Ace

RUTH

               "I'm really sorry for your loss," I said, "How did it happen?"

               "Well..." she began, "I wasn't there when it happened, but I woke up in an abandoned parking garage, not remembering how or why I had been there. I was walking on the sidewalk when Rodriguez's brother came and told me what had happened. I swear I'll kill LeBron." My eyes widened in surprise at the sound of Rodriguez's brother. I thought that Sergei had killed him already. I hadn't heard of LeBron since Sergei was sent to kill his family.

               "What's wrong?" Sam questioned, noticing my surprised look.

               "Nothing," I lied, "I was just wondering what happened between you and LeBron."

               "It's a long story that I don't feel like telling," she said.

               "So, other than that, that's the whole story?" I rubbed my chin in thought.

               "It's quite the summary," she told me, "Sorry you came a long way for such a short story."

               "No, I was hoping it would be short; I need to go find Daniel, anyway–" I stopped. Was I supposed to have said that?

               "Oh yeah, speaking of which, aren't you two working together?" she asked. "No need to answer, Tod already told me about the drive Daniel had in his pocket that leads to the Ace Card–" She stopped, and the look on her face seemed pale.

               "What's...wrong...?" I stammered.

               "I know why..." she looked up at me. "I know why they assassinated Rodriguez."

               "Why?"

               "Because Daniel has the drive, which leads to the Ace Card, which is..." She got up and took me to a room built into the floor of her closet. Then, she started typing on a high-tech monitor.

               "What are you doing?" I queried.

               "If I'm correct," she said, still typing, "If the RIA kidnapped Daniel because he has the drive, they wouldn't stay in America, right? They would go back to Russia and insert the drive into a computer and send someone back to America to kill whoever has the Ace Card and return to Russia with it, so I'm checking the passenger list to see if Daniel is on the plane with some other agents."

               "Wait, are you saying that Rodriguez had the Ace Card this entire time? But I thought you hid it somewhere!" I discerned.

               "I did," she looked at me seriously. "I stitched it inside Rodriguez's jacket pocket. He didn't know it was there," She clicked on an image of Daniel from the passenger list. "Found him. On June twenty-eight, he was on the plane with Mara and two other agents. It's June twenty-nine today, so they must be at the RIA now, getting the drive from Daniel." She stood up quickly.

               "What?" I inquired. She picked up some files.

               "Rodriguez was assassinated on June twenty-seven," she whispered, "Supposedly."

               "What do you mean?!" I asked.

               "The timing doesn't line up," she scanned through the files again. "If Mara was going to Russia with Daniel on June twenty-eight to get the drive and send someone back to America to assassinate Rodriguez on the twenty-ninth, how could Rodriguez be killed on the twenty-seventh? The RIA wouldn't have killed him without a reason, either." She put the files back. I tightened my fists.

               "What..." I said through gritted teeth, "What are you saying?" She looked at me.

               "I'm saying that Rodriguez is not dead."

               "That's preposterous," I disagreed, "I mean, it makes sense, but why would LeBron lie to you about something like that?"

               "Because he didn't know Rodriguez had the card either," Sam said, "He never even suspected I would be so intelligent!"

               "Undoubtedly..." I muttered.

               "I will have a few words with LeBron," Sam stormed back upstairs.

               "Oh, you'll have words, alright."