Chapter 28: Curse
September 9th 2010 2140 Hours
Carre Vieux Port, Marseille, France
Even though I had snapped during that terrible night, everything that I had ever done since then was of my own doing. I didn't set out after that to destroy cultures, people, or nations. I only did what was necessary to stay alive and I was afraid of what would happen to me if I was ever caught. That didn't mean that the actions I took were without consequence. The faces of those that were at the other end of my gun. The amount of dead who I left behind when I was finished with whatever job I had. Those that had met a violent end whenever my anger consumed me. It had spawned a reputation that summarized a monster was out there in the world.
Naturally there would have been one that would dare to stand up to it. One that was not afraid of it and would do anything to stop it. This was her and she had finally reveled herself after two years. Her codename of "Hex" seemed appropriate. Since she named me "Nightmare" her curse had caused me to become an emotional and psychological train wreck. On top of all that, God really does have one hell of a sense of humor. Since she had hunted Koko for the longest time, it must have been a golden opportunity for her that both of her trophies were together, lined up for a perfect shot. Too bad that she kept missing, and she failed again earlier today.
But what she was doing now was rather unpredictable, even for me. Putting herself directly in the line of fire, and I didn't really even need a gun if I wanted to kill her. But what I needed to know was that who was it that intertwined us both? I had made many enemies in the last two years so I would have to ask the obvious question. That however would be later, right now I had to remain calm. Because I had made a promise to Koko, that I would not fall back into a violent beast. That I would not hurt others to satisfy my rage. That I would not transform back into a murderer.
As she had continued to stare at me with that fake gentle smile and dead green eyes, she must have been waiting for a response. I would not give her one, I would not take the hook. She then twirled my hair around her finger.
"What's wrong? I thought you would be glad to know the one who has been shadowing you for two years had been presented to you in a way in which you would kill them so easily? Or was this the first time a beast like you have been kissed by a woman?" She said with a curious ponder.
"If you're thinking that you can cause me to snap that easily you're full of shit." I said with a growl.
"Hmm. It seems whatever sweet words she's filled your ears with has distracted you from what you're about to get yourself involved with Damien. It's not something you can just power through, even with your tenacity."
"I'm already working for an arms dealer and I'm a wanted US military fugitive that's literally written out of a James Bond film. How much more "involved" can I be?"
She leaned back from me and crossed her arms, my hands were still placed in a position in which I could defend myself if necessary.
"I'm not talking about the moment, I'm talking about the horizon. While it may have been me who has caused you and Koko some headaches, the CIA have not made a full on move against you or HCLI. Why do you think that is?"
"Because as much as I want this to be true it's not. They're not stupid, HCLI is still a legit company on the books and it would cause a lot of questions and controversy if it just collapsed overnight. There's a lot of states out there that buy from Floyd Hekmatyar's company."
With that smile still on her face she closed the distance and put her arms around me. I then reached back for my .45 and kept my finger on the trigger. She then whispered in my ear.
"Well I'll give you points for being close. The company has a plan to get Koko Hekmatyar into one of their arms dealing puppets. The main reason was to piggy back off their new intelligence network and augment the US militaries worldwide communication for their benefits. I got unknowingly involved to lay the ground work for the plans of one of the directors who was in charge of this op. It wasn't until much later that I found out that you were with her so I let some of your old rivals know that you were in her employment. She practically gave away an opening for some of your old rivals to get back at you. The UAE, Serbia, Egypt, and now here, I know you didn't think it was a coincidence but I had to see what you were capable of so I let that weirdo Coduebuff know. Since you and that big bitch Velmer disappeared without knowing in Africa, I had to try again with you later. So I sent those hitmen to her as a present."
She was definitely pissing me off and wanting something to happen. But I couldn't afford to lose my cool. I was already on thin ice with Koko and Sophia from that bullshit with Low. But at least I had something solid now, whatever HCLI was putting together, Uncle Sam wanted to be a part of it or manipulate it behind the scenes. Honestly I wasn't really surprised at all, the United States still wanted to be the apex military of the world and they would do anything to accomplish it. That answered the first part, now came the second part. Who did she want to get back at?
