Broken Promises

Chapter Twelve

Frank stared blankly at the woman who sat before him while a silent battle waged within him. Everything she said seemed to make sense. Marsh was manipulating him….playing some sick and twisted game with him, and Varner wasn't to be trusted any more than Marsh. So in the end, who could he turn to? What did he really know about this Lucia? Obviously she had been someone of some importance to him in his former life. Some inner voice told him that they had indeed been lovers, so why shouldn't he trust her now?

Just as he was about to respond to her, just about to give himself over to her, put himself literally and figuratively in her hands, an image came to his mind….unbidden, but still powerful and very clear.

Laura.

He closed his eyes, trying to hold on to the memory, as his body began to shake from the intensity of the emotion that he felt. He'd almost forgotten about his wife….the one person who loved him like no other…..the woman who had shared his life, for better or for worse, for the past 12 years….the mother of his children…..the one who made him whole.

Opening his eyes once again, he noticed things about Lucia that he hadn't before. Although she was an undeniably beautiful woman, her eyes were cold and unfeeling. She wore too much make-up, almost as if she were trying to hide the woman underneath. Everything she wore….every move she made….had an ulterior motive, a hidden purpose. Although he couldn't deny that she attracted him in some dark, malevolent way, he could clearly see her for what she was…..a piranha, and if he allowed her, he had no doubt that she would devour his very soul.

"Get out," he told her plainly and in no uncertain terms.

Her passive expression changed to one of fury in a matter of milliseconds. "Excuse me?!"

"I said…get out. I don't want to see you again…..ever. Do you understand me? You sicken me….you make my skin crawl…..you're as bad as the rest of them and I am sick and tired of jumping through hoops for your sick and twisted enjoyment!" As his exposition continued, his voice rose both in volume and in intensity, as if he was slowly regaining the strength that he felt he had been so bitterly lacking.

Clenching her fists at her sides and clamping her jaws shut as tightly as she could, Lucia managed, by some miracle, to control the urge to scream in response. She felt humiliated, but not quite defeated. She simply remembered her true purpose for being there and a certain calm reclaimed her.

"Very well," she managed to rasp between clenched teeth as she slowly stood and approached him. "But mark my words, Luis, there will come a time in the not too distant future, when you will come to me….willingly…..and on your knees." Her eyes betrayed her all too evident glee at that possibility.

Taking a hold of her shoulders, he almost violently pushed her away from him. Having her even remotely close to him, angered and disgusted him even more.

Stumbling slightly, she caught herself on the frame of the door and turned her head slowly to look at him. "You always did like it rough, Luis," she told him with a lascivious grin on her face. She stayed for but a few seconds longer and then finally did as he asked and left, relishing the fact that he appeared to be thrown off by her sudden change in demeanor.

Frank stared at the open doorway for more than a few minutes. His body still trembled from what had almost taken place. He had been closer than he would have ever thought possible to betraying his wife, his marriage, and himself.

He backed away from the door, almost as if he was afraid that Lucia would slink back in when he wasn't looking. When he felt the bed against the back of his legs, he sat down, leaned his arms against his legs and buried his face in his hands.

He knew that for the sake of the mission, he had tried to put all thoughts of his wife and children in the back of his mind, but somehow knowing that he had been all too successful in that, made him sick to his stomach. Would he have gone through with what his body urged him to do? Would he have been able to touch the woman and not be overwhelmed by regret or guilt? Knowing that he could not truthfully answer those questions bothered him more than anything else that had happened to him thus far.

Standing suddenly, he began to pace, running a hand, now and again, through his short hair in frustration and steadily growing anger. He felt like he was coming apart at the seams. Was this how he had felt before? Was this how it felt to begin to lose hold of your own life as you relinquished and finally gave in to a new persona? He desperately wished that he could remember.

But whatever the answer, he was frantically tired of being toyed with. The latest run in with Lucia was almost more than he could take, and the sick and twisted maneuver with the boy who looked like Michael was unforgivable.

As he continued to pace, his anger began to escalate with every step that he took. He was infuriated at Marsh for orchestrating every move that he made….with Varner for being the devil's lap dog…..with Lucia for waiting in every dark corner of his mind…..but mostly he was mad at himself for letting it all happen. Turning suddenly, he burst through the door, intent on finally having a showdown with the man who had brought him there and had forced him into this situation.

As Frank stomped down the hall, heading for the front doors, he failed to see a wide-eyed Nina standing in the hallway behind him. If he had seen her, he would have been curious as to her presence there so late in the day.

A few minutes later, Frank slammed through the front door of the main building, startling almost every operative there, although they'd seen his approach on the endless bank of monitors. Without a word to anyone, he headed directly for Marsh's office.

Marsh of course, was prepared for Frank's arrival, having seen everything that happened in the room earlier with Lucia. The man was close to breaking, and Marsh couldn't have been happier.

The door suddenly crashed open and an extremely livid Frank Donovan paced in. "I want answers," Frank demanded, "and I want them now."

