Double Agent

○ thirty two ○

The meeting room is crowded with haphazard agents moving back and forth, some piling up by the coffee machine, others fidgeting by the window. Their excited eyes are visible over coffee cups, scattered about and matching the arrangement of papers strewn around the big black table in the centre of the room. The chatter reaches an almost unbearable volume before Chagrin sits down, slamming the file we obtained from the house down on the table.

The smacking sound causes all the agents to shut up immediately, and they seat themselves in their respective chairs, all eyes turned to him. He clears his throat once, hard eyes scanning the room, criticising us without words for such chaos.

The file is opened. A visualiser from the top of the room gears to life and shines down over the top of Chagrin's side of the table, and on the screen behind him, we watch him leaf through it. He sifts through the documents slowly, displaying real, legitimate proof of everything we're been fighting so hard to retrieve. I'm so jittery I can't even read the words correctly, but all the crimes are there, all the atrocities my family's business has gotten away with, every term in concession with the British Crime Firm, even the signatures, it's all there.

Chagrin closes the file and calmly looks towards us agents.

"It appears, the death of our late Agent Ford has been proven, and we can now officially start arrests for the firm. It has been brought to my attention that there are innocent civilians working under the firm. Under the direction of Agent Rinaldi and Agent Ford, we will see to it that those who should be found innocent are given proper rehabilitation and those found guilty trialed fairly."

Applause rings out throughout the room, some people looking at me and nodding, others raising their glasses in honour of Ezra and Anna's mother. Chagrin steeples his fingers, looking over at our group that flanks the first few seats nearest to him, but when his eyes find mine for a split second they sheen over with pride. My cheeks warm and saliva fills my mouth , feeling fuzzy especially when Anna throws her arms around me, happy tears rimming her lids. Ezra, seated opposite me, noods his head at me, in the dark brooding way only he can accomplish.

Chagrin, gets up, straightens his already pin-straight tie and walks out, briefcase in hand. If I thought the room pre-Chagrin was disorganised, the post-Chagrin situation is madness. People agglutinate around us, begging for details, stories and information. The crowd eventually settles and I happen to find that they've all seated and the only two people standing are me and Ezra.

"We need a debrief on how to carry on, how to handle the criminals, where to place the civillians, how to ensure they have the best chance for success, and who to interrogate," a bright-eyed agent looks between the two of us, tablet out, ready to get to work.

Almost instantly, Ezra, steps backward and strides to the back of the room, leaning against the table, eyes looking at me expectantly.

"You should be asking her. She knows what she's doing. All programs and operations about this issue need to go through her before they can be implemented." That's the last thing he says before he keenly waits for me to carry on.

It warms my heart. This is miles away from the Ezra that watched me 24/7, waiting for me to prove him right about people like me.

It's also then that I realise a roomful of people finally care enough to listen to what I have to say, and they trust me enough to see them through this. Their eyes are wide and bright with their belief in me, Ezra's pride the loudest as his impassioned gaze burns right into my eyes.

And so, I tell them. A brief history so they know who they're dealing with, the people involved, how to spot the innocents, short descriptions of the higher ups definitely decked in stolen jewels, who my mother is, and what our crime firm represents. I try to delegate, giving a few of them suggestions on how to research on the more well-known members, proposing times and dates for an infiltration, telling them what skills we're competent in so we can prepare for sure retalliation.