British Exchange Agent

Chapter 36

My eyes trailed up the path of dusty footprints, drinking in the shape. Size. Contour.

"Don't talk." I quickly commanded Cyrus as his mouth opened, my voice hushed. Urgent. Were we being monitored? The prints were large - the outline of a man's work boot. The edges were marred, dusted slightly. These were fairly fresh; maybe a week old.

He nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed. Glinting murderously. Why would there be someone else on this island? It was empty...right? Keeping my own footsteps light, I crept forward towards the tree-line, following the trail.

I heard Cyrus's limp behind me - a gentle thud. Barely noticeable. We both scanned the area, on high alert.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

A simple rule. I couldn't even follow a simple rule. It was drilled into our brains from day one, that you never let your guard down. Never.

All I could see were trees. Branches. Dusty soil. Nothing else. No bright colours. No glint of jewellery. No concealed eyes. We cautiously made our way through the forest, scouting every tree. Every branch. Everywhere.

"I think tha-" My words were cut off as something caught my eye. I froze, the glint of metal sending chills down my spine. Cyrus followed my line of sight, his muscles tensing. I glanced back at him to see his eyes had narrowed, all emotions masked.

It was a reflection off something...something metallic. The silver light pierced my vision, and I swallowed, the adrenaline spiking in my system. I slowly stepped towards it, my heart pounding.

A gun? Jewellery? Blade?

I could sense Cyrus's alarm as I crept closer, my footsteps silent. I slowed my breathing as I got closer, climbing over a tree branch, my whole body crouching. I was practically crawling, scaling over and under branches like a spider.

As I neared, I realised the trees were thinning out, the vegetation growing sparse. I looked around me quickly, flinching when I saw Cyrus's eyes shining back at mine. I held up a finger to my lips, before turning around, ducking under a branch.

The smell of smoke had faded slightly, but it was still prominent, a reminder of the danger that could lurk in front of us. Gradually, painfully slowly, I crept forward, before my eyes widened.

Through the trees, the endless maze of branches, I could make out the prominent silver metal, stretching all the way down to the ground. What? Ignoring Cyrus's hushed voice to stay back, I straightened up slightly, getting closer and closer until I reached it.

I was in a clearing. All the trees and vegetation had disappeared, leaving it in plain sight.

"What?" I whispered to myself, eyes wide. Confused. Cyrus quickly rushed out behind me, still limping, before coming to a startling halt. His eyes widened comically.

"Is that-"

"Yeah." I cut off his breathless voice abruptly, in no mood for questions. I was beyond confused now. What was a safe doing in the middle of an island?

It was huge; stretching up as taller than me, taller than Cyrus. The width was astounding, the ridiculous amount of metal probably weighing a ton.

I walked up to it cautiously, eyeing every detail, every feature. The safe had a scanner and keypad on the front. We couldn't hack in. Great.

"Why would there be a safe here?" I asked aloud. "Someone's trying to hide a pretty hefty sum of cash or whatever if they're going to dump it on an island."

"We need to scan for fingerprints. I'll send them to my agency." Cyrus nodded, lifting up his wrist. He twisted his watch four times, until a green light shone out, scanning his eye. It beeped once, before a searching ray of red light swept over the surface of the metal.