Andreas looked around the small room with its sagging roof beams. Gathering his materials, he chuckled to himself. Five years ago he had been sentenced to life in prison.
People had said that he was insane; that that was the reason he tried to kill three people and managed to kill one of them. He knew better, and so did Crest.
The group had recently recruited him, getting him out of jail quietly and quickly, with no fuss. Now here he was. Finally about to get the revenge he had been dreaming of for years.
Of course, he was under orders not to kill the lawyer or her niece, but he would make sure she suffered. Andreas laughed to himself, and Matt looked up.
A plain man in every way, Matt was a perfect spy. Nondescript brown hair, brown eyes, medium build. He spoke in his quiet voice for the first time since Andreas came back from his meeting.
“Happy about your assignment?” Andreas nodded. “I’ve been waiting five years for this.” He said, laughing again.
Matt nodded and went back to whatever he was doing. That was it, no questions asked.
That way, if you were caught, or if the person you talked to were caught, you were much less associated. And that’s all that matters. Not being killed. Andreas went back to gathering what he needed, and he didn’t even notice when insignificant, plain Matt the spy slipped out the door into the night.
Matt sighed with relief once he was out the door. He was a spy, and he had been content, though not overjoyed with his job before Crest.
Now, however, the network was useless, oldest allies becoming people you couldn’t trust. And he was one of them. The thought of people, people with jobs and families and lives, being used as weapons by rivaling powers was too much.
Though a spy, and one of the best, Matt knew that there were certain moral codes, the most important of which was that people were people.
You could take information from them, steal from them, even kill them occasionally, but taking away their freedom to think was wrong.
Matt moved quietly down the road. He was heading towards a small house in the middle of nowhere, where he needed to talk to some people. Once he was down the slope, he looked back. The small shack on the hill looked forlorn and completely decrepit, waging a losing war with weeds and vines.
In the backdrop, the sky twinkled, looking down with its hundred eyes that winked and stared through the blackness.
Blackness, the color of what was supposed to be fear and hate, but in reality hid things that should stay hidden, trying to protect the eyes of those not ready. Matt was at the bottom of the hill, and already heading to a certain house in the fields near the compound.
When he arrived at the house, he went right up to the door and knocked. A man opened the door. He had black hair, a good build, and was tall.
Matt already knew this was Jordan de Mestre, who used to work for the French government.
Jordan didn’t hesitate. He too recognized Matt. Pulling out a knife, he brought it to Matt’s throat and pulled him inside. Matt didn’t protest or struggle. After Jordan and Marc were done searching him, they sat him down. “What are you doing here?”
“Please. I want to help you.”
Juliana and Caitlin entered the room in time to hear this, and Juliana laughed sardonically. “Riiight.” She stretched out the words and leaned against the doorframe.
“And all my old enemies are going to pop up and wish me Merry Christmas.” Matt looked at her calmly, then deigned to explain himself.
“I am a spy. I acknowledge that. But I respect the code of honor. These people don’t. I can’t in all honesty work with them. So I’m helping you.”
Marc didn’t bother to question him, because he knew that Matt was quite capable of lying.
“Okay. Say we let you. What’s in it for you?”
Matt looked him square in the eyes. “I could give you the line about my dear mum’s soul being at peace if I did what is right. But I won’t because I don’t know what is right, and frankly, you wouldn’t give a damn.”
He smiled at them, like a trained politician, with a smile that looked sincere and heart warming, but could be switched on and off like a light and was 100 percent fake.
“I get the satisfaction of taking down all the supercilious bastards in Crest.”
Marc stiffened and glanced sharply at Juliana and Caitlin. With satisfaction Matt noted that he had everyone’s attention.
“Now listen. You know that there is an organization, and you are trying to take them down.” Marc shifted impatiently.
“We know what we are doing. Get on with it.” Matt ignored him.
“The organization is called Crest. The members are some of the most horrible and dangerous people in our business.”
Matt nodded at Marc and Jordan. “Their goal is simple. Take control of the world.” He rolled his eyes, and Juliana couldn’t help liking how sarcastic he was.
“I know, how cliché. But its true, and they look like they might succeed.” Marc leaned forward slightly, but managed to keep his face expressionless.
“How?” was all he asked, his voice matching his face.
“Brain chips.” Replied Matt without hesitation.
“They have a man, Alex Stoba, who worked with nanotechnology. He created a miniature chip, which they implant into every potential weapon. It controls their power, so that Crest has an off and on button the weapons can’t control. The chip also has a destruct signal. When the button is pressed, it kills the weapon at the same time.”
Marcs face contorted for a brief second before returning to its impassive mask, and Juliana knew that he was remembering how the people he had freed all went berserk. Matt continued, pretending not to notice the reactions to what he had said.
“Stoba lives in New York.” Matt tossed a sheet of paper across the table. On it was an address. “Andreas ties into this because he works for Crest. They freed him from jail, and he has been working as an assassin.”
Juliana’s lips tightened and became white around the rim, but she said nothing, even when Caitlin made a small sound.
“Crest is informed about Marc tracking them, and they know that Ms. Antoinette and Caitlin are helping him. Andreas was told to kill Marc, and bring Juliana and Caitlin back as a weapon.”
Jordan, Marc, and Juliana, and Caitlin all stiffened, and Juliana reflexively did a 360, looking around as though she might see Andreas popping up behind the couch.
“So he’s tracking us at this very moment?” Juliana asked, miraculously keeping her voice even. Matt nodded.
“Well, how did Crest find out?” Juliana‘s voice was aggressive.
Matt answered quietly. “I don’t know. But I know that they found out recently, very recently.” Matt looked hard at Jordan, who stiffened and glared right back.
Marc intervened. “I trust Jordan with my life.” Here, Jordan broke in.
“I would never betray my friends.” Matt shrugged and looked at Marc. “One last thing. The compound is in Fiji. It’s isolated, but guarded. And now, I leave, and you never mention this again. I don’t want to be implicated, though I’m sure I could evade discovery.”
Suddenly, Matt looked like what he really was: a spy putting his life on the line. “If any of you give me away, I can escape, but the police may never find all the miscellaneous parts of your bodies. If they find any.”
Juliana nodded, hiding her fear. That was something she had become good at in the last week. And anyway, what could they do, keep him by force? She had no doubt he was as good as he said.
As he was walking out the door, Marc spoke up. “Thank you.” Matt gave a curt nod, then walked out the door, melting with the shadows as though they were reaching dark arms to greet him like an old friend.