"Well thank you kindly, my friends and I needed some target practice. Now here comes the part where I want no more bullshit and you answer me up front or I throw ass out into the garbage where you belong. What's the history between us? If you've been trying to catch me for two years, why now, and what did you mean when you wanted to get back at another?"
She then looked at my right arm reached over and slowly pulled up my sleeve to expose my tattoo. She leaned back on me put her finger on my arm and gently dragged it down from the hilt to the skull and to the tip of the blade. She then looked back to me with that smile but behind it was a look of envy.
"3rd Special Forces Group, The Wide Range Communications Platoon."
I raised my eyebrow having no idea who or what she was talking about. "Who?"
"It's not a surprise that you wouldn't know, it was before your time and before this world of ours turned into a mess of proxy wars and terrorists popping up everywhere. I take it you've already heard of the controversy and testing about women in combat roles in the US Military. This one was almost the real thing, but they disbanded us at the last fucking second simply because the Joint Chiefs at the time were uncomfortable with women fighting a man's war. Not long after that a scout for The Company picked me up, and I've been putting a lot of bad guys in the ground ever since."
Her smile slowly faded into a scowl. She must have been one of some volunteers who participated in some experiment that women were just as good as men in combat. Upon seeing Sophia in action I could testify that to be true without hesitation. But she was a special exception, and there aren't a whole lot of women like her in the world that can do the things she could do. I began to wonder what made Hex so special.
"Hold up for one second, you mentioned 3rd SF. Are you seriously telling me you were about to be christened as a Green Beret?"
Her scowl formed into a neutral look and then addressed me as if she was speaking matter of fact.
"Yes. I was just out of West Point and heard of this program through a friend of mine who graduated ahead of me. The training was no different than what you went through, and despite the class having only ten soldiers throughout the training we performed exceptionally. As a patriot I was glad that our small but great group was about to make a big change to the US Army and maybe the world as a whole. That we fought better than any man could. That is until the misogynistic pricks in charge thought we would be concerned with breaking a nail rather than breaking the necks of our enemies. I was the only one that rebelled after my peers were bought off with promotions and I would have gotten the program to continue, if it wasn't for him. I pushed myself harder and faster than anyone else he tried to break down. I thought he would be the one who would help me but instead he put the final nail in the coffin. He said I was obsessed, that I enjoyed the training too much."
It had to be one of my older trainers, those were the only guys I could think of. Some of them were pretty sore when they found out I managed to sneak around them and get myself to be qualified. Granted what I did when I asked my dad for help was legally questionable but who did she really hate just as much as me and Koko.
"Judging from what Koko told me about you, you deserved to be cast aside. And it doesn't surprise me that the SAD let a walking staph infection like yourself be a part of their team. But why go through me to get to whoever this guy was?"
She then relaxed and opened the distance between us so that our chests weren't touching anymore, thank God. But leaned up on her knees, put her hands on my face and leaned her forehead onto mine.
"Don't misunderstand. I don't hate you, I just needed you. Cause you don't need to kill someone in order to destroy them. It's no fun that way."
This bitch is sick to the core.
"Well if you don't hate me then quit wasting your time with me and go after the fool you want dead! Cause I have no idea who the hell you're talking about!"
She giggled softly as she took her head off of mine. "Now don't be silly. I couldn't just walk up to him of all people and shoot him. You would know that, seeing that you're that fool's son."
My heart then literally skipped a beat. I could not think of anything else to say. Dad always told me and mom everything, why didn't something like this come to mind. I knew that every now and then before he made field officer he was part of the training cadre at Ft Bragg. But why would she harbor a grudge against my father if he was part of a program like this? He always said he'd be fair and impartial to whoever was either under his command or trained. It couldn't be that he just said she was crazy. He did something that in her twisted head thought was just plain insulting.
