This is part one of Chapter Two. Next update will be two weeks later.
Fisher's Residence
1215hrs
Sam stared at the other man in his bathroom. He gave a snicker.
"You're too old Sam." He said.
"I'm not." Sam defiantly replied.
"Look at you. Hair's turning grey all over."
"So what…Argh." The ex-NSA agent let out a groan and massaged his back.
"See, now even your back's hurting. Time to have a good rest, Sarah wouldn't want to see you in a body bag."
"Sarah…" Sam sighed, remembering that his daughter and only closest kin was gone from his life forever. What a memory those 21 years would be. Sam cupped his forehead; the memories were hurting him, piercing his brain repeatedly like being shot upon by a full-automatic.
Sam looked back at the man and punched him in the face. "Damn it!" he shouted. He only realized that he had severely cracked his bathroom mirror six seconds after retracting his hand. Now the man on the other side was a blur, just like Sam's senses now.
"Shit," Sam muttered, knowing that he would have to replace the mirror. He splashed some cold water to rejuvenate his wrinkled face and walked back to the hall. His living room vividly reminded him of his child. There were photos of the duo placed neatly on the TV and shelves. On the walls were sixteen Father's Day cards done by Sarah, who had started drawing when she was just five. The cards accurately charted her growth from child to teen to young adult, as seen from her handwriting and language employed. Sam looked at the one dated 2005. "I can't believe that we're living this lifestyle for 18 years and still going strong! You know what does this show – you're the best dad I've ever had!"
Sarah was referring to her father's frequent long 'business trips' which kept him out of the house most of the time. Sam had never told her daughter about his real job because it could jeopardize his career and also his family's well-being if she accidentally let the cat out of the bag. Instead he lied to her that he was working as a manager for an IT firm, and his position required him to attend various conferences and exhibitions around the world. Sarah bought it, though she had once asked why her father had not brought any new gizmo back. That was when Sarah was eight. From then on, every time Fisher returned from a mission Lambert would hand him something to give his daughter, just to make the show credible.
Hanging above the couch was a framed certificate of Sarah's graduation from high school. Sam had wanted to go and support his daughter on that special occasion, but as luck would have it, Lambert posted him to a particular lighthouse in Peru, which sparked off what would be an exhilarating race to stop World War Three from breaking out in the Pacific. When Sam finally returned home, Sarah was utterly displeased with her father's failure to turn up for her graduation and sudden long absence. Even the new iBook which Sam had brought home would not put a smile to her face ( Lambert thought this time Sam would need a big present for Sarah ). So Sam wrote a lengthy and sincere letter apologizing to his daughter and promising that nothing like this would happen again. It was framed up too and hung just next to the certificate, much to the approval of Sarah.
Sam hated to be away from home. Being the only parent, he was constantly worried of Sarah's safety and pleaded Lambert to insert a 24-hour surveillance team to watch Sarah while she was under the care of their neighbour Mrs Rosemary. Lambert reluctantly agreed, but warned him that surveillance crew needed to sleep too. Now it seemed that Sam would need the crew to monitor him, just to make sure that he would not do anything stupid.
He flipped open the Yellow Pages and searched the category "Bathroom Accessories". Sam cursed himself for spending unnecessary money and dialed a number.
"Hi, you do replacements for bathroom mirrors?"
