Cat and Mouse game

Chapter One

***

Strong hands held him tightly to the bed. The sounds of gunfire and shattering glass were still echoing in his ears. His heart was pounding like crazy, trying to burst out of his chest. Probably due to the adrenaline rushing through his blood after what had happened. Or was it a long-forgotten feeling of intimacy with another person and fear of it? He was not sure. 

"Get away from me!" he said angrily, unable to stand this strange tension.

"Shh, be quiet," a deep voice whispered in his ear, "or do you want us to be caught red-handed?"

Confused, he looked at the man looming over him and bit his lip. He knew there was no other choice. He had to accept it, or their plan would be over.

"Fuck ..." he swore under his breath.

How on earth did he end up in this stupid situation?

***

Mexico City, Mexico

The rays of the dim morning sun fell softly on the swarthy face of a young man of about twenty-five. They warmed the soft skin, which was now riddled with bruises and scratches. A few small band-aids covered his wounds. His thick, curly black hair shone gold in the light.

He stopped in front of a long and partly glass, yet nondescript building several stories high, surrounded by a fence. The absence of any visible signs meant a lot; very few people knew that the National Intelligence Center of Mexico, or CNI for short, was located here.

The young man took a tired look at the familiar building, which was dear to him in some way. He adjusted the black gloves on his hands out of habit and walked slowly towards the gate.

For him, it was just another normal workday, only this time in the office, not on the on-site mission.

After showing his ID to a stern-looking officer in a special uniform, he entered the territory. Walking on a long, stone-paved path surrounded by green lawn, he finally went into the CNI building itself.

In the lobby, he greeted another officer whom he knew well and occasionally exchanged a few words with. Then, he attached his pass and walked through the turnstiles to the elevators. As he reached the third floor, he sped up a bit and headed down the long corridor to his department's office.

This young man was a person who hated being late. However, most of his colleagues, except for the chief, usually arrived half an hour late. When he entered the small office with several desks and numerous cabinets filled with documents, the usual silence and peace of this room greeted him.

"Elias! Buenos días! " a sudden and loud greeting surprised him. A colleague looked at him from behind a large computer screen. "Hmm, you look quite exhausted... How did it go in Peru?! Everything okay?" he asked.

Elias was always amazed at their IT guy's energy. Maybe it was his youth, since he was only twenty-four? But that seemed unlikely, considering that Elias himself was only two years older and could not boast of such an enthusiasm. Therefore, Damian's positive attitude probably came from his innate talent or he was simply born positive.

"Yeah, good morning to you too. Business as usual – tiresome and long, but fortunately, without incident," Elias replied with a slightly indifferent tone. "Damian, you're unusually early today, though. I must admit, it is surprising. Is there a good reason for it?"

"We have a new mission coming up. The chief said it's of special importance, so I've been sitting here since six am, going over all our database. And I still have to prepare information for the briefing today," Damian said, his red eyes showing that he had been working really hard since sunrise. "Oh, by the way! The chief is already waiting for you on this matter. As I understand, he wants to assign you again."