Followed

TOD

               I was in the waiting room of the hospital. I held my phone in my hand, thinking that what I was about to do was right. I decided to call. I dialed the number. The phone rang for a while.

               "Hello, Russian Intelligence Agency here, this is Mara, and this line is secure." The lady at the front desk answered.

               "Hello, this is Agent Tod. I want to speak with Alexander." I said in Russian.

               "Hold, please," she told me. I waited.

               "Hello, Alexander speaking, Agent Tod, this line is secure," he said. "Anything wrong?"

               "Yes. Ruth quit, and Daniel is dead," I told him. "But here's the good news: Kayla has the chip now." Kayla was the double agent that helped us get into Rodriguez's house.

                Well, good for Kayla," Alexander said. "But Ruth is a traitor. I have special plans for her."

               "Ruth is not a traitor. You're just bad at being the boss," I dared to say.

               "Well, guess what?" he asked me. "You're fired."

               "You can't fire me," I said.

               "And why is that, mister Boss?" he asked angrily.

               "Because I quit," I stated.

               "What? Tod. Tod–" I hung up, ignoring his calls for my name.

               I walked up to the doctor who left room number two-thirteen.

               "Is Rodriguez in there?" I asked.

               "Yes, you may visit him," he gestured at the door. I went in. Rodriguez waved at me.

               "Hi," he said, dragging the "I".

               "What's with the dragging attitude?" I asked.

               "I hate hospital beds. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be out breaking other people's knee joints?" he asked sarcastically.

               "That's what I came to talk to you about," I said.

               "What? About breaking knee joints?" He raised an eyebrow.

               "No, about spy work. I quit my spy career," I said.

               "Why do I care?" he scoffed.

               "I'm thinking about working for the SIU instead," I told him. He stared at me, thinking.

               "Okay, whatever," he said finally. I was surprised at his reaction. Usually, Rodriguez would rejoice when he heard that someone new was joining the SIU.

               "Just wanted you to know," I said, leaving the room. When I was five feet away from the door, I heard something from inside.

               "Woohoo! Yes!"

               I knew Rodriguez would get it out sooner or later.