The Pentagon Paradox

Chapter Five

SCARLET

I unbutton the top button of my blouse as I walk into the Senate building. I check my suit pants to make sure there isn't a visible bulge in my pants swiftly and continue walking, just like I own the place.

This mission isn't as easy as the rest; making the victim look like they died of natural causes is quite hard. You have to master the way they fall and the death factor itself.

This time, I chose air embolism. It was said in my file about Millis that he was diagnosed with carotid artery stenosis a little over a year ago, which isn't very fatal due to the amount of time he's had it. But injecting air into the carotid artery would cause either a transient ischemic attack, a real heart attack, or a full-on stroke, which would lead to his immediate death.

I appreciate the government giving me the space to choose the way I kill in my missions. Otherwise, it would've been much harder to perfect the missions as much as I wanted to. With the given circumstances today, I'll be able to sneak into Millis's office easily when they are on lunch break. My only problem would be the guards at the post at that time.

Men I can easily deal with, and that is the main gender any government-associated persona chooses for guards; women are much harder to infiltrate. I certainly can't seduce a woman, but a man falls right into my traps. Which is one thing those said personas should learn: men can guard you until a woman spikes their interest.

I walk into the elevator, thankful to have a moment alone to check my appearance as well. I look like one hell of a businesswoman, in a satin white blouse and black dress pants with a shoulder bag, red lipstick, and heels. I would've preferred my usual suit and shoes, but learning from all the women who work here, this seems to be the unsaid uniform for the perfect female worker in this building.

The elevator stops three floors before Millis's office, and that's my alone time gone. The door opens, and a handsome guard walks in, his eyes dropping down to my cleavage briefly, then back to my face. Ugh, men, looking at what benefits them before even knowing who they're looking at.

I smile at him, and he smiles back—exactly what I meant when I said guards stay guards till a woman strikes their liking. This is my chance to get the access card for the office, and I can tell from his uniform that he has that tied somewhere around his pants. Damn it, Scarlet! How the fuck are you supposed to get to his pants?

Luckily, the elevator is made out of mirrors, so I bend down and pretend to fix my heel straps. I catch a glimpse of the card attached to his belt with a carabiner. That's going to be easy.

I loosen the strap of my heels and pretend to sway as I get up, doing the classic fall and holding on to anything around you move. Holding on to his torso, my hands slide to the carabiner and unhook it from his belt in one swift movement. The guard's hands move to my waist to steady me, and I slide the card along with the carabiner into my pocket.

"Steady there," he says with a smile, and I give him an apologetic smile in return.

"I'm so sorry, these heels definitely need to hold their ground a little," I chuckle, moving to the left so the pocket that has the card is hidden.

"No problem, miss," he says as the elevator comes to a stop a floor before Millis's office. "See you around," he says, nodding to me and getting out. Finally! some space in this damned evening.

I know the elevator doesn't have any working cameras, so I take out the card and observe it. I have approximately 5 minutes until Jack Benedikt realizes his precious access card is missing and connects the dots together.