Warning, plot twists are evil!
Two weeks went by too quickly. I was sad to leave but eager to go. I wanted to see my team again. There were a lot of tears as I walked out of my house, army pack shouldered and wearing my uniform. "Stay safe!" Celia sobbed, dabbing her eyes. "We'll be thinking of you every day!"
"Thanks Celia. I'll miss you all." I said then began to hug them all. Celia, Feline, Benjamin, Albert and finally Annie-Marie, her faded red hair tucked under her hat. She glanced up to it, the worn brown colour suiting her complexion. It was the hat she had worn the day I got back, the one she had let me wear for the day. "Here. Take this with you. Remember, before you were army, you were a true born cowgirl!" She stuck it on my head then drew me into a shaky head. "Take care of yourself, make sure not to intentionally put yourself in danger." A little hard in my line of work but I will try.
"I promise. You all take care, Feline? Make sure you tell Magic I love her." I said, handing over a chequered shirt I had worn a lot over the two weeks. "Make sure she doesn't forget me."
"I won't darling. I'll make sure she remembers you." After another round of hugs and goodbyes, I stepped into the cab which drove off, leaving my beloved ranch and family behind. I sighed, closing my eyes as I leaned back.
He drove me to the nearest army base which had a chopper waiting for me. I was surprised when Rip got out to greet me. "Hey girl! Show me some love!" I dropped my bag and flung my arms around him, laughing as he spun me around, easily lifting me off the ground. "How've you been? Two weeks was longer than I thought!"
"I know, I've been redecorating and handling horses." I explained to him. "It feels great to be a rancher girl again."
"Even better to be a Joe." He grinned. "Come on, you're flying." My face paled.
"Huh? You're not going to throw sneak attacks at me this time?" He shook his head with a grin. Still, I proceeded with all caution. We flew out of America and across the sea, talking happily with one another. I still kept a careful eye out for surprises.
"Ah come on, you're still mad about that?"
"Yes." I said to him. "You deserved being ejected." We both laughed. Good times, good times. As I landed on the airfield, I smiled as Scarlet stood there waited, hands clasped behind her back, already suited up. Rip met her first, giving her a kiss before she turned to me. "Welcome back. You're just in time."
"Time for what?" She inclined her head so I continued to walk with her. Subconsciously I stuck a hand in my pocket and checked that my pearl was still there, rolling it over my thumb. It hadn't left my side in two weeks. I always kept it with me in a sealed pocket.
"There have been bank attacks all over the world. Respective law enforcers have no clue who is behind the attacks or how they do it. They're in, they're out without ever leaving a trace. Countries hit are US, England, Italy, China, Japan, Spain and Germany." She debriefed as she led me us to the bridge. "Drop your bag off with Bird, she'll take it back for you." I handed my rucksack over with a grateful nod to the girl who smiled, flustered, then hurried off.
Hawk was on the bridge with Heavy and Breaker, when they heard us enter they all looked up. "Welcome back sweetheart." Heavy said to me. "Nice holiday?"
"Great thanks. What have we got?"
"This is the CTTV feed leading up to the attack." Breaker said. "This is London, twelve minutes past one." I watched the security feed.
"What am I looking for?"
"We were hoping you could tell us, you've got the best eyes in this place. Can you see anything we're missing?" I squinted slightly to concentrate harder.
"So they, what, break into the vaults, steal the cash then get out?" Breaker shook his head.
"No. They do the opposite. They put in money." I blinked.
"How is that a bad thing?"
"If you increase the sum of money too fast into any system, the value decreases until the money is worth nothing." Scarlet explained. "Hyperinflation."
"Oh, right." Returning my focus, I watched. When the screen went blank, I frowned. It stayed blank for three minutes before returning to its feed. "Go back to one twenty." I said to Breaker. "Slow down the feed." He did so and I watched, leaning in closer. Then my jaw dropped. "Stop!" I practically shrieked, making Ripcord leap out of his skin.
"Dang girl! What is it?"
"It's Sabrina!" I yelled, pointing to a figure walking across the road, wearing a long, stylish coat which she was obviously hiding her tail.
"How can it be Sabrina? Isn't she…you know…dead?" I glared at him.
