Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this! Hope you enjoy!
Sonya sat behind her glowing computer screen biting her nails. She was worried about Nikita and the whole team, especially Birkhoff. Ryan had left her in charge of Division while they were away on what they hoped would be just a short mission.
A sudden "DING" caused Sonya to jump in her ergonomic computer chair. She had been sent a new email from a restricted address. This wasn't unusual as all the Division agents often used protected servers and email addresses. She hoped the message was from Birkhoff or Ryan.
"This is strange," Sonya whispered to herself, noting that there was no message, only attachments. Three pictures had been attached to the email. A loud gasp escaped Sonya's lips as she opened the first picture.
The picture was dark but it wasn't hard to make out the slim young women tied by her wrists and ankles to a metal chair. Her head lolled off the left and a few locks of hair covered half her face. Purpling bruises stood out against her pale skin on the side of her face that wasn't shrouded. Her lower lip was bleeding slightly. It was a ghastly image, and the eerie effect was emphasized by the grim lighting coming from a solitary window behind and to the right of the chair.
Sonya quickly opened the next two pictures. Though they were shot from different angles, all three depicted the same scene: a captured Nikita sitting in a dark room in front of a lone window. Sonya immediately forwarded the email to Ryan and sat back against her chair, trying not to panic.
"Oh shit," Ryan yelled. He almost never lost his cool, but the email shocked and scared him.
"What is it boss man?" Birkhoff asked curiously. Ryan turned the phone so Birkhoff and Michael could see it. Owen and Alex were still unloading the plane. The group had just landed in the private terminal at Sandino International Airport.
"What the… Is that…" Birkhoff stuttered.
"Nikita," Michael breathed, answering his question. "Let me see the phone Ryan."
Ryan wasn't sure Michael should see the pictures up close, but reluctantly, he handed over the phone. Everyone was silent as Michael examined the pictures. His expression hardened as he flipped from the first picture to the second, to the third. He handed the phone back to Ryan. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"What's going on over here?" Alex asked when she noticed the silence. Ryan passed her his phone without a word. Owen peeked over her shoulder and they looked at the email in front of them. Alex gasped when she saw the gruesome image.
"Birkhoff," Michael said, cutting through the quiet atmosphere.
" Yeah Mikey?" Birkhoff asked, willing to do anything for Nikita's fiancé.
"The window. Can you figure out her position from the view outside?"
"Not from here. But Sonya can try back at Ops. I'll text her."
Again the group waited in agonizing silence. Ten minutes later Birkhoff's smartphone vibrated.
"Sonya ran ground level satellite images through this program I designed back in '07. It takes the geographic and man-made features that it can see and then estimates what it can't make out from the image. It compares that to the stored satellite images—
"Birkhoff! Do we know where she is?" Alex exclaimed.
"Sorry! Best guess is second story in a concrete building on a side street off of the main road. The room is on the south side of the building. Sonya guesses it's this sleazy Russian bar on Calle Cantante. It's the kind of place where slime like Amanda and Ari would hide."
"Alright, let's go." Michael grabbed his bag and walked to the black Cadillac SUV Birkhoff had organized to be dropped off at the airport. The others looked around, unsure of what to do. Without a better answer, they hastily grabbed their bags and followed Michael to the truck. They had no plan. They weren't even sure what they would find when they got there, but they hoped they'd find Nikita still breathing and end the mission with Amanda in a body bag.
Another update coming soon! I promise! ~MJ
