Chapter 3
I felt a lot more comfortable pursuing Birdie than I had done tailing Peregrine. I moved through the crowds of commuters like a ghost, barely touching anyone. My eyes never left my target's back. He was making his way towards a platform, I kept a safe distance; Birdie was an ex-assassin so I had to exercise caution. He reached a busy platform and moved off towards the end. Frowning I followed behind, watching him push through the people packed together waiting to get home.
He reached the end and looked around furtively; I paused, turning my gaze away so he didn't see me. After a second Birdie hopped down off the platform and walked a little way along the tracks before disappearing round a bend. I waited a beat, so as not to draw attention to two men jumping off the platform. Happy no one was watching, I strode over to the ledge leading down to the tracks. With one last glance behind me I dropped down and walked quickly after Birdie.
I soon caught up with him as he was edging along the tracks, as I got a few feet away he ducked into a maintenance tunnel. Amazingly he still hadn't registered my approach; he was losing his touch. I rounded the corner and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, slamming him into the brick wall of the tunnel. Pinning him against the wall, I pressed my full weight into him. He grunted in surprise and pain, desperately trying to turn his head to see who I was.
"Fancy meeting you here." I growled into his ear. His struggles to free himself instantly stopped at the sound of my voice.
"Oh it's you homes. There was me thinking it was some low life after my money." His lazy, drawl was edged with nerves, despite his attempt at humour.
"Are you going to cooperate? Or am I going to have to persuade you?" He was struggling to breath as I waited for a response. I could see his dark eyes darting around, looking for an escape. Well, he wasn't going to find one.
"Depends what I'm cooperating with." I flipped him round to face me, forcing his back against the bricks and lodging my arm over his chest. His head snapped back, hitting the wall. I gave him a moment to collect himself, before slowly leaning my weight into the arm pinning him in place. His eyes bulged slightly as his air ways began to constrict.
"Alright, alright, what do you want?" Birdies' voice was strangled and I lessened the pressure on him, allowing him to speak clearly.
"Why were you meeting Peregrine?" I saw a flicker of surprise cross his face, then his expression changed to one of faux ignorance.
"I don't know anyone by that name homes." I sighed quietly and slid my arm up to press against his neck, then increased the pressure. He began to gargle, his hands clawing uselessly at my arm. My eyes narrowed as I watched him panic, waiting a suitable amount of time for him to value oxygen a little better. Eventually I leant back, freeing his airways. He gasped, his face red from exertion.
"Ok….ok. I met her." I stared into his eyes, all bravado fading as the reality of his situation sank in.
"Good, now why did you meet her?" He raised his hands in surrender. I understood what he wanted and steadily released him. He bent double, clasping his knees as he coughed. I wasn't worried, he wasn't going anywhere now, he knew I could outrun and out fight him.
"Look, she's your handler isn't she? So why aren't you asking her?" He straightened up, leaning against the tunnel wall, breathing heavily. I drew my silenced pistol and held it suggestively in his line of sight, I saw his eyes widen at the weapon.
"Because I want to know why you met her Birdie. Besides, we still need to have a talk about our last encounter, I haven't repaid you for betraying me to Travis and Dexter yet." The panic became evident on Birdie's face.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that homes. You know how it is?" My eyes narrowed at him.
"I'm not sure I do, but you were telling me why you met Perry." I leveled the gun at him and the colour drained from his face.
"She wanted intel." His voice was desperate as he eyed my pistol nervously. My patience was wearing thin, I sighed deeply as I studied the terrified man.
"What intel Birdie?" He swallowed, reluctant to tell me the details.
"She wanted the stuff I found on your girl Victoria, when I was searching for her." I frowned, confused by the answer he had given me. Of all the things I had imagined Perry selling us out for, that had not been top of the list. Birdie was eager to appease me now, babbling on, "I didn't ask why she was after it, just gave her all I had on her; medical reports, back ground details, that sort of thing."
My brain was working overtime, trying every possible scenario as to why Peregrine was interested in Victoria. But I was coming up blank. "I saw her give you something in return for your valuable services. What was it?" I needed to make sure she hadn't compromised the agency, the USB could contain incriminating information on us, I couldn't allow Birdie to keep it if that was the case. He glanced at the jacket pocket where he had stashed the USB.
