Hush Hush & Deception: Stolen

Chapter 1

"Phil, is that door open yet?"

"Working on it."

"Great," Harold muttered. He slunk down the hallway, careful to remain out of the cameras' sight. The hall looked like one from a normal office building, with motivational posters adorning the walls and potted plants at every intersection. It looked completely ordinary. So, it was strange to imagine that it was owned by suspected terrorists.

"Got it." Somewhere at the end of the hallway a door made a small click as the lock flashed green. Harold had twenty seconds to get to it before it locked again, this time permanently. His breathing was shaky, and his heart was pounding loudly in his chest. His years of training had prepared him for events like this, but it never silenced the paranoid voice in the back of his head warning him what could go wrong.

The agent breathed in and then dove into a roll, evading the cameras and coming to a stop in front of the door. Harold quickly turned the handle and exhaled in relief as he crept into the room, temporarily silencing the voice.

"I'm in," Harold said into his earpiece, scanning the room before proceeding toward the desk.

"Good. Put the USB into the computer, and I'll take care of the rest. Alexis, report." Phil said through comms.

"Targets just left their car, Harold. You've got three minutes, at best." Alexis' voice crackled with static in his ear. Her tone was even; at least someone was calm. Harold muttered an affirmative and plugged in the USB. The screen began to flash with numbers and coding. A small message popped up a few moments later reading, ¨TRANSFER COMPLETE.¨ He snatched back the USB, stuck his head out the doorway, and then quickly ducked back into the room. Two dark silhouettes were making their way down the corridor.

"They're here," Harold cursed, pressing against the wall. "What happened to three minutes?"

"Sorry, on my way," Alexis said through the earpiece. Harold quickly turned away from the door and began to creep across the room to the beat of two separate sets of footsteps. Harold jumped to the floor and began crawling to a set of windows facing the north side of the building. As he got closer to his determined improvisational exit he heard the two voices outside of the room.

"The motion sensor last tracked him in this area," one agent said. "He is supposedly trying to get information on our next attack, so we must act fast." The second agent wasn't responding back to the first agent, but instead reporting to a superior. Which superior? Harold concentrated, listening in on the hallway murmur, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He continued to inch further to the window. He delicately pulled at the string attached to the blinds, before quietly lifting them up. As the blinds reached the top, he began to lift the window open. The cool air of night wisped around him as the lights of the Miami evening shined on his back. Once Harold had pushed it to the top, he heard the door click open from behind him.

"Hey, Jane," the first agent clicked on her earpiece as she entered the room, "the target has been located. Report to my location immediately."

Harold recognized her instantly. The woman before him was Alyssa Wellington. She was dressed in black jumpsuit with a small red stripe across her chest. She stood tall, with wavy, brunette hair that was pulled into a tight pony tail on her head. She was wearing gloves that clutched her weapon. Alyssa was famous for her technical skills, making Harold flinch as she pulled out a nail gun from behind her.

The second agent rushed into the room behind her, smiling as she saw Harold. Harold recognized this agent as well. The second agent was Jane Belton. She wore a black jumpsuit with a small pink stripe. She was famous for her style of fighting: quick, simple, and delicate, almost as if she was dancing. Jane was the same height as Alyssa, and her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail behind her back. She had no weapon; she completely trusted in her abilities.