The Girl Behind The Bullets

S I X T E E N

That characteristic smell of rain fills Becker's nostrils as he walks back toward his hotel. The streets are empty, most anticipating the rain so they decide to stay indoors. This short walk has done some good Becker thinks, he seems a little more at ease now. That is until his phone buzzes deep in his coats pocket. His chest immediately feels heavy, my heart sinks and sadness takes over as he knows who is calling. He pulls out the small phone with the intention of picking up the call instead of avoiding it like he has five times today. The contact is Jack, his boyfriend. He can't ignore him any longer.

'Hello' he starts off as he clicks the green button.

'Christ James I thought you were dead or something'

'No I'm fine, sorry I didn't pick up earlier. It's been a very busy day'

'That's okay. So how are you?'

'I'm good, missing you'

'I miss you too, how's London?'

'Cold, rainy, busy! You'd like it here'

'I'd love to go visit, how's work?'

'Busy, hard especially when you don't know the city very well' Becker lies about how his work is really going.

'Okay, well look you sound tired so get some sleep. I'll ring you tomorrow how's that?'

'Sure, love you Jack'

'Love you too James'

Becker hangs up and is hit by a strong wave of guilt. Since the day Grants wife was killed , the pair swore they would tell each other everything because no one knows when it will all just end. Jack doesn't know that the team have found me again. He knows that they are after The Huntsman but that's it, so Becker is breaking the one rule that they share.

***

I watch from the window above as Becker walks along the path and up the steps to the hotel where is staying, alone. I pull away and shut the curtains back to the way they were. I pick up my silenced handgun from the bed and hold it in my right gloved hand. I walk to the left of the main door so that I enter under a small archway that presents a nice small posh kitchen area. I step to the right and push back again the arch, hidden from view. I bring my gun up so it's in front of my chest with the barrel pointing up towards the ceiling.
It doesn't take long for Becker to ascend the three flights of stairs and down the hall to his room where I wait for him. Unknowingly he slots the card into the lock and the light flashes green indicating it is unlocked. He pushes the heavy fire resistant door open and enters the room, the door closing behind him. I listen carefully until I hear him drop all his pocket contents on to the bed then, seamlessly, I spin around and face his back with my gun pointed.

"Don't move" I say nice and quietly, not to raise any alarms with the neighbours. I watch as Becker's posture changes, but it's not one of fear or defense but one of defeat.

"Sit on the chair to your right Becker" I say next as I slowly creep up behind him. He does as I say and walks over to the chair, leaving his key card, phone, wallet and gun on the bed.

Slowly he turns himself around as he lowers himself into the cream plush chair. Now we are facing each other, the first time in months since we have seen each other. Obviously I saw him at the park but he doesn't need to know that. He scans my body, I do the same to him. I don't know why but there is a look of relief in his face.

"I wasn't expecting any guests tonight" he says, his voice familiar and the exact same as last time in Cuba.

"I missed you at the hotel so I thought it would be only right to pay you a visit" I reply, kind of concealing my true intentions.

"Jackson didn't miss you though" Becker wittingly replies referring to my bullet wound. His comment makes me smile, something I've been doing too much recently.

"No he didn't, but I feel like it could have been worse if you get what I mean" I say insinuating that Jackson went easy on me. Becker tilts his head to the other side and follows me by smiling also.

With that I lower my gun and slowly place in back in my coat, showing Becker that I'm not here to kill him. However, I want to know where Becker is standing in this whole thing. So taking one look at him, I turn my back on him and head back into the kitchen, aiming for his fridge. There is a small black box on the right hand side and I open it to reveal a couple bottle of beers. I pull two bottle out and start my return journey to Becker, who hasn't moved an inch. This is interesting because his gun is loaded and right there, yet he didn't reach for it. I walk over to a table and use it to pry the metal caps off the bottles. Watching Becker I walk towards him and take a seat in the adjacent chair. I hold out my right hand and he takes the beer from me.

"Cheers" Becker states as we clash our bottles off each other and take a long gulp of the ice cold beverage.

"What are we doing with our lives Becker?" I question as I read the bottles label and wonder in awe of the many ingredients that provide this drink. I see him shake his head before answering.

"I have no idea Sophia, I have no idea".

We sit in silence, taking frequent sips of our beers and think about what to say to the other.

There is an almost nostalgic vibe, Becker was the only one I half liked, the only one who ever seemed concerned and sadly for me, that's rubbed off on me.

"I'm in a bit of a sticky situation here Becker" I state to break the silence.

"That I think is obvious" Becker replies, tilting his head to face me.

"There's so much I could tell you that would benefit you, but it would benefit Grant also and well, I'm not a huge fan of him" I say, tilting my bottle when I mention Grants name.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you and The Huntsman are not working together?" Becker half states half questions, however in slightly taken by his response. I turn my upper body to face him and give him a strange kind of look.

"And why would you think that?" I ask with an almost sarcastic tone.

"Easy, you don't like people. Teamwork isn't your thing" he replies making it sound so obvious.

"Thank you. Gosh finally someone understands" I say in great relief as I sit back into the chair, my actions causing Becker to chuckle.

"Grant is just looking for a reason to hate you even more" Becker looks forward and takes a swig of his drink after his add-on. However, his words stick in my head. He is right, 100% right. Grant knows I don't like teamwork, he knows I'm a lone wolf so why else would he assume that I would work with a fellow psycho?

"What are you gonna do?" Becker asks, his voice seems more serious, the CIA side perhaps.

"Almost definitely something dramatic that Grant won't like, but I have a sneaky suspicion that that doesn't really bother you" I state and drag out the last half of the sentence. I gauge his reactions and I'm quite content with what I see.

"You know I will listen to Grant, he is my boss Sophia" Becker replies as he watches me rise from the chair and place the bottle on the table that separates the two chairs. I make my way slowly towards the door. However I stop when I'm facing the door dead on , I lower my head and contemplate my next works. Slowly I look back at Becker over my right shoulder.

"Becker, I'm going to cause something to happen that is going to force you to make a decision, I really hope you choose to follow your instincts and not Grants deluded ideas" I finish and with that I pull open the door and leave the room leaving a puzzled Becker with nothing but a confusing thought and two bottles of beer.

***