Barney didn't like it either, but here he was, sitting outside of a bar waiting for Lee to come out. He'd gone in there with Edward, alone, like a stupid ass.
"Shouldn't one of us be in there watching?" Doc asked.
"I'll do it," Gunner offered.
"If Eddie sees anything out of the ordinary, he'll know something is up," Barney told them. "Lee is good at what he does, guys. You know this."
"Yea, but something isn't sitting right," Toll insisted. Caesar was the only one not there. He was looking after Kate from a distance.
Barney didn't say anything as he smoked his cigar. If Lee wasn't out of there in two hours, he was going in.
...
Kate did her best to keep busy, but she was going out of her mind with worry. Edward had picked up Lee and taken him to the card game, and she was left feeling like the worst thing in the world was going to happen. She knew Barney would keep an eye on him, but she felt it wasn't good enough. She thought back on that morning with Lee and what he'd told her. It made her wish they'd met years earlier. Perhaps things would be much different now.
She jumped when her phone rang, and she frowned upon seeing Boris's name come up.
"Hello?" she said cautiously.
"Desiree! It's me," Tansley whispered. "I need your help."
"What's going on?"
"They're going to kill me," Tansley whispered frantically. "They think I'm a fed. I didn't know who else to call. Please help me!"
"Where are you?" Kate asked. She felt slightly suspicious, but Tansley was freaking out too much to be faking it.
"At the office. I stole Boris's phone before he left for cards, but I'm locked in here, and he's going to come back sooner than later. Desiree, you gotta help me," Tansley whimpered.
"Okay, just hang-" she started when a loud crash and a scream through the phone cut her off.
"No!" Tansley was shouting. "Noooo!"
The line went dead, and Kate's blood went cold. She grabbed her gun she'd hid under her kitchen table and stuck it in the back of her pants as she went out the door. She hurried along the hallway to the elevator and went inside it, pressing the ground floor button. A big, burly arm swung around and caught the doors before they closed, making her yelp and jump back.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Caesar demanded, stepping in with her.
"Tansley is about to be killed," Kate answered. "Right now. She just called me!"
"Tansley? As in Agent Fields?" Caesar confirmed.
"Yes!"
"Shit. All right. Let's go," he said, getting in and letting the doors shut. Kate was vibrating with nerves. She pictured Macy, the colleague she'd only known from afar, and how she had been just like Tansley. Sweet. Funny. Personable. Then she thought of Reggie. Her best friend, her partner. His dead eyes staring back at her. She couldn't let another innocent person get slaughtered in this situation.
"Keep your head on," Caesar warned as they exited the building. "This way." He led her to his rental car. She noticed he had to cram himself into it.
"You want me to drive?" she asked.
"I'm good," he answered, his neck twisted sideways a bit so he could see. Kate doubted he was, but she didn't have time to argue with him. She held on tight, for Caesar drove a little bit like a maniac.
...
Barney looked at his phone and frowned. This wasn't good.
"What?" Toll asked, noticing.
"Caesar is on his way with Kate to her office. It seems Agent Fields is set to be killed tonight," Barney answered.
"Should we assist?" Gunner asked.
"Oh, me, me!" Doc exclaimed excitedly. He was bored. He wanted some action.
"You head over there," Barney nodded to Gunner. "Let me know what's going on."
"Aww, come on, man," Doc whined. He crossed his arms and sat back in his seat, pouting. Toll was snickering a little.
"I'm on it," Gunner said, hopping out. It wasn't too far from where they were. Barney watched him disappear into the darkness in the side mirror. He tapped his fingers on the wheel. He hoped Lee was doing all right in there. He was starting to get a bad feeling too.
...
Lee was winning. He knew it was pissing off Boris and Edward and the other two blokes they'd brought along, but he didn't care. He was good at cards. He was also good at getting information without anyone speaking. He knew Boris had something going on and somewhere to be by the way he kept checking the clock on the wall, and he knew Edward was itching to have a one night stand by the way he kept staring at the waitress. The other two were just fill ins. It was written on their faces how bored they were and how uninterested they were in chatting.
"Damn it," Edward complained when Lee won another round. "Where did you learn to play like that?"
"My Pops," Lee answered with a smile.
"We gonna wrap this up soon or not?" Boris asked Edward.
"What's your hurry?" Edward countered.
"I got work to do," Boris replied.
"You're not drug dealers are ya?" Lee asked. "I mean...the funky work hours and all..." He trailed off as both men stared at him. "Easy, now. I'm just messin' with ya. You could be cab drivers for all I know."
Boris shot Edward a look and threw down his cards.
"I'm out," he said. "You're terrible at picking new friends, Ed."
"I didn't know he'd win almost every hand!" Edward called after him. He scowled at Lee. "Now you've pissed him off. You can't piss Boris off without a consequence."
"I'll give him his money back," Lee offered. "I don't need it."
"Let's just call it a night, huh?" Edward asked. The other two men didn't need any prompting. They set down their cards, pushed back their chairs and walked away. Lee shook his head, smiling.
"You want your money back?" he asked Edward.
"Don't worry about it," Edward answered, waving his hand. They got up and started walking out after Lee pocketed his new cash. He frowned slightly as Edward took him out a different door.
"Is this where you take me to the back alley and beat the piss out of me?" he asked as they exited the back door.
"No," a voice in the shadows said, the figure stepping forward into the light. "This is where I take you to a very dark place and kill you."
Lee looked at Roger Hastings standing before him and gave a slight chuckle. So they'd known all this time. Kate had been right. This was a set up. He cursed himself for thinking they'd get away with it. He just knew Barney was gonna gloat at how off his game he had been.
"G'day, mate," Roger said mockingly to him.
"Yea, yea," Lee said. He turned just in time to receive a blow to the head from Edward. Then it was dark.