As she continued to stare at me with those lazy and dead green eyes I realized something. She was my reflection, she had been through what I had and accepted the darkness. Except I couldn't handle the stress and broke down, I turned myself into something that wasn't my true nature. But in her case, she was true unto herself. In the end this woman is nothing more than an egotistical pile of neuroses. She was using her patriotism to cover up her own mad obsession for killing "terrorists". She also was weaker than I thought, she was no better than Thomas Kane. Praying on others to achieve her ultimate goal.
"So let me get this straight. You hate my father because from your point of view he betrayed you and you hated him so much that in order to break him as a man you make me out to be some kind of freak to tarnish my whole family's name?"
She still held her expression but whether she knew or not, she set herself up for a burn as I let out a light chuckle while grinning ear to ear.
"Wow. You are just absolutely pathetic. You didn't get what you wanted and instead of confronting a problem head on like a true soldier you take the cowards route and went after someone else. And your plan to go after me is proving to be just as bad as if you went after my pop head on. Back then my father would have killed you if you went after him only once. But consider yourself lucky, I'm not who you think I am. So you just crawl back to whatever hole in Langley you came from. Were done, I'm not gonna waste any time on you. It isn't worth it."
I grabbed her by her waist and lightly threw her to my side and stood up to leave. I never was one to believe in fate but some things at times can be more than coincidence. I didn't think I'd be a part of something in which my father's past was catching up to me. While I might have forever lost the ability to reconcile with him, quite frankly because I don't deserve it, my father would never let a delusional sociopath like her be part of the Army's Special Forces anyway. If he had a reason to cast her aside, it was a damn good one. As I was about to leave she spoke again, almost threateningly.
"He worries about what happened to you almost every day. In fact his stress on what happened to you almost got him removed from SOCOM."
I stopped just about five paces from the door. I didn't turn around but my eyes shifted to where her voice emanated. It was the first time I heard anything about dad in two and a half years. That meant he was still around and still having command.
"When the CIA told him on how you just vanished he literally collapsed onto his knees. It was as if his whole world ended. He didn't even speak to anyone for over two months, it eventually got to the point where he was kept on suicide watch."
Don't give into it. You know what she's trying to do.
"When I first heard of his reaction it was so satisfying. If he ever wanted to know how it truly felt to lose something so near and dear to one's heart, then that's how it felt when he robbed me of my title as the first woman in the Green Berets. God if the old bastard ever finds out what really happened to you he'd be ruined as a man."
Block it out Damien. Block it the fuck out.
"But I think the real question is do you even care about what happened to him at all? Or are you really who you think you are? Do you even care? Or has Hekmatyar turned you into a true dog of war? Loyal only to a master that may seem like a girl but is worse than you."
I turned around slowly and looked at her with murderous intent. "One question."
"What?" She said with that fake smile and look in her eye that she finally broke the barrier.
"Why the hell did you kiss me?" I deliberately asked confused. She wasn't gonna break me.
Continuing to hold that fake smile she walked towards me and then looked up to me with curiosity. I returned a look of complete uninterest. It looked like whatever she was planning on doing wasn't going to work. One thing that I would have to do later though was let Koko know that I did come face to face with her. But I would let her handle the method of disposing of her. Because I made her a promise, and I will not betray that promise.
Hex then decided to humor me.
"Frankly you're kinda cute. I thought I could feel warmth from what should be the personification of death. But now that I've tasted it, I see that it is rather bland. You're just an oversized, sarcastic, pretty boy that has a mild case of autism. It looks like you're not what I thought you'd be." She said sounding disappointed.
"I'll take that as a complement." I said proudly.
She then opened the door and Amalia's guards were there to escort her out. I motioned to them that we were done and they led her out of the hotel. As I then walked back to the elevators to the suite I heard Hex one last time.
"I will admit that you are more tactful in your thinking Damien. I'm glad that you would take that compliment."
