Trapping the Gazelle

Chapter 12

Kiera made her way towards the other end of 'The Barn'. Several family members stopped her along the way to congratulate her on the engagement. Not feeling up to conversation, Kiera politely excused herself stating she needed to use the restroom. Kiera did not wait for a response, but continued to walk towards the other end of the building until she stood in front of the kitchen doors.

The entrance was a set of double swinging doors with round windows near the top. Kiera peeked through one of windows. To her dismay, she did not see Ryan. Only a long empty hallway and what looked like the kitchen about an hundred feet down. Taking a deep breath, Kiera slowly pushed open one of the doors and slipped into the lit hallway.

As the doors closed, silence filled the empty hallway. The doors cut off any noises form the party. Kiera stood by the doors for a moment listening. Something did not feel right to Kiera. For some reason she should have heard the cooks in the kitchen or the wait staff talking.

'Should I be hearing that?' Kiera thought doubting herself. 'Dinner was served a while ago.'

She held her breath and thought she heard voices drifting down the hallway from the kitchen. Letting her breath out slowly, Kiera quietly walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. As she got closer, she noticed that several other rooms were the cooks or the waiters relaxed. These rooms were also empty.

'Where is everyone?' Kiera thought as a wave of nausea and dizziness hit her. She stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and held onto the wall form support waiting for the nausea and dizziness to pass.

'I really should have had something to drink.' She thought.

Once the wave of nausea passed, Kiera stepped forward towards the kitchen. As she got closer, she heard familiar voices from the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kiera heard Ryan say in a barely controlled angry voice.

"We are here, because we need to talk, Ryan." A male voice spoke. It sounded soft, but stern and commanding.

"Well you can forget it." Kiera heard Ryan say. The anger in his voice rising.

"I told you he would not cooperate." Kiera heard the bored tone of a female voice.

"Was that Sandra?' Kiera thought as she stood by the kitchen door. The voice was unmistakable.

Kiera decided enough was enough. She felt anger swell up in her at these intruders. Stepping into the kitchen Kiera spoke with a deep Scottish accent. "Will not help with what?" Then stopped short by what she saw in the kitchen. Ryan stood facing two people. "Director Thompson and Sandra, what are you doing here?" Kiera said perplexed in her Scottish accent.

"Kiera what are you doing here?" Ryan said spinning around to face her and walking over to her, "You don't want to be here right now."

Kiera felt like Ryan had struck her. She took a defensive step back and said, "Why don't I want to be here right now?" She held her hand up for Ryan to stop giving him an angry stare. "And what is Dragon doing here?"

Ryan froze in mid-stride. Kiera saw his and Sandra's eyes go wide in surprise. Kiera pointed at Director Thompson.

"You're Dragon," Kiera stated as she stared directly at Director Thompson, "Right Director Thompson?"

Then an odd expression fell over the Director for the briefest of moments. His eyes widened for a brief moment and Kiera thought she saw fear in those eyes. The only reason she noticed it was because he never showed any kind of emotion. Then the emotion passed as quickly as it came and a smirk played across those features, masking the fear.

"As always, Kiera you exceed my expectations." Dragon complimented her as he folded his arms, still smirking and leaned against the counter. In an attempting to relax his tense body to hide the fear, he still expressed.

'What is he hiding?' Kiera thought narrowing her eyes at him, but he did not reveal anything else except a challenging gaze. 'Is he afraid of being found out or of me?'

"How did you know?" Kiera heard Ryan say in an astonishing voice.

"I had my hunches back in Washington D.C., after he conveniently let it slip about the Surge and what had happened to Sandra." Kiera explained turning her gaze to Ryan, "At first, I fell for it. It was a simple enough slip, but he had more in plan for me." Then Kiera glanced back at Dragon, "Am I right so far?" It was Kiera's turn to give a challenging gaze.

"What is she talking about, Dragon?" Ryan said looking at Dragon.

Dragon remained quiet and Kiera discovered that he was challenging her again.

With a deep sigh Kiera continued. "Fine, have it your way." Kiera said with disgust, "He tried to recruit me. Not for Clandestine service in the CIA, but as a member of the Surge." She stopped talking and stared in silence at Dragon.

"Is this true, Dragon?" Kiera heard disbelieve in Ryan's voice, "Did you try to recruit her, even after I expressly forbade it."

"Like I told you Ryan, Kiera would have been a valuable asset to my organization." Dragon replied in his soft, but stern voice, "She poses a set of unique skills that can't be taught."

"I should have known better than to trust you." Ryan spat, "We agreed."

"Is that what you two were talking about that morning in your hotel room, Ryan?" Kiera inquired as she kept her gaze on Dragon. Anger still pumped into her veins.

"Yes, Kiera that is what you overheard from the bedroom." Ryan said defeated, "Dragon has had his eye on you for a long time. He does have a unique talent to see potential in candidates. I tried to keep him back, but he seems to have other plans."

Kiera felt dazed for a moment, 'They have both been in on this, but why?' Kiera thought.

"Are you still part of the Surge, Ryan." Kiera asked quietly fearing the answer as her anger evaporated. She held her breath and felt her heart beating faster.

"Kiera it is not..." Ryan started to respond, but stopped short as he saw the panicked expression on Kiera's face.

"I will answer that question." Dragon spoke up, "Ryan has been disavowed from the Surge. We are here of our own accord to speak to you."

Kiera heard no tone of deception or saw anything in his face that would hint otherwise. Kiera let out sigh of relief and took several deep breathes. She kept her hand on her breast as she felt her heart beating rapidly.

