Let's Sit Back and Watch the Bed Burn |Virgato|

Chapter 3

The agency isn't happy with him, and it doesn't really come as a surprise.

The minute Joel steps into the building, Erick is right in his face, telling him that Kolm wants to speak with him. He knows it's bad news, mainly because Renato never speaks with him one on one if he's done something right. All of his mission calls are either through phone calls or web cams, sometimes e-mails. It's rare to talk to Kolm man to man and it's most definitely not something to be excited about.

"If it's about last night, I'm not in the mood to discuss it," Joel tells Erick, walking over to one of the computers and scanning himself in. "Have we figured out who took my target yet? Or, let me ask the bigger question, have we figured out why the fuck there was even someone else assigned to the same target as me?"

"We're thinking it was Francis," Erick tells him, handing him a folder marked with his name. "One of their agents probably caught wind that you were going after them and decided to make it their mission to kill them before you could. Wouldn't surprise me."

Wouldn't surprise Joel either. Francis's agency always seemed to be butting heads with them, making sure their missions got botched so they could have all of the glory. It was typical of them to do so, so Joel wouldn't be surprised if they had sent out one of their agents to destroy Joel's target before he got the chance to.

It wouldn't have been the first time either.

"Better go talk to Kolm then," Joel groans, pushing back on his desk and sliding out of the chair. He heads towards the big man's office, knowing damn well what's coming to him when he steps into that room. He begins to brace himself for a red faced, angry Walter Kolm, but instead, the man's face is stone, no emotion detected. Joel is not sure if that's good or not. "Mr. Kolm, you wish to speak with me?"

"I do," he says, getting up from his desk to shut the door behind them. Joel hears the sound of the lock being put into place before his boss heads back to his seat, staring at Joel with no emotion. "Last night, you were assigned to take out a dangerous group of criminals that were selling guns to gangs that were a direct threat to us, and instead of hearing that you managed to take them out, I get word that one of Francis's agents got to them first?"

Joel keeps a straight face, though he feels his anger rising again. "I did not see anyone else at Las Rosas last night, Sir, and by the time I could get to them to make it a clean kill, they had already been executed." He doesn't understand how, either; whomever had gotten to them must have been more aware of the layout of Las Rosas than he was. It was hard enough getting backstage undetected with how much security they had, so whomever managed to do it, must have been on the inside somehow.

Kolm nods, turning his attention away from Joel before tossing him a folder. "I can't afford any more mistakes Joel; you are supposed to be our top agent. It doesn't exactly look good when our agency's top agent doesn't get the job done now, does it?" It's a rhetorical question, one that leaves Joel nodding his head and taking the folder, giving his boss a quick nod before exiting the room. He drops himself down into his desk chair before opening the folder up and observing his next target.

It's a simple target, one that Joel could probably do in his sleep. As he studies the folder, Erick comes up from behind him with a cup of coffee, placing it on his desk and looking over Joel's shoulder. "Is this all Kolm wanted you for, the next mission?"

"That, and he is pretty angry about last night," Joel closes the folder and tosses it on top of his laptop, running a hand through his hair. He takes the coffee Erick had set down and takes a huge gulp, ignoring the burning sensation as it slides down his throat. "I don't understand how someone managed to get to them before I did, I didn't even see anyone go backstage with them." It's frustrating him that someone actually managed to take out one of his targets before him. It's never happened before, not in the time he's been working for Kolm. He's not going to let it happen again, that's for sure.