"Happy to oblige." I said turning around and falling slightly back into southern hospitality.
"Cause if you actually did kill me, I wouldn't be able to make this phone call I need to make so that Koko doesn't end up in the crosshairs of a Barrett .50 Cal."
My smile quickly turned into a scowl. No wonder she put herself in the line of fire like that. If I did something stupid, I would be responsible for Koko's death. She looked like she wanted to send a message that she was gonna go all out next time and she wasn't afraid. I then looked to Amalia's men.
"Make sure she leaves the hotel safely." I said as unfazed as I could.
"Caio Damien. We'll talk again soon!" She said waving me off with her false smile.
I subtly hurried to the elevator and went back to Amalia's suite. Upon reaching the top floor I bolted to the room and motioned to the guards out front to let me in, I didn't take my phone with me so I left it in the suite. I then dialed in Koko's number on her Iridium phone. Lutz and R were looking at me wondering what happened. I held up a finger to let them know it was urgent.
"Hello?" She answered with a yawn, she must have been asleep.
"Koko it's Damien. Are you okay? Nobody following you at all today?"
"Uhh…yeah. The deal today went a lot better than yours did. Why what's wrong?"
"Get everyone up and go to the airport, NOW. You're going to be extra early to your flight when you leave for France. I'll explain later, but for now let's just say we had an uninvited guest. I'll see you tomorrow."
As I hung up, R gave me a look on what just happened when I was gone.
"No worries man, it's my problem."
A very big problem though but I wasn't gonna risk it in case Hex wasn't bluffing. I then made my way back to the balcony, Amalia was looking over the railing. Probably seeing Hex driving away.
"Did you get what you needed Damien?"
"Yeah...I did."
She knew from the tone I used that it was for me alone to know what happened so she didn't prod any further. She then smiled gently and walked towards me.
"Ok then. Now back to our conversation. What happened between you and Miss Velmer?"
"Oh…well. This is gonna be a doozy." I said rather embarrassed while placing my ice bag back on my head.
September 10th 2010 0945 Hours
Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille, France
Needless to say when me, Lutz, and R met Koko and the rest of the crew at the airport we made it obvious that we did not want to talk about how fucked up the previous day was. Starting off with ruining a $40,000 car, we'd have to make it a write off, with our own cash. Lutz's arm was in a sling from where his shoulder was nearly dislocated, R had a bandaged face and black eyes from slamming his face into a steering wheel, and with my concussion I had to be told twice to get ready to go to the docks. Lehm said I had a totally vacant stare which meant this wasn't going away anytime soon, I was gonna have to go to a doctor.
The trip to the docks was a silent one except when Koko made the phone call to Amalia about where to meet. She was riding shotgun with Lehm and I was in the back seat with Sophia, still pretty angry. But at least they didn't reel into me or Lutz and R too hard since we were already banged up from our action movie chase on the freeway yesterday. We parked under a cargo crane where Amalia was waiting for us, they then both walked off to the edge of the docks for a semi private conversation. Leaving us, the body guards, to keep each other company. Since Amalia already had the chips, she just gave Koko the money. They must have really trusted each other cause normally in this line of work there's never anything exchanged until both the product and funds are both present.
"Thank you so much again. I love you Koko. With the new regulations I could never have gotten these."
"Don't thank me, thank Damien, R, and Lutz. They're the ones that got them back."
"No worries I already did. Now as of yesterday though, have you done anything that would catch the eye of some nefarious types have you?"
She then stared back at me and Sophia, indicating about our little African road trip.
"I've been nothing but boring, why'd you ask?"
"I have a friend in the DGSE who told me that there are some CIA tracking you. Some rather unpleasant types as well, not your average field agents, these ones are dangerous."
Hex. No doubt about it. I'll have to let her know the moment were out of France.
"Thanks for the warning Ms. Tolokhovsky I'll be sure to keep an extra eye out."
