Espionage

Isaac-Chapter 28

Isaac gave Grace one last wink before he followed Will into his office, trying not to feel disappointed that yet again their kiss had been interrupted. What did a guy have to do around here to stinking kiss a beautiful girl?

He smiled nonetheless. Grace looked incredible today. She wore a black dress with pink roses on it, and she looked incredible! Will could try to interrupt them as much as he wanted, but it was going to happen today one way or another. He'd make sure of that.

"Yes?" Isaac asked as he slumped down in the chair across from Will's desk, crossing his arms over his chest. This was probably about all the stuff that has gone missing in Will's office, so he was already making up a couple hundred excuses to why it couldn't have been him hiding them.

Will slid a folder across his desk to Isaac, not making eye contact which made Isaac's stomach sink. Something felt wrong. Something felt terribly wrong. This wasn't about the stapler at all.

"Here's your next mission," Will said, still not looking at Isaac. "We're sending you to Stockholm on a mission that we call Ultimatum. They've only chosen a handful of agents to be a part of this project, and you've been chosen, Cooper."

Isaac felt sick to his stomach. "What's Ultimatum?"

But Will just shrugged. "I don't know all the details myself. All I really know is that they're all black ops missions. You're to tell no one about them, not even me. Not even Grace. No one."

Why did this feel horribly wrong? He didn't like delving into the unknown, and black ops missions had unknown written all over them. Either way, he opened the folder and his stomach dropped even more. This was an assassination mission. But who was he supposed to assassinate?

"And what if I don't want to take this?" Isaac asked quietly, knowing full well the answer. Once he had been chosen, there was no getting out of it. As it was, he already knew too much about the mission, even if it was just one thing.

"You don't exactly have much of a choice, Cooper," Will said, almost exhaustedly. "You've already been chosen for this mission."

Isaac swallowed hard and nodded before scooping up the files and tucking them under his arm as he stood up. "Can I ask one more thing? Who sanctioned this mission?"

Will just shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, Cooper. I wish I had all the answers, but I don't. The only way you might be able to find out the answer to that question is by going."

Was it just him or did Will have a sympathetic look about him? For once, Will seemed to be nice to Isaac, something that seemed rare.

Isaac nodded before exiting the office. He was definitely a great liar, but he felt as if he couldn't find a way to hide his emotions. This wasn't something he wanted to do. He didn't want to take any lives if he didn't have to.

As he scanned the office to look at what seemed to be dozens of other CIA agents, he couldn't help but wonder who else had been chosen for this mission. But one thing was certain, Isaac definitely wouldn't find out until the day of.

Very quickly, Isaac stashed the folder inside his briefcase before making his way out into the hall, up the stairwell, and outside onto the roof where the cold weather immediately greeted him. The snowflakes drifted slowly down from the sky, sticking to him as he just stood there looking out over the city. What was he supposed to tell Grace? Would she think him a bad person for taking this assignment? If he didn't take the assignment, it was basically like putting in his resignation. There really was no choice.

He sighed as the internal war inside of him beat him up, making him feel exhausted. His thoughts became more and more lethargic until he couldn't think at all anymore. All he felt was numb. Numb heart. Numb brain. Even numb fingers. But that was probably because he had already been out here for what felt like a couple hours. He didn't want to go back inside yet. He didn't feel ready to put on a show.