'What does he want with me, if not to recruit me?' Kiera thought. Trying to think why they would be her for her.

"Why are you here for me?" Kiera asked, "Because I warn you." Kiera held up a hand, "If you try to deceive me, I will scream and a squad of Marines will be breathing down your neck."

Captain Johansson had sent a squad of Marines to the party. He felt there needed to be some form of security at the party, just in case something when wrong. At the time, Kiera thought it unnecessary, but now she felt reassured by the Marine presence in the building.

"Fair enough," Dragon nodded, "We came her to talk to Ryan and see if you would be willing to assist us with a small issue."

"What is that small issue?" Kiera asked and pointed a finger at Ryan to silence him. She saw he was about to protest.

"Someone has been assassinating Surge members." Dragon said directly.

"What does that have to do with me?" Kiera asked dropping her hand.

"Whoever is doing this, is assassinating disavowed as well as current members." Dragon answered. Kiera observed the Director's body language, but his facial features and body remained relaxed as he spoke. This indicated to Kiera that he was not deceiving her. "We believe we have a mole in our organization that is selling off or giving away the identification of our members."

"Why would I care?" Kiera retorted.

"Maybe she did not hear you correctly, Commander." Sandra spoke up as she sat on the counter.

"Stow it number one." Dragon growled. "Let me repeat myself. Whoever is killing our current members is also going after disavowed members as well. Fifty miles away from Saint Ives, we discovered two dead disavowed members. Both shot in the head."

A dawning of understanding flooded into Kiera's mind, "Does that mean that Ryan could be in danger as well?"

"Yes."

Kiera swallowed, her throat felt dry. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. She started to feel lightheaded from what Dragon told her. Her thoughts when back to the thief found dead and the picture found in the vehicle.

'Was the person trying to kill her or trying to bait Ryan.' Kiera felt confused as Ryan placed a warm hand on her shoulder. The feeling of his touch felt reassuring. She looked up at Dragon as he continued.

Dragon continued. "Also one of our current members was assassinated outside of Saint Ives in a stolen vehicle. I believe you live in Saint Ives, Kiera." Dragon added and raised a eyebrow.

"Dear god." Kiera slumped back against a counter, "The man who almost hit me was a Surge member?" Kiera said in disbelief.

"He was assigned to watch you," Dragon explained, "until we could determine that you were out of danger from the last mission. Ryan did not know about this man tailing you." Dragon added in the end.

"Do you have any clues or why he tried to hit me?" Kiera asked shaking her head as the room swam in front of her vision. She did her best to calm herself down by breathing deeply.

"We have no leads, but in his last report he stated that someone was after you."

"What? Why is someone after me?" Kiera blurted out trying to clear her mind.

"We don't know." Dragon answered, "But we do know that it was not suicide as the police are hinting."

Kiera felt overwhelmed by the information, but knew she had to say something, "How can I help?" Kiera said slowly.

"Kiera please don't do this." Kiera turned to see Ryan pleading with her as he placed a hand on her cheek and shook his head.

"Ryan, I have no choice." Kiera said with a shutter as a tear rolled down her cheek, "This person might be coming after you and I can't lose you again." Kiera placed her own hand on Ryan's cheek. Her heart ached at the thought of losing him for a second time.

Ryan wiped away the tear with his thumb, which ran down her cheek, and then he turned to Dragon, "If she goes, I go too." Ryan demanded

"She is the only one we need, Ryan." Sandra interjected, "You are no longer an asset."

"That is not how it's going to work," Kiera demanded, "If I go, Ryan goes too."

"Dragon..." but Dragon held up a hand to stop Sandra.

"I will be in contact with you." Dragon replied, "What do you need from me?"

Kiera stood quiet for a moment thinking about how to proceed. She had to be careful in what she asked for.

Taking a deep breath Kiera spoke. "I want profiles of your current members in the Surge. We can narrow it down to those with financial problems, access to member's identities and special skills in assassination." Kiera instructed, "I sure you have files on all your members."

"We do have files and I will see that you do get them." Dragon agreed. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Kiera looked from Dragon to Sandra, "We have a party to get back to and a drink that I requested from my fiancé." Kiera held out her hand for Ryan. "So please leave out the back."

As Kiera took a step forward towards the hallway, a wave of dizziness washed over her. It felt as if the floor flipped upside down. She stumbled forward, felt the need to cough and brought her hand to her mouth. She coughed hard and grimaced in pain as she felt a sharp pain in her side. She coughed again violently and felt something warm and wet splash against her hand. She looked up and noticed Ryan had a terrified expression on his face as he slowly stepped towards her.

"What?" Kiera asked and saw where he looked. He stared wide-eyed at her hand. Kiera coughed again and looked down at her hand as more spittle splashed against her hand, "Dear god." She croaked.

She thought she had coughed up saliva or something else. She was not prepared to see blood dripping from her hand onto the floor. Another spasm hit her and she covered her mouth again. Speckles of blood flew from between her fingers and splashed onto the counter.

Everything started to dim as if the lights were going out. She felt her knees give out and she fell forwards. Strong arms grabbed hold of her before she hit a metal counter.

"Kiera," She heard Ryan's faint panicked voice, "I have you. Quick call for an ambulance, she needs medical attention now!" Kiera heard Ryan yelling at someone.

Kiera vison faded into blackness as her head slumped forwards. She felt the blood dripping down her chin and oddly enough heard it drip onto the floor. With one last shuttering breath, Kiera passed out into unconscious as her body lowered to the floor.