"CIA are the hardest pests for our business. I do recall one man who tried to latch on to me years ago. What was his name? Oh yes, 'Bookman' was his nickname."
"Yes, I've heard of him as well. Real name George Black, runs the CIA European branch. Made a bit of a name for himself during the Yugoslav Wars and orchestrated the capture of several key Iraqi leaders when the US invaded in 2003."
Amalia then gave her a look of praise as they both turned to walk to us. "You know your enemies. That's my Koko."
"The world of spies is a game of chess, you must always be one step ahead."
"It's why I got my DGSE friends to get George off my back. The man thinks he can pull the strings on arms dealers on us like we're puppets. But both of us know what he's doing is impossible."
"And the reason for that is because the both of you are absolutely terrifying." I butted in.
"Oh come now Damien. We're not so scary." Amalia teased.
"No I'm serious. It's always the ones that you least expect that creep up from behind and get you like Jason Voorhees."
"Well if your saying Koko is a hockey mask wearing undead monster then that would make you a terrified teenage girl?"
I turned around and Sophia was behind me, looking slightly offended to on how I compared Koko to an infamous movie slasher star.
"Well to be fair Valmet he does have the best kept hair and if it wasn't for his voice, with his boyish looks he would fit well to be another victim."
It was Koko that came in with that one. I only then just realized how badly screwed I was, I was surrounded on three sides and had no way out. I then heard restrained snickering as Lehm and Amalia's guard Viktor were slowly backing away, leaving me to my fate.
Aww crap.
"Now, now go easy on Damien. He had a bit of a rough day yesterday, shouldn't you be letting him know everything's going to be alright Sophia?"
Sophia then took her eyes of me to Amalia and shot her a scowl. Then turned back to me.
"One; that's 'Valmet' to you. Two; what did he tell you?"
"Apparently not everything from what I'm witnessing."
Valmet, at this point, gave me a murderous look.
"Alright Valmet calm down, you can strangle Damien later. I'm sorry to make this meeting so short Ms. Tolokhovsky but we must go, come along Damien." Koko said as she looped her arm around mine.
"Dazvidanya, Koko. And you as well Damien, please get well soon."
I waved to her as we were walking away, and we then drove off. I leaned back on the back seat as if I just had the world's biggest kick to the nuts. With three hungry wolves around me there was no way I got out of that one unscathed. I'd rather do that damn freeway chase again.
"Ok I get it. I won't do anything stupid like what I did on the Fruition anymore I swear." I said with annoyed defeat.
After coming into the gaze of a single gold eye, it was followed by a smirk and she turned to Koko.
"I think he's learned his lesson."
"I know he has, as a woman it's not that hard to read a totally defeated man." She said proudly while I heard Lehm's distinct short chuckle.
As we continued along the road back into town I looked out the window. It was time I told her about my visitor.
"Koko, I found out who's been hounding us recently and you were right."
"Hmm?" She turned around to face me.
"Last night I had a lady come visit me."
September 20th 2010 1100 Hours
HCLI Training Facility, East Sussex County, United Kingdom
After we pulled our resources out of France it was time to do some brush up training. Obviously when I told Koko that her old friend Hex had reared her ugly head again she wanted us to be on extra guard. I didn't however tell her that I also had a connection to Hex, just not directly. That would however come at a later time and we would have to deal with her eventually. But next time though, she'll be doing it herself and it won't end until one of us is dead.
It was because of this little incident that Koko wanted to upgrade us, if you will. Apparently giving us all new gear, equipment, and weapons. It was also about time she take a page out of my book and take the more practical approach. I figured since it was just gonna shooting guns today and target practice, I brought out my own personal arsenal. Or as I like to call it, my Toy Box.