Marsh merely swiveled in his seat and smiled calmly at the agent towering before him. "Of course, Luis. What would you like to know?"

"What the fuck was that with the boy earlier? Don't tell me that it was some bizarre coincidence that he looked like my son?"

"Of course it was no coincidence. Nothing is here by coincidence. You should know that."

"Then why?" Frank asked, somehow confused by the fact that Marsh was actually answering his questions.

Sighing tiredly, almost as if the answer should be obvious. "Luis…..we needed a test to see if you'd been successful in assimilating your new life. If you had reacted to the boy as if he meant nothing to you, then it would have indicated that you were ready for your mission. When you did not, then we knew we had more work to do." Marsh paused long enough to let those words sink in, watching the emotions play across Frank's face.

"And Lucia….what part does she play in all of this?" Frank asked hesitantly.

"I think you already know that answer. Look within yourself, Luis. Not only is she a test to see if you're ready, but she played a very important part in your indoctrination 15 years ago."

Frank turned away and walked toward the only window in the room. He didn't want to think about Lucia. In fact, he wanted nothing at all to do with her. Lying to yourself again, Luis? Shaking his head, he tried to will away that last thought. Turning back to Marsh, he said, "Look…..I promised that I would go through with this mission, but from now on, no more games….no more manipulations. I'll study the backgrounds that you've given me and that's it. If you don't like that, then too bad. I'm tired of this shit, Marsh."

Marsh leaned back in his chair and pondered the proposition. "Very well. We'll do this your way. Just as long as you're ready in the next week."

"Fine," Frank muttered as he started to head toward the door. At that exact same moment, Varner made the mistake of entering the office. Upon seeing Frank, he took more than a couple of steps back, and eyed the man cautiously.

Frank stepped very close to him before departing. "And you….you can take your little training exercises and shove them up your ass," he told Varner through his thinly veiled control. And without another word, Frank briskly left the office.

Varner turned to watch the man go, closing the office door when he was sure that he wouldn't be returning. "That man is seriously falling apart. And what did he mean about the training exercises?"

"It seems that our dear Frank Donovan thinks that he can do all of this on his own," Marsh responded with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"And you're going to just let him?" Varner asked incredulously.

Marsh chuckled. "Oh Steven…..the fact is that he's almost ready. Could be tomorrow, in fact. He's headed for a breakdown of sorts, and after tonight, he'll either be turned or we'll have to admit him to the closest psychiatric ward."

"What makes you think that?"

"Do you have any idea what lack of REM sleep can do to a person?" Marsh asked, but continued on without waiting for an answer. "People who are denied REM sleep for long periods of time can become violent, even psychotic. They're more fatigued during the day. They're ability to reason things through is impaired. And although this can be detrimental in most people, we've found that it's actually beneficial in helping an agent cross from their former life to a new one."

"So you're driving him crazy. Is that what you're saying?"

"Steven….I wouldn't put it so crudely, but in essence, yes," Marsh admitted. "And as for tonight…..let's just say that he'll have an extra push to help him along."

Varner looked slightly green. "I thought you said that you weren't going to use that on him."

"What I said was, I'd hoped that it wouldn't be necessary. Now, however, it appears that it is." Marsh rose from his chair and looked out the same window that Frank had peered through just moments earlier. "The girl is in place right now. We should see some results within the next couple of hours."

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Frank returned to the barracks a short time later. He felt drained, both mentally and physically. So much so, that he now doubted his ability to complete this mission. For the second time that day, he wondered if he was too old for this type of lifestyle. 15 years ago, he'd been able to do all of these things with ease, and now…..

As he opened the door, he was very much surprised to see Nina in the kitchen area. Since his arrival, he'd seen her every morning, but somehow she always seemed to disappear for the rest of the day. Her presence here, unnerved him for some reason.

Nina turned around when she heard him enter. She smiled politely at him, but still appeared to be a bit hesitant, seeing as how she'd witnessed his tirade not only this morning when she woke him, but also just less than an hour ago when she'd seen his abrupt departure.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, although he noticed instantly that she seemed to be cooking.

She smiled once again, shaking her head and shrugging to indicate that she hadn't understood him. "Hungry?" she asked, as she pantomimed the gesture. "Sit…..I….bring," she instructed him in broken English, pointing to the table.

Exhausted from everything that had happened during the day, Frank did as she asked, not even having the strength to respond verbally. He was hungry, he couldn't deny that and had actually been too tired to notice.

He smiled appreciatively at her when she brought a plate over to him just moments later. "Gracias, Nina," he managed to mumble at her, before picking up a fork and diving into the dinner that she had prepared for him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was wondering why tonight of all nights, she appeared here and so willingly made a meal for him, but either because of his exhaustion or any combination of other things, he chose to ignore that inner voice. A decision that would prove to be his undoing.

After he finished eating, she quickly cleared away the empty plates and disposed of them. Then without another word to him, she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. Shaking his head at the puzzle who was Nina, he rose from his chair and made his way toward the room that had temporarily become his home.

