Mission: Undercover

Chapter 2

Vanessa left the office and ran down the hall to the elevator. Immersed in her thoughts, she bumped into a girl walking in the opposite direction.

"I am very sorry!" Vanessa said as she picked up the girl's bag. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I think so," the girl replied.

As Vanessa handed her the bag and looked at her, she immediately recognized her—that was Rebecca Willker, Cole Willker's younger sister.

"That's great. I am sorry again," Vanessa said to Rebecca and left.

After leaving the building, Vanessa headed for her hotel. All the way, she couldn't stop wondering what had happened to her during that interview. She wondered how she had failed in this simple task for which she had been preparing for so long. This task which could not be compared to the complex physical and mental tasks she faced daily—the tasks that her life as an assassin always set for her.

In fifteen minutes, Vanessa reached the hotel. She went straight to the bathroom to take a shower.

After that, she walked out to the balcony and lit a cigarette. It was cold. The icy touch of the wind punished her half-naked body and waved her hair in all directions.

Vanessa lit another cigarette.

At the same time, the phone in the room rang.

"Hello."

"Hello, Miss Blake. Two suitcases from the airport have just arrived for you. Do you want me to send the bellboy to bring them to you?"

"Yes, thank you."

After receiving the luggage, Vanessa took out sports clothes, put them on, and left.

In the few times she had come to LA in the past month, she had prepared for her future stay in the city.

She had set up a hiding place where she stored her weapons, ammunition, equipment, and all the paraphernalia she might need. It was on the city's outskirts, in an old abandoned building. The rooms she used were only two in the basement, so even when she was there, the building still looked uninhabitable from the outside.

Vanessa had also found a small gym where she trained when she was in LA. She was a lone wolf by nature, and going to crowded, large, and luxurious gyms was not for her. So that small gym fitted her needs perfectly. There was only one treadmill that could be counted as women's equipment, but Vanessa wasn't looking for women's equipment anyway. She was more interested in the punching bags, different weights, and the bars. The gym was located in a dangerous neighborhood, in the basement of a rather dubious building, but this didn't bother her at all.

It was to that gym she was heading to.

As she entered inside, she went straight to one of the punching bags and began pounding on it with all her might, trying to vent the anger she was feeling at herself. Only one person in the gym lifted weights at that moment, but a few minutes later, he went out, so Vanessa was left alone, and for one hour, she calmed her nerves with a hard workout.

***

In the meantime, Cole was still in his assistant's office. He was sitting behind the desk, and his beautiful secretary, Marissa, was sitting cross-legged on top of it. Cole's hand was placed on her thigh, where her skirt revealed the black garters she wore underneath.

As he was saying something to Marissa, and she was nodding her head and looking at him in love, the office door opened. Inside came Mike Rodgers, Cole's former assistant. Although changing his job position, Mike was an eternal part of the company, Cole's right hand and best friend, if such a definition could be given to Cole's friendship with anyone.