I had the thing custom made over a year ago from a safe maker during a short trip to Saudi Arabia. Much larger than your average foot locker or storage box, it was rather secure so I had to make sure no one broke into it. That being said it was also heavy, so it moved along on wheels. I took my folding stool, sat down, opened the lid and brought out my guns that were neatly placed on fold out trays as if you were to get a fishing lure from a tackle box. I then noticed one in particular that I hadn't used in a while, my Benelli M4 Super 90. Grabbing a rag at the bottom I then started wiping it down. As I was casually going about my business, I didn't bother paying attention to the looks that I knew everyone was giving me. They knew by now that I'd like being prepared for every situation.
"You put a whole new shine on the word 'overcompensation' Damien." Sophia said as she approached from my left shoulder to peek into the Toy Box. Picking up another weapon I didn't use as much, my modified SG 550.
"Hey what's the one rule we both agreed on? Not to touch each other's stuff."
She just smirked and pulled the bolt back to see if the chamber was clear. "You're a big fan of rail systems I see."
"Allows me to swap out optics and accessories to better suit whatever mission is at hand."
As we continued to conversate on weapon aspects our speech was drowned out by bursts of automatic fire. Tojo was test firing a new rifle we got, which appeared to be a new type of Adaptive Combat Rifle or ACR. It appeared that even though this was the most likely weapon to replace the current US Army's M4's and M16's it still was put on the back burner for the future simply because of the cost. Like the XM8 it found a better home for private military companies. While I was grateful for having access to reliable gear all the time, I pitied the guys in the service that kept using the same stuff for 50 years simply because the military always bought from the lowest bidder. That is unless you were part of the black ops world and even then the perks you had were only minor.
"Crazy to think that we live in an age where even the magazines are plastic." Tojo said as he unloaded the empty clip.
"You're not alone in that man. I still can believe the progress firearms have made in the last 30 years alone. Most of them around the world were still primarily steel and wood." I said agreeing with him as I put my Benelli back in its tray.
"Glad you guys like them cause all of you are getting new gear."
Koko then pulled out two cases one small and one large and opened the larger on first.
"Say hello to your new little friends!" She said with a bad impression of Tony Montana. "The Remington ACR."
The crew then let out an audible reaction of awe but I just stared in silence. I always believed in the fact that it was the one behind the weapon that made the difference. While cheesy it was true, and the same can be said for almost anything like racing, fishing, or cooking.
"Glad you all like it. I was gonna be worried that you'd all say 'Kaaaaaay'."
"I'm glad for anything brand new Koko but it's kinda unnecessary. It ain't like we have any problems with our current rifles. Variety is the spice of life." I said patting my box.
"Ah ah ah! I had a feeling you'd say that Damien." She said pointing an accusing finger. "That's why I decided to take your methods of being prepared and make sure that all of us use the same ammo and magazines so we can help each other out in a pinch."
I then gave a smile of approval as she then opened the smaller case, then held up a very familiar pistol.
"This will go for sidearm's as well. This will be your new handgun, the Sig Sauer SP2022. Anyone that wasn't using 9mm rounds before, you are now."
I doubt that very much. I don't care what you do to me Koko you ain't taking away my two most trusted pals that kept me alive for so long.
"Well don't just show it off, fire off some rounds. Let's see what you got little lady."
I was taken back a little by what R said by calling her out. And come to think of it since I've been working for Koko I've never seen her shoot. The guys did say that she did but it was far and few in between so this would be interesting. She loaded up three rounds in the mag and walked towards the firing line to one of the untouched close range targets at 10 meters. Perfect stance and pistol control, one, two, three, in steady moderation. Three shots center mass, two in the inner most circle and one just on the edge. She most assuredly knew what she was doing.
"If you can't match my grouping, you'll be punished."
"God! Thanks a lot R! Now we gotta play her game!"
As Lutz was cursing at R, I just got a massive boost in enthusiasm. I sat up from my stool and then approached Koko with my arms crossed. I always loved a challenge when it came to shooting.
"I'll do you one better Koko, I'll beat your grouping."
"Bold statement Damien, but if you insist. Here." She said offering me her Sig.
"Ha! Not with that thing, I got something better." I said with my thumb to my chest as I made my way to my Toy Box.
