Operation Leap of Faith

Chapter 9

Present day - USA, Minnesota

He was being observed; he was sure of that.

After literally bumping into Damien while leaving Glaz's apartment, Kapkan had to fight his impulse to stay around and eavesdrop on their conversation. However, the lack of places to hide made him reconsider that idea, not to mention how angry and anxious Glaz would be if Damien discovered him loitering around. So Kapkan quickened his pace, went outside to the street, and lost himself in the crowd while he walked back to his own apartment.

For a while, it was just him and his thoughts. He couldn't stop thinking about Glaz and how miserable and tired the sniper looked. Kapkan had almost felt guilty to wake him up, it hadn't even been intentional. Although, for a few seconds after being roused, Glaz seemed happy until he realised their position and what Kapkan had been doing with his hair. Then it turned awkward. He was also adamantly not thinking about the strange tension he felt when he helped Glaz clean the paint from his hands, or that later he had been staring at his lips. There was no good answer for why he'd done that, and Kapkan had the impression the less he thought about it, the better it would be for his own sanity.

It was then, ten minutes away from his apartment, that he noticed the prickling feeling on the back of his neck again. He felt the same when he was in the wilds and another predator followed him or his prey, that strange sensation of being stalked. It was unnerving to know you were being followed, but Kapkan kept his bearings and continued acting as calm as before.

At least he could rule out Damien as his stalker; unless he could be in two places at once, Damien was with Glaz right now. Which meant someone else was also interested in Kapkan's whereabouts. That didn't bode well; he was attracting the attention of too many people when he was supposed to stay in the shadows, unseen. Perhaps he'd been contacting with Glaz too much, but how could he stay away from the sniper when he clearly needed the support? It might have been a selfish decision, but last night he truly felt the need to check on Glaz and make sure he was alright. And despite everything, it seemed like Glaz also appreciated his presence, so Kapkan couldn't bring himself to regret climbing up the building to see him.

Slowing down, he went to cross to the other side of the street, discreetly looking at both sides of the road and taking a quick peek at the people down the street. He saw the expected throngs of people walking around, minding their own business and not sparing a second glance to him. Yet there was also a vaguely familiar face in the crowd. A woman, talking on the phone. Kapkan was sure he'd seen her before. It could be the same woman that had seen him talking with Glaz days ago, the one the sniper said that was part of the terrorist cell. However, Kapkan hadn't seen her well enough to know for sure, it had only been a fleeting glimpse.

He remained calm all the time since it was crucial he didn't give his hypothetical stalker any motives to suspect he wasn't just an ordinary citizen. They shouldn't have seen him ever in the first place, since Kapkan's orders were just to observe, but it wasn't surprising he fucked up. Neither he nor Glaz had previous experience training as undercover ops. And Kapkan only had been picked for this operation because they showed to work well together during Operation Chimera. Kapkan never thought he would say this, but he missed the simplicity of their mission in Truth or Consequences. In that regard, it had been much easier than their current situation.

Remaining remarkably calm, he kept walking and resisted the urge to turn his head around and see if that woman was still following him. Damn, knowing you were the potential prey of a terrorist cell was so more nerve-wracking than facing off against a feral wolf or a bear, that was for sure.

_

His day was extremely unproductive. Typing the report took half of his day, scraping and rewriting it since he wasn't sure how to address everything he had to say. For every line he wrote, he spent five minutes contemplating how to continue. He included what little information Glaz had given him about the other day's attack, and how it affected the sniper. This was the part he struggled the most with. First, it sounded too emotional, not professional enough. Then on the second rewriting it was too vague and impersonal, as if he hadn't been doing his job properly and didn't care about the mission. Kapkan was tempted to throw the laptop on the floor. It wouldn't actually help with the report, but it might ease some of his frustration. He hated paperwork.