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Chapter 2: Enter Anderson and Maxwell
Duo had his ankle resting on his knee and he draped himself over the chair facing his new boss's desk. His braid was precariously wrapped over his shoulder and he rested his head back on his folded arms. He was beginning to like his new, clean, crisp surroundings. Maybe he would like his new job just as much.
Natalia smiled a bit. Agent Maxwell would certainly brighten things up. What with the somewhat uptightAgents Hino and Yuy and the grim Board of Governors and all. Things weren't exactly cheerful and Duo's carefree attitude would definitely make life a little more liveable.
The door whooshed open and Amy Anderson entered, clutching a novel she had gotten distracted with.
"I'm sorry I'm late!"
The older woman bent down to readjust her shoe and looked at the small-framed girl. "Agent Anderson. How very uncharacteristic of you."
Amy hung her head. "I'm sorry. I got kind of distracted," she apologized, offering her book as an explanation.
Natalia sighed. "That's okay. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Read when you have freetime, not when you need to get to work."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Natalia peered at Amy again. "And one more thing. Don't call me 'Ma'am'."
"Yes, Miss Hernandez."
Natalia's lips formed an approving smile. She really was the intelligent indiviual she was. Usually, people would make the mistake of saying "ma'am" a second time, blush, and apologize again. But Amy got it. Natalia looked over at Duo, who looked like he should be in a fold-out chair on the beach basking in the sun. Agent Anderson will do some good for Agent Maxwell, and vice versa.
"Anyhow, let's get down to business. First off, introductions. Agent Maxwell, this is Agent Amy Anderson."
Duo's right eye opened and he looked at the one named Agent Amy Anderson. "Cool!" he remarked. "Short hair!"
Amy gave him a small smile. "Cool," she returned. "Long hair."
"I'm Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you, Miss Short-Hair," Duo said as he extended his hand to Amy.
Amy gladly shook it. "Nice to meet you, too, Mr Long-Hair."
Natalia was somewhat pleased with this friendly banter. She was glad that her instincts on this partnership was confirmed. She cleared her throat. They still had work to do.
"Wait, scroll back up." Rei had jumped a little. The little tidbit of information had jumped out at her from Heero's computer.
Heero did as he was told. The moment he scrolled up, he realized what Rei had seen.
"Oh my God! This is it! This is exactly what we need!" Rei yelled, jumping up and down.
Heero glared a bit at the girl. He uncomfortably noticed that her somewhat well-endowed chest was bouncing a little. He couldn't help it. They were right in front of his face. He ignored that and concentrated on what the monitor was displaying.
He scanned over the recovered document. Rei was right. That was exactly what they needed.
"Employee of the Month had always been honoured to Casey Emilio, who worked for Exeter's Chief Accountant, Morgan Bentley. Tension amongst the employees followed during thefive months that Casey Emilio was named Employee of the Month. Board had been notified by a mole that Morgan Bentley was attempting to pay back what he owed to Emilio..." Rei's voice trailed a bit.
"Drug ring? Whoa...way weird...I mean, isn't Exeter supposed to be a marketing company? How does a drug ring fit in?"
Heero frowned and ran his hand through his hair. "It doesn't have to fit in," he pointed out.
Rei sighed and sat on his desk, biting at the hangnails on her thumb. Morgan Bentley, as far as she gathered, had no real reason for being involved in a drug ring. So why did he need Emilio to do whatever dirty work it was? Why did he need to be involved in something that would have jeopardize is career? "Heero, look up Bentley."
The young man sighed. Was he just being paid to just sit there and listen to the girl's every command? But he figured that doing what she said would be better than having to argue. He didn't want to talk, much less argue. It struck him, then, that it was first time in a long time someone had just called him "Heero." There was no "Yuy" that followed, no "Mr" or "Agent" that preceeded it. His stomach flipped a bit.
"Bentley, Morgan, Exeter Corporation," he typed.
"Exeter? That sounds familiar..." Duo remarked when Natalia mentioned it.
"Isn't that a marketing company that fell into shambles a few months ago? I kind of remember that story being plastered all over the news," added Amy.
"That's right," Natalia replied. "They have a lot legal problems that have been pulling so far into their treasury that they are nearing bankruptcy. But the media had been mislead. The public doesn't know the true reason behind these legal problems. The media has led the people to believe that they had disputes with another company called Bentmore Corporation."
