After checking in and being shown to her room, she opened the doors leading onto her patio and took a seat overlooking the city. It was here she would draw up the list of what she needed to get back into the Arena and get the serum from Dr Cooper’s safe, without him knowing. It was going to be particularly difficult as Mia didn’t have any weapons, or the cover of her being in a wheelchair. She knew she had to get herself back inside the Arena.
Chapter 18
The Plan
As she lay there on the bed of the hotel room, Mia closed her eyes and thought about what she was doing and how she would proceed with her next task. Her priority was Dr Cooper. She decided that it would be better to deal with him away from the Arena as she would have more time to extract the information she sought from him when there was less chance of them being interrupted. For her to do this, she knew that she needed her suitcase from the building and she needed it fast. There were other things in that case besides her rifle.
She got up and dressed and headed out the door. Mia needed a nurse’s outfit for the next stage of her plan. It couldn’t be a fake outfit from a costume store, it needed to be legitimate. She jumped onto the Metro and headed over to the Foggy Bottom district where she knew, from parking her car in storage in the area, that the George Washington University Hospital was located. She walked around the building first to see what the security was like and before long, she had established that access was easy and the security of the site was a joke. Almost non-existent! It took her less than ten minutes to enter through the service area unchallenged, access the laundry area and leave with a full nurse’s uniform. She did think to herself that the task was too easy but she shrugged it off as a bit of luck.
On route to her hotel room, she stopped off at a clothing store and picked up a new pair of pantyhose, a blonde 'bob' style toupee and a pair of black shoes to go with the uniform. She remembered that the nurses in the Arena all wore stockings and flat sensible shoes. She did turn her nose up a bit when buying the shoes as they were something she usually wouldn’t be caught dead in! She usually wore killer heels or a high quality set of cowboy-style boots but when needs must! She also went into the high end boutique next door and bought several items including a short black skirt, blouse and jacket, a large brimmed hat and a pair of those killer heels she would usually wear.
When she got back to her room, she started to figure out how she was going to get into the Arena building without causing alarm. She opened her bag that contained the stuff taken from Kyle’s stash in the house. There were a number of credit cards as well as the cash. As she rifled through them, she found a blank white card. It had no details on it but did have a magnetic strip on the rear. It looked really out of place but Mia figured that it must be an access card to the Arena as it appeared to serve no other purpose.
She formulated a plan. This was to enter through the side door as she would have if she was returning from a job. She would swipe in and then swipe out quickly. If someone was watching the comings and goings on a computer, it would look like a glitch of some type. Especially if it was in the middle of the night.
The time passed really quickly that afternoon and evening. Mia didn’t get much sleep. In her head she systematically went over and over her plan so that she knew exactly what she needed to do. Everything was worked out to the last letter. The clock on the wall of the room showed 2am; time to go.
It took Mia less than five minutes to get to the Arena building and before long she was standing in the entrance corridor that she knew so well. Her thinking that the card she found was Kyle’s access card was right. Swiping in and out quickly seemed to have worked as well as there were no alarm bells sounding and no security goons running towards her. She knew time was short so she headed straight towards the changing room where she would get ready for her missions.
There were several staircases to navigate but she remembered where she needed to go. On the way, she walked passed a nurse's desk. Mia carried herself very well and due to that, the nurse at the desk didn’t even raise an eyebrow as she passed. As she closed in on the room she needed, she could see that there were nurses working in the other rooms down the corridor but she still went unchallenged. When she finally got into her changing room, she walked to the wall panel at the far end and held her hand against the electronic display. It scanned her hand and a panel slid open revealing her suitcase. She retrieved it from the shelf and quickly checked that everything was still in there. She then went to the next display screen and did the same again. The panel that slid back this time revealed the spares for her field kit. She helped herself to a few handguns and as much ammunition as she could fit in the case, including nine new rounds for her rifle that were encased in a clear plastic box. Using it didn’t form part of her current plan but something made her think that she might need them in the not too distant future. This cabinet also contained spares from the kit she needed the most. It contained micro GPS transmitters and a LCD tracking unit. It also had a few more bits and pieces that she hadn’t used before but she took them anyway as they may come in handy at a later stage. She squirreled them away in the case, closed up both cabinets and made her way out of the building. As part of her plan, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to use the swipe card to get out of the building as the system would know that the owner, having swiped out, wouldn’t be in the building. She headed towards the elevator that Kyle would normally use to bring her in. Although she remembered the code that he typed in to get them down there, she found she thankfully didn’t need it to get out. The lift took her to the foyer of the building automatically and she walked out and into the main street. When she took her first breath of air outside, she stopped and looked around her. She could see the park opposite and the glow from the front of the White House in the distance. She thought to herself that either she was that good, or the security for the Arena was pathetic. After a millisecond of thought, she decided that it was that she was that good and headed off towards her hotel. Before long she was in her room, lying on the bed and trying to sleep. Her mini-mission had only taken a couple of hours so there was plenty of time for a power nap before starting the second phase of her plan.