...
Kate and Caesar walked into the office building carefully. Kate left her gun hidden for now. Caesar swept side to side with his. It was eerily quiet, and Kate had a bad feeling.
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Caesar said on cue.
"We can't let her get hurt," Kate insisted. She noticed a light on down the hall. "This way." They walked together slowly. A noise behind them made them both whip around, Kate's hand resting on the gun in the back of her pants.
"Hey, guys," Gunner said, holding up his hands.
"Geez, man. I almost put a bullet through your brain," Caesar huffed.
"Barney sent me to assist," Gunner said, ignoring him.
"Come on then," Kate gestured. The three of them walked down the hallway now. When they reached a door that was a bit ajar, Kate held up her hand, and they both stopped behind her. She peered through the crack and saw Tansley tied to a chair. She was crying. Boris appeared and started to smack her in the face repeatedly.
"Tell me who you work for!" he roared.
"You!" she screamed back. "I work for YOU!"
Kate looked at Caesar and Gunner, who both nodded.
"LIAR!" Boris bellowed. Gunner booted in the door, and Caesar took out the two guards watching while Gunner trained his gun on Boris. They all knew Drummer wanted him alive as he was one of the four.
"Down boy," Gunner said, chewing on his gum absently. Kate noticed, and she felt a flashback to Matt Graver, CIA spook, who always chawed on his gum like an animal with a smirk on his face.
"Desiree?" Tansley asked, shocked. "You came!"
"You called me," Kate answered, going over to her and setting her free. "Of course I came." Tansley jumped up and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."
"Let's go," Kate gestured. Boris was looking at her until Gunner knocked him unconscious, and she knew she'd blown her cover now. It was time to pull out, as much as that burned her ass. All that hard work for nothing. Unless...
"We'll make it look like the police came through here and sent Boris away," Caesar said, reading her mind once more. "You'll both be fine."
"Both?" Tansley asked, confused. She looked at Kate. Caesar realized too late the mistake he'd made.
"Hi," Kate said to her, extending her hand. "Kate Macer. Former FBI. I run with the CIA wolves now."
"Oh, wow," Tansley said, shaking her hand vigorously. "I'm Agent Fields, CIA. Drummer never said he had another agent in here."
"He didn't tell me that either."
"Probably to prevent us from accidentally revealing ourselves in front of Boris or Edward," Tansley nodded. "He's a clever man that one, although he is sometimes beyond infuriating."
"Hear, hear," Gunner nodded. He secured Boris and heaved him up over his shoulders. "Now let's get the hell out of here."
They went back down the hall. When they neared the doorway, bullets started to fly. Tansley shrieked, and everyone ducked for cover. Gunner dropped Boris with an ominous thud on the floor, cracking his head even more.
"Whoops," Gunner muttered. He and Caesar shot back. Kate spun her head to see more men coming up behind them.
"Look out!" she yelled, pulling out her gun. It was too late to care about her cover now. She began firing at the six men coming behind them. Gunner and Caesar finished with the men in the front and turned to start dealing with the men in the back. Kate ducked as bullets hit the beam next to her, forcing her to cover her eyes from the dust of the drywall.
"No!" Tansley shrieked, and Kate looked to see her getting picked up and hauled away. "Help me!"
Kate ran after her without even thinking. She couldn't let this woman get hurt.
"DON'T!" Caesar yelled after her, but she ignored him. She ran after the three men who had Tansley, taking shots when she could. She hit one but missed the other two. She rounded the corner to the stretch of hallway that led to the back alley. She carefully went through the door, and she came face to face with Roger Hastings himself.
"Desiree!" Tansley shouted, and Kate saw her get stuffed into the back of an SUV. Even in her last moments, she was trying to keep Kate's cover. It made Kate's heart twist. The look of fear on Tansley's face was all too familiar.
"Kate Macer," Roger said, making her look back at him. "Nice to see you again."
Kate lowered her gun, even though she didn't want to.
"Let Tansley go," she ordered.
"No. Shan't," he answered. "It took me long enough, but I found out about Agent Fields. I always find out everything. Even you."
Kate felt her heart sink.
"I think it's time to play a game," Roger said with a smile. "Shall we?"
She tried to dodge the men coming at her, but she wasn't fast enough.
...
Barney was at his wits end. Lee was gone. When he didn't come out, he went in with Toll, and no one was there. They found the back alley and saw the bit of blood on the ground, and Barney just knew it was Lee's. There was also the phone on the ground, which was Lee's. He went back into the bar and shook his head at Toll. They both went back to the van, and Doc gave them the bad news about Kate. Caesar and Gunner, who had Boris, had managed to escape, but they lost Kate.
"Son of a bitch!" Barney shouted, punching the side of the van. Doc raised a brow as he looked at the dent left afterwards.
"Please tell me you have a way of finding our boy," Toll said to him. Barney held up Lee's phone, the only thing that had a GPS tracker on it.
"Nope," he said.
"Kate?" Toll asked.
Caesar held up her watch he'd found in the back alley. "Negative."
"Oh boy," Toll sighed, pressing his hands into his face.
"We gotta call Drummer," Caesar insisted. "We've got Boris. He can tell us where they are. He'll know."
"Start scanning for facial rec of Edward and Roger," Barney instructed Toll. "And Lee and Kate. We might get lucky."
"All right," Toll nodded, moving to the back of the van where the laptop was set up.
"Doc, go with Gunner and deliver Boris the Clown," Barney ordered. "Caesar, you're with us."
"Got it."
Doc and Gunner hurried off, Boris's head smacking off of objects as they went. Gunner wasn't exactly careful with him on purpose. Barney reached into his pocket and pulled out his lucky ring. They were definitely gonna need it.