Chapter 12
As soon as Jim returned, he went straight to the Secretary and the CIA deputy director and demanded an explanation about Shannon's interrogation. He assured them that Shannon did not leak any sensitive information about any of their clandestine operations. Harold apologized and acknowledged Alex's bad behavior. The senior CIA agent was reprimanded and suspended for three days for assaulting Shannon. Satisfied with the turn of events, Jim gathered his IMF team in his apartment for a meeting.
"Well, serves him right!" Max crossed his arms smugly after hearing the news from Jim.
"Indeed! Alex had no right interrogating and hurting Shannon. I told Harold he should put a leash on him. Alex's short tempter won't do him any good," said Jim.
He was sitting on the small, black couch facing his team. On the larger couch to his left sat Max and Grant.
"What about the Secretary? Does he still think I can't be trusted?" asked Shannon, who was sitting beside Nicholas facing Jim.
"Well, he's adamant that he's just taking precautions – a standard procedure when he thinks an agent is compromised. Nothing personal, he said," replied Jim.
"But I assured him you didn't leak anything."
Shannon just pursed her lips in disapproval. She still didn't like the way Gordon handled the interrogation.
Jim proceeded to update them on the other IMF team dispatched in Bogota. It seemed that Esteban's mercenaries were losing their grip in the capital since the drug lord's arrest. Some of them were already arrested by DAS and many have been killed in action by the IMF team.
Grant also filled the team in on Sanchez's arrest.
"According to DAS reports, Sanchez is being charged for the kidnapping of Judge Juan Silvero and as an accessory to his murder, among other things. That guy is going to jail for a long time!"
The meeting lasted for half an hour, after which the team dispersed and left Jim's apartment, except for Shannon.
Still sitting on the couch, Shannon inched closer to Jim while he picked up a few papers from the coffee table.
"Jim?"
"Yes, Shannon?" he said, glancing at her while still sitting on the couch.
"I, uh, I just want to apologize for my outburst on that day when we were at the hotel."
Jim turned to look at her.
"I was upset about my meeting with Luis and I… I took it out on you. I'm sorry," she said.
Jim set the papers aside on the table and sat beside her.
"Shannon, it was clear to me after you left the hotel that you're still in love with him. I know how difficult it must have been for you to accept his proposal and go through with the wedding. After your meeting with Luis at the hotel, I realized I should have never suggested that."
"But we wouldn't be able to get Esteban. We would have failed," Shannon gave him a small, painful smile.
A few moments of silence passed between them.
"You have to forget about him, Shannon. I know it's hard but you have to. And I don't need to tell you why," said Jim gently.
"I know, Jim. That was what I was trying to do when we came back from Bogota, but then the meeting happened. Facing Luis again and hearing the words he said to me was just…" she shook her head, her face crumbling in pain.
Jim held her in his arms and comforted her. They sat there for a few minutes in silence.
xoxoxo
A week later, Esteban Magdalena's trial began. Two Colombian drug dealers employed by Esteban admitted to making cocaine shipments to the US under his instructions.
Luis sat on a chair in his bedroom deep in thought. It was already half past eight in the evening.
The safehouse was quiet except for the two guards outside the front door who were discussing about a baseball game they watched the other day.
Steven Callahan paid him another visit earlier that day in preparation for his testimony against his uncle. With him was the prosecutor handling the case against Esteban.
Luis felt so nervous. He loved his uncle but he knew he had to do this. He didn't want to go to jail.
Ever since his meeting with Shannon at the hotel, he had been reflecting on the trajectory of his life. He weighed the pros and cons of what would happen should he remain loyal to his uncle. He had been so blind and spoiled by his uncle that he couldn't see – or rather, refused to see what really mattered.
Luis also couldn't stop thinking about Shannon's previous interrogation in the safehouse. Her interrogation, albeit unsavory, presented such revelation to him and provided him with a deeper understanding of what's going on. He might not know what IMF exactly was, but he suspected that it might be a covert division of the CIA.
He also felt justified in his suspicion that Shannon herself was being questioned about her involvement with him. But the major surprise he got from the incident was the fact that Shannon wasn't doing undercover work after the plane crash. She was being herself. Somehow that gave him small comfort knowing that he fell in love with the real Shannon – a woman who had temporary amnesia, not a spy who was out to seduce him in the hopes of gaining his trust.
Luis suddenly frowned. He wondered at what point during her stay at the villa she regained her memory and when she started to resume her fake identity.
After Shannon's interrogation, his anger towards her had dissipated. Deep down, he couldn't bring himself to genuinely hate Shannon. He was in fact alarmed at the sight of her being choked by that bastard CIA agent. And he couldn't forget the look on her face when she was outside the safehouse talking with the blond agent who came barging into the safehouse. She looked hurt and vulnerable in that moment – a glimpse of the other side of her as an agent.
Luis's line of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. One of the guards informed him through the door that it's time for the call. Luis went out of his bedroom and followed the guard to the living room.
He made a request earlier that day for a phone call to a friend in Colombia. Steven allowed his request and the guard was instructed to patch him through Colombia at the designated hour.
Luis provided Steven with contact details of his best friend in Colombia. Since Luis had no siblings, his best friend was the closest person he could call as family apart from his uncle.
As soon as they were in the living room, the guard dialed the number in Colombia for Luis and handed him the receiver. The guard left Luis alone as soon as the phone conversation started.
Luis knew the phone call was being monitored but he didn't care. He wanted to talk to the only person he could trust.
"I promise I'll come back to Colombia when it's safe for me to do so. Maybe in two years' time we can see each other again," he said over the phone.
"Luis, I'm proud you're finally standing up against your uncle. It's the right thing to do," his best friend answered.
They talked for a while then a rush of emotions went through Luis as he listened to his best friend.
"You're right. I can't be a drug dealer all my life. I'll just have to figure out what I want to do next," he confided to him.
Luis only felt deep sadness at the turn of events. And pain. He might not hate Shannon but he's still hurting from the fact that he got jilted at the altar. And he could only blame himself for that.
"How do you stop loving someone who hurt you and doesn't love you back?" he asked his best friend.
His best friend only met Shannon once but he instantly liked her for him. In a sympathetic voice, his best friend answered, "You don't. If you really love her, you don't stop loving her even though she hurt you. You just let her go and hope that she finds happiness."
Happiness.
Luis suddenly remembered the time when Shannon asked him whether he'd choose wealth or happiness. It was the day when she accepted his proposal. Now he realized what a fool he'd been to say that he could have both.
He began to cry silently.
xoxoxo