Names, faces.
Names, faces.
Voices.
*beep beep! beep beep!
I smacked the alarm shut and rubbed my eyes.
I wasn’t sleeping well.
Perhaps I was thinking too much.
Perhaps I’d thrown myself into an abyss.
Mother, this is child one.
Requesting files on asset.
There are some jobs that give you an eerie feeling.
This was turning out to be one of them.
I needed an eagle’s eye on this whole operation.
It was a fine day to be staring at the cameras at the fort.
I yawned and stretched my arms.
“Working hard at night?” My watch partner, Olga.
“Horrible sleep,” I replied.
Now here’s the thing about Olga: She didn’t report to Mother.
The company had brought her in on a joint task initiative. She answered to no one - not anyone that I knew of.
Green eyes, brown hair, fluent in French, Russian, and of course, English.
She was beautiful, but dangerous. This was a woman who thrived in a world of hurt and pain, and I, wasn’t looking for either.
The cameras were boring.
But these were particularly fragile times. There was a war next door. We had to keep our eyes and ears open.
I checked the bulletin board.
Child one, this is mother.
No files on asset.
I shook my head.
Mother, child one.
Who was the asset’s primary contact?
I waited.
“Are you working on something?” Olga asked.
“Just a bullsh!t assignment,” I replied.
A notification appeared on the corner of my screen.
Child one, this is mother.
No primary contact.
If this was a test to see my patience, I wasn’t doing so well.
“I need a break,” I said, standing up.
“Me too,” Olga said, stretching her arms and pushing her chair back.
We stood on the balcony and stared at the beautiful greenery.
The compound was filled with lush gardens surrounding the building.
Olga lit a cigarette and drew in a cloud of smoke.
I shook my head, but didn’t say anything.
She gazed at me and smiled.
“I think we should move a couch into the office,” I suggested.
She nodded, “And the guns cabinet too.”
“I’m trying to get some sleep. The fvck do you need guns for?”
She looked at me and smiled, “Sleep.”
The security office was located on the second floor in the eastern wing of the building.
The compound had been fitted with enough surveillance cameras and sensors that could put the Kremlin to shame.
If they were going to attack, this would be the least of their options.
I wasn’t worried.
Very few people entered and exited the building during the day. The morning and evening hours were specified for correspondence. That’s when we needed to be on alert for intruders.
But even then, they’d have to get past one security checkpoint at the gates and two within the building.
I’d worked the checkpoints before. Some of the guards got pretty lousy, especially by the end of the day.
The big question was, who in their right minds would dare attack the fort at a time like this? There were bigger fish to fry. We were the least of their problems, at least for the time being.
Olga and I “borrowed” a nice couch from one of the rooms.
No one was going to miss it anyway. The safe house barely got any visitors, and most of the rooms remained unoccupied.
I’d always imagined bunking down at the fort for a night. It was quite appealing. But I wouldn’t be allowed out of the grounds for my training. The gates stayed locked until 08:00 a.m.
Bummer.
The cabinets in the armory were too big and heavy to move, so we decided to pack what we needed in two bags and brought them over to the office.
Now, with all that out of the way, we settled down, had some lunch, and took three shifts on the afternoon watch.
The fort was chosen by the company because it looked like any rich pr!ck’s mansion.
To the unwitting eye, it appeared to be no different than any of the other luxury homes in this part of the estate. The neighbors on all sides has been bought and paid for. If they kept their eyes closed and mouths shut, we’d ensure their security. If they engaged in gossip, they’d be taken care of.