And well founded, but it must be written into the fates. Even Gaia Bitter Waters

Part Six

The next day Kermit found himself waking up in his rental car. He somehow managed to make it back to the old house where he met Dao. Kermit got out of the car and entered the house. The place was completely deserted. Not a trace of evidence could be found. Even the dust on the floor showed no trace of anyone being there. All the evidence that Kermit had he wore on his person. He still had on the utility vest, but nothing remained of the timers or detonators that he used. Even the extra C-4 was gone. He clearly remembered, not using everything. Then he remembered one of the men giving him a drink after he returned later than the rest. They were celebrating their apparent success at having destroyed the Shaolin order. He didn't even remember the celebration.

'I must have been slipped a micky,' he thought. 'That's just great. I guess I should be lucky to be alive. They could have killed me.'

Kermit's mind was a jumble. It was as if last night's events had been a dream, but he knew it transpired from the cuts that he found on his hands and the smell of smoke that permeated his clothing. Then flashes of memory came to him and he found himself replaying every event in his mind.

Kermit stalked off to his car and for a moment sat in the driver's seat not doing a thing. "Damn that Styles," he growled and pounded his fist on the steering wheel. Then he realized none of this was really Styles fault, but he sure as hell was going to be in a lot of trouble. This was the second mission that Styles had been involved with that had gone wrong. Once again, Styles' sources were less than reliable. It was as if Styles was playing both sides of the fence.

Kermit drove back to his small motel. He took a long shower, doing his best to remove the smoky scent that permeated his being. It was almost an hour before he emerged. He then sat down at the desk and proceeded to write up a lengthy report on what transpired. He was just about to write about the incident with the old priest when he thought better of it. He pulled out the file that Styles had given him to re-read the mission objective. Nothing in the report indicated what kind of monastery had housed such men and boys. Being the thorough person that he was, Kermit frowned at not knowing every detail about a mission, and this mission certainly was filled with a lot of holes. Even Styles seemed to think he didn't need to know everything.

Seeing everyone dressed in robes, their heads shaven reminded Kermit that the place was some religious group. Seeing the large Buddha had confirmed it. He even recalled remarking to himself that they looked like real monks than terrorists. He thought it was some kind of cover at first, but then he realized they were monks, and the boys weren't being trained to be terrorists, but monks themselves. This whole mission had not felt right from the beginning, even though he could not put his finger on why at the time. Now he knew. He was certain that more innocent lives had paid the price last night, and he had been a part of it. But what really was that place and who was Caine? Why did Dao hate the man so? That was the 64 dollar question that needed answering.

Then a knock on Kermit's door caused him to scramble for his hidden Desert Eagle. "Who is it?"

"Housekeeping."

"Come back later."

"I have a message for you as well."

Kermit opened the door to see a petite but pretty maid holding a slip of paper in her hand. "Thanks, I'll let you know when to tidy up."

"Very good, sir."

Kermit shut the door and opened the note.

"Come to the monastery and your questions will be answered."

There was no name or any other explanation. The note was fortuitous. Kermit had been thinking about returning to the monastery as a means to gather more information for his report. Now someone had requested his presence, but why was uncertain. Placing the note in his pocket, Kermit holstered his Desert Eagle after checking to see if it was loaded. He then grabbed his suit jacket and his sunglasses and headed out to meet whoever sent him the note.

Continued with Part 7