"So you want us to find out why, is that it?" Duo asked, tipping back his chair.
Natalia nodded. She rested her pen on her lip. It was not good to lie, but she figured that they needed to be motivated. She wanted to test out her new agents. And she was running out of time. "Rival spies from another agency are already working on the case. I have gathered research telling me that they are digging up on the Emilio Case. The Emilio Case, however has not been confirmed to be a legitimate case, but they have been working on it. I want you to start on a different foot and find out first."
"You mean snoop around Exeter?" Amy asked.
"Perceptive, you are."
Amy blushed. "Just a guess."
Natalia tapped her pen on her chin. "Well, Agents Anderson and Maxwell, there is a lot of work to do."
"Yes, Miss Hernandez, we'll get started."
In the lounge, the air conditioning was blasting at a maximum and Rei pulled her sweater closed and she leaned back against the counter, sipping a cup of coffee. Her first sip produced an expression of disgust on her face when she tasted the extreme bitterness. The taste reminded her of the last time she tried to drink coffee. Defeated, she poured the contents of her mug down the sink. She would never be able to drink coffee, except for things like fraps and coffee-flavoured ice cream. But those didn't count.
She searched the cupboardsand founda tin of green tea. Boring, everyday, placid, and almost tasteless by now, she welcomed it to the bitter taste of coffee on her tongue. She poured hot water over the tea bag and let it steep. Walking over to the window, she peered over the breathtaking height of the building.
The people were like tiny dolls, roaming about the streets, coming in and out of shops, waiting at the bus stop, getting out of cars. She sighed and thought about what Morgan Bentley would be doing if he was on this street. Probably getting dropped off by the chauffeur of his limo at the fancy pub across the street and stepping into his perpetually reserved private room for some drinks, she thought dryly.
She turned away, her mind unable to think about anything except for the case she and Heero had been working on.
They had found surprisingly little about Emilio, considering the case was named after this man. Instead, they found abundant information Emilio's boss.
They came across thousands of financial records that Bentley had archived since he had been employed by Exeter. Bentley had only worked there for two years but had been able to tweak the budget, rearrange personnel, and increase the company earnings by eleven percent in the past year. But ever since the beginning of 2006, things at Exeter had not been doing too well. Right now, Exeter is on the brink of bankruptcy and the financial records reflect exactly this.
The door opened and Rei lifted her head to see Heero come in.
"Hey," she said, "finally decided to come out of your room?"
Heero grunted, which made Rei sigh. Well, at least he doesn't grunt all the time. They were making progress with this whole not speaking business. It was slow, but at least it was progress.
"Did you find anything else?" Rei figured that if she asked him a legitimate question about the case, he would be less likely to think that she was forcing him to talk. Sure, she wanted him to talk, but she didn't really want to make him that she forcing him to do something against his will. The time spent with him looking over files and hacking into various sources of information and stuff actually kind of made her...like him?
She was a little suprised at herself but then heard him say:
"Something about his family."
Something in Rei's head clicked. "Family!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. Without thinking, she put a hand on Heero's arm and he tried not shrink back.
"Tell me," she said, shaking him a little, "Does he have any kids?"
Heero took out his communicator and reviewed some notes that he transferred on it. "Yeah, two sons, two daughters."
"Give me that," she said, taking it out his hand.
Their fingers brushed, but Rei didn't make a big deal about it. She was too wrapped up. But Heero did. He was hardly ever touched. He couldn't remember the last time he was. He just didn't like being touched. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"Oh my God! Daniel Bentley, Jason Bentley, Abigail Watson, and Jane Bentley. This is the perfect explanation!"
Heero looked up and gave a somewhat lost expression. Rei misinterpreted it.
"Bentley's kids are a bunch of druggies and he needs to provide for them and so Bentley enlists Emilio to get the goods for him!"
Rei forgot about the cold, the tea, and Heero. She ran for the door and then realized that her partner was leaning against the wall, staring at the streets.
"Heero! Come on!"
Heero sighed. He had hoped for a break but he didn't really want to argue.
What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I giving in to this stupid girl? Why do I always feel the need to answer to her? How is she doing this to me?
A million question buzzed in his mind, each one unanswered.
