Trouble
Chapter 20
At the CIA branch office in Miami, Agent Dani Pearce had been on the phone all morning and it was giving her a headache.
She had been working since dawn, trying to secure a team to rescue Westen. It had been tough going since Westen, officially, was not out on a mission. She had no idea how she was going to spin all of this with all their budget restrictions.
Hanging up the phone, she rubbed her temple. Looking up at her wall, her eyes fell on the calendar and she realized it had now been eight days since what she called the "Glenanne Mission" had erupted. Eight days was a long time for a simple courier mission. So much had happened.
She had been so sure it would be an easy in-out assignment. And now knowing what she knows now, she wondered whether or not it was right to send out an inexperienced Fiona Glenanne out on the field.
Sure, Fiona knew more about weapons than a whole SWAT platoon, but when it came to the world of espionage, what did she know? Agent Pearce was pretty sure Michael did not give a blow-by-blow account of all his spy missions to her.
Pearce had no idea why she gave so much thought to Fi and by extension, Michael and Sam. She had world affairs to deal with. Washington DC had her on speed dial regarding the situation in Peking.
But here she sat, fretting about Fi. She supposed part of why she worried so much was because she really did care what happened to her. Fiona Glenanne was definitely in a category to herself. And Pearce did not know how she would ever be able to look at Michael in the face again if something happened to Fi.
The phone rang and Pearce immediately picked up.
"Pearce here."
She listened to the short instructions.
"Good...I'll be right there," Pearce responded as she hung up. The helicopter was up and ready. As she stood up, she could hear the sound of footsteps heading towards her office.
"Dani, may I enter?" Guy Boysen appeared at the doorway.
"Guy," Dani greeted the Recruitment Director, "what brings you here?"
"Fiona Glenanne, of course," he said, to Pearce's detriment, "I haven't received updates as to the completion of her first assignment, so I'd thought I'd come personally to hear of her success on the mission before I put the finishing touches on her acceptance of employment."
Pearce gave her colleague a look of disdain.
"Is this your way of telling me 'I told you so', Guy?" she asked.
Boysen smiled smugly, "That little loose cannon is giving you all kinds of trouble, isn't she?"
Pearce had it. She had spent days and sleepless nights worrying about Fi and her cohorts. With much difficulty she had at last tracked them down. Until she sees them alive, she will not be able to relax. So why is she wasting her time here?
"The so-called 'Loose cannon' you are referring to has a name…Fiona Glenanne…she is a real person!" Pearce said with slight animosity in her tone. She had grabbed her jacket and started to put it on.
"Oh, please, Dani," Boysen was not apologetic, "Don't make me seem like I don't care! I didn't want her out there to begin with! It's only upon your insistence that I pushed the paperwork through! I tried to tell you she was not right for the mission!"
"She is exactly what we needed!" Pearce defended her, "Her first time out, she had to deal with a multi car chase, a kidnapping of an agent and a gruesome murder! On top of that, she is bringing down CIA's most wanted criminal!"
Guy's expression fell, "What? I wasn't aware of all that? She has reported all that activity to you already? In only a week's time?" he looked stunned.
"Let's just say," Pearce stated, hating look incompetent, "that Agent Glenanne has, uh, left a trail of clues for us..."
But Boysen wasn't to be fooled.
"Then she hasn't reported in yet?" Boysen asked.
"I expect her to, shortly," Pearce countered, her head held high.
Boysen shook her head, "You are going to catch so much flak from all this Pearce! At least it's your head on the chopping block and not mine!"
Pearce reached down to grab her purse. She then looked annoyingly at Boysen as she headed for the door.
"I really don't have time to discuss assumptions with you, Guy!" Pearce fired off, anger interlaced in her voice, "There is a rescue mission I am heading up and as it is, I won't be able to get my people to our target site by nightfall, so I am going to put it as succinctly and professionally to you as possible regarding what I am thinking: Guy, jerk off!"
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From inside his imprisoned room, Michael looked down at the crumpled forms of Estes and the guard. He was exhausted, but there was still work to be done. Michael took the keys and opened the door of the room. He stuck his head out and peered out left and then right. No sign of anyone in sight. But he was a long way from getting his freedom
"So what happens now?" Rugova asked composedly when Michael returned to look at the fallen bodies again.
"I guess I'll find some rope to tie them up," Michael responded, wondering where he would find some. Perhaps he could tear up some bedsheets, although he knew he didn't have the strength to and Rugova certainly would not help him.
"So you expect that this rope to magically appear?" Rugova asked, looking all around the room.
