Taking A Hit

Taking A Hit: Tuesday

Michaela felt the mobile phone buzz against her in the pocket of her jeans, and swore internally. She was in the university library, in a quiet part behind the Politics section, which she liked because it was on the third floor and a bit cramped, nowhere near a window, and with only two study carrels along the wall. Virtually nobody used it. Her personal phone was on the desk in front of her, so she knew this call had to be the Agency. She hoped there hadn't been a problem with her work the night before.

She knew that none of the library staff could see her round the bookcases, but was still mindful of the ban on talking into mobiles. She sat still and let the buzzing in her pocket stop as the call rang off, glad she'd remembered to silence the ringtone, then tugged the compact smartphone out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. It was indeed the Agency, and as she was wondering whether to leave her desk and traipse down to ring them back from outside, the phone buzzed again with a text.

Thurs eve, couple of hours, good pay. Let me know ASAP

Michaela pondered. She did have an essay due next week and Thursday would have been a good time to work on it. On the other hand, good pay was good pay. Details?

Better if you pop by. Need a yes or no

Michaela felt her interest piqued. It was unusual that Steve couldn't give her some idea of a job, even by text. She wondered what was so special about it. Glancing around again, she shrugged to herself. She could always work on her essay over the weekend. Go on, then

Good. See you in a bit

Michaela shoved the mobile back into her pocket and went back to making notes from the chapter she'd been working on.

~

Once she'd finished with it, she flipped the textbook shut and headed round the shelves to return it to where it belonged. She was confident she could find its exact place on the shelves again, but she took the long way round because she'd noticed the cute library assistant she'd seen a few times before. Michaela had caught her eye a few times and thought she had a sexy smile.

She found the assistant shelving some law textbooks, and liked her geek-chic loose blue cardigan and grey maxi-skirt. She played dumb about reshelving the book in her hand and the assistant unhurriedly offered to show her. Michaela accepted, the girl smiled in that way Michaela liked so much, and they set off together between the shelves.

Michaela turned on her full-on flirt mode as they walked, and by the time they'd put the book back, Michaela knew she was called Sarah and had the next day off. By the time they got back to her shelving trolley, Michaela had Sarah's number and a date for lunch the next day.

~

On her way home, Michaela took a detour and called in to the Agency office. Its main entrance was a bland, anonymous doorway between two shops which no-one ever noticed, which is just how Steve, Michaela's boss, liked it. He didn't want any more people on the books, and any clients who needed the Agency's services usually came through word-of-mouth. Michaela never used the front door, though, and headed round the back of the terrace to a metal gate off the rear alleyway. Using a biometric ID card, she buzzed herself through the gate and sprang up the iron staircase that led to the building's first floor, also buzzing herself in through the door there.

Steve was heading round his desk, sipping a mug of coffee. 'Kettle's literally just boiled.'

'Cheers.' She dumped her bag on a spare chair and sighed, then ran her hands through her hair and put it back up in a ponytail. She wanted to get it cut, as that would be more practical for work in some ways, but equally she often needed to be flexible in her appearance, and obviously short hair stood out too much. She was still tingling from the thrill of flirting with Sarah, and used the process of making tea to push her to the back of her mind.

Back in Steve's office, she settled in a chair and blew on her mug. 'OK, what have you got for me?'

'First things first. All OK last night?'

'Fine. Went out like a light.'

Steve nodded. 'I'm told it was a satisfactory result.' He pushed a thick envelope across the desk, which Michaela stuffed in her bag with a nod of acknowledgement. 'OK,' he continued. 'There's two things, actually.' Steve pushed a file across the desk to her. 'That's a straight hit, pretty simple, could be done Thursday night. Full details in there.' He tapped the file, then passed her another, much slimmer one. 'This one's a bit different. I think it's a standard surveillance, but I have very little intel so far. Thought you could have some fun.'

Michaela spent a bit of time in the safe environment of the office, going over the files and getting things ready. Although Steve never insisted, she felt it was good practice not to take too much of a paper trail with her beyond the four walls of the Agency.

In terms of the straightforward take-out, almost everything was prepared. It didn't have to be done and dusted by Thursday really, but the target was going to be at a dinner that night and the firm supplying the silver-service staff was one known to the Agency – Steve had something on one of the supervisors, who could get people in and out. It was the perfect time for Michaela to slip in, do her job while looking vaguely like a waitress, and slip back out into the night without too many questions asked. She'd done it before, and she liked it as a method. She memorised the details of the event, then left Steve and made sure she had enough supplies from the 'Medicine Cabinet' to give her a range of options, should she need them.