Chapter 6

Alicia was calmly reclining in the back of the limo when a sudden shift in her course caused her to scowl.

"What's going on?! I told you we were to head back to base immediately!" she growled. The window to the driver's compartment rolled down. Expecting a hijacking, Alicia drew her hand back to strike, only to see a cheery faced Kelly in the passenger seat.

"Sorry! I kinda needed a fresh bottle of eyeliner," Kelly explained holding up a smashed bottle of make up. "Could you believe how inconsiderate those guys were back at the warehouse? They didn't even say sorry!" she ranted. Alicia, though disgruntled, simply put her hand to her face and allowed the driver to continue to their new destination.

Kelly disembarked and dove into the city's mall while her limo drove away. Alicia insisted she be back out in 30 minutes or else. It didn't take long for Kelly to become entranced by the myriad of cosmetic and clothing goods lining the store shelves, skipping around like a young girl in a candy store.

"Come on Rick, you gotta help me decide which gift she'd like better, it's do or die man," a teenage boy was demanding of Rick.

"Jason, for the millionth time why don't you just ask her directly? How the hell am I supposed to know what a girl likes?" Rick replied pessimistically.

"I told you, this is a make up gift, things have been a little... rough lately."

"She broke up with you didn't she?"

"No I... yes."

"Seriously, just forget her. One of you screwed up, I'm not laying judgment on who, it's over. Here, how about we just start fresh and get you a new girlfriend since you're so hellbent on wasting all your money here anyway? I'm sure there's gotta be a girl here somewhere..."

The two boys went back and forth for several more minutes when Jason suddenly gazed off into the distance.

"Uh... Jason, hello?" Rick said, waving his hand in front of his eyes. Jason casually waved him aside.

"Well Rick, that new girlfriend idea may not be such a bad idea," he lisped as he strode confidently towards Kelly, still busy perusing through the store shelves. "Hello there, what would your name be?"

"Oh I'm Kelly, what's your..." Kelly responded when she caught sight of Rick, unenthusiastically flanking his friend. "Well hello there..." she greeted, shoving Jason aside and putting on her most seductive face. Rick, taken aback gave a halfhearted wave.

"Oh don't be shy, I don't bite... if you don't want me too," Kelly teased with a suggestive look on her face.

"Uh... okay," Rick said dumbly. Kelly shook her head and leaned in closer to the flustered boy, working her feminine charm to their maximum effect.

"Well? Aren't you going to ask me something?"

"Uh... are you doing anything tonight," a bewitched Rick stuttered out.

"Why no, I'm totally free," Kelly let on with a wink.

"Two beers please," Laura ordered over the bar.

"I don't suppose that second one's for me is it?" Nick quipped as he walked in and took a seat next to her.

"Not really. Why? You want one? Feel free."

"Nah, I don't really drink, I'll just take a soda. What's on your mind anyway?"

"What isn't on my mind? We've had two physically untraceable murders, we've had terrorists try to kill us, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to see wrinkles and grey hair in the mirror tomorrow. I'm only 22!.

"Mhmm... On a less depressing subject, how's your brother doing? I hear he's gonna be in the championship rounds for his MMA thing."

"Yea, assuming he doesn't get wasted from all the partying he does," Laura chuckled. "I have no idea where he's at now, probably out doing more stupid stuff with his friends."

"Ugh, it's my wife. Hold on," Nick grunted as he picked up his ringing phone. "Hello? No, I'm not in the hospital I'm at the bar... no, I'm not, it's just Laura. Yes, I'll remember, love ya too honey."

"Quite the family man I see," Laura quipped.

"Yea tell me about it. Either way, Melissa's been kinda paranoid about me hanging around bars and such, but what can you expect when your wife's two months pregnant? Lucky it was just you, she has a hard enough time as is with her mood swings and paranoia doesn't help. Well, nice talking to ya again, but as you probably heard I got some groceries to pick up." Nick bid his friend goodbye, only to receive a painful punch to the arm. "Ow, what was that for?"

"It's how I show my friends I care for them," Laura replied.

"Well a high five or a wave isn't exactly bad either..." Nick complained, rubbing his arm as he left. Laura contentedly sat and drank in her own little corner when a few men a couple chairs to the left of her began arguing and yelling. Laura ignored it at first but the noise grew too loud to neglect.

"Hey morons, why don't you just shut up and sit back down?!" Laura hollered, only to be confronted by the two hulking men.

"Hey! Mind your own business lady!" one of the men hollered out.

"You know what really bothers me? The fact that you can't seem to move 10 feet without gawking at some 'cute boy' somewhere. Would it kill you to maybe focus on more important things?" Alicia chided her friend as she hopped into the limo.

"Well I can't help it, if you'd seen his face you'd be a bit hazy too."

"Oh please, do you honestly think I'd waste my time on such meaningless sentimentality? I have more important things to think about."

"Come on, lighten up! You're a 19 year old girl who has a nonexistent love life, it would probably be somewhat better if you didn't impulsively scare the living daylights out of everyone that gives you even a slight glance."

"Kelly, you make it sound like a bad thing. I focus on the things I do because they have real, tangible benefits, not useless wastes of time crying and being an overemotional drama queen."

"Whatever floats your boat I guess. Say do you remember when the last time you considered yourself happy?"

"Of course. It was... I... uh..." Alicia stuttered before the limo came to an abrupt stop.

"Ma'am, we're here," the driver informed. Alicia nodded and slipped out the door alongside her friend to the gates of a large military compound on the outskirts of the city. The two were welcomed into the facility rather hurriedly, most likely due to Alicia's intimidating glare.

"This place is awful cramped and stuffy. You mind if I just wait out in the lobby or something?" Kelly asked.

"Go on, I won't need you where I'm going anyway." Alicia descended down into the depths of the base while Kelly lounged about in the lobby.

"Shoot! It's almost 5'o clock! I'm gonna be late for my er... thing," Kelly muttered to herself as she looked at her watch. "Hey you! Think you could get me an extra driver to take me somewhere?" she whispered to a nearby soldier, who looked at her with a fearful shake of his head. "Please?" she added as she assumed the most cute and endearing pose. Eventually her expert use of feminine charms prevailed, and Kelly excitedly scurried into a commandeered Humvee before ordering the driver to a special location.

"Look, I told you, he threw the first punch, the only thing I'm guilty of is self defense," Laura remarked irritably to the policeman interviewing her. Two heavily bruised men were being dragged away in gurneys over a massive pile of broken glass.

"I get it, we have half a dozen witnesses all saying the same thing but... did you really have to make us bring an ambulance?" the officer replied.

"Look Dave, those guys were asking for it not just this time but the past million times I'd been here," Laura argued. Dave shook his head and put his face on his palm. Laura waved him away as she pulled out her ringing phone.

"Hello? Nick? Yea I'm free. A body? Dumped in the river? Alright, I'll be there ASAP," she muttered into her phone. "Sorry officer, but I have my own case to solve," she declared before casually slipping out of the establishment.

The entire scene was cordoned off and a large white sheet was covered over what must have been the recovered body. Nick had already been on the scene for quite some time, and Laura's car soon pulled over rather violently to the side of the road as she jumped out to join him.

"So? Where's this body you were talking about? And shouldn't this be a Metro PD problem?" Laura hurriedly asked.

"Not when it's our guy," Nick explained. He then guided Laura to the corpse and removed the sheet, revealing a badly dismembered husk that was once a human body.

"Ew... what the hell happened here?" Laura muttered in utter disgust.
"Guns. The guy was shot at least 400 times. But that isn't our biggest problem. The ID is."
"Why? Do who is he?"
"Yea... that's Theodore Perry. In case you don't know, he was an undercover FBI agent "
"So you're saying whichever group agent Perry was breaching caught on and... went down to business?"

"The deluxe package. In addition to several hundred bullets, our boys underground proceeded to burn, pour acid over, and disembowel the body post-mortem. But the real kicker is just which boys did this."

"Let me guess, the same bastards that tried to kill the President?" Laura intoned dully. Nick nodded in affirmation.