Call it What You Want

29 - Would You Run Away?

September 2017

Joe's POV

"Let's go!" Taylor practically yelled at me as she burst into the interrogation room. Her breathing was heavy as if she just performed a two hour show. I could tell from the wild look in her eyes that she was on the brink of a panic attack.

"Come on," she yelled again, motioning fiercely toward the door. She gave me a look that seemed to say, did you not hear my the first time? "We've had a change in plans. The CIA knows that I was trying to negotiate with MI6 and stepped in. There's a lot more, but I'll have to explain later. We need to go now!"

I gave a sideways glance down to my ankle which was still chained to the table. I wouldn't be going anywhere until it was removed.

Taylor frantically looked between me and the door.

"Hey, it's okay," I told her in my calm voice. "Do you know where the key is?"

"Um, I think so?" she replied unconvincingly.

Though I had never truly been on any operations with Taylor, I couldn't imagine that she would be as jumpy as she is now. Something must have really gone wrong.

"Do you have time to go get it?" I asked.

She checked the time on her phone and nodded yes.

"If you find it great. You can come back for me. If you don't and need to leave it's okay to leave me behind. I can manage," I said laying out a plan.

"Are you mad?! I'm not leaving you," she responded.

"I'm just saying that if you need to save yourself, don't worry about me," I explained.

Taylor rolled her eyes at me before running out. I assumed she went to look for the key to unlock my ankle cuffs.

As a generally calm person, I was surprised at myself that I wasn't more concerned about the situation. Was the CIA after Taylor now? Would running away with her make everything worse? What about Natalie? There were so many unknown factors in play right now, and I figured I wouldn't get answers to my questions until later.

Well, one of my questions was answered when Taylor reappeared with Natalie in the doorway. Natalie did not look well though she tried her best to hide it with a smile.

"Taylor, I trust you with my life but are you sure escaping with us is the best idea?" I questioned.

"It will be fine. I looped the camera footage, so nobody can see us leaving. I'll blame your escape on Rebecca. Nobody will know any better considering all that she has done. My car is in the lot behind the building. Everyone except James is out of the building at MI6 headquarters. I don't expect he'll cause us any trouble," she told me. Taylor's mind seemed clearer now as she described a more concrete plan.

"Okay then, let's go," I said confidently. Taking risks was the fun part of being an agent. There is nothing more thrilling than trying to escape without being caught. It turns into a game even though your life is on the line.

Taylor unlocked my ankle cuff and tossed the key on the table. Natalie and I followed her through the maze of empty cubicles toward the exit stairwell. I noticed that Natalie ran with a slight limp.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"I'll be fine. Just a little interrogation scuffle," Natalie replied. The bruising on her face would say otherwise.

We were about to start heading down the stairs when we heard voices approaching from the hallway. The three of us quickly ducked under the nearest cubicle.

"Shit," Taylor whispered under her breath. "They'll notice that you two are gone if they haven't already. I was supposed to have left the office half an hour ago."

We heard the feet stop walking, so Taylor poked her out around the side of the cubicle.

"Their backs are turned away from us. I think I'd be able to open the door to let you guys out. You can meet me at the car. When they hear the door close, they'll be distracted by me standing there which will give you guys some time. I'll tell them I returned to talk to James or something like that. The camera footage is looped for another ten minutes."

Natalie and I both nodded in agreement with her plan. It was the best we could come up with in such a limited time. Taylor tossed me her keys. "I'll be right behind you," she said.

Then, Taylor opened the door to the stairwell. Natalie and I stayed low so we could slip out unnoticed. Luckily, the stairwell was empty. I supported Natalie as she slowly hobbled down the stairs. As I pushed open the door to the outside, I looked back up the stairs to make sure we hadn't been followed. I hoped Taylor was able to manage herself.

Her car was only one of four sitting in the gravel parking lot. Natalie and I did a quick walk around the vehicle to make sure there were no trackers, listening devices, or more importantly bombs attached to it. Finding nothing, we climbed into the back seat and laid down on the floor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked Natalie again. "What happened in your interrogation?"

"Do I really look that bad?" She asked me back.

I shrugged knowing that's always a trick question.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that agent Rebecca to start assaulting me. With the way she acted, I knew that she was trying to pull any piece of information out me since she didn't have any."

"So you think they won't be able to connect the dots?" I wondered.

"They will if they try hard enough. Especially if they are in talks with MI6 now. I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I shouldn't have asked you to help," Natalie told me.

"Hey," I rested my hand on hers. "This is what I signed up for. I'm glad you asked me. I think it will be worth it. I'm sorry you had to take all the hits."

"Eh, it's part of the job."

We waited for nearly 15 minutes before we heard someone come out. Actually, it seemed that everyone was leaving the building at the same time. I could hear Taylor's voice talking to the group of guys near the car. A few seconds later, she got in.

"You guys back there?" She asked without turning around.

Natalie answered yes.

"It's over," Taylor said in a monotone voice as she started the car. Was that good or bad? I couldn't tell. She waited until we were at least ten minutes away from the dreadful office before speaking again. Natalie and I finally peeled ourselves off the car floor and sat in the seats.

Taylor glanced back in the rearview mirror at us and grinned. "We did it."

"What?" I wanted to be excited but needed more details.

"Your escape actually made the CIA and MI6 strike a deal to release the agents that were on the lists. None of us ever have to go back to agency work!"

"How?" Natalie asked in disbelief.

"The CIA had no idea where you guys went. They did believe that Rebecca would have been dumb enough to leave the keys out. The CIA was afraid that you were about to start taking out agents to put pressure on them or publish the lists publicly. Instead of hunting you down, they decided it was in everyone's best interest to cancel the status of agents on the list. You should be getting a call from your agency soon to let you know. If people want to continue as an agent they will have to assume a new identity."

"I can't believe it. We are all actually free," I stated just to make it sink in.

"We're free," Taylor repeated.

--

Were you expecting that? Okay hold on there are two more chapters left!! Don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter.