Shields

Chapter 21: Testing

The black doors slid open and I stepped inside nervously. I hated waiting to find what was going to happen. I was on edge and extremely jumpy.

There was a secretary at the front desk. She was old and her face was extremely wrinkled and when she spoke, her voice was extremely quiet and sounded papery. "What do you need?" She asked in a whispery voice.

"Um..." I was slightly put off by the question. I'd expected to be swarmed by agents and brought to whoever orchestrated this at gunpoint. After recomposing myself, I said, "um, I'm here to see.... Someone, I don't know his name. My name is Demetriot Shields, and whoever I'm looking for blackmailed me to get me to come here." As soon as I said it I realized how stupid it sounded, but the secretary nodded knowingly.

"I'll tell him you're here. Please wait in the waiting room."

"But... I only have like..." I glanced at my watch. "Fifteen minutes before he kills my friends."

The woman was unsympathetic. "Just go wait for him, please," the lady said, waving me away.

I tried again. "I really need to get in there before my friends get hurt!"

Her voice got suddenly hard. It was still the same quite whisper, but somehow, her tone made it sound louder. "Go sit in the waiting room and wait. He will come when and if he is ready. No sooner."

Biting my lip to keep from retorting, I backed down and entered the waiting room. It was empty except for a hard wood chair in the middle of the room. I sat down to wait.

It wasn't long before the door opened and a small, willowy man wearing thick glasses and leaning on a cane walked in.

I eyed him, unsure if this was a joke or not. Eventually, I decided that it would be best if I didn't underestimate him, but I still had to work very hard to keep a straight face. "Are you the man who took my friends?" I asked, partially because I couldn't believe it and partially because he seemed to expect me to say something.

He smiled. "No, I sent in a strike force to do that. But I am the man who was smart enough to recognize your weakness and exploit it," he replied. His voice was exactly the same ominous and low voice I'd heard over the microphone. It held a challenge, almost like a threat, but not quite there.

I stared him down coolly. "Funny. Let them go. I turned myself in; now honor your part of the bargain."

"Of course. I said I would, didn't I? But don't you want to see them first?" The man leaned towards me until I was staring into his black, beady eyes through his glasses.

"You're trying to trick me. What more do you want from me?"

"Your full cooperation, of course. But we won't get that as soon as they've gone, will we? You'll just run away like you always do. We're keeping one of them for a bargaining chip, but I will allow you to choose one person that you want to get out safely, and we will let that person and one of the other two go."

"You said you'd let everyone go. This isn't part of the deal and you know it. You can't just twist it to your own means," I said. My voice got quiet and deadly and the man nodded with a smirk.

"Not all is as it seems. If I need to take you out, I will, but it would be better for both of us if this stayed civil."

"I could take you out in seconds," I said, anger burning through me. Not only was he threatening my friends, he'd taken control of my fiancé's mind and turned her against me and he was threatening me too.

"Maybe. You won't know until you try. But first, answer the question.

I sat up a bit more in my chair, tense. He was planning something. I could see it in his eyes and the self-righteous smirk that played across his wrinkled face. As old as he was, he would have had a lot of experience with this kind of thing. I'd just have to play along until I figured out what he was planning.