Poisonous Love (Manxman).

20

Elijah

I rubbed at my tired eyes, for like the umpteenth time in the minutes that I've been at work. I reach for the cup of coffee seated way off the papers I was working on, and take a long sip. That long sip ends up emptying the cup and I hiss in frustration.

Every part of me, every single one of them up to the strands of my hair was tired. I literally could slump out of sheer exhaustion right now.

I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, my mind was on a loop 24/7 like a bad CD, everything around me felt like a bad omen. I couldn't get lost in my mind for the fear of being too far deep and never being able to come back out. Violence and war plagued my dreams when I did manage to get them.

I needed more coffee to get through the day.

The office phone rang as I systematically set aside the documents I was working on to the side, so I could go get a refill. "Johnson" I say gruffly into the phone, my voice sounding a little foreign to me.

"Sir, special agent Castro is here to see you." Tierney replied. Of course it's been weeks and there had to have been an update to the case she was building.

Though I'm a little confused on the case she's building because there were too many players in this dirty game, that it's almost impossible to get them all.

"Is she set up in the conference room?" I ask.

"Actually sir she's right here in admin and logistics..." There's a little scramble on the other side before Castro's voice rings from the other side of the phone.

"Come on Colonel let's take a walk." And the call was disconnected.

Typical agency people, always so crypt and threading on the waters of impolite, but in this situation though I'd consider her an angel. Anyone that could get me a sort of break time from these papers that were rendering me quite inadequate at the moment, was considered an angel in my book.

I take the steps two at a time, sometimes three while heading back down to the first floor. It doesn't take long at all to get to my destination and right there were Tierney and Castro casually talking. Dressed in her usual suit, I swear she looks the same every single time.

Footsteps echo from behind me and I glance back to see who it is, I'm met with Rome making his way to our position. Our eyes meet and quickly I avert mine. I don't think anything scared me as much as doing the wrong thing, and that fact in of itself was funny. It's funny because judging from my line of work, a part of me still believed that I knew what was right from what was wrong. But as much as the next man, I do have a good/major mess up radar and right now it was tingling on the not so good part.

"It's a good day to live fellas." Castro hops down from the edge of Tierney's table where she's perched. "Major, Colonel, shall we?" She asks while looking between the pair of us.

I simply nod as Rome replies "Yes we shall." Albeit very awkwardly.

We walk out of the building into the hot and humid outside. Castro walked in the middle, I was on the left and Rome was on her right but trudging slightly backward. It's very silent between us say for the sound of our steps and a few cars that have breezed past us. We walked into a coffee and confectionary shop after a few minutes of walking.

Since it was on base, there were a few service members in the shop grabbing a cup or two of coffee, and lunch. I'll be damned, I didn't realise lunch had passed.

We stand in line and order something to eat, well mostly Castro. I settle for a large cup of coffee 2 sugars and no cream, while Rome goes for a bottled water. We take a seat at a table towards the back.

"Castro what's going on?" I ask eventually.

Her eyes gleam a little and even though I know she's not usually a bearer of good news, this seems a little worse than usual. "I got news yesterday" There's a pregnant pause in her words as we look on at her urging the words to be spilled. "Both Ruiz and Benzema are dead." Oh no. "Someone from the agency is with the boys right now to deliver the news."

"That can't be right, Ruiz is in the custody of the U.S so how is he dead?" Roman asks.

We're presently seated on stools around the very last table at the back, so in our little circle Castro is across from me. Rome is more to my side but I can still see the conflicted look he's trying really hard to mask.

For me I think death is way too easy for the stories I've heard of this man and what he did to his own blood. Images of Lorenzo flashes through my mind but I lock and keep them away like I've always done ever since that day.

"The Russians somehow got to him." Castro replies softly although it sounded more like she was trying to convince both herself and the pair of us.

"The Russians?" I ask.

"They were both killed Russian style but I don't know, I don't buy it." So now we're dealing with conspiracy theories? Great, just a typical Wednesday. "There's like zero motive for the Russians to do this." She finishes.

It's all quiet between us for the next couple of minutes. Castro munches on her carrot cake, I sip on my coffee, and Roman stares at his bottle of water.

"So what next now?" I manage to ask Castro.

Her light brown eyes darts around the shop, before eventually coming to rest on me. Castro takes a deep breath before replying. "We hope to turn Baranov. With Benzema gone, Baranov is the next in line so we use him to get the shot callers."

Uh oh I've seen that look before in Roman's eyes, it's not a good one. He has that hardened look in his eyes as he glares at someone as if they've lost half of their brain.

"Seriously?" This could get real ugly, I need more coffee.

"What has turning people gotten you huh? Apart from more and more deaths, how exactly has that helped? Doesn't the agency ever learn?" Roman whisper yells and really I have to agree.

This guys never turn on each other, death is a much better option to them.

Castro looks like she's seen a ghost as her eyes widen comically at Rome's outburst. "So what do you recommend we do Major?" She asks almost sarcastically.

"Baranov somehow knows that Jalil and his family are in the U.S. He has more on us than we have on him, therefore they're not safe anymore. Whatever you guys do, don't compromise my family's location." He hisses. "If I may be excused."

All I see is Rome's retreating back as he moves briskly out of the shop.

"It's out of my hands now, that's the next step." The pit of dread that has already formed in the depth of my stomach deepens, so much so that I don't think it's clinically safe that my heart is beating this fast. Lorenzo could be in danger, Jalil, Rashid, all of them could be in real danger. "Come on, you know how this works Colonel, it's big fish for bigger fish."

I stare at her in shock, so if some squids, Lobsters, and sea otters are killed in the hunt for the bigger fish so be it?

"The Agency can keep them safe." She comments and I wish she didn't say that.

"Witness Protection ain't no life for a person and you know that." Throwing you on a remote farm in Wyoming and being watched every single second of the day like a farmer watches his Sheep. No vacations, fake names, a fake life is no life to live.

I hop down from the stool and grab my half drunk cup of coffee, before making my way out of the shop. I hear Castro's heavy breathing as she tries to keep up with me. Guess the Agency doesn't enforce exercising and physical training. I wasn't even walking that fast.

"Look I wasn't even supposed to tell you guys that, but I did as a courtesy so quite trying to make me look like the bad guy here."

I scoff loudly before shaking my head slowly "Good luck with Baranov." I say before making a sharp turn into the building and heading back to my office.

The dreadful feeling in the bottom of my stomach doesn't let up as I travel up the stairs.