"Agent Mercedes, come in, Agent Mercedes," a voice calls from my earpiece that I am required to wear at all times
"Yes?"
"Come to H.Q., you're getting your next mission."
I turn my path and head for the abandoned twenty-acre field a few miles away, on the outskirts of town. When I get there, I make my way to the center. I kick around until I find it and pull open the hidden latch, climbing down the ladder, and heading to the vent that leads me straight to the conference room.
Amanda, the woman who rescued me when I was just a teenager and pulled me from the gutters, and Perry, the leader of Laser stand conversing in the middle of the room. Laser is a secret unit of the government that is in charge of doing the 'dirty work.' Such as killing major ranks of foreign country's military and government leaders and making it look like an accident. Like faking deaths of teenage screws-ups and training them as assassins. Like protecting famous celebrities who have people watching their every move, waiting for time to kill.
I swing down from the vents, landing on one knee, my palms pressed flat on the ground, my other knee bent in front of me. I stand quickly and he turns to face me. "Ah, Agent Mercedes."
I salute him quickly. "Yes, Sir."
He smirks a bit, adjusting his tie in the reflective walls. "You should get used to being called Claire Monroe."