Wicked

2

Alex sprinted to the black SUV that waited outside for him. God, he loved the feeling of adrenaline pumping in his blood. It was like liquid cocaine; it made him fearless. It was partly why he loved missions. The rush, the adrenaline, the feeling of success after a completed mission.

As soon as he got into the car, Murphy, one of his dad's men, handed him a file. "Everything you need to know," he said gruffly. Alex took the file and opened it. There were blueprints, the same ones he'd seen on the computer screen. He studied them carefully, running his finger over the way they'd come in, noting the nearest exits, and finding the target room.

He put the blueprint back and looked at the next paper. It was, he assumed, a copy of the evidence that he needed to find and destroy.

On this day, Tuesday, October 25, 2002, the Los Angeles gang Rattlesnake allegedly set fire to a house containing 3 innocent people, who allegedly escaped via a window and suffered minor to severe injuries. They were hospitalized at St. Mary's Hospital and later questioned. The police found that there had indeed been a witness, one Fiona Warlen, age 87, who had been cruising by the house when the fire started. She witnessed five men, assumingly from the gang Rattlesnake, maim the three people inside and stomp back out to set the fire. She called 911 immediately. Fiona Warlen is deceased (as of November 2, 2002) and as she could not testify in court, she wrote down what she witnessed in the following....

Alex closed the folder and glanced out the window. "We'll be there in five minutes," Murphy informed him as he opened his mouth to speak. He shut it.

Sure enough, in five minutes, Purvis Building was in sight. As the SUV pulled up behind the building, Murphy clapped him on the back. "All right, boy. Get in there and show them what a Viper boy's made of." Alex whipped around. "Wait, you're not going?"

He'd been training for his assessment all his life, practicing on little assignments, and now he felt dizzy at the thought of going in there without backup. "No, but don't worry, Tucker has your back. Murphy motioned to the man in the backseat, who had already drawn his gun and was getting out.

Alex exhaled and got out as well, drawing his Magnum revolver. It was his favorite, hand-crafted in Italy, and he curled his fingers tightly around the grip, enjoying the feeling. "Are you ready, sir?" Tucker was already creeping into the building through the back door, and he waited for Alex to take the lead.

Alex jogged lightly up the first set of stairs, and realized he'd left the blueprints in the car. No matter, he'd already memorized them. As he turned left, Tucker's hand came down on his shoulder and the agent whispered almost inaudibly, "I heard something."

Alex's ears had already picked it up, but he pressed on quickly. Something was wrong, deadly wrong. It was niggling at him, and as he located the right room, he tried the door. It was unlocked. Alex stepped cautiously into the room, Tucker following. Then his alarm bells came to life.

"Tucker..." he whispered slowly. The agent stepped closer, and the realization dawned on Alex. The unlocked back door, the footsteps, and the unlocked and empty office...

"It's a trap!" he hissed loudly enough for Tucker to hear.

Heart pounding, Alex stepped behind a corner and whispered into the comms unit in his ear. "Murphy, we need backup NOW! It's a trap!"

The unit crackled, and the agent's voice blared from it. "A trap?! Alex, stay where you are, we're coming to get you.." Alex stopped listening. Murphy's loud voice would lead the enemy to his location like a moth to a flame. He cursed. How could he have been so colossally stupid? Of course it was a trap. He hadn't checked for the signs, hadn't staked out the building..they knew exactly where he was, and now he was going to die.

He heard a shout from Tucker and knew the agent had been ambushed. Mind spinning, he looked around. Nowhere to hide in the empty office, except maybe under the desk.

Making a split-second decision, Alex bolted for the desk, but a voice drew him up short. "Looking for something?"