Operation Leap of Faith

Chapter 3

Present day - USA, Minnesota

Never before had Kapkan known boredom so all-encompassing like this. As a hunter, he prided on being patient, knowing how to lie low before striking. However, he'd had nothing to do for two whole weeks, and he was going crazy from the lack of action. Working over intel and reports wasn't his favourite activity, and yet it was preferable to doing literally nothing. It was getting late though, and his eyes were tired of focusing on the laptop's screen for so long. Perhaps he could call it a day and go to sleep, to prepare for another equally dull and restless day.

The knock on the door was heaven sent, finally something different to break the ennui that had taken over his life! Still, he wasn't reckless enough to open the door just like that. Kapkan grabbed one of his knives and looked through the spyhole before opening. It took him a second to realise the person standing in front of his door was Glaz. He looked so different from what Kapkan was used to, like he'd gone out of his way to announce he was a gopnik dealing with shady business. Oddly enough, it wasn't a bad look for Glaz; especially the beard.

"Bit late for a visit, don't you think?" Kapkan opened the door enough to let him in and closed it again.

Glaz saw the knife Kapkan still held in the other hand, the corners of the sniper's mouth quirking up. "I have more information, and a new mission."

Well, things were about to get interesting then. He went to grab a couple of beers and came back to find Glaz sitting on the worn couch, rubbing his eyes as if he was tired. He probably was. Kapkan put one of the beers on the coffee table, in front of Glaz, and took the dossier the sniper had left there. He leafed through it, making a quick read of the information. Young man, about to graduate from the University of Vermont, blah blah blah personal stuff, family and girlfriend... Poor sod had been under heavy surveillance if the White Masks knew that much about him.

"Let me guess. You have to kill him?"

Glaz nodded, playing with the beer bottle. He always fidgeted with whatever he had in his hands when he was nervous, Kapkan had seen it happen thousands of times before. "They said it needs to be done before the month ends."

Something about his reply immediately clued Kapkan that this was weighing heavily on Glaz. He was such a bleeding heart; it was both one of Glaz's best traits and one of his weaknesses. It was clear as day the sniper was conflicted about this assignment.

"What are you going to do?"

As all answer, Glaz avoided looking directly at him and took another gulp of his beer. Fuck, he didn't envy the sniper's position right now. While Kapkan wanted to remind him he had to do whatever was necessary to carry on with the undercover operation, the words died on his throat before the hunter could say anything. Killing innocents was something neither Rainbow nor the Brotherhood condoned. And even after all this time Kapkan still remembered the Bartlett siege. Or worse, Beslan. So many senseless deaths. That's what they were supposed to stop, not contribute to it, no matter how small the scale. No, he couldn't tell Glaz to square up and do it for the greater good, not when Kapkan wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it if he was in the sniper's place.

"We have time to come up with a way to fake the murder. Six would have our hides if she thought we did nothing to prevent it." Glaz's grateful smile was subdued, but no less blinding. Kapkan averted his eyes, unable to handle that radiant look for long. "Tell me what else you have."

It turned out it wasn't much, but it was more than they had to begin with, so it was an improvement. Without surnames, it would prove difficult to find more information and police records on Layla, alias Shrike, and Damien, but that didn't mean it was impossible. The location and description of the chalet made Kapkan think it was an operations' base for the cell, and he made a mental note to investigate who was the legal owner. Glaz's information about the supposed boss was interesting, albeit too vague to be able to do anything with it.