By 7am Mia was sitting in a diner at the corner of Madison Place and Vermont Avenue sipping a cup of coffee. The clothes and wig she had bought the day before were serving her well. She looked classy as she sat there, watching both entrances to the Arena building. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses that were in her field kit. They had a digital screen on the inside that magnified and showed the range of objects in the distance. With those, she could see everyone coming and going clearly. As 8am rolled around and after her third cup of coffee, she saw a large black BMW Seven Series pull up outside the building. It was Cooper! He had arrived. Mia downed her drink and headed out into the street. Due to the proximity of the White House, there were Police and Secret Service all over the place. She could see that Cooper had parked his car in a reserved space underneath a security camera outside the building. Mia took out the phone from her case and, after tapping on a few keys, set off the alarm on the bank building across the road from where she was standing. That drew the attention of the police in the area who all seemed to become occupied and distracted with the noise. Then, from her handbag, she took out a small device that looked like a car key remote control. It was a device for temporarily disabling all security cameras in a two hundred yard radius. Once she pressed the button, she looked up at the camera outside the diner and saw the red light on the front turn off. With that, she knew she was good to go.
She casually walked across the street towards the car. As she did, she could see the commotion outside the bank where the alarm was going off and knew that she wouldn’t be disturbed by Police or Secret Service Agents. In her hand, she held the micro GPS transmitter that she needed to attach to the car. The device was extremely small, no bigger than a dime. As she got to the car, she stopped and looked up at the parking restriction sign. As she did, without even directly l
ooking at it, she tucked the tracker into the rear wheel arch of the car. The bonding agent on the device was extremely strong and it wouldn’t come off without serious leverage. Happy that no one had noticed her, Mia casually walked off towards the Foggy Bottom area where her car was parked. When she was a block away, she clicked the button on her security camera device and turned all the cameras back on. It was time to wait.
The GPS device was linked to the LCD display she had retrieved from her changing room and would alert her to any movement of the car, so she took her time walking through the quiet streets of the city. To the casual observer, she looked like she didn’t have a care in the world, but inside she was still tormented from not having her full memory back yet. She had all of her motor functions under control, but still not the memories. She wondered if she would ever get it all back. With that, her mind wandered to thinking about Hank and what their relationship was really like. It didn’t take long though for these thoughts to turn to rage. Something which she imagined to be quite wonderful, had been taken from her without her knowing. Her stride increased from the leisurely walk to a rush to get to her car as if to hide herself away from the public. Ten minutes later, she was sitting behind the steering wheel in the car park looking at the LCD display almost willing it to show the car moving. After a couple of hours of inactivity Mia decided that, as the tracking device was in place, she had time to go and clean out her hotel room. After today, she didn’t have any intention of needing the room anymore.
By the time she loaded her stuff into the car and settled her bill at reception, it was nearly 2pm. Her timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. As she slammed the trunk shut, she heard a beep from the LCD display in the front seat. Cooper's car was finally moving. She knew that it was about to turn into a long day so she didn’t rush to follow the car. She could see that it was heading out of town onto Route 301 so she headed in that direction and stopped off at the first gas station she could find for something to eat. She sat in the window of the small dining area and ate a large sandwich and fries. She stared into space wondering about the future and about what she was about to undertake with Cooper. Her mind had wandered that far that she almost didn’t hear the waitress ask her if there was anything else she needed. After about thirty minutes, she settled her bill and headed off again in search of Cooper's car. She could see that it had pulled into the district of Annapolis and parked outside an address in St John’s Street opposite St John’s College. This was it. When night fell, this would be where Mia would get her answers from.
Chapter 19
A Frank Discussion
It was time. The sun had gone down and the streets were quiet. Mia made her move quickly and without any noise. She broke into Cooper’s house with silent malice. She was on a mission, probably her most important.
As she entered the living room of Cooper’s house, she could see him sitting in an armchair, asleep, in front of an open log fire which was smouldering away in the background. Next to him was a small wooden table with a half drunk glass of Scotch. She had already looked around the house and was sure there was no one else there. There were no photographs of family or children anywhere. Just medical qualification certificates in frames. It looked like he had led a solitary life, but finding out about his life wasn’t what Mia was there for.
The first Cooper knew she was in the house was when Mia tapped him on the side of his head with her gun. The gun she had taken from her changing room was quite distinctive. It was a .45 calibre Magnum Research 1911. Being roused in this way and staring down its barrel, it had the desired effect of making him instantly awake and be terrified.
