Agent M: Project Mabus (The Agent M Series Book 1)

by L. M. Vila

  Mercedes were cars built with two values in mind: quality and detail. The officer paced back towards his car while admiring the paint job. They may have been a unique couple but this was Los Angeles. Things get stranger here minute by minute.

  “Well if there’s nothing else –” he suddenly stopped himself. The officer noticed something weird in the reflection. Like a large black rock among the dirt and tree surroundings. He moved towards it. His hand now placed on his holster releasing the latch. Looking down, confirmed his suspicions. A black Toyota Avalon turned on its side and next to the unmoving body of another man.

  “What the hel-?”

  He didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence. Kurtis grabbed the arm placed over the weapon and pulled it out. He shot a kick that forced the officer’s elbow into bending the opposite way. Horrible screams followed. More like the shriek of a baby. Kurtis blasted this poor soul back into childhood with a single blow. With his fist cocked and ready, Kurtis launched it forward and struck the officer square in the heart. His punch carried more weight than a speeding truck. Kurtis felt the officer’s ribs shatter through his knuckles. Bones splattered upon impact. They pierced his heart like shrapnel from a grenade.

  The officer wheezed. Never before had he felt a pain like this. His disbelief faded as quickly as his life. Kurtis didn’t bother catching the body. It slumped over and dropped down into the ditch next to the other one. Victims of butchery without spilling a single drop of blood.

  Seika didn’t want to admit it but she liked what she saw. He was more than a mouth and a temper. She watched him quickly move to the police car. Kurtis opened the door and pulled out the shotgun in the backseat. Then he opened up the door in front of it. There sat a camera recording every move of the empty highway. Using the butt of the gun he smashed the puny machine and watched the electrical bits scatter in the air. Kurtis slung the shotgun on his back. The strap was secured tightly over his shoulder. So far, the turn of events hasn’t been that detrimental. He even had a new weapon to use for round two.

  Kurtis entered the car and shut the door. Not even a second later and Seika was right next to him starting the engine. She put the car in drive and hit the gas. The power was incredible. German made cars weren’t her particular favorite but this one did the job.

  “Was that really necessary?”

  The first of many seemingly rhetorical questions between the two. Seika damn well knew it was necessary but the way he went about it was vicious, brutal, and beyond human. But it got the job done. And there wasn’t a single moment’s dithering or trace of guilt. This man is indeed very adept at his work.

  He answered her question with another one. “What would you have done?”

  A smile tried to force their way to her lips but never formed. Showing emotion was not allowed in her line of work. Bad for business. Both for conducting and carrying out.

  As they drove, Kurtis picked up his phone and started dialing. Before they continued he needed more information. There was only one person he could trust to give it to him while still being discreet. The General would not want to hear of their failure, nor would he want to bother explaining it.

  “Kurtis,” the sullen aged voice answered, “what has happened?”

  “Roman. I need information. Who is the woman partnered with the target?”

  “Why are you asking me such a question? What is going on? Did you not carry out the mission?”

  Too many questions made Kurtis an angry boy. “Get me a name Roman. Now!”

  Silence, as if he were even considering disobeying. Then Roman spoke. “Of course master.”

  He jammed the phone back into his pocket. A sour expression covered his face. Kurtis was humiliated by that woman. If it weren’t for her, the target would have been terminated and they wouldn’t be running away like scared little children. Not only that, she even managed to tag him with a bullet and drop his rifle. Kurtis felt like the offspring of failure and frustration.

  “We’ll hide out for a bit. Prepare a new plan of attack.”

  “How are you getting all this intel?”

  That caused Kurtis to release a short but distinctive laugh. “Please. Informants are everyone. People are willing to do anything for money. Including selling out their comrades.”

  The phone went silent. Roman placed it on the desk in front of him. It rattled horribly. His hands couldn't stop shaking. Kurtis had picked an ill-advised time to place a call. Roman was sitting in the office of a growingly displeased General.

  “So Roman,” the General scowled, “Tell me. What is our young man up to right now?”

  Words choked Roman’s throat. He had to come up with a reasonable and plausible explanation. And he must do it quickly. The General did not have a great deal of patience. Especially given what had occurred in the last twenty-four hours.

  “Sir, Kurtis merely asked for information.”

  Very unconvincing. Roman knew what words he said to Kurtis. And Yegor heard them all. He would have to do better than that.

  “About what?”

  “Apparently, the woman with the target gave him trouble,” he stammered. Even speaking in his native tongue didn't help.

  “Oh,” the General became inquisitive, “Was he forced to eliminate both of them?”

  Roman couldn’t give him the answer nor was there one worthy to tell the General. Yegor was outright mocking Kurtis.

  “I can’t confirm.”

  The events took a turn the General did not thoroughly plan for. Killing one FBI agent with a sordid past would be questioned by few. They already had Seika ready to take the blame for that one. Another variable in the mix was not accounted for. It could have been a disaster should something happened to that one. Indeed, Kurtis was right. They needed more information.