I had something special in the bottom that I normally shot for fun. It was as American as anything could be. While we were often seen as the bastard child of the world, we made a lot of influences both good and bad, especially in weapons and war. This however was one of nicer ones, and it was a thrill to shoot. I pulled out a simple unmarked black plastic case and set it on the table next to the Sig and ACR. I opened it and pulled it out and held it up a little bit too dramatically covering the right side of my face. Silver finish, eight inch barrel, black ribbed grip, and six shots of 270 grain rounds that will knock you flat on your ass.
"The old saying goes is that God made men and Sam Colt made them equal. I hold that to be true. The Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum Revolver."
After five long seconds of everyone staring at me dumbfounded, Lutz broke the silence.
"Oh God can you be any more of a stereotype?"
His sarcasm had a bit of a bite that time and the rest of the crew looked at me on how I just turned into the complete opposite of my practical self. The only one who held her composure with her usual smile was Koko.
"You know Lutz I could say something rather clever but I'm not that type of person so I'll just say, get the hell out of my way and let me shoot."
I then looked to Koko and motioned with her head to go ahead, she decided to humor me. I took six bullets and loaded them one at a time, spun the cylinder so that working properly and locked it in the gun and moved to the next unshot target. I took a sharp breath and exhale, took aim and fired all six at the same moderation as Koko did. The noise from the big rounds went off louder than both the pistol and rifle causing a longer echo. After the final shot I kept the revolver aimed down range and analyzed the target, six shots all in the inner circle. I then unloaded the empty rounds and turned to face Koko, not really caring about the rest of the crew being flabbergasted on what they just saw.
"I'm thirsty, any y'all wanna soda?"
"Pepsi's fine with me if you have any Damien." Koko said casually.
As I left the range to go get the cooler out of the SUV outside the range I overheard the silent whispers of "What the fuck?"
Don't hate me cause I'm good at my job guys.
1312 Hours
After getting reoutfitted with our new rifles and adjusting our sights at the range we headed out to the driver's section. The drill was to extract a VIP in the event of an ambush and evac them by a vehicle. Naturally Ugo was the driver in the SUV that was following me, Lutz, Mao, and R while Tojo acted as the VIP. We were taking turns in different positions as the escorts four at a time. Wiley and Sophia were sitting it out with Koko waiting for their turn while Lehm acted as the coach.
"And…threat!" He said raising his hand high in the air
We all reacted with instinct as Ugo's car pulled up behind us. Mao took the rear, Lutz took the front, I took the opposite front, and R took Tojo and shoved him into the back seat. This was the third drill so far and we were supposed to move moderately and then speed it up but this one was a bit of a drag.
"Too slow guys. You'll end up being cut to ribbons if you all move like that." Lehm shouted.
"Damien, you're on the wrong side, I'm supposed to cover from the engine."
"Aw crap your right, sorry Lutz."
Lehm let out an annoyed sigh. "Let's run it again. Wiley, Valmet, switch out with R and Damien."
We then switched out and R and I moved to where Koko was sitting under some shade where she was working on her laptop. R then tossed me a bottle of water as I undid my ponytail and started scratching my head, I was starting to build up a sweat under my thick hair.
"Seriously how the hell do you function the way you do with all that hair? You're lucky it hasn't gotten caught in anything yet."
"Bro, I run the same risk if a strap on my gear or piece of clothing gets caught on something. If it does I'll just cut it loose with my knife. But I am gonna get this thing trimmed eventually."
"No don't do that. Valmet will want you to look as least masculine as possible seeing she's the dominant one in your relationship." He said poking fun at me.
I then looked out to her as they ran the drill again. This time Tojo tripped on Lutz's leg and he landed face first in a mud puddle. I then saw her laugh.
"You honestly think I mind?"
"Somehow I had a feeling you'd say that."
"Hate to interrupt the discussion on couples you two are having but R, I have a question for you." Koko said while looking at me with both eyebrows raised. I automatically knew what she was gonna ask.