“Mia!” uttered a startled Cooper. “What are you doing here? How are you standing upright? You’re not on a mission for us” he blurted out as she stood in front of him.
“It doesn’t matter how I got here,” she replied. “If I was you, I would be more worried about why I’m here.” She sat down in the chair opposite him but kept the gun pointing in his direction. “We are about to have a conversation where you really need to be accurate and truthful about your answers Dr Cooper. I know quite a lot already and the minute I think you’re lying to me, weeeell, let your imagination guide you towards what’s going to happen.” Mia was calm in her tone but it had an edge to it. She was fully in control of the situation. Cooper leaned over, picked up his glass of Scotch and sipped from it as best he could. He was violently shaking in fear of what he had woken up to. The extent of the shaking caused him to spill some of the Scotch down his chin as he tried to drink.
“We’ve got some quiet time at the moment so why don’t you start at the beginning. Who am I and why am I doing this for you?”
As he swallowed his mouthful of Scotch, it didn’t take long for him to realise that he had to do as he was told. He held the glass close to his chest, took a deep breath, and started to tell her what she wanted to know.
“You were the perfect candidate for our experiment in using sleeper assassins. Don’t get me wrong Mia, we didn’t have anything to do with your initial accident, we just cleaned you up afterwards.” There was a slight quiver in Cooper’s voice as he spoke about her accident which Mia noted, but didn’t react to. “The serum we developed was perfect. If you made a mistake, there was no way any court in the land would convict someone in a wheelchair with no motor functions. That’s why we kept you like that. It was for your own protection.” Mia thought about it for a moment and understood what he was saying although it didn’t make it right.
“Tell me about my life before all of this” she demanded.
“I really don’t know much about you before you were brought to us Mia. I know about your history with the Agency and that you were married, but other than that I really can’t tell you anything. What you’re asking for is something I can’t help with”. Click! Mia clicked off the safety catch of the gun in her hand.
“I told you to be careful about what you said as I know more than you think I do.”
“I really can’t help you Mia,” he blurted out.
“Where is the reversal serum you developed?” she demanded. Coopers face dropped.
“How do you know about that Mia? Did Kyle tell you about that?”
“Yes, just before he died he told me,” said Mia.
“Well, I can see that your intention is for only one of us to walk away after this conversation Mia so, if you assure me you won’t kill me, I’ll tell you where it’s located.”
Mia clicked the safety catch back on and said “OK, I’ll let you live”.
“Come with me,” he said getting up from his chair. He walked to the hallway in the house and pulled back the rug on the floor. There was a hatch which led to the basement of the house.
It was poorly lit down there but Mia followed him without fear. Cooper opened a large cupboard which was the frontage of what looked like a very secure safe. He placed his hand on the screen on the front and then typed in a combination code. As if it was gasping for air, the door of the safe opened ever so slightly releasing what looked like steam. It was actually cold air escaping as the safe was partially refrigerated. He reached in and pulled out a fancy looking storage box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. He opened it and Mia could see that inside there was a syringe and a glass vial filled with a blue-coloured liquid.
Cooper said “Here you go Mia. This is what you wanted,” as he handed her the open box.
As Mia took it from him, she closed the lid over and looked at the safe behind him.
“What’s in there?” pointing to the section to the right of the safe.
There was another locked door. Cooper didn’t reply.
“Open it! Open it now!” she demanded.
Her tone had changed and she was almost shouting at him.
“Ok Mia. Please calm down.”
“Just open the door Cooper!” she replied.
He turned around and opened the door using a key he had in his pocket.
“Step away” Mia ordered.
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br /> As he stood aside, Mia pulled the box that was behind the door out onto the floor. The label on the front read Project M.I.A.
“Is this it?” Mia asked. “Is this the story in here? Is this who I was before?”
“Yes Mia, that’s everything. I was going to..........” BANG!
Mia shot Cooper in the forehead before he could finish his sentence. He fell to the floor with a large thump, lifeless.
Without missing a beat, Mia lifted the box onto the workbench next to her and opened it. It was everything she had been looking for. History files, service records and photographs.
Just as she was about to leave, she noticed another cabinet behind the one she had taken the box from. She reached in and pulled another box forward. It was really heavy! When she opened it, her eyes lit up. It was full of money! She did a rough count on what she could see and was certain that there was over five million dollars in there.
She looked over at Cooper’s body lying on the floor and said “I told you not to lie to me! Consider this as payment for services rendered.”
As Mia turned to take the boxes upstairs, she turned and looked at Cooper’s lifeless body on the floor and said “Oh, and by the way my name’s Laura!”
The Arena: The Awakening (1) Page 9
