AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was no way the agency didn’t know. I may not have been allowed to track the source of the breaches down, but I flagged them up the chain of command every time. My understanding was that there was someone responsible for dealing with the source of the breaches. But maybe there wasn’t. Maybe everything was so separated out at the agency that they’d unwittingly created a hole. It was highly unlikely, but it was certainly a possibility with the data I was looking at.
And if it was in fact someone internal, then this was getting extremely dangerous, extremely quickly. I wondered how much Mason knew. I needed someone to talk to. The isolation of everything was wearing me down. Something wasn’t right, and if I could just bounce some ideas, some thoughts off of someone, anyone, maybe I could get to the bottom of it. It was a huge risk to bring it up to him though, because if someone at the agency was involved, they were covering their tracks extremely well. If Mason even had context for any of this, I could possibly be putting him at risk, and that was the last thing I wanted. To drag him into my mess. But even still, something in me felt like he’d probably be the perfect person to talk to about this.
I’d have to feel it out with him, I decided.
But the one thing I knew for sure was that something wasdefinitelyup.
There were just too many pieces that didn’t add up. The more and more I thought about the night of my attack. I played back Viktor’s words in my head, trying to remember exactly what he’d said. It was all so fuzzy, though.
How had I ended up in the facility?
How had my attacker gotten to me so quickly?
The attacker had to be well connected. There had to be an organization or a network if the breach was made here in Iran, but I was attacked within hours back home. This was organized, there was no doubt about it.
I sat there with my feet up on the chair, leaning on my knee as I pondered, and suddenly realized I had been at this for hours, and I became aware of the pressing need to use the bathroom. I wandered into the bathroom absentmindedly, still thinking about everything. When I reached for the toilet paper, I let out a low grumbling noise from the back of my throat. There were all of four squares of toilet paper left.
I stretched, still sitting, and leaned around and peered into the bathroom cabinet, willing there to be stocked rolls of toilet paper.
Fuck.
I took the last four squares off the roll and used them before hunting around the room for extra toilet paper anywhere.
Nothing.
As I looked around, I peered into the bathroom trash, and noted the bloody bandages, at how many there were in there. More than I had put on Mason last night. My stomach clenched at the thought. I caught my reflection in the mirror and gazed at my own fading bruises. I diverted my eyes away to avoid the fear that twisted in my stomach whenever I remembered the events of my attack.
Finally, I gave up searching, realizing there was clearly no toilet paper, and stood with my hands on my hips. I had zero idea what time Mason was going to be back, and how long I'd be stranded here. I quickly texted Mason.
Me: There’s no toilet paper here!!!!!!
I waited a few minutes,and there was no response. So I texted him again.
Me: I don’t want to drip dry for the rest of the day, you know. When will you be back??
Still no response.
I grumbled again and got up and peered through the glass door leading to the balcony. I hesitated for a moment and then slid the door open and stepped out into the hot sun onto the small balcony. I peered up and down the street. People and cars lazily made their way to wherever they were going, and no one so much as glanced up at me. I chewed on my lip for a moment, wondering what I should do, if I should go out. I thought I spotted a drug store at the end of the street, though I couldn’t read the sign. If I hurried, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal, and I certainly would need toilet paper again at some point today, especially if all I was eating was those nasty MREs.
Seeing as I still had no response from Mason, I’d have to take matters into my own hands. If I was going to have to survive on two more MREs today, I certainly wouldn’t be able to make do with four sheets of toilet paper. Not that there was even that left now.
I went back into the room and pulled on the clothes Mason had instructed me to wear; neutral pants and a lightweight button up I pulled on over my tank top, and finally I fumbled as I wrapped the headscarf loosely over my hair once again. Mason had made sure that I wouldn’t stick out as much as possible, but as I stared at myself in the mirror, I wasn’t entirely sure how convincing it was, especially with the remaining bruises on my face.
I dug through one of Mason’s bags and found some money, and shoved it into my pocket, not knowing remotely how much it was. It could be enough for a pack of gum, or it could be enough for the down payment on a car for all I knew. I was about to push myself up off my knees when a glint caught my eye. One of Mason’s pocket knives. I only looked at it for a moment before shoving it into my pocket. Just in case. Next to it were a couple of passports. I opened it up to see my photo and an entirely new name, different from the fake one I’d used yesterday. Curious, I unzipped another one of Mason’s bags and found it filled with weapons and guns, and I quickly zipped it shut and stood up.
More confirmation that Masonwasspecial ops. No record of anything anywhere, and a bag full of military grade weapons.
Who are you, Mason Reynolds? What do you do?
With the knife and the money in my pocket, I took a deep breath, and I opened the door. I peeked my head out into the open air hall and was blasted with that same warm air again. As I peered back and forth, I didn’t see or hear anyone, and I stepped out into the hall. It suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t have a key.
Fuck.
I quickly went back into the room and softly shut the door, my eyes darting around, searching for the key. Mason had locked himself out this morning, and I wondered if that was the one and only key we had for the room. I pulled out my phone, still no response from Mason. I texted Mason again.
Me: I’m going to run up the street for TP. Is there a key????????
I pressedmy head against the door, and then whipped the door open again, and still no one was in the hall. I shook my head and stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me and prayed a silent prayer that no one would realize the door was unlocked. I’d be gone for a mere 15 minutes, maybe less.
