Author's note: Ah, the saga continues! Thank you all so much for the reviews; I am blown away by the number of people having fun with this story. Enjoy the next installment, and I'm sorry about the end; I couldn't help myself!
Disclaimer: I said it before, need I say more?
Auggie frowned and paced the floor after Marco had left. It couldn't be true... could it? Time wise, it made sense. After all, he had lost his eyesight four years ago. Annie had met Ben in Sri Lanka about three and a half years ago (she met him, traveled around the world for two years after, then joined the agency and was trained for one short year). If Ben was on the run from Jai, then it would make sense that he and Annie's paths would cross. But Jai being responsible for Auggie's blindness...
"Well," Auggie thought resigned, "at least it gives me a viable reason to hate the guy."
The thought of nuclear weapons being sold now by Valmor seemed far fetched. If Ben was a bad guy, then why would Jai bother sending Annie down here. Jai would have come himself. No, the only reason Annie was sent was because she was the only agent available who spoke Portuguese and was not under suspicion for being a leak at the time. Joan had sent Annie herself, and if Joan had known they were nuclear weapons instead of regular arms like guns and ammunition, she would never have sent Annie in a million years. The intel would have had to be good for Joan to make that call; there must be an informant among Valmor's staff. So, it that was the case, then it meant that Marco was lying to Auggie about Valmor. But why lie, especially if you went rogue. What good would it do you? In fact, why did Marco choose to tell Auggie that much information in the first place?
Auggie put his questions aside for the moment, and went to check on Annie. She was still unconscious, and her pulse was still hammering away at a rapid pace. "This is not good," thought Auggie. "She may not make it till tomorrow night when Marco will arrange our escape."
A thought then struck Auggie with a cold jolt; if Marco was a bad guy, then neither of them would leave the house alive. Sure, Marco had promised help, but if he lied about some of his information, why not lie about the help. Auggie reached into his zippered pocket and felt the two pills in the cloth bag. What if they were not sleeping pills; what if they were poison? A dose to finish each of them off. Auggie scowled and slipped the pills back into his pocket. It would be extraordinarily dangerous to dose Annie anyway; especially when her pulse was so rapidly jumping from quick and pounding to slow and thready.
The thought of Annie spurred Auggie into action; he needed to escape and get help now, before anything else happened. Quickly, he set about making Annie comfortable. He sat her up (trying not to let the groans of pain dismay him) and made her drink a few mouthfuls of water from Marco's gallon. Auggie figured the water would be fine; for if Marco was a good guy then everything he said was legit. If he was a bad guy, then he was meaning to poison them tomorrow night anyway. In both cases, the water would be fine.
During this time, Annie woke a little, coughing and sputtering from Auggie's last attempt at playing nurse. "What are you trying to do?" she mumbled irritated. "Drown me?"
Auggie grinned. "I'm only trying to make sure you are taken care of. I have to go out again."
"Mmm," Annie mumbled, beginning to loose consciousness again. "I'm all wet."
"Annie," said Auggie after taking a quick drink himself, "did you see Valmor's arms supply?"
"Yeah, he showed them to us. Why?"
"What were they?"
"Jus regular arms," Annie slurred. "You know, like guns an stuff. I don see what the big deal was; he din have enough to even bother..." At this, Annie slipped away again.
Auggie laid Annie back down, shifting her shoulders around until she was resting comfortably. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then stood up, determined. He had to find a way out. From where he was standing, there were two options. The door and the window. The door was thick and sturdy, but Auggie might be able to take his knife and stick it into the lock. Because the lock was a deadbolt, Auggie might be able to scoot it along till the lock was back in its slot. But Hector guarded the door on and off, and Auggie knew that he were no match for Hector (despite his excellent hand to hand combat experience).
The second option was the window. It was just an open hole in the wall; no bars and no shutters. Valmor probably figured he did not have to safeguard it; Annie wasn't well enough to attempt an escape and Auggie was blind. He'd be crazy to try! Besides, the room was very high up. Curious though, Auggie walked over to the window and ran his hand along the sill. His sensitive fingers hit a thick, gnarled piece of wood. He followed it along with his hand, and suddenly a picture fragment from one of his dreams came back to him. Annie was standing by the window looking out; twisted, brightly green and pink vines of bougainvillea framing her figure. Auggie followed the vine, leaning over the sill to the outside wall. His hands met more wood; a trellis. The vines were climbing a trellis.
"Are you INSANE?" his mind screamed as Auggie registered what he planned to do. "You have to be CRAZY to attempt this!"
Auggie felt his body freeze. He reasoned with himself. "Look, this really is the best way. No one will be looking for escapees this way. Besides it'll be too dark for anyone to see me. I'll be able to escape and get help; Annie needs it now!"
His mind chewed and swallowed that. "Fine," it grudgingly admitted, and Auggie felt the use of his limbs restored to him. "But only because I love Annie... I've got to stop loving these hard cases."
Slowly and somewhat shakily, Auggie climbed onto the windowsill and balanced himself. Then, moving one limb at a time, Auggie grabbed the vines and hoisted himself out. His feet caught the trellis, and slowly, inch by inch, Auggie began to descend the vines. Moving totally by feel was not new to him, but Auggie realized that he had an advantage being blind; he couldn't see how high up he was and get scared. He began to be more confident and moved with quicker and surer movements, till suddenly there was nothing below him and his foot met with air.
"Ahh!" Auggie gasped, and he clutched at the vines with all his strength. Pulling upward this time, Auggie climbed back to where he had all four limbs on relatively safe handholds. Then, shifting his body around, he reached down with his hand and felt the nothingness. He moved his hand over more, but still felt a void.