  “Very well. We will get him the information he requires. Then we will rethink our strategy and execute our next plan.” The General pulled out another cigar from his desk. He sliced the tip off gracefully and placed it between his lips. “We are running out of time. If the dogs sniff any closer then we will have bigger problems. Failure will not be tolerated.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The General’s impatience suddenly returned. “What are you waiting for? Call our informant immediately. The target must die tonight. Or all of this would be for nothing.”

  His words echoed in the room. Roman couldn’t exactly confirm it but it sounded like there was a bit of nervousness floating around as well.

  Headquarters was surprisingly quiet. A little too much for Isabella’s tastes. Since there was nothing left for her to do in the lab she spent most of her free time collecting money for Michael’s gift and trying to figure out what to get him. Sadly, no one had any good suggestions. Just plain, boring and uninspired. No one really understood; it had to be something unique. Something he would like. Something that would make him happy.

  Of course, office gossip couldn’t be filtered. Isabella was the recipient of teasing and general mockery while on this assignment. If only she didn’t care about impressing her superior. But, Isabella accepted this task and was determined to see it through to the end. There were only a few more people to ask.

  Passing through the information department, Isabella caught a glance of a man who would probably be more than helpful in completing this mission. He didn’t seem too busy aside from a cell phone plugged to his ear. No one else was around. He was by himself. Everyone else in this department must have been out to lunch.

  “Steve!” Isabella greeted while approaching. Her words sent a jolt through his body. He fidgeted and fumbled with his communication device before ultimately shutting it off and sealing it tightly in his pocket. Out of sight and out of mind.

  ‘I-Izzy?” His face looked a little pale. Even his words had traces of sweat on them. “What can I do for you?”

  “Am I interrupting?”

  Steve tried to regain his composure. She was so considerate. “No, no. Not at all. What’s up?” His eyes d
rew to what Isabella was holding. Thoughts started to flood his mind. The most important one making laps was to stay calm.

  “I’m collecting money for a birthday gift. I was just wondering if you’d like to donate.”

  “Oh definitely, definitely.” Steve shot his hand down and started squirming for the wallet. He tried desperately to stop his hands from shaking. Adrenaline continuously wreaked havoc through his body. Steve wasn’t experienced with this sort of thing. “How much do you need?”

  “Anything is fine. We’ve collected a lot so far.”

  “Oh yea,” Steve said grabbing a hold of a crisp ten dollar bill. Looking down at his wallet, Isabella noticed it was surprisingly fat. She didn’t know how much those computer information guys made but it appeared to be a lot.

  “Whose birthday are we celebrating anyways?” His question knocked Izzy out of her dead president tracking trance.

  “Actually, it’s Special Agent Madison’s birthday tomorrow.”

  “Michael?” Steve felt his heart stop. The calming beats that produced sounds which were almost indiscernible to the uninhibited ear remained silent. His hand was still in his pocket reminding him of something important. “His birthday is tomorrow?”

  “Yep.” She sounded chipper. A fine character trait around these parts.

  “I – uh, don’t think it’s such a good idea.” Stammering wasn’t helping matters. He needed to get back to that call.

  “Oh? Why is that?”

  Time to recover. Steve sent his improve abilities into overtime and hoped his brain would respond. “Well, I’m not sure if you know this but Michael’s never here on his birthday.”

  “I've heard that before.”

  “Oh yea. Mike’s weird like that. He always has the day off on his birthday or it falls on a weekend. But he usually makes it up by working a holiday.” It worked. He was feeling much more relaxed. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you.”

  Isabella let of a depressing sigh. However, the evidence was contradictory in this case. “Well, Commander McCrae said he was scheduled to be here tomorrow.”

  No good. Time to abort this conversation. Steve wasted enough moments to know he’d be screwed if he didn’t get back to the call. “Here!” Quickly burst from his lips. He grabbed a thick wad of bills and handed them over. “Make sure to get him something good. To make up for the years we didn’t give him anything.”

  “But Steve.”

  Isabella had a turn to fluster. She couldn’t count the amount he had given her but as far as thickness went, it would have a hard time sealing up a birthday card envelope.

  “Just take it.” Steve was trying to be insistent as possible. Take her mind off what she thinks she may have seen here today.

  “T-Thank you.”

  Isabella tucked the money into the manila envelope making note of its increased weight. She definitely had enough now to get him something very special. Turning her attention elsewhere, Isabella's gaze spotted two agents walking through the office. They were both easily recognizable, although one of them looked like they were just in a school yard fight.

  “Michael?” Her puzzling glare hoped to bring insight as to why he looked so beat up.

  “Michael? You mean he’s back?”

  Isabella nodded. “And he looks all banged up. Something must have happened.”

  Excitement filled Steve’s heart. If only he didn’t have to attend to this phone call first.

  “Do me a favor Izzy. See if you can find out what happened. Let me know as soon as you can.”

  “Will do.” And with those words escaping her mouth, she was gone.

  Steve waited until Isabella was out of sight. There wasn’t much time left. He knew the consequences of hanging up on this person. It was now time to come up with a good explanation. A reasonable and important one. No one ever shuts this person off unless they wished for a short life.