Picking up the case file, he set about once again familiarizing himself with "his" background. A short time later, however, he gave up when it appeared that his ability to concentrate was limited. Standing up, he suddenly felt as if the room was even more suffocating than it had been just minutes ago. Stripping away all but his boxer shorts, he headed toward the bathroom, wanting to splash some cool water on his skin.

Turning on the faucet, he ran the water over his hand and then splashed it on his face, neck and chest, hoping that it would help to alleviate some of the heat. Upon straightening up, he froze when he thought that he heard something. Quickly turning off the tap, he turned his head, sure that someone had entered the room behind him. Backing toward the wall, he cautiously peered around the doorframe, but saw no one in the room.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He could have sworn, he'd heard a voice or voices just seconds earlier. Wondering then if perhaps the intruder had exited when he heard the water shut off, Frank decided to go and investigate the remaining parts of the building.

Looking both up and down the hall first, he began to creep toward the main room, all the while keeping his ears open for any out-of-the-ordinary sound. Once in the larger room, he investigated every single inch, his head swiveling this way and that when he thought he would see something out of the corner of his eye.

As he passed the table he had just eaten at minutes earlier, he spotted a gun laying on it's empty surface. Without even questioning why the weapon would have been left out in the open like that, Frank simply picked up the gun and continued on, feeling somewhat better now that he was armed.

Continuing around the perimeter, the gun poised in front of him, Frank somehow missed the sight of his hands trembling. On and on he continued, circling the same room more than 3 times before stopping suddenly when he was sure that the perpetrator now stood behind him. Whirling around quickly, the room began to spin around him and an odd tingling sensation began to travel down his legs and arms.

Clutching for the nearest wall, he closed his eyes and tried to will the room to remain still.

"She's betrayed you, Luis," a woman's voice said.

Opening his eyes, Frank was finding it hard to focus on any one thing, but somehow knew that Lucia was back in the room with him, although he wasn't sure if she had been the one who had spoken.

"What? What did you say?" he asked confused by the pandemonium that seemed to be going on around him. Whirling this way and that, he tried desperately to find the person who had spoken.

"You can't trust her. You do know that, don't you?"

This time, Frank was able to finally see who the phantom was, and was not at all surprised to see a barely clothed Lucia standing before him. Somehow through the haze that enveloped his mind, he could make out her long, flowing hair, her ruby red lips and the silky, almost sheer nightgown that just covered her generous curves. And as much as he tried, he couldn't help but stare at every inch of her. His blood now rushing through his veins, he tried anxiously to focus on what she said.

"Who? Who has betrayed me?" he thought he asked, but wasn't sure.

"Who do you think?" she purred, slowly walking around him, running her hand along his bare arm and back, dropping her hand down even further as she came around to the front of him once more. "She looks so innocent…..so sweet, but looks can be deceiving, my love." Bringing her hand down from where it had rested on his abdomen, she cupped him through his shorts, massaging his steadily hardening manhood. "You know what you need to do to any who betray you," she whispered to him as she continued pleasure him through what remained of his clothing.

Everything in Frank's mind screamed that this was wrong, that he should remove her hand from him, but something stopped him, almost as if his body were no longer connected to his brain. But it was her words that he truly was trying to concentrate on. Who was she talking about? Who had betrayed him and why?

The room continued to spin, other voices could be heard weaving in and out of his consciousness and Frank felt helpless to control any of it. Suddenly then, Lucia moved away from him, eliciting either a moan of gratitude or disappointment from him, he wasn't sure which. And in her place two hooded men, brought a struggling Nina before him. Her eyes were wide with terror as she tried in vain to release herself from their grip.

"She….she is the betrayer. You must see that," Nina continued to whisper to him, although she was no longer standing where he could see her.

"No….." he barely managed to say as he stared at the young woman, so obviously frightened before him.

"Yes, Luis. She has to be dealt with. You know what you must do."

Frank continued to eye the girl held before him, and for some reason what Lucia said began to make sense. No one betrayed Luis Mendoza and lived to tell about it. And even though he knew nothing of her transgression…..knew nothing of how she had supposedly wronged him, he suddenly felt the need to make her pay for her crimes.

Leveling the gun at her, Frank looked down the barrel at the frightened girl and aimed directly for the center of her chest. Hesitating for only a fraction of an instant more, he finally pulled the trigger.

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Back in his office, Raymond Marsh watched the scene play out, almost sure at first that their plan had not worked, but quickly pleased when he saw Frank raise his weapon and then shoot the girl at almost point blank range. Smiling in satisfaction a moment longer, he reached over and picked up the telephone on his desk. Dialing quickly, he waited for the phone to be answered.

"It's Marsh. Have everything prepared. Our target will arrive in about an hour." Listening for a few seconds and nodding, he added. "I want all passports and paperwork in order, and make a reservation to Colombia. He'll be leaving tomorrow night."

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