Carmen Yates
"What exactly are we supposed to do when we get there?" The guy walking beside him almost tripped over another crack in the concrete. They were walking along an abandoned subway. The walls echoed drips of water leaks and the smell of sewage filled the tunnel.
"Have you not been listening to Walter?" Carmen's voice was in an irritated low growl. "We just have to show up, get the info and move on out."
The guy beside him kept walking, a nervous face was printed all over him. "How are we supposed to get the info?"
"Oh, for the love of God!" Carmen shouted, "we're just supposed to talk to people, I don't know!"
His voice boomed to the ends of the tunnel and sent back sound waves that made Blake seem to shake. It annoyed Carmen, yet at the same time amused him as well. They saw the light peeking from the end they were walking towards and Carmen picked up the pace, noticing how Blake was quick to follow behind.
Walter trusts me in order to complete this job. As soon as I get this done, I get to go home. As soon as I get this done...
The few words of Warner's promise to Carmen kept repeating over and over again. It haunted Carmen's thoughts hour by hour.
If I don't get this done, I'm never leaving. He looked over at Blake who was now sweating as they climbed out of the subway and headed towards a street where the church was located.
I'm not going to let this fool ruin my chances of final freedom.
"This way, East Avenue Street. Christ Church is just up ahead," he said, and Blake followed.
Matthew Perry-Benson
"Charlie are you sure this is right? Service at the church is about to start in ten minutes," Vanessa took short steps back and forth across the van floor. The two technicians were looking over codes and data to see what was going on with the system.
"V, we're trying to do all that we can. At one point it said the trackers were in Rochester, now they're in... Florida?" Giselle looked at her monitor closely. A blinking red light flashed on the Florida state.
"Something's not right," Charlie shook his head, "it's not making any sense! It's either they know how to be in three different places at once or something's wrong with the satellite."
"I've checked the coding, you're right, Hunt. Looks like somehow we've gotten hacked," Giselle started typing rapidly on her keyboard.
Matthew just stood and observed. Everyone was a little shaken up. It seemed like none of them were well-rested and the coffee didn't help.
"So what now? Abort mission?" Vanessa questioned out loud.
Charlie sighed. "I've sent requests to the rest of the team back at the CCPA telling them to have a look at it. We've got to get this fixed soon."
"I've already contacted Bourne to see if he can look into it. I think the best thing you guys can do is still go to the service and see if you can spot anyone or anything. This could all just be a plan to get us to move in a different direction while they're still in this area."
Vanessa nodded her head. "You're right, Gi. We might as well go."
"And if anything, make sure you pray more than ever about this mission," Charlie said.
Vanessa looked at Matthew. "You ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," he sighed. In all honestly, he wasn't ready at all. He felt nervous, although it might have just been the coffee talking.
"Great, tell Kaufman to head out now, we're already late."
Giselle nodded and went looking for Mr. Kaufman. Charlie kept typing on a screen, trying to see if he could fix anything.
Vanessa turned towards Matt. "Are you going like that? It's pretty chilly outside."
Matthew gave her a face. "I would've put on a jacket but someone stole it from me on the subway when I first got here."
Vanessa looked like she was suppressing a smile. "Well, welcome to New York, buddy."
She patted him on the shoulder and returned to her seat where she buckled the belt around her.
Giselle returned with affirming eyes. "Next stop, Christ Church," she called.
~~~
Vanessa Vaughen
Something felt off- and it wasn't just the fact that Vanessa had just said to a deacon that someone she barely even knew was her husband.
Although there was a twinge of guilt still pinching her conscious, she felt flutters going around in her stomach. Nervous energy made her body break into a sweat and scale with goosebumps at the same time.
"So, where do you want to sit?" She asked Matthew as they walked into the sanctuary arm in arm.
But Matthew seemed distracted with looking up and all around.
"Hey, you okay?" Vanessa tugged on his arm. His eyes reverted back to her.
"It's really big," he said, turning his head towards the ceiling.
"Well, yeah, I guess," she kept observing his face. He looked just as uncomfortable as she felt.
"I've never been in a church this big," he said.
"Really?" The word came out more shocking than she meant.
Matthew shrugged. "I grew up in a small town, I only went to smaller churches."
"Ah, I see." Vanessa looked around for an open spot and pointed to one near the middle.
They shifted through a bunch a people's legs as the pews began to fill up. Matthew sat down and still looked around. Vanessa bumped her boney elbow into his side.
"Quit staring, there are people looking at us."
"Ouch, okay, no need to puncture my ribs while you're at it."
Vanessa shook her head and turned to the front where the worship team was now standing up. Light music played over the speakers as the pastor climbed his way up to the pulpit in the middle of the stage.
"Welcome everyone to another wonderful Sunday service here at Christ Church. I'd like to be the first ones to welcome some new friendly faces we have with us today."
Vanessa started smiling, but she noticed that the people around her weren't acknowledging her presence. Instead, they were looking at two guys who sat in the very front who were slightly waving at the crowd.
Matthew caught at what she was looking at and leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "Looks like we aren't the only newbs here."
"What were the two names of the guys Bourne gave us again? Blake Farmer and-"
"And Jacob Rhodes," Matthew answered quickly.
"Do you think that..." She poked her head in their direction.
Matthew leaned back, observing the two guys. "I don't know but something about that one guy seems somewhat familiar."
"Which guy? The blondie?" Vanessa asked.
"No, the shorter one, I've definitely seen that shirt somewhere."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "It's a navy t-shirt, everyone owns a plain navy t-shirt."
Matthew looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't own a plain navy t-shirt."
"Not the point!" She leaned back and quieted down.
This is going to take forever...
"Listen, we're in church, how about we just listen to the sermon and see if we can get a closer look after," he folded his arms across his chest and focused on the pastor in front of them.
Vanessa just looked forward and made mental notes in her mind.
Two random guys who appear to be new here show up this Sunday. Suspect A is tall, blonde, male, light skin tone, wearing a dark hoodie and jeans. Suspect B is a few inches shorter, short dark hair with a darker skin tone and wearing a navy t-shirt and some khakis.
She couldn't wait to get back into the van and try to map everything out.
A/N
I had the hardest time writing this chapter for some reason. At one point I completely deleted it and rewrote it.
Ah, the life of a writer I guess.