Sample III

“Tête-à-tête”

Adeline sat at the bar alone, swirling the scotch in its crystal prison. In her uncomfortable state, she kept fiddling with her long black hair, twirling a strand around her left forefinger. In attempts to calm herself down, she allowed her eyes to slowly shift around the area in front of her, locating possible escape routes.

She knew what had to be done but, at the same time, she didn’t want to do it herself.

Adeline’s discomfort still lingered, causing her stomach to churn and forcing her to make busywork for her hands so she could stop shaking: pretending to fix her hair or makeup, adjusting the bottom of her dress which she still thought was way too damn short for work, or switching her drink between her hands which only helped in making them even colder and whiter. It could’ve possibly been the most nerve-wracking job she had to do.

She thought it had been a good idea to dress fancy in a solid attempt to give the plan a casual atmosphere, but she was beginning to regret her wardrobe choice. She could feel the heavy stares of the some of the lonely drunks at the noisy, fancy, popular bar she had chosen to meet him. She had on a black and red dress that only had one long sleeve which attached to the wrap-around on her neck. It came down to just above her knees but the killer black laced heels she wore as shoes made the dress come up to about mid-thigh. It was definitely one of the sexiest and most revealing outfits she ever wore in her whole life—and she wasn’t sure how she about it, especially given the circumstances.

“Don’t worry, Addie. Everything will be fine. Just like we planned.”

Adeline nodded to the voice, the kind words making her feel a little more at ease. She had to relax or she would make a stupid mistake and ruin everything. She could not let that happen.

Since she had turned eighteen years old, Adeline had become a part of a secret government organization whose specialty was targeting and annihilating radical groups who threatened the safety of the country, whether they were Americans or foreigners. Adeline had been recruited right after she graduated high school—as she had been told later, the primetime to begin gathering potential agents—and was taken to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., to start her training. Adeline and her parents weren’t native born to the country, though; she had been brought to America when she was five and the transition proved difficult. But as she got older and grew to be fluent in both Spanish and English, as well as learning some other languages as part of her new career, Adeline grew to love the country she and her parents lived in.

And that was the whole basis of the organization: to recruit individuals who cared about their country enough to put their lives on the line to stop those who hated it enough to destroy it. It was dangerous work and Adeline’s parents almost didn’t let her go. But with enough persuasion from both her and the recruiters, they eventually gave in. From that day on, Adeline worked long and hard to protect she held so dearly in her heart.

But now at the age of twenty-five, she was beginning to grow tired of having to fight for her life every other day. She had known very little about the risks of joining this particular organization. Though she knew from the get-go she ran the chance of being killed in the line of duty, she didn’t know other terrorist groups would be vying to kill her even while she was off the clock. Apparently, anarchy never took a holiday.

Yet there was something even more horrifying occurring which brought Adeline to the bar; something even scarier than terrorists. And it was all up to her how this situation was to be handled.

“Target has just entered the building. Repeat, the target has just entered the building.”

Adeline inhaled deeply and easily put on a fake smile, swiveling her bar stool to meet the handsome man who had just walked in. He was dressed in a blue suit and a white tuxedo shirt with a black bowtie. His short black hair was parted to perfection and his light blue eyes sparkled at Adeline. Her grip on her drink tightened and she had to fight every urge to finish the drink in one gulp. She had to remain calm or everything would go up in flames.

“My, my,” the man said in a deep, sultry voice. “You sure clean up nicely.” He moved in to kiss Adeline but she quickly turned her face at the last minute, his lips falling on her cheek. When he pulled back, he looked at her with confusion but she made sure not to look in his eyes. Instead, she turned back to the bar and waved the bartender over.

“Another round please?” Adeline asked with a smile, her red lips doing wonders against her light brown skin. The bartender, a young man, smiled and nodded back, working on making the Johnnie Walker Adeline was close to finishing.

“So this is fairly unusual,” the man said as he took the only seat next to Adeline. She narrowed her eyes at him and allowed her smile to slip away. The man seemed to notice her sudden mood change fairly quickly and he placed a hand on her bare shoulder.

“Adeline, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice gentle instead of flirty.

“I found out something very distressing today, Eric,” she said, her voice shaking a bit. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think much of it.

“What is it?” he asked. Adeline sighed and shifted her body to face her boyfriend head-on. No one could lie to her face without her finding out first. It was one of her many, many talents.

“We found a rat inside the organization,” she said. Eric’s eyes widened and he seemed shocked, quiet for a moment as he tried to wrap his head around the information.

“A-a rat? You don’t mean…”

“I do. A rogue agent who’s been giving away information to the enemy. All of our enemies,” she said. More silence passed before Eric spoke again.

“Do we have any leads?” he asked, sounding worried. Adeline knew this was the moment of truth: it was coming down to his answer.

“Not any based on facts. But, I believe the rat is working alongside us as well as giving away our intelligence,” she replied, watching Eric as he looked away, still shocked.

“How do you know this?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“It’s just an instinct. But no one outside our group could possibly know how to hack into our system. It’s impossible. The person has to be one of ours…in our own division.”

“So you’re only able to come up to that conclusion on an instinct?” Eric sounded calmer as he said this and it broke Adeline’s heart.

“Unfortunately,” she replied, her hands beginning to sweat. “But everyone is working hard to find whoever it is.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this at work at home?” Eric asked. Adeline couldn’t bear to look into her lover’s face anymore so she turned her attention back to the drink she was still trying to finish, though a new one had been placed in front of her.

“I-I don’t know,” she said. Eric sighed and moved closer to Adeline.

“I wish we had done this in privacy,” he whispered. Adeline slowly turned to him with curiosity in her eyes.

“Why would that have mattered?” she asked.

“So I wouldn’t have to do this in public.”

A sharp and sudden pain ripped through Adeline’s right leg, the one closest to the bar, as Eric stabbed a small knife into her outer thigh. Her eyes widened and she felt tears brimming, not from the pain but from the truth.

“I’m sorry, love,” he said, kissing her forehead and standing from the bar.

“Code gray! I repeat, code gray!” Adeline whispered brokenly into the microphone hidden inside her dress. The pain radiated up her leg and she felt warm liquid rolling down her skin as the blood began to fall.

Suddenly, just as Eric was about to leave the bar, a tall man rammed into his right side, knocking him down before he could leave the scene. A few other men slowly gathered around as the customers let out gasps or screams. Adeline tried to stand but the throbbing made it impossible for her to put any weight on her leg. Looking down at the protruding hilt, she noticed another substance was leaking out of her wound: a purple poison. She leaned against the bar but the effects of both the poison and the alcohol caused her to slowly crumble to the ground until someone caught her.

“Whoa there, Addie,” Dorian—the voice in her ear—said, his dark, perfect complexion contorted in worry as he glanced over Adeline’s wound. She smiled, feeling a bit woozy.

“Thanks,” she said, leaning on her friend as he carefully moved to fit her off the ground. “It’s poisoned.” Dorian examined the knife and the poison, worried at first but breathing out in relief.

“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “It’s not fast acting. You’ll be alright but we need to get you to a hospital.” Pulling out his microphone, Dorian ordered someone to call for an ambulance.

“Get your hands off me!” Adeline and Dorian snapped their heads to the sound of Eric struggling as the other agents gathered on top of him.

“C’mon,” Dorian said, wrapping Adeline’s arm over his shoulders no he could carry her over to where Eric was being restrained.

“Hey, what the hell is going on here?” The manager of the restaurant stumbled over to Dorian and Adeline who was finding it hard to focus on anything.

“Who the hell are you people and what are you doing in my establishment?” the rotund man demanded, his face as red as a tomato. Dorian reached into his coat pocket for the fake FBI badge all agents brought with them on missions.

“My name is Agent Walker and this is Agent Quinn,” Dorian replied, giving the manager their fake names. “We were assigned to apprehend that man over there for insider trading. We didn’t think it would get so out of hand.” The manager glanced over at Eric who had finally been handcuffed by the agents. His eyes then fell on Adeline’s leg where the knife was still sticking out.

“Jesus Christ!” he shouted.

“Don’t worry, sir,” Dorian said. “We have an ambulance on the way. She’ll just need some stitches and she’ll be right as rain.” The manager gawked at Adeline who smiled drunkenly at him. He shook his head but hurried off to probably call the police.

“We’ll have to get Eric out of here before the cops show up,” Dorian said, adjusting Adeline against him as they walked over to Eric. He was still struggling and shouting, cursing out all the agents who had arrested him but when he saw Adeline making her way over to him with Dorian, his eyes softened.

“Adeline,” he pleaded. “Please, this is all a huge mistake. It’s not me.” Adeline focused her eyes on Eric’s and raised an eyebrow.

“Say that again for me?” she countered, waiting for him to repeat the statement to her face. He opened his mouth but looked away, unable to lie to her. Adeline nodded. “I thought so.”

“Why, Eric?” Dorian asked. He and Eric had been best friends before they became agents. Adeline could only imagine what kind of pain Dorian must’ve felt: much worse than her, she surmised. Eric laughed and shook his head, refusing to answer.

Adeline lifted her arm off of Dorian’s shoulders and limped her way towards her ex, staring at him with the coldest, hardest eyes she could muster. Eric glanced down at her legs and saw her trembling as she moved to him. Her face, however, countered her weakened state.

“Mark my words,” she hissed. “From this day forth, we will make your life a living hell.” Eric’s eyes widened as the other agents hurried to get him outside and into the cars parked out front. They had minimal time before the police were to arrive so they would have to high-tail it back to Headquarters where Eric’s interrogation would begin.

Feeling the rush of energy drain out of her, Adeline slumped into Dorian again who lifted her up again. Quickly, he carried her to an open booth, laying her into the red leather seat. Though her heart was broken, Adeline smiled at Dorian who was staring at the wound. The veins starting from the injury were turning purple from the poison and were slowly creeping up her leg.

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” Adeline asked, clenching her teeth as Dorian examined it.

“Don’t worry about it right now,” he said. “We’re gonna take care of it.” Adeline nodded. Placing his hand on hers, Dorian gently stroked her cheek in an attempt to comfort her.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. “You’ll see.” She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder.

They could hear the police weren’t far behind now.