over the man’s wound. “And who are these people? C’mon, you can surmise there is no one here except you and me.”

As the wounded man was about to say something, a gunshot echoed through the night. Stunned and shocked, Ray took to the ground at once, rolling away as far as possible from the man. Ray kept still and silent. Still recovering from the daze, on his elbows and knees, Ray approached the wounded man, who was now a dead man with a bullet hole in the forehead, as Ray expected. Next, trying to get away from the scene, Ray scanned the area to check if the sniper was still within the vicinity, and still crouched on his elbows, and after he made sure all was clear, he stood up, picked up, and wiped the rifle clean. He then left the rifle beside the unidentified dead body. In a hurry, Ray made his way back to the hostel in barefoot, keeping his face hidden in the deep shadow of the night.

#

To avoid being seen by the other guests, Ray went through the alley and entered from the back of the hostel building. Inside the pension house, he entered the stairwell and climbed up the few steps to the second level. As he sneaked through the west wing of the hall, he was able to get back to his room.

Upon entering his room, he made an assessment of the attempted assassination on him.

“How did they know I was here?” He thought aloud.

He then took off his clothes and threw them in the waste bin. He jumped in the showers, and washed his whole body from all the dirt and soot he got from running and crawling outside. Afterwards, he dried himself up and opened his duffel bag on the bed. Upon seeing the time on the clock, he realized he had to move fast if he was going to save his wife and Kevin’s girl. He needed to make sure all of these should be done in time before Kevin’s committee hearing. He took out fresh black clothes -- both a tight long-sleeve shirt and pants -- and dressed up. Folded in between the clothes, was a black balaclava.

Suited up, he took the balaclava and inserted it into a smaller bag. He reached for the AK47-rifle under the mattress, and disassembled it. He pulled out his sniper kit, also from under the bed, putting all the disassembled pieces inside the bag. He also grabbed a box of ammunition for the extra firepower. He also took his binoculars and packed them all inside the bag. He checked out his Gluck handgun for ammunition by releasing the magazine. Satisfied, Ray reloaded the magazine back, and mounted the silencer on the muzzle of the gun. He quickly turned around, pulled the trigger, and shot one of the pillows on his bed.

"Pock!" came the muffled sound.

Assured with the result of the silencer, Ray unscrewed it from his gun, and put it inside the pocket of his pants while inserting the gun behind the small of his back. He picked up another couple of magazines and placed them inside the side pockets of his bag. Then he wore his leather gloves and put on his special wristwatch with two faces, one for telling time, and another for a stopwatch. As he glanced at the time, he realized he needed to make a move now as time was of the essence. He zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He put on his black slip-on shoes and walked out of the door. 

At the lobby, he walked towards the receptionist and greeted the guard as he walked out of the pension house. At the parking lot, he entered his car and turned on the ignition while he took a deep breath, preparing himself as he got all hyped up from this deadly mission. After a few deep breaths, letting his tension out, he regained his control, exhaled one more time, and started to drive away into the night.