Chapter 15

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Palm Heights
June 14, 2026
0900 hours

Ben's POV

We finished up eating, then went back to the hotel. We all gathered in Cyrus's room and went to work. Erica started looking for fingerprints or any form of DNA, Cyrus set up the DNA kit, Mike hacked into the security feeds from the resort, and Catherine hacked into the CIA so we could match our DNA. Meanwhile, me and Alexander ran over the scenario.

"You went to get a coffee?" He asked.

"Yes, there was a man there who handed it to me."

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall and lean, and he wore a correct uniform, but had a dark blue baseball cap on. He was also wearing sunglasses."

"Do you think he could have slipped something in your drink?"

"I was looking back at you guys while I was waiting, so there's a chance."

"Guys, I got something!" Mike exclaimed. We went over to him and watched the tapes from earlier this morning. I saw myself, and the man who had served me. He turned his back to the camera to make the coffee, then handed it to me.

"Do you have an angle to see how he made the coffee?" Cyrus asked.

"No," Mike said. "I tried the other camera's but didn't find anything."

"Ok, keep working." I was about to walk back to the seats when Cyrus stopped me.

"Have you told my son everything?" He asked.

"Yes, I have," I said.

"Ok, good. You are free to go, just don't blow your cover. Where a hat and baseball cap at all times."

"You don't need me here anymore?" I asked.

"No. Keep your phone on you in case though. Otherwise, you're dismissed." I was secretly relieved on the inside. I would get to enjoy the Islands without having to worry about the mission. But I kept a straight face.

"Understood, sir," I responded. I walked over to my room to grab my bathing suit, a towel, and flip flops, then was about to head out when someone dropped on top of me from the ceiling.

"Erica, what the heck???" I asked.

"It never gets old," she said.

"Do you need something?" I responded.

"No, but grandpa told me to do surveillance so I'm just stopping by to grab my things."

"So you'll be keeping an eye on me?"

"Yes," she said. "Is that an issue?" She asked as she moved closer.

"N-n-n no it-it-it i-s-s no-t-t," I stammered.

"Good." She then walked past me to get her stuff and I exited the room.

Erica's POV

Even after all the time we have spent together closer than normal, he still gets all flustered and clumsy around me. I find it kind of cute, but I know he's probably embarrassed on the inside. I got my surveillance gear and went onto the roof. It was easy to access, as the security was lax.

I set up my little tent to block out the sun, then got my chair out and some binoculars and began to watch. I saw the pool and the hot tub, as well as the ocean waves crashing the shore. It looked like a beautiful place. There was a huge crowd around one of the conference buildings. I zoomed in. It looked like an expo of some sort was happening. I turned my binoculars away.

Then, I saw Ben down at the beach. He had found himself a spot and taken off his shirt and was jumping in the ocean. I could see his abs from here. He looked like he was having fun, as he just crashed around in the waves.

After that, however, I got extremely jealous. Three girls had walked over to him, and I wanted them to leave as soon as they saw him. Surprisingly, though, Ben shooed them off like he didn't want anything to do with them. That made me happy.

I looked back around, trying to spot anything suspicious, but I wasn't having any luck. Out of the corner of the binoculars, I saw three figures in sunglasses and baseball caps approach the beach. I tried to call Ben, but he was only now coming out of the beach.

Oh no.

Ben's POV

The waves were fun to mess around in. I was having fun just screwing around by myself. I got up to get out since I thought I should check in with the others, when I saw 3 figures coming towards me.

Shoot.

Since I was only wearing my trunks, I had great flexibility, but also a lot of uncovered and unprotected areas. They all started running and I knew they were after me. I threw all my stuff in my bag and ran. I didn't run to the hotel though, that would only make it obvious where our headquarters were.

I ran to the crowd, trying to lose the men. I weaved in and out, bumping people out of the way. It was some sort of Vacation Conference-Expo thing. There was something strange about it all, but I couldn't figure out what exactly.

I got through the crowd and headed to the road, before doing a double back behind a small garbage hut. I hid behind it and waited, but I realized in horror I was leaving tracks with my wet suit. I heard them coming. I got up and braced for a fight. That was when I heard 2 bumps against the ground.

Erica's POV

I raced down and out of the hotel. I saw where Ben's path was and followed it. He had left tracks with his wet swimsuit, although, I wouldn't have been able to do anything different if I was him. I got through a crowd and approached a road.

I saw the 3 men circling in on a garbage hut, going around the back. I quickly went  into action. I knocked one out instantly with a kick to the skull. The second one came at me, but I used his own inertia to throw him into the wall. The third one was difficult. He had a knife.

I blocked his attacks and hit him back with a flurry of kicks and punches, but he was ready, and parried my offense. He went back for the stabbing maneuver and I kept my guard up. It was using all my focus to not get stabbed that I hadn't realized there was a soda can on the ground. I stepped on it and lost my balance, landing against the wall. He closed in on me, taking his sweet time.

Which was a mistake.

Ben jumped off the roof of the hut and hit him straight in the head with a 2x4. I looked up in shock to see him holding his hand out for me.

"It looks like the great Erica Hale needed some saving today," he said slyly.

"I only came because you needed help in the first place," I responded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do we do about these guys?" He asked, pointing to the thugs.

"Confiscate their belongings, but use these gloves," I handed some to him. "We can use their fingerprints. Put their stuff in this backpack." I held it out to him.

He put all the stuff he could find into it, then I took some rope and tied them up. I took 3 tablets out of my utility belt, as well as a water bottle, and gave each thug a tablet and some water. I made sure they swallowed the tablet.

"What are those?" Ben asked.

"Short term memory wipers. They will forget everything they have done in the past 24 hours. Come on, lets get out of here."

"Wait, follow me." I went into the hut with him and saw 5 garbage uniforms on a rack.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

The perfect disguise.

"Let's do it," I said.

There will be another chapter out today! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter😄

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