A soft groan came from him as his eyes returned to the mobile phone. He read about the mood swings pregnant women experience and how taxing they can be. This fact was supported by Miguel's stories of his wife's and daughter's pregnancies. His index finger hit the redial button and after one ring she answered.
"You bastard! How could you hang up on me?" she cried out.
"I wouldn't have if were talking to me. You were yelling," he calmly told her.
"Well I'm pregnant. Everything is just so hard and.." she wiped her tears, "I'm sorry, I just miss you so much."
He wanted to hold her but knew that he couldn't, "I know..I'm sorry too. I'm doing this for us."
She nodded and sniffled, "I'm grateful that you are….You called me back," her voice had a hint of joy.
"I made a mistake, I needed to fix it."
Her smile was small, "I e-mailed you photos of our babies."
He quickly went over to his laptop, "You did."
"Yes, our son is on the left he has chubby cheeks and your..you know," she smirked.
His eyes grew large when he saw the sonogram of their children, "That's my boy," he grinned the moment his eyes went to the right, "and our daughter." Happiness spread throughout his body and soul when seeing his children for the first time.
"Just what the world needs," she began to say before he continued her sentence.
"Another me and you," he smiled.
A forgiving silence fell between them. They continued to speak to one another late into the night without another hitch.
Bryant Markson set down his cup of coffee then looked up to find Agent 47 approaching him. His hand immediately went to his gun.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Agent 47 said as he sat across the round café table from The Franchise's top assassin Bryant Markson.
Bryant casually ran through his free hand through his brown shoulder length hair as his free hand gripped the gun in his holster, "Why?"
Agent 47 stared at the tables behind Bryant, "Because my men have you surrounded."
"I know The Organization's agents and they.." his voiced trailed off. With his blue eyes, he gazed at the tables behind him and saw three armed men sitting on all sides of him.
A blank look came across his face, "Agents no longer have to shave their heads and we don't tattoo them anymore."
He was confused, "Why?"
"Those are a few of the changes I made since becoming president."
His mouth fell open, "You're the one that took over?"
"I am and I'm here with a proposal but first, you have to place both your hands on the table."
"No."
With a slight nod, he removed a miniature laptop from his messenger bag. When he opened the necessary window he turned the computer towards Bryant.
"Should I care who that is?" Bryant lied as he tried to control his anger when seeing his handler/secret lover on the monitor.
"She's your handler and the mother of your child. I assume you would."
His face fell into a scowl as his hands rested on the table, "Leave Odette and Jack alone."
"I will but you see the young Latina woman approaching her? That is my good friend Karissa. If you make any sudden movement she and her father will kill Odette."
"Hi Odette, I'm Karissa," she offered her hand and sat across from her.
"Um..I'm sorry do I know you?" she asked while feeling a little embarrassed as she shook her hand.
"No, but if you want your son Jack to not become an orphan you'll keep your hands where I can see them," she stared at the red spot of light on Odette's chest.
She froze once she saw the sniper's laser on her heart, "Who are you and what do you want?"
Karissa made sure to click off her gun's safety as she held it underneath the table, "A friend and the daughter of the sniper who is currently aiming his rifle at you. Now to answer your second question.."
"What do you want?" Bryant asked Agent 47 with obvious but restrained rage in his demeanor.
"To talk."
"About?"
"You."
"Why not just kill me?"
"I plan to take down The Franchise."
His brows creased, "Are you insane?"
He sighed, "How do you feel when you're away from Odette and little Jack for months at a time?"
"What?" he couldn't believe the question he was just asked.
"Answer the question."
After a few seconds he replied, "It tears me apart," he felt his voice briefly quiver.
"I know it does but I can change that if you'll help me."
The assassin's words piqued his interest, "How?"
"Help me overtake your employer and you can be a free man."
Bryant searched his face, "Why are you doing this?"
Agent 47 stared straight into his blue eyes and said, "I have a good woman and children waiting for me..just like you."
His lips formed into a circle as he fathomed just how similar they were, "That's why you went rogue…for her."
"Is there a better reason?" he lips formed into a slight curl.
He grinned, "Not one that I can think of."
He nodded, "Do you accept?"
Without hesitation he replied, "I do."
Offering his hand he told Bryant, "I'm staying at the Deavument Hotel in the presidential suite. Be there at seven."
"I will," he gripped his hand.
"Good. My men will be following you."
"You don't trust me?"
"It's for your safety. I'll see you tonight."
Odette shook her head in disbelief, "This can't be possible."
"It is," Karissa said, "but we need your help."
She considered her words and then asked, "Your life with your father…how would you describe it?"