A female voice spoke out from behind them.
"Will this do?"
Both men turned towards the now opened doorway. Fi stood there, a rope casually dangling from her hand. For a second, he almost thought his imagination was playing games with him, like it had when he was being interrogated. But the longer he stared at her, the more vivid the image seemed to be.
"Michael," She stood there, staring at Michael, her green eyes sparkling, yet dark with desperate yearning.
"Fi…" Michael's throat felt as if someone were stretching his neck on a rack. He was having difficulty breathing air into his lungs.
"I found rope this in one of the drawers outside after I knocked out one of the guards...or was it two?" Fi explained in the same casual tone someone else might use to say, I took a stroll in the park.
"My God," sighed Rugova, as he eyed Fi, "An Angel has come down to rescue you, Westen…a beautiful angel!"
Michael's mouth tipped at one corner of his mouth at her presence, "That is exactly who she is…my sweet, guardian angel with the massive Mossberg assault rifle."
"Yes," nodded Rugova as he continued watching her, "I think all Angels should have one of these sniper rifles strapped to their wings."
By now, Fi had walked inside the room now.
"The CIA has come to rescue you…" she stated proudly.
"The...the...CIA?" he questioned, trying to look behind her for reinforcements.
"Yes, that's me...agent Glenanne," she announced, her voice somehow sounding seductive.
"You're CIA." Michael said it like a statement, but it was more a question.
"The one and only."
Michael didn't understand what she meant, but he really didn't care. All he knew was that she was here. His gaze was warm with affection when she came into his opened arms. He looked deeply into her eyes and it seemed as if her eyes were warming his face and her smile was wrapping around him like a hug.
"Fi," he said gently, "I've missed you so much."
His words made her heart skip a beat.
"Michael, any chance at all that in the future you could stay out of trouble so I don't have to take time out of my mission to rescue you?"
She felt so good in his embrace. Before he knew it, he bent his head towards her for a welcome kiss. Fi's breath snagged in her throat when his lips touched hers. The fluttery feeling in her stomach turned hot and stormy, excitement ribboning from the center of her body and a shiver ran up her spine.
A noise behind them broke their embrace as Rugova cleared his voice. Michael jerked his head up as Fi looked around Michael at the other male in the room.
"Maybe it will be best you tie me up and you leave before others come." Rugova announced to them.
Fi looked questionably at Rugova, "He is one of us, Michael?"
Michael stared directly at Rugova, "Not quite, Fi…in fact, earlier today he had been gone so long, I do believe he is the one who called Estes to come back."
Rugova didn't deny it as he shrugged his shoulders, "As I have told you before, trust no one."
"Then I suppose we should knock him out," announced Fi, "And if you prefer, Michael, I can easily do the honors."
She then turned to Rugova, "I hope my knocking you out cold will not ruin the rest of your day."
Rugova's eyes got slightly rounder as Fi whipped out her Mossberg, readying to use it like a bat.
"No, that's not necessary," Michael said to Fi, "Let him be, Fi. He, like us, was only doing his job."
Fi looked questionably at Michael, "And here I thought being a spy would give me carte blanche to knock out or shoot anyone I please without repercussions."
"No, hopefully, it'll just make you smarter over whom you choose to hit or shoot," Michael announced.
Rugova pointed to the weapon strapped on Fi's back, "You any good firing that weapon, Angel?"
Fi held her head up high.
"Let's just say," said Fi, "I treat each shotgun magazine as if it were my last one."
Rugova nodded, "This one is a keeper, Westen."
"Glad you approve, maybe now I can invite her to the prom, " Michael stated sardonically, "but right now, there are other things we need to get done, such as you to play dead when the other guards arrive."
"Yes, I will do that," Rugova promised, "but do not consider yourself safe yet."
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Earlier with Fi's threats, Sam and Roberto had been able to disarm Crewcut and Segal Wannabe, gag them and handcuff them to the car.
Then Sam and Roberto continued walking. There was still weak daylight, but the sun was starting to set. It would be dark soon.
"I don't like this, Amigo," stated Roberto, looking cautiously about, "we've got two bad guys that know we are here and now that security camera will alert all inside of our presence…unless…. perhaps that camera is not real…could we hope for that?"
"That camera is definitely real," said Sam, "A prop would be more in plain sight. And as far as those two clowns we left behind, they are lucky Fi didn't shoot them. Knowing her, she's probably already skedaddled down the tree, snuck inside the building and rescued Michael herself!"
Roberto looked surprised, "You think she did all that in this short time?"