Auggie was thoroughly confused. He scooted across the vines some more and tried to define the apparent hole in the wall he was feeling. Then, suddenly, his hand met wood, and Auggie realized that he had come to another window. The realization made his heart stop hammering, and with a shaky laugh he relaxed and got a better grip on his position above the window. The shutters were open; there would be no need to climb to the ground! Auggie was ecstatic at his good fortune, and he prepared to switch handholds when he heard the door in the room below him open. Quickly, he locked his arms into the vines and stood there, unmoving. He would not be visible from the inside of the room, but the last thing he wanted was for someone to hear a noise and come looking for him.
Two laughing voices met his ears; one Valmor's, and one Marco's. "So, let me get this straight," Valmor said. "You told him that his boss is a rogue agent?"
"Brilliant, isn't it," replied Marco. "You see, if he thinks his temporary boss is a bad guy, then he won't be calling Langley for help!"
"Was his boss really the one who blinded him?"
"Who cares, as long as he believes that. I had him in the palm of my hand."
Auggie felt himself shaking with rage for the second time today. He shoved the emotions away though and kept himself cool and detached; here was more to hear.
"So, when will Mercer be here?" asked Marco.
"He should be here within the hour," answered Valmor. "Poor Mercer; once he sees Annie in the state she is in, he will be forced to give us the location of the nuclear cache."
"Are you sure he really loves her that much?" asked Marco. "I mean, she loves him that much, but do you think he'd turn over his most valuable resource for just anybody?"
"Wouldn't you for your true love? Besides, that girl's got it in the bag. Did you really look at that agent who came to rescue her? He's in love with her too!"
"Oh, I know," Marco agreed. "She's certainly got something, alright. She is however, getting much weaker. Perhaps we should give her some of the antidote now; if Ben Mercer is delayed any longer, she may not live to be the bargaining chip we had hoped for."
Valmor sighed. "You're right," he said, "as he has been delayed three times, we cannot afford to be too careful. But we have got to hurry this deal along; by now Washington must be getting suspicious. You're government isn't searching for you as well are they?"
"No," Marco replied. "They don't expand manpower to search for dead bodies. What a switch on my government this will be! I serve them faithfully for many, many years and they take away my pension and my retirement for a simple infraction of the rules!"
"Dating an enemy spy is not a simple infraction, my friend," Valmor said with a laugh. "So, your embezzlement was a lie too as well?"
"If I had enough money to be living like a king for the rest of my life forty times over, why do you think I would be desperate enough to partner with you and try to secure the nuclear arms? What a lucky break for me that I was in the right place at the right time to see it all go down four years ago! With the money from the arms that we will eventually acquire, I will actually be able to retire like a king. And you will too, my friend!"
Valmor was silent for a moment, and then spoke in a low, almost dangerous voice. "It is well for you that you were my best childhood friend," Valmor stated. "Would you not have had a plan, I would have shot you on sight as a traitor!"
"Did I not make sure you were kept safe from all the raids and busts?" Marco countered. "Did I not take care of you like I promised I would? Yes, I have spent my days serving your enemy, but I have seen the error of my ways. They took a lifetime of service and just threw it in the drain, and spat in my face. They left me with no money at all. I could go be a waiter in a restaurant for the rest of my life, or I could use the last helpful bit of information I had to get on ahead. I chose to share it with you, my friend. Our friendship has never broken. And now, I need your help in hiding me from the government. Sure, they think I am dead now, but if Mercer doesn't get here fast, sooner or later they will send in an agent to find the girl. And believe me, it won't be some half-crazed lovesick whelp with a crush and an Indiana Jones obsession. It will be someone very experienced and very deadly."
Valmor must have agreed silently, for the men were quiet so long Auggie wondered if they had gone. Then, Auggie heard Marco take a deep breath. "So, the girl? Do you have the medicine with you?"
"It is here, in my desk," Valmor replied. "Let's let her wait a couple more hours; as I said, Mercer should be here within the hour."
"Yes, we've heard that one before," laughed Marco. Together, the men stood and walked out the door.
Auggie waited until the sounds of their footsteps had vanished, and then waited some more. Finally, when he was convinced no one was near, Auggie unlocked himself. He practically howled in pain, for his muscles had locked while he was waiting for Marco and Valmor to be finished. Hastily (for his muscles were shaking), Auggie lowered himself into the open window. He swung a little to build up some momentum, and let go of the vines. The result was a graceless but sufficient entrance into the room; Auggie landed on the tile floor and automatically rolled. He skidded to a quick halt without making much noise, and after a moment's pause to regain his composure, he was up and digging through Valmor's desk.
Auggie felt a grim satisfaction take hold of him while he went on his search for Annie's medicine. So Marco was dirty, after all. The thought didn't surprise him, though it made him angry. What especially enraged Auggie was everyone's persistence in believing that he was a useless agent; being blind did not make him useless! Then, suddenly, Joan's voice seemed to break through his thoughts.
"Use their ignorance to your advantage," she seemed to say. Auggie nodded in agreement, amused that Joan had become one of his inner voices. But why not? Joan had been one of the only people in charge who believed that Auggie could be of some good after his accident. Now, if Joan knew about all that was going on, (besides having a heart attack) she'd probably be rooting for Auggie too. When they got back, she would fire him, though. Auggie grinned at the prospect of getting back; he'd stand in front of a firing squad if that meant getting Annie home safely.
His anger somewhat assuaged, Auggie continued to root around in Valmor's desk; suddenly coming across several bottles that sounded like they contained pills. "Damn it," he muttered angrily. "Of course there has to be several bottles!" Then, Auggie heard a loud click as the door latch turned. The door began to creak open, and Auggie felt his heart stop in dismay. There was nowhere to hide!