The Lost Angel

Chapter 3

In my room, I could finally relax. All of the rooms within the old warehouse were sound proof. An added touch that was necessary for our line of work. I locked my door and turned to the surround sound stereo system mounted on the wall. I needed music to calm my nerves and it was time for one of my favorite artists. I placed the disc into the player and hit the button. As soon as the system ate it, Pink came out of the speakers with force. Since I lost my memory and couldn’t remember what I liked and didn’t like before that day at the beach, I wasn’t sure if I listened to her in my old life. I’m sure I must have, but because of the amnesia everything was always new to me. About six months after John found me, he started my training and introduced me to music. Since then, I had more discs than a music store and apparently, I was in to all kinds of music. I stood for a moment with my eyes closed, enjoying the sound. Pink’s music always spoke to me in a way that was profoundly disturbing, most of her songs represented my life in one way or another.

I sat on a chair beside my closet to take off my boots. Man, I needed a hot shower so bad. I felt dirty and could swear that my deodorant had worn off during my run through the woods. There was no way that I could smell anywhere near pleasant. I started toward my bathroom stripping away clothes as I went and letting them fall where they may. My rooms were my favorite in the entire building, they had almost everything that I needed.

My bedroom was done in a Japanese style, with strands of lights draped along the walls. The colors of the room were my favorites. John always made sure that I was happy, even in the little things, like the color of my bedding. The walls were a light red with black pinstripes and I absolutely loved it. I wanted to paint the walls of my bedroom back home the same way but I don’t think it would look as good if I did it. I could kill a man with my bare hands but I couldn’t paint a one-by-one square to save my life. The carpet was a maroon color that was so soft that it was like walking on fleece blankets. I would walk bare foot around my room every chance I had. I needed to ask John about his decorator, this place was gorgeous.

My bed was on the right-hand wall from the door and was one of the most comfortable things I had ever been on. It was soft and cushiony but still firm enough to where you didn’t sink into it and never be able to get out again. The blankets and pillows that lay on the bed were black, white, and several shades of red. They matched the room perfectly. On either side of the bed were tables made from dark cherry wood, simply made but beautiful. John knew I loved cherry wood, the darker the stain the better it looked. On the left side of the room from the door were the stereo system and a fifty-two-inch flat screen plasma television. There were so many different machines, I wasn’t sure what all of them did but I could turn on my music and that’s all that mattered. I didn’t use anything else.

I was headed to my bathroom, which was one of the doors on the opposite side of the room. When you looked into the room from the hall, you’d see two doors on the far wall. The one on the right was my walk-in closet with another door inside of it leading into the bathroom. I took the door to the left leading from my bedroom to the bathroom.

As you entered the room the sink was immediately to your left. The counter tops were white marble with a glass bowl serving for the sink. The facet was stainless steel and polished to a high sheen. A mirror ran from one end of the wall to the other behind the counter. It covered the wall as if the wall itself was made of glass. Directly beside the counter on the left was a walk-in shower that held probably ten full grown men. And right beside that on the far wall was a Jacuzzi bath, big enough to hold three. On the opposite wall from the sink and shower were two doors, one leading to the closet and the other leading to the toilet. Between the two doors was a floor to ceiling self, on which rested more towels than I could use in a month and more soaps, shampoos, and conditioners than I could count.

I made my way to the overgrown shower and turned on every spout. There were five overhead and five on the wall that created a down pouring rain. I loved this shower; it always relieved any tension I had. I stood in the shower with the water cascading over my body and closed my eyes. I let the warm water massage my aching muscles before I grabbed the shampoo. As I washed my hair, I thought I heard the intercom buzzing, whatever they wanted it could wait. As the water rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, I grabbed the soap from the alcove and began to wash the dirt away. There it was again; I was going to have to figure out how to put a do not disturb on that thing. So much for a quite shower to relax, I replaced the soap and grabbed the conditioner. I was determined to finish my shower, whether they wanted me to or not.

“Angel!” It was Jake’s voice over the intercom, he sounded urgent. I quickly rinsed my hair and body. As I turned off the water, Jake came over the intercom again with more urgency than before. Something must be wrong for him to sound that way. Oh no, Brooks and Lee. They must have been taken or worse killed. I wrapped one of the white towels around my body and rushed over to the speaker. The remote for the stereo system was on the counter, I hit the pause button just incase it was nothing. As soon as I hit the talk button and let go, Jake’s voice was there.

“Angel, you need to get down here and fast.” I could hear Jason in the background frantic about something but couldn’t make out the words. Just the sounds of their panicked voice constricted my heart. Something was very wrong.

“Give me five minutes to get dressed and get these damned contacts out of my eyes.”

“Alright, but HURRY!”

I went to the sink and removed the troublesome lenses from my eyes and returned them to their case. Finally. I could see without them and they always bothered me. I hated to hide the true color of my eyes. They were the color of the sky on a sunny day when a cloud could not be seen for miles. They were, in my opinion, my best feature.