"Sure what's up?"
"Have you heard of a CIA agent known as Bookman?"
"Yeah. Ran into him a few times during the Bosnian War when I was still Italian Army. Bookman is only one of his many nicknames but his real name is…"
"George Black, currently the director in charge of European operations." Koko answered for him.
"Hmm. Good that you've been doing your homework. What do you wanna know?"
"I heard a few rumors from Ms. Tolokhovsky that he might be tracking us. I figure I ask you since you've actually met him in person."
"Well one things for sure he's a big eater. Not like you Damien where he balances out his diet with exercise. He did have a bit of a gut fifteen years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't get out of a chair now though."
Koko let out a chuckle. "I guess working in the CIA makes you stress eat. I almost never see Schokolade without food."
"I do know that he majored in languages. He most definitely speaks better Arabic than you do Damien. But the reason why he's mostly known as Bookman is that makes it pertinent to know every detail about something. Sort of like a scholar."
Man must be quite smart. I normally just get what I need and move on, considering the fact that what I do now I don't really have time to memorize things in every little detail.
"Does this have anything to do with those hitmen last month? Or our little accident in France last week?" He asked.
"Sorta, but that guy sure as hell wasn't the one who did that last hit. I managed to figure it out, but I couldn't take care of it because I was…in a bit of bind."
"What are you talking about Damien?"
I then turned to Koko and she answered for me.
"Have you ever heard of a SAD agent with the code name of Hex?"
"Can't say I have. Who is he?"
"He's a she. Hex as in witch."
"Or in her case when she made contact with me; curse."
"What?" R said in a whispered shout.
"Yeah, it was later in the evening after our mad dash across Marseille. She deliberately put herself directly in my line of fire, wanting me to kill her."
R then stared at me confused. "Why?"
"Well I won't say everything but she's getting desperate. She wanted to let us know personally that next time she's gonna go at us head on. I didn't know for sure or not if she was bluffing but her team had eyes on Koko and the rest of the crew. If I killed her, I would have killed them. But I wouldn't have done it anyway."
I then smiled and winked at him and he knew where I was getting at. I did what Koko said and made sure I didn't do anything that made me what I wasn't gonna be.
"Way to use your head Damien. Great job."
He then held out his fist and I returned it with a bro bump. But then I heard Lehm shout.
"Damien! Come switch with Mao! Family emergency."
"On my way."
I then grabbed my new ACR and headed back over to the SUV and took his position. We then began the drill again and waited for Lehm's signal.
"Threat!"
I took my position in the rear while Sophia and Lutz took cover from the engine while Tojo, still covered in mud, took Wiley to the SUV. We were working a little faster this time but this one had a variable in it.
"Escort shot! VIP in danger!"
Letting instinct kick in I turned around to grab Wiley and take over Tojo's job. However I was a little too focused on him and ran directly into someone else, hard. My head took a bit of an impact from that collision, and it still hurt from our Hollywood car chase last week. I then leaned up from off of the ground grasping my head in pain.
"Aww shit! Sorry guys."
Strangely they didn't say anything but each were staring at me with a look of mischief.
"What?" I asked.
"You two just can't seem to wait can you?" Lutz said in his sarcasm.
After a brief moment of confusion I then looked down. I was on top of Sophia in a bit of a provocative and dominant mount. She was looking up to me with a mixture of shyness and anger, but mostly anger. Thinking quickly I acted as if I could brush it off as an accident and got off of her quickly and offered her a hand up.
But when she took it, she pulled out her unnatural strength and pulled me back toward the ground and I ended face planting in the dirt.
"Tyhma." She said in her native tounge.
As I lifted my head up she then stood up herself and got back into her position so we could run the drill again. But not before I saw a slight redness on her face, what I couldn't tell though was if it was embarrassment or rage.
"Looks like someone's sleeping on the couch tonight."
"Shut up Lutz." I said still on the ground.