"What this? You know I always come at a price homes. I knew your girl was a whizz online, and I needed some dirt on a nasty son of a bitch that's been threatening me for a while now. She just dug around in his history and gave me some juicy info that'll make him think twice before coming after me again." A sly smile stretched across his face, his confidence was returning, now that he had spilled the beans and I didn't look like I was going to kill him. I wasn't done with him yet though.
"You got any other information you shouldn't have regarding the agency?"
Birdie gave me a smug grin, "And what if I do? I need to protect myself homes, you understand. A man like me can't be left defenseless against a juggernaut like the ICA, look at the people you've got working for you." His smiled turned nasty, "For example your new handler. She's a smart cookie that one, and cute. I don't know which one I prefer, her or that old red head of yours." Without hesitating I shot him in the knee. The silencer did its job well, but Birdie's scream echoed off the walls of the tunnel we were in. There would be railway workers here soon if I wasn't careful. He had collapsed on the floor clutching his bleeding knee. I lowered myself down beside him and clamped a hand over his mouth. His screams became muffled, his eyes, huge and white, stared at me.
"That was a warning." My voice was low and quiet, the threat very eveident in my tone. "You're going to destroy anything you may have on Victoria, Diana or Peregrine. If I catch you compromising us again, whether it's to one of our operatives or not, I will find you and finish the job. Do you understand…homes?" He nodded vigorously against my hand; I placed my pistol down and gripped his injured knee, squeezing it tightly. Birdie let out a loud sob, his eyes watering.
"Mhyeff, I munherhanf." I let go of his mouth and leg, and straightened up slowly. Retrieving my pistol I holstered it and watched the man scrabble around trying to stand on his ruined joint.
"Good. Nice doing business with you Birdie. I hope I don't see you again." I began to walk away, leaving him hopping around behind me. He would be fine, Birdie was a survivor, and he had had worse injuries. He wasn't enough of a threat to risk exposing myself by killing him here. I knew if I needed to I could dispatch him and hide him where no one would ever find him. I knew he was aware of that as well.
As I lifted myself back onto the now empty platform, I considered my next move. Peregrine was gathering intel on Victoria, but why? At least she hadn't compromised the agency. Still, this development didn't sit well with me; I would have to keep watching her until things became clearer. I made my way back through Grand Central station and exited onto the busy New York street outside. Time to start my waiting game all over again.
…..
She appeared the next day. I watched her as she walked through the main atrium, but she didn't head towards our usual meeting place. Instead she continued walking until she was nearly out the other side. I kept a fair distance between us, frowning at this seemingly random behavior. She left the station and walked straight ahead down the sidewalk. Assuming she had used it as a short cut I remained focused on her retreating back.
She led me a few blocks, the New York foot traffic moving around me like a river. I easily avoided the people, never letting my eyes drift from Perry; I wasn't losing her a second time. She turned right abruptly and disappeared down an alley. I waited a moment to lengthen the gap between us, without the busy crowds of the main street it would be hard to hide my pursuit. Once I was satisfied she wouldn't notice me I followed her around the corner. The alley was empty; I frowned in confusion. There was no way she could have walked its length quick enough to evade me. Slowing my pace I scanned the narrow walkway for any signs of another exit. A back door was located halfway along, it was the only place she could have gone.
Walking silently up to the door, I quickly listened to see if there was movement on the other side. Nothing. I tried the door, it was unlocked, this must have been where she went. Slipping in and let the door close behind me, I was in a shop storage room. There were a number of shelves crammed with boxes, a few strip lights above lit the room just enough to see the shelves but not much around them. I took two steps in, then an annoyed voice made me freeze.
"I've told you before not to stalk me." I span around and saw Perry just visible in the shadows leaning next to the doorway I had entered through. Her arms were folded and she looked pissed off. I regarded her coolly; she didn't flinch under my stare. "What are you doing 47?"
I sighed, raising an eyebrow at her. "I could ask you the same thing." She looked surprised by my response. I moved to stand in front of her, she craned her neck to look up at me, my height always seemed to annoy her.
"I'm currently asking my agent why he feels the need to follow me, when he could just ask to see me." She was avoiding the question, her mask of confidence was good but I was better at seeing through it. There was that edge of fear to her expression again. What was she hiding?