I made my way to the door that leads into my closet. Again, I was reminded of John, there were so many racks of clothes that my closet looked like the women’s section in a department store. I went for my favorite outfits, the track pants and tank tops. I pulled a pair of black pants from their hanger and quickly put them on, as quickly as my wet skin would allow. A red bra and top followed, last were the white socks and running shoes. Inside the closet there stood a vanity with makeup and all my supplies to fix my hair. I grabbed a clip and pulled my wet hair off of my neck before I took off for the control room.

The hall outside of my room lead to the balcony overlooking the training room, I took off towards it at a run. Diving over the railing to land in the middle of the sparing pad. Pivoting at the right moment, I was able to take off again without breaking my stride. I ran past the first-floor bedrooms, through the game room, past the kitchen and dining room to burst through the door to the control room.

“Angel!” It was Jason and he sounded down right scared.

A quick look around and I knew that everyone was present and accounted for. The grip on my heart loosed enough so I could breathe. “What is it Jason, what’s wrong?”

Brooks stopped him before he could babble on and on. I shot him a look of thanks, sometimes Jason just didn’t know how to say something in less than twenty minutes. “Lee and I were at the market paying for our groceries when we overheard something. Our target knows we’re on to him, he’s moving his operations tomorrow morning.”

“Where?” Now I knew why it was so urgent, so much for a couple of days to rest and recoup.

“They didn’t say. We paid for everything and rushed back to tell you.”

“Then our time tables have moved up. Jason, find me anything that I can use to get in and out of his complex unseen. I want it as in five minutes ago. Jake, get my bike ready for me to leave at dusk. Brooks, I hope you can get dinner ready in a hurry.”

“Give me ten minutes and I will.”

“Good. Sara, I need you to call HQ and tell them the news. It may not be true, but they should know. See if they can confirm this news or whether it was planted. If it was then they know more about us than we thought. If they know about us, we need consent to wipe out the entire operation.”

“I’m on it Angel.” She ran to the phone and speed dialed HQ.

“Lee, follow me.” I started back through the halls to the training room and my weapons. Lee followed me without question.

As soon as we reached the training room, Lee broke his silence. “What would you have of me?”

“You will come with me tonight.”

“Angel?”

“You heard me. I want you to pick your weapons and prepare a bag for our departure. Once that is done, go to your room and choose your clothes for tonight. I want you to be ready to go at dusk if need be.”

“Why me Angel? Why not Jake? He is always your backup. Everyone in the Agency knows that you two are inseparable.”

“It’s time for all of us to start working as a team. How can I expect any of you to do this if I won’t? I know that you will do me proud. Apart from myself, you are the least likely to be seen or heard. There are times that I cannot even hear you when you come into a room. I know you can do this.”

“Angel, I never knew…I’ll be ready.”

“Good. After we’re ready we’ll meet the others for dinner in the dining room. Make sure to eat, you’ll need your strength tonight. Why do you think I confine myself to my room before I go out? I’ll let Jake know to get your bike ready for tonight and meet you in the dining room.”

I turned to go when Lee grabbed my wrist, “you won’t regret this, Angel. I promise you that.”

“I know I won’t. Pack your bag and then take it to your room to choose your clothes.” I slipped my wrist out of his grasp and headed toward the garage.

As I walked by the kitchen, Brooks called out “five minutes.” I merely nodded and walked into the control room. Sara was yelling into the phone in Spanish and it didn’t sound like it was going well. We all knew several different languages, so I knew what she was saying. Apparently, the person on the other end couldn’t confirm the news until tomorrow, which would be too late. I’m glad she was dealing with them and not me, I had a tendency of scaring the piss out of the operators, literally. Jason was typing so fast on three different keyboards that I’m surprised he didn’t wear them out.

Jake was in the garage sitting on the workbench. Well, this wasn’t going to be fun. “Jake, I need you to get Lee’s cycle ready as well. Place at least two different plates on top of the one that’s on there. I’ll need the same done to mine.”

“Angel?” The one word held more emotion than all of the words in any language combined.

“Yes?”

“What did I do? Why are you going to leave me behind? Is it because I’m sleeping with Sara?”

“Jake, why would you ask me that? You know me, and you know that whomever you sleep with never matters to me. I will always be here.” I had to make him understand that it wasn’t my ideal choice but the only one I had. “It’s not just you and me anymore, Jake. It’s time that we started to act like a team or we’ll never survive. I will finish what I started on this mission and Lee will be my partner tonight.”

“I don’t want you to leave without me by your side. I don’t think I can sit here and wait for you to return. My nerves can’t take it. We’ve always been together and I could watch your back. Now I won’t know whether Lee will bring you back with breath in your body or not. I won’t lose you. I can’t lose you.” He was staring into his hands as if they held the secrets and answers to make me stay.

“Oh Jake. You won’t lose me, not now or ever. I will always come back to you. I will never say die and I will never stop fighting. I swear to you that I will comeback alive and I’ll even bring Lee back breathing.” Smiling, I pulled him down from the workbench and into a hug. “You’re my brother Jake and I love you.”

“And I you. Let’s get dinner and then I’ll have the bikes ready to go. Everything will be perfect. I give you, my word.”

“I know it will.”