"You know how you can feel the little hairs on your neck standing up when you feel fear?" Sam asked.
"Si, " Roberto agreed, "and?"
"And…I don't feel the hairs standing up…" Sam theorized, "By my best estimation only about a dozen of them are standing up but that's because we are facing the unknown. The others are still down because I figured that meant Fi already took care of those men in the building there without alerting others."
They had reached the door to the building. Everything appeared calm and quiet.. Sam almost expected to be electrocuted or something when he touched the door. Nothing happened. They walked right into the building, not knowing what they would find.
Like a typical office building in the center of the city, this place also had a receptionist desk in the lobby. Except behind this desk was a series of security cameras and an imposing person in a suit, who looked like he wrestled alligators for a living.
The Alligator-wrestler scowled, "Why are you here? What do you two want?"
Sam leaned his elbow on the counter, "What's the matter, buddy? Did you missed the class on customer service?"
The guy's expression remained placid, although Sam and Roberto could see the guy reaching for the phone. Sam reached over and placed his hand over the Alligator-wrestler's hand.
"I wouldn't call for backup if I were you," warned Sam, "because I know the others will be just as ugly as you."
"Who are you two?" he asked again in an unfriendly tone.
"It's a long story," Sam began, "Oh wait! It isn't! We just came to get our friend, Michael Westen."
The Alligator-wrestler stared at the two men, "I assure you, I don't know what you mean, but let me make a call."
Sam removed his hand as the guy picked up the phone, but something didn't look right. It took Sam a split second to figure it out. Alligator-wrestler had picked up the phone receiver with his left hand. Most people were right handed. Sure enough his right hand seemed to be reaching for something down below.
The last hairs on Sam's neck stood straight up.
Sam turned to Roberto, "Run!" he yelled to a confused Roberto, "Run like your life depended on it, because it does!"
The door off to the side suddenly opened and five more agents started running out to the lobby, guns drawn.
They also noted that Alligator-wrestler had produced a gun from under the counter.
Roberto and Sam took off.
Due to their quick reactions, Sam and Roberto made it out the door and then they quickly covered their heads just as they heard a barrage of gunfire and the burst of broken glass exploding behind them.
Still running, Sam looked behind him. The men chasing them were outside now. He and Roberto needed protection, they needed to find a place to hide,
"Run for the woods, buddy!" suggested Sam, as sprinted away from the builiding.
"Wetlands!" Roberto shouted back while heaving, " ...they are called "wetlaaaannnds!"
They ran towards the trees and dark, distancing themselves from the building. As they continued running, they heard car doors opening and closing. Tires shrieked as cars came roaring up from the back of the building.
"Keep running, Roberto!" Sam encouraged, huffing and puffing, "it makes the ground feel needed!"
There was another burst of gunfire.
Roberto was having trouble breathing, "I think...amigo...we separate...to...confuse them!"
The two split as they continued to hear random barrages of bullets. Sam didn't look back to see where they were coming from, Sam hid behind a mangrove tree. He looked out and could see Roberto still in view.
There were not many places for cover in a large empty space that Roberto ran to, and Sam could see Roberto looking left and right, trying to find any safe haven from the CIA thugs.
Hide, Roberto, Sam willed him.
More gunfire erupted.
Nooooo! Sam yelled in his head as he watched Roberto go down.
Damn it! Sam thought of going to Roberto's rescue, but he was too far away. Two men were very close to him on the right. A car skidded to a halt nearby and one of them walked right up to where Roberto was laid out. He then peered into the darkness, presumably looking for Sam.
"Come on out!" he yelled, "We've got your friend!"
Sam peeked out from behind the tree and saw the imposing figure standing right above Roberto's fallen body.
Cade Estes made a big show of aiming the gun at Roberto, who was still down on the ground. Roberto didn't seem to be moving, and from Sam's angle, he couldn't tell if Roberto was even still alive. Sam forced himself to stay put, for revealing himself would mean certain death.
For a moment the firing had ceased.
Then Estes yelled out, "Show yourselves or your friend will die a slow painful death."
From behind the tree, Sam felt helpless. He dug in his pocket and got out his phone. Where the hell was Fi? He let out double the amount of expletives under his breath when he noticed his phone had no signal.
"Last chance! I will begin by shooting his knees!" Estes called out.
From down on the ground, a weakened Roberto could be heard saying, "Don't do it, Amigo! He will only kill both of us!"
Estes pointed the gun down. A single bullet blast exploded through the night air.
Roberto screamed in agony.
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