"I know she's dead! She died in my arms with a bullet in her chest and she's buried in my back garden!" Frantically I gripped my hair. "Run a scan against Sabrina Anderson, married in two thousand to George Baker." Breaker found the certificate, found a photo of their wedding then ran the scan.
"It's a match." He blinked in shock. "How is this possible?" I was asking myself the same thing. How was she alive? I had held her in my arms. I had heard her heart stop beating. She was dead! With a bullet in her chest!
"She doesn't have a twin, does she?" I glared at Rip who held up his hands in surrender. "Just asking."
"Show me the other feeds. I want to see every single bank attack and the minutes leading up to them." I said, leaning over Breaker who pulled up the feeds. I walked around the table at the holographic images, pointing to each one and telling Breaker to pause when I saw Sabrina arrive on screen of each video feed. It was crazy. Not only was she in every single feed, but somehow she was in London at one time then in Italy five minutes later. On the same day! Even with the time zone thing!
"There's more than one of her." I breathed, eyes widening.
"How is that possible? Scarlet, Breaker, any ideas?"
"Cloning seems like the only possibility but it's impossible to generate a human being and grow them to full maturity in the space of a few months." Scarlet frowned, thinking deeply. "Maybe it's just a hologram?"
"It's her." I assured them. "She walks the same, acts the same…" They all looked at me with blank expressions. "She walks with her head slightly bowed and she stops when she passes a jewellery store. She always did that when we were on the streets together. Plus, she twiddles that lock of hair between her thumb and index finger only on her right side. It's her. I'd bet my life on it."
"It could just be an incredibly skilled impersonator, Zartan wasn't the only one in business." Breaker reasoned gently. I was reluctant to agree but I did see that this could be a possibility.
"Look at some earlier feed, run it through another scan to see if she shows up any earlier." She did, at every bank, about ten minutes before she went in."
"We have to find her." I begged quietly, pleading with Hawk. "Or them. I have to find out if it's her and what the hell is going on. If she's alive and if she's the real Sabrina then I owe it to her." Hawk nodded his head.
"Have transportation on standby. Breaker, I want you watching the feeds for all major economies not yet attacked. Figure out their next target then get over there, try and take in this woman and find out everything you can." Hawk ordered and people began to rush to carry out his orders. "Team Alpha, suit up. Heavy, I'll leave it to you to organise who goes." Instantly I turned my eyes to Heavy Duty who nodded.
"I want you there, you might be able to talk to her. You too Scarlet." I nodded in thanks then went to get suited up. Scarlet helped me, making sure my gloves were charged and I had spare mag to go. Taking my bottoms I fished out the pearl then rubbed it between my fingers before carefully placing it in my drawer. "You and Snake seem close now." I lifted my head to Scarlet who was arching an eyebrow with a knowing look.
"We did nearly drown together. Twice. I'd say that's it's appropriate to be a little bit close." I tried but she only looked at me with disbelief. "Okay, so maybe a little more than that. On my part only, though."
"I wouldn't be too sure." Scarlet said, smirking as I slid a swiss army knife into my boot. "He cares about you a lot."
"Like the way he cares about you?" She stopped, unsure about how to reply. "It's okay. I think he likes Jinx anyway. They're always together." Again Scarlet couldn't argue. We hurried over to the airfield where Heavy was looking at the team he had put together. Lady Jaye, Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, Scarlet and Roadblock.
"You know what to do. The target is this woman." Heavy held up a picture of Sabrina and I bit my lip and chewed on it whilst tucking my hair behind my ear with my little finger. "You're to bring her in alive for questioning. Advice is approach with extreme caution. She don't wear gloves to take care of her nails, she's got claws and knows how to use them." Heavy placed a hand on my shoulder. "Any intel on this girl, ask Hood. We'll keep you posted on what's going on. You're going to Switzerland." Looking to Heavy I nodded my head then climbed into the jet with the others.
"Take care of yourselves." Duke called out. "Robyn? Don't let your emotions rule your head." I nodded my head in understanding though I knew it would be hard to not feel protective over Sabrina, even if it turned out she was just an imposter wearing a hologram.
What troubled me was her feet. It was definitely her, because she had oddly shaped feet. Unnoticeable at first glance but I knew that they were shaped that way because of her paws and bone structure to make her look like a cat. It had to be here.
So who had died in my arms?