  Michael walked through the building with Meryl close by. Stares and small talk were almost warranted at this point. He hadn’t cleaned his clothing since the attack. People will talk. That part couldn’t be helped. The only thing he could control was the verification of rumors. And if his words meant anything to Meryl, they both knew that couldn’t happen.

  “Don’t talk about anything unnecessary,” he whispered. “We don’t want information flowing wildly.”

  “Right,” she replied in a similar tone.

  “Be vague. Especially with the intelligence department.”

  “Why them?”

  “They were the only ones who knew where we were going.”

  One name immediately popped in Michael’s mind but waivered against ousting them now. He wasn’t entirely sure yet but his hunches were hardly wrong. More evidence would be required before pursuing this individual.

  They headed straight for the Assistant Director’s office. McCrae needed to know what had happened and the information they unveiled. Especially the part about the potential security leak. This could be severely harmful to the remainder of their investigation. Not to mention their lives.

  The office door was within his grasp. Michael knocked twice and waited for that familiar greeting.

  “Come on in.”

  He did so immediately with Meryl following. McCrae looked up and saw a familiar face.

  “Michael, what brings you here?” The Commander looked up and realized it was now a rhetorical question. A new one formulated quickly to replace it. “Jesus, what the hell happened?”

  Meryl closed the door and made sure it was locked. When Michael felt it was safe enough to talk, he did so.

  “We were searching a lead on the case. The address turned out to be a fake. Upon our arrival, we were attacked.”

  “Attacked? Both of you?” McCrae genuinely sounded worried. He always was. Nothing concerned him more than the safety of his staff.

  His words made Michael ponder for a moment. The answer was right in front of him but he wanted to confirm the events in his mind before he made it so. “No sir, just me.”

  “Only you?” McCrae walked over to Michael and gave him a brief once over. His clothes were dirty but most importantly, the gash emanating from his shoulder was of immediate concern. “What happened?”

  “Sniper. Well positioned. He missed. Meryl pursued. During that time, I was jumped by another.”

  “Two of them?” McCrae was somewhat surprised. Having two attempts to kill a single person was rare. He was shocked he walked away with only some scratches. Then again, after seeing Michael’s performance, he figured the other two were outnumbered.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Any IDs?”

  “L.A.P.D.is processing prints we got off the gun.”

  “You got his rifle? How did you manage that?”

  Michael didn’t speak. He turned his head towards Meryl. She was so engaged in hearing him speak this much that she didn’t want to ruin it. Her mind snapped at her forcing her back to reality.

  “That was me sir. He dropped it on the run.”

  “Dropped you say? I can’t imagine an assassin that would drop his weapon. Especially with his fingerprints on them.”

  Meryl gritted her teeth a bit. She didn’t know how many codes she broke by firing a weapon off in public. That was a big no-no. They explained this in detail during the academy. Now here she was, first day of the job and breaking rules already. Meryl thought she buried her impulsive nature back in the L.A.P.D. An itch in her mind told her to waver with the details a bit. However, her heart knew that honesty was much better than convolution.

  “I was able to disarm him sir as he was fleeing. He was running incredibly fast. Impossibly fast. I knew I couldn’t catch up to him in time. So I –”

  “You discharged your weapon in public?”

  Meryl frowned. Sadness was creeping in. “Yes sir.”

  “And you hit the assumed sniper?”

  Using the word ‘assumed’ drove Meryl into a fit of denial. What if he wasn’t the sniper? What if he w
as someone else just running like mad because they were late for something? For all she knew there could have been a musical instrument in that case. So many questions tumbled down on her. There wasn’t anywhere left to run. She just had to tell him the truth.

  “Yes sir. But only the case. I don’t believe I struck him personally. There wasn’t any blood left behind.”

  “I see,” McCrae thought about the situation for a moment. “Good work Meryl.”

  Those words almost knocked her down. “Excuse me sir?”

  “I know what you’re thinking. Probably something to do with protocol. Well, protocol or not we do things a bit different here. Hell, if we followed the rules to every fine line then I would have fired Michael years ago. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision but it paid off in the end. And if Michael already gave you hell for it then there’s nothing left for me to say. Let’s hope all of your impulses turn out as favorable as this one.”

  Meryl was shocked. Her body seemed to freeze in place. So many times in the L.A.P.D. did she pay for the little mishaps here and there. Her superiors didn’t take lightly to her impulsive nature. Now she stood in awe. After completely explaining the situation and her rationalization, this man accepted it. Meryl started to understand what Michael was saying in the restaurant about law enforcement.

  McCrae shifted his attention back to Michael. “What about the second one? Were you able to get an ID?”

  Old wounds started to unravel. “Kaze Kunimoto.”

  “Kaze Kunimoto?” Puzzled, McCrae ventured into his memory to try and get some answers. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”

  “Hiromasa Kunimoto’s sibling.”

  “Hiromasa? Do you mean Seimon?”

  Michael nodded.

  “He was number two on the list if I recall correctly.”

  Michael nodded again.

  “Number two? On what list?”

  Michael remained silent. It was a dark time for him during those six months. Memories he’d rather not revisit at this time.