"Wonderful," she smiled, "he was and still is, there for me. What else could a child want from her father?"
Odette's dark eyes began filling with tears of elation, "I don't know.."
The sounds of assassins assembling various weapons filled the hotel suite. Agent 47 watched each agent making sure that each one was equipped and ready for what faced them. He softened his expression when he approached Karissa and Agent 18.
"Are you both ready?" he asked his friends.
"Always," Agent 18 answered as he loaded a magazine into his gun.
"What he said," she nodded and grinned.
Jason closed his mobile phone and told them, "I just talked to my cousin. He's going to have ambulances there and the hospital is ready for us."
"Thank you," Agent 47 told him.
He simply nodded before wrapping his arms around Karissa, "I know I don't have to tell you to be careful but.."
She embraced him, "I will and if I'm not too battered I'll wear the red dress," she then kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, "and thong."
A low laugh came from him before his kissed her lips, "I hope you kick a lot of ass then."
Her lips went to his ear again, "I will and later, you can spank mine."
"Great, now I'm gonna have to think of baseball," he smiled and successfully controlled a certain part of his anatomy that tried to react to her words.
"Must you do that in front of me?" Agent 18 asked.
"Where do you think I learned it from?" she rolled her eyes.
Her father laughed, "True. We must go now!" he announced.
"He's right," Agent 47 told everyone, "you all have your instructions." He paused, "Remember why you're doing this and you will succeed."
The agents nodded and began filing out of the suite.
The president of The Franchise (Preston Bale) stood up from his leather office chair and offered his hand to Bryant.
"Mr. Markson, you're on time. I like that," he shook his hand.
"A professional is punctual," he nodded and sat down across from him.
"You are the best man we have," he smirked, "I have a proposal for you."
He hid his amusement knowing that it couldn't top Agent 47's but he humored his soon to be former employer, "What is it?"
After Declan breached the security system he turned off The Franchise's power and took their system offline for two minutes. The snipers quickly took out The Franchise's external security team clearing the way for their fellow agents to enter the building.
"What in the hell is going on?" Preston said as he reached into his pocket and dialed a number on his mobile phone.
His bodyguards ran into the room only to be promptly shot by Bryant.
Stunned at what happened, Preston glared at him, "You traitor! How did you get past my security?"
"Your secretary was very helpful especially after I showed her that you were still with your wife," he answered with a stoic look while aiming his guns at his boss.
An amused smile touched his mouth, "So..what? You're going to kill me and just walk out?"
"Actually, this isn't my plan," he stepped aside and a second later Agent 47 walked into the room.
In disgust Preston gawked at Agent 47, "You're behind this?"
Keeping his Hardballers aimed at Preston Agent 47 walked forward and said, "Consider this a hostile takeover."
Preston looked at Bryant, "What could he have possibly offered you?"
"Freedom," he simply replied.
He nodded, "Something that I'd never give you…especially not this easily," he said as an enormous painting pulled back revealing almost a dozen armed guards.
"You had to choose the least desirable option," Agent 47 stated.
"On the contrary, I chose the best," Preston's smile was smug as he left the room.
Agent 47 and Bryant communicated by using Morse code through blinking their eyes while the guards surrounded them. They immediately dispatched four of the guards by using two of them as shields against the other's shots then proceeded to shoot at the rest of them until they ran out of bullets. Fortunately for them, there were only two men left. Both assassins disarmed the remaining guards and fought each one in hand-to-hand combat.
Bryant snapped the man's neck and began to head towards Agent 47.
"Get Bale I'll take care of this!" Agent 47 instructed him. When he saw him hesitate he punched the guard in the stomach and said, "Go!"
He nodded before running out of the room.
A small amount of blood came from Agent 47's mouth after the guard gave a hard right hook to the face. The deadly assassin gave the guard a sharp side kick to his right oblique causing him to stumble back. Agent 47 stopped the roundhouse kick that the guard tried to execute by grabbing his leg and striking it multiple times. He wailed in agony when he felt and heard the bones in his leg crack as he fell to the floor. Bending down, Agent 47 grabbed his head and smashed it against the hard floor putting him out of his misery.
He turned around feeling victorious until he saw an armed guard in the doorway wielding a gun. A jolt hit Agent 47's body, he looked down and saw that he had been in the right pectoral; he immediately lunged for the desk for cover but was shot two more times before getting behind it. There were two guns underneath the desk he quickly grabbed them and shot at the approaching security guard. Force of habit made him start off with the right one, it was empty and another bullet from the guard's gun punched his chest. The man raised the weapon to the hitman's head.