Argylle - The last chance

Chapter XIII

Hours and hours later Tam found herself in a house in Chicago.
From Amsterdam it had taken them far more than ten hours to travel to America but at least their flight took them directly to their final destination. But due to the yet-lag the three of them had decided to start their mission the next day.
So, after their departure, they took a taxi to Rachel's old house where they would live. As soon as their luggage was in the house, Alfie had had his lunch and all of them had rested a couple of minutes, they went to the grocery store.
Now that they were in America, Tam started to feel nervous again. In Amsterdam she hadn't expected the bad guys to know where she was and know how to find her. But here, it was different. Here she felt like being in the lion's den.
And in addition to that awful feeling, she also felt useless. They were here, ready to investigate, and yet they were buying groceries. However, she was not stupid enough to think that it would be better to start working on her own. She knew that would mean certain death, so she just tried to be patient.
In the evening, when the three of them were sitting in the living room, not knowing what to do or what to talk about, suddenly Aidan's phone rang.
"Who is it?" Rachel asked, when he picked up the phone and looked at the display.
"Alfie."
"Turn on speaker, then," Tam demanded, and even though for a moment he hesitated, he turned on speaker.
"Hello, Alfie. You're on speaker, man," he said.
"That's good. How was the journey?" their boss asked.
"All fine. Nobody died," Tamara joked.
"Well, that's positive. It would be sad if you had died in a place were none of the bad guys was," Alfie grinned, "But enough of the jokes. We gotta stay serious here, guys. You have a plan?"
"Tomorrow, we want to investigate in the old headquarters' building, hoping to find hints at anything."
"Great. You have a car?"
"Rented one today," Aidan said.
"Then go and rest. You prepared everything. Tomorrow will be exhausting as hell. And continue not dying, if you don't mind."
"Not minding at all..." Tam admitted and after saying goodbye, they hung up.
They went to bed early and got up early as well. During breakfast they didn't speak at all and only when they sat in the car, Rachel and Aidan talked quietly about the upcoming investigation.
Tam sat in the back of the car, staring out the window and looking at the surroundings. They were driving to the more industrial part of Chicago and she wondered why somebody would place their headquarters there.
She hadn't seen Chicago for so many years but still it felt like home. She supposed that the place where you were born and raised for several years would never leave your heart completely. Although, she had to admit that she liked Rome better.
"You're ready, Tammy- Tam. Excuse me," Aidan said, insecurely.
He was very well aware of the fact that she didn't want him to call her by her old nickname, but it was still hard for him. All the years he had thought of her as Tammy, had referred to her as Tammy, when talking to other people. And though he respected her wish, not to be called like that anymore, it hurt every time he said Tam.
"Ready" she said but her voice was cold. She was tolerating his presence, but she still didn't want him around and she doubted that he would ever be allowed to call her by the old name. He had lost that right years ago.
"Okay" Rachel said, as Aidan stopped the car on a parking lot some streets away from their destination, "when we go in, you stay with me, Tam. Whatever happens, you stay with me until I tell you otherwise."
She nodded.
"But let's try and stick together," Aidan said, "Only split, when there's no other way."
They all agreed and after a few more seconds they got out of the car and walked down the street towards a big building.
Tam didn't know whether Rachel and her brother were armed or not, but she was not and she didn't feel good about it. She felt help- and useless, walking next to the two agents and it was hard accepting that she would probably not get a gun until she was eighteen.
To get herself to think about something else, she started to scan the building she was walking towards.
It was a grey building with at least eight floors. The windows were either broken or covered with black film. The ground was well made asphalt, and everything looked pretty in shape, except for the broken windows.
"Do we go in through the main entrance?" she asked, and her voice sounded wrong in the deserted area.
"Since there's no security, I don't think it would be more dangerous than going in another way," Rachel answered, and they stopped in front of the front door.
Aidan knelt in front of the door and took something out of his jacket pocket before fiddling with the lock a little. After a few seconds, the door opened with a click and the three of them were able to enter the building.
Tam couldn't do anything but feel impressed by how her brother had opened the door. She had never broken in anywhere before, and the ease with which he had picked the lock was both impressive and shocking.
"Well," Aidan said as they walked through the building, "I don't think these people would win a price for interior fittings."
"It's completely empty," Rachel shook her head. "We're too late."
"You think we'll find something?" Tam asked, looking around. There was no furniture at all, the walls were blank and there weren't even light bulbs on the ceilings.
"We have to check the other floors, but I honestly doubt that they will look any different..." Rachel admitted.
It took almost one hour to check the whole building for anything. They walked into every room on every floor and when a door was locked, Aidan cracked the lock.
"Nothing," Tam sighed in the end, "Absolutely nothing to be found here."
"Damn it!" Aidan sassed.
"And now?" the young woman wanted to know.
He sighed, "We will have to do the same thing they want to do..."
Rachel looked at him in disbelief, "No, honey. We can't."
"We don't really have a choice, love. I don't like the idea, either. But it's for the best."
"Hello-o. Will somebody please tell me what were talking about!" Tam demanded.
"We have to take a hostage," Aidan explained, "One of the bad guys who can tell us something about how they are working right now, who they are working for and why."