Project Shady

Paul

Something wasn't right, she could tell immediately that the person in front of her in the queue was hiding something. All the signs were there, the dribble of sweat rolling down the side of his forehead to his very tightly clenched fits, told her that he had something in his luggage or on him that he was afraid would land him in trouble.

Clara had arrived in Michigan almost half an hour ago, twenty minutes of which had consisted of her waiting in a lengthy queue at the check-in desk. Now that the man in front of her seemed to be preparing himself, probably to run if he was caught out, meant she'd have to wait longer, and she really didn't want to.

''I'm in a bit of a hurry so if whatever you're smuggling in is going to make this longer for me. I would really like if we switched around,'' Clara leant up to his ear, standing on her tiptoes so she could reach. The man visibly tensed at her words, the smooth silky whisper of her voice put him on edge.

''I...How do you know?'' He managed to stutter out, his hands clenching and unclenching again and again. He looked as if he was trying to calm himself down, but Clara could tell he was panicking. His breathing quickened, and the sweat on his forehead appeared in greater volumes than before.

''You look very uncomfortable, so I'm guessing you have something you shouldn't,'' she smirked as the rise in the volume of her voice made him tense up even more. Clara had a problem when it came to messing with people because she loved it so much and a lot of the time didn't know when to stop.

''Ok, Ok I'll switch just don't talk so damn loud,'' the man gave in, slipping behind her without saying another word.

As they switched Clara took out her phone waving it about below her, well that's what it looked like she had been doing. In fact, she was scanning him and the contents of his bag. When she next looked down at the phone to see what the scans revealed she sighed heavily, shaking her head.

''What a gentleman, thank you very much,'' she out loud, before then leaning back to whisper to him again, ''I'll give you five minutes to leave and turn yourself in or do you want to make a commotion.''

''What do you mean?''

''I mean you got a whole bunch of cocaine in your bag and pockets and I'm telling you that there is no way you're getting past the check-in desk without getting caught,'' the sharp intake of breath Clara heard from behind her, made her very aware that she was right.

His next action made her sigh in exasperation because he'd darted out of the queue only to run straight into security, who obviously checked him over and found the bags stuffed in his coat. The action made Clara wonder how unprepared and stupid some people could be. Yes, he may have snuck it out of where ever he had come from, but smuggling it into another country or state was a whole different ball game. For an operation like that to maybe work would mean you'd need a couple of people on the inside and it seemed he hadn't had any.

°°°

''Enjoy your stay, Ma'am,'' Clara nodded at the overly jolly woman at the desk, before picking her bag up and finally exiting the airport.

To her annoyance, it had taken another ten minutes for her to get through the queue and during that time Paul had texted her to ask why she was so late. He was the one picking her up from the airport to take her to a hotel since the flat MI5 had gotten her wasn't ready for her to move into yet. Of course, Paul didn't know that, he just knew the flat wasn't ready, he had to no idea about MI5's meddling.

''How was the flight?'' Were the first words Paul greeted her with, however she didn't exactly reply as such to him.

She handed him her bag and replied from over her shoulder as she continued out of the airport, ''flight was fine. Queue was long and shitty.''

''Well I have a feeling they're going to get on,'' she heard Paul mumble under his breath and it was obvious he was referring to Marshall.

Clara thanked Paul as he placed her suitcase and other carry on bags into the boot of his car. She smiled at him when he went to open the passenger door, before then making his way round to the driver's side. Silence filled the space as he took out his phone to type something, Clara had a feeling he was informing those who cared that she had arrived and was in his car. She also had a feeling that he was going to tell them to wait until tomorrow to meet her, well that's what she hoped since the sensation of jet lag was starting to overcome her.

''Have you got the address to your hotel I might as well drop you off. Marshall doesn't want you starting the job half awake,'' he looked up from his phone and up at Clara, who nodded her head in understanding.

Then breathing an obvious sigh of relief, just as she delved down into her bag to pull out a small scrap of paper of which she'd written the hotel's address on. Although she had hoped to get a taxi from the studio because she was well aware that where Paul was going to take her wouldn't impress him in the slightest.

The car ride wasn't exactly silent, the radio was playing lightly in the background, but that was it. Clara had not lifted a finger at starting a conversation and neither had Paul; the result was a not so comfortable silence, but it wasn't exactly awkward either. The silence, however, did end when Paul stopped the car outside the hotel, he turned to her his eyes slightly wide.

The hotel was very run down, the paint on the outside was visibly cracked and peeling off the brick. Bits of broken wood also hung down in front of the bottom window panes. Some of the windows themselves were even smashed in and there was no way they were like that from accidents. It looked as if someone had taken a baseball bat and swung it as hard as they could at the glass until it cracked and blasted apart. Clara was sure she could still she large shards stuck in the mud around the rim of the hotel foundation.

''There is no way you're staying here,'' Clara turned away from him rolling her eyes, that comment was something she had hoped to avoid if he'd taken her to the studio because then she would have gotten a taxi, and where she was staying wouldn't have mattered.

''Well I got nowhere else and it will only be for a week tops,'' she replied shrugging, moving to place her hand on the door handle and just as she was about to open it Paul pressed a button on his steering wheel which looked the doors, ''hey let me out,'' she huffed glaring at him.

''I'm taking you to the studio, you can't stay here,'' Clara sighed running a hand through her jet black hair.

She wanted to scream, break the window and climb out because she couldn't tell him she was an MI5 agent and that she needed to be in the hotel for at least that night. As Paul spun the car around, focusing his gaze back onto the road, Clara pulled out her phone and texted the emergency number detailing what had happened and that she needed to meet somewhere else. Fortunately for her, a reply came back very quickly, the message was brief and told her to expect a phone call from a certain number at some point that evening. Breathing a sigh of relief at the disaster being averted, Clara slumped down in the passenger seat.

''Thanks for looking out, I only met you thirty minutes ago and I'm sorry,'' Clara felt she needed to apologize to the manager as perhaps he was going to report her outburst to Marshall who may think twice about her being his PA. Although she was still trying to figure out he had agreed to such a thing.

''It's fine don't worry about it. You didn't exactly know about where the hotel is, so don't blame yourself,'' 'don't blame yourself,' three words Clara has constantly heard repeated throughout her life so far. She was seriously contemplating making it her personal quote that everyone always says to her.

Another twenty minutes later they pulled up into a carpark outside a familiar building. There had been various photographs, plus blueprints concerning the layout and location of Shady Records in Clara's briefing packet along with fact files on everyone who worked there.

The moment she stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her, Clara came to the realisation that her mission was about to start. There was no backing out now, her first solo assignment, no backup (unless she counted the FBI who said they'd step in if things got tricky).

Passing through the entrance the objective she had been given ran round and round in her head:
Keep alive at all costs

Don't worry Em will be in the next chapter so you won't have to wait much longer💕