Lightning Cloud

Crosshairs

Thiago had stood for a bit, then lowered his gun.

"You're not selling secrets to the enemy, are you?"

"If I was, then I wouldn't be here, of all places, sitting and pondering about the meaning of this wonderful book."

Thiago had, for the first time in his life, considered letting a mark go. No-one knew she was here, and from the looks of it, she was enjoying her life outside of their trade. He had tightened his grip on his gun, then holstered it. Instead, he took out a small syringe.

"I hope you live to enjoy your retirement."

He then plunged the syringe into her shoulder. She was limp within seconds. Someone discovered her body two hours later, checked her heartbeat and found none. Luckily, with no autopsy whatsoever, she was pronounced dead, and after the effects of the ketamine had worn off, she had secretly moved out of the morgue and moved to another country. It was the only time Thiago had ever let a mark go.

Mark noticed Thiago had gone deep into thought. He broke the silence,"Look, after all this is done, I want you to give me a call telling me its safe. I'll trust you on that one... I'll move back then."

Thiago, startled out of his repertoire, looked at him and nodded. They then exchanged phone numbers, with Thiago adding," My cellphone number is unique, in the sense that it cannot be tracked, and the line is secure from outside interference. I will let you know... I would like to apologise, for all the trouble I've caused."

Mark at this point grinned, and said,"Pa, zivot je veoma, veoma, veoma zbrkano, zar ne?"(Well, life is very, very messed up, isn't it?"

Thiago stood very still, looked at him long and hard, and asked,"How long have you known? And how?"

Mark replied,"Well, you see, I happen to have a fair share of intelligence personnel as clients. That way, I know everything about all my neighbours; where they're from, how they got their wealth, affairs, everything... so imagine my surprise when one file several inches thick suddenly came to me, showing me a man from a certain country within who had joined a certain organisation at a very young age and had become a top class killer, was coming to live near me. Don't look so surprised,"Mark looked at the shell-shocked Thiago, who's eyes had widened,"the CIA and the NSA are very good at what they do."

"But why haven't they gotten me yet then?"

"Because your former organisation had very good ties with the intelligence agencies here. A fair number of your kill orders originated from here to begin with. And besides, they were notified that you had retired. Trust me, a lot of high up people took a deep breath in relief when they heard."

Thiago looked at him for a moment, then said,"You're still hiding something."

Mark returned his stare, and after a while, replied,"I was tasked to spy on you."

Thiago slumped. He would indeed not find peace anywhere. It was so ironic, he, the one who had felt invincible behind his crosshairs, was now being aimed at. The predator had become the prey.

Mark then said,"Look, I need to get my family out of here. You should run too. This place isn't safe for you anymore."

Conviction blazed within Thiago, and he replied,"No. I will not run like a hare from the eagle. I am going to get to the bottom of this, and when I do, someone is going to pay for disturbing my retirement... Yes, you should go."

He glanced at the taxi, still splattered with the driver/killer's blood.

"Will that be a problem?"

"Naa, I'll have someone pick it up... Take care Thiago, if that is your real name."

Just as Mark was about to turn around, Thiago called out,"Wait! I meant to ask... How is it that you know that language?"

Mark stopped, hesitated, then grinned broadly, saying,"Well, lets just say I have had alot of experiences outside of the medical profession... To be exact, I was once stationed there. Can't say anything beyond that."

With that, he turned around towards his house, on his way to get his family to get some items for themselves for where he was taking them.

Thiago then pulled out a pair of sunglasses, which looked like ordinary Ray-Bans expect for the fact that they had heat and night vision capabilities, and turned on the heat vision, taking a scope of his immediate surroundings. He was alone. With that, he took them off and turned to walk towards his home. He would collect some armaments, then proceed towards someone whom he knew, someone whom he knew had the answers.

A fair distance away, the CIA headquarters, for the first time in its history, found itself hostage. Every person within the building was at gunpoint, even the Director. The men who had amazingly infiltrated the area were true pros, and there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that they would not hesitate to shoot. From a vault contained deep within a building, which was thought to be nigh impregnable by someone who did not have permission to access it, a voice, coming from a man who was once more cloaked in shadows, spoke into a cellphone with a twisted, evil grin that would have struck terror into even the most hardened of people,"Let the Lightning Clouds strike upon the land."