"I saw you with Birdie Perry." The mask disappeared completely, and I watched as her face drained of colour. She unfolded her arms and held her head in her hands for a moment. I waited patiently for her to collect her thoughts. When she looked back up at me her brown eyes were filled with fear.
"Have you told the agency?" I shook my head, her body relaxed visibly. I remained silent, letting her explain herself to me. "Do you know what I got from him?" My mouth stretched into a thin line at the memory of my meeting with Birdie yesterday.
"I may have persuaded him to tell me." Despite her fear, she rolled her eyes at my comment.
"I hope you didn't damage him too much 47, I may still need him." I glared at her then.
"Peregrine, you're already treading on thin ice fishing around in the agency's past. They suspect you of trying to hack into their system as well. Why would you continued to make things worse?" My sudden anger didn't perturb her, to the contrary she seemed to flare up matching my annoyance.
"I'm not compromising the ICA if that's what you're suggesting." My eyes narrowed dangerously at her.
"I don't buy that Perry. You're hiding something." She had moved a step closer to me so we were almost toe-to-toe now. We stared at each other angrily for a minute, I wasn't sure if I was more frustrated at her for jeopardizing her job at the agency or for lying to me. Diana had done the latter to me before and I hadn't minded, when it came down to it everyone was out to protect themselves, so why did Perry doing it bother me so much?
Maybe it was because I had chosen her to be my handler; it gave me a certain accountability for her actions. Or maybe it was because I liked her. I shook the alien feeling from my head as my handler continued to stare daggers at me. Absolutely no fear, I thought again.
Finally, her anger began to fade, and the wide-eyed look returned. "47, please trust me when I say I am not trying to betray anyone." She paused, thinking about her next words, "But I can't tell you what I am doing, sorry." Her words were sincere, but telling. She was up to something; she had practically admitted it.
"Why Victoria?" She looked down, avoiding my gaze.
"I can't tell you why." My anger at her secrecy finally erupted.
"Damn it Morgan!" She looked at me sharply, using her real name was a strict break in protocol. She blinked at me in shock, the hot anger coursing through me felt odd. Emotions were not something that bothered me usually; I had been designed to not feel like other people. The strength of my feelings now took me by surprise and a heavy silence fell between us.
"You shouted." She looked stunned. Closing my eyes I quickly got control of myself. "Perry, Diana sent me to spy on you." I heard her sharp intake of breath, under the harsh strip lighting I noticed how utterly exhausted she looked.
"47, I have to do this. I truly hope I find nothing, that someone is just sending me on a wild goose chase." Suspicion clouded my thoughts.
"A wild goose chase? Is this Cicada?" She didn't look me in the eye; I knew I was right. "You can't trust them Perry." She gave a big sigh.
"I know, but I just need to make sure. If what they claimed is true, well, I don't think you'd be happy about it either." I raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.
"And you're really not going to tell me what they said?" She shook her head sadly, an apology written on her face.
"Are you going to tell Diana?" I looked away from her and pursed my lips. I should do, Diana had given me this job to find out what she was up to. However, Peregrine wasn't one to do something rash for no reason. I decided to give her a chance, if only for a little while. She watched me deliberate, biting her lip anxiously.
"No." She smiled at me in relief.
"Thank you." I locked her with a steely glare.
"But if I find out you've sold us out to them, I will do my job Peregrine. Understood?" Her brow furrowed, and her mouth stretched into a thin line. She didn't look scared at my threat, just determined. What was she looking for?
"Fine. Maybe if we take them down first, the ICA won't come baying for my blood." My mouth twitched, despite my frustration with her I had to admit she was brave. She gave me a small grin. The amicable truce was interrupted by the sound of a phone alert. Perry looked momentarily confused before reaching into her pocket and withdrawing her smart phone. She stared at it for a second, the screen casting a strange light onto her face. I waited, watching her process whatever her phone was showing her. Suddenly she looked up at me, her eyes glinting with excitement.
"I've got him." She held her phone up to show me a map with a small red dot on it. "I've got the location of Bianchi."
I stared at her. I wasn't about to forget this conversation, but I had to do my job first. "Where is he?" She glanced at the phone again, her tongue sticking out in concentration.
"Tokyo." She looked back up at me, grinning broadly. "Better brush up on your Japanese 47."
