A Destiny Found

Chapter 2 Mark

Chapter 2 Mark

It was hard remaining still for so long.

The long periods of immobility were part of the reason I kept up such a rigorous physical training program. I had been working with CSIS for almost a year, but what I did was hardly worth writing home about.

Sure, there had been a few shining moments of excitement, but mostly my day-to-day activities involved acting like a regular Joe and hanging out in a variety of locations. Unfortunately, that was the exciting part. The less exciting portion involved hours and hours of paperwork, checking off the appropriate boxes, and trying to stay awake.

Being an agent wasn’t what I’d envisioned when I’d signed up for it, but it was rewarding in its own way. When I wasn't cranky from sitting in a car for eight hours watching a house, I liked it a lot. At least this time, my subject was easy on the eyes.

I couldn't help wondering how she'd ended up being tailed by me. The briefing I’d been given on her was nothing extraordinary. She was a student in her last year of Music at McGill University, and far as I could tell, everything in her life revolved around that. Her father taught there and she had a few close friends who went there. She wasn’t into drugs, alcohol, or smoking, or extracurricular activities apart from music stuff. From everything I could see, she was a typical, low-key girl.

Then again, I’d only gotten a two-page bio, which hardly did more than outline basic demographics. The sparse details, in combination with Professor Locksley, her father, leaving to go abroad led me to believe the reason I was watching her was for her own protection more than for any other reason. Not only did nothing in her dossier suggest she was up to anything illegal; I’d been tailing her for two weeks and hadn’t seen a single break in her routine.

She left her house at approximately seven a.m. and walked to the McGill University Schulich School of Music building. Most days she used a practice room for about an hour then headed to the main campus for lectures. Her schedule varied, depending on the day of the week, but she was always on campus until at least five. Three evenings a week she sang at various locations in the evening, and after the concerts were over, she took the Metro home or accepted a ride from another singer.

In short, she appeared to be a nice girl. So why was I feeling the same tingle I got when something was about to happen? She was pretty, but that wasn’t it. At least, not all of it. No, this was the feeling I had right before I was called to find something.

Was my premonition somehow related to her? It had to be. She was the only person I’d been following this week. I watched her move around inside her house, thinking back to the first time I'd heard her sing. I'd been impressed such a large voice could come from such a small-framed person. For some reason, I'd always thought opera singers were supposed to be huge, like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons with the Valkyrie wearing the horned hat on her head.

But this honey-blonde, sweet-faced woman made me interested in opera for the first time in my life and gave me the feeling I’d met her somewhere before. Shaking my head, I tried to put the thought behind me.

I needed to stay alert. Without knowing what was coming, I couldn't take anything for granted. Almost as soon as I had that thought, my phone vibrated. I checked the number then answered crisply.

“Agent Notting.”

“Notting. We're going to be sending around another agent to keep an eye on the house tonight. I need you to pack.”

“What? What do you mean?” I looked at the window, which was backlit enough to allow me to see Robin moving around on the second floor. An unexpected pang of loss hit me at the idea of being reassigned. For the first time ever, I didn't want to see a job end.

“We have a plane ticket and passport waiting for you in your drop box. Pack light.”

I held back a comment, knowing my boss was really telling me not to lose my target. It was one of the first things they'd taught me. Only pack what you can bring in a carry-on. Everything else could be bought or would be provided.

Checking luggage while working was a hard no.

“Where am I going? Who's the mark?”

“You’re going to Paris. You need to follow Ms. Locksley on her trip. We have reason to believe her father has gone missing. Someone may try to contact her to get to him and the item he was looking for. We think he was on the trail of something important.”

I slowly nodded, even though he couldn't see me. I’d known about the trip, but assumed my duties were limited to watching her within the city. It wasn’t a huge leap though, as I was supposed to be keeping her safe. Whether in Canada or France, apparently.

Another tingle came, stronger this time. Paying attention to the warning, I fished for more. “What happened to the agent following the professor?”

The man paused, and when he finally replied, his tone was gruff. “They haven't checked in.”

I winced. That wasn't good. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Get a good night’s sleep. Your plane departs at eight a.m. Another agent will watch her tonight and make sure she gets to the airport. The next time you’ll get a visual will be after you pass through security. You may make contact once on the plane to place the tracking device.”

“Copy. Then what?”

“Don't get drunk on the free booze. You’ll be emailed an encrypted file with everything you need to know, which you can review on the plane. When you land in Paris, keep her in sight at all times. You're the only agent assigned to her unless you need help, in which case call the emergency line. If you can find a way to introduce yourself without raising suspicion, you are allowed to make direct contact.”

I blinked. Until now, I'd either been part of a team or had instructions to watch from afar. I’d never been asked to engage a subject before.

“I'm sorry, sir. Did you say you want me to make friends with her?”

A dry chuckle came from the other end. “Sure, friends. Whatever it takes. She's a secondary target, which boils down to you being the only agent we can spare to keep track of her. Once you place the tracking device, it should be easier to monitor her whereabouts, but our information is sketchy. I don't like it. If you can find something that points us to what the professor was searching for, it may help find him. You can help her if she’s willing. We need to know what Lavallee is after. Understand?”

“Roger that.”

My superior hung up and a rush of anticipation filled me. They wanted me to help her find the professor? And with her knowledge, not just from a distance? Now, this was more like it! Images of James Bond flashed through my head, but I quickly reined in my expectations, knowing full well nothing turned out the way it did in the movies.

I waited for what felt like hours for the other agent to show up, but the clock in my car said it had only been thirty minutes. Finally, Agent Elise Derny, a middle-aged woman with a perm-a-scowl, arrived to relieve me. To the untrained observer, she looked an angry soccer mom, assuming the soccer mom in question had seven kids who screamed all the time.

Elise wasn’t quite as bad as she looked though. I’d met her before, and she’d always been pleasant, even if her sense of humor was virtually non-existent. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard again. She was probably tired from all the night shifts she was called for, and I was responsible for yet another one.

“Any concerns?” She leaned down beside the car, pretending to tie her running shoe.

“Nothing. So far, routine has been, well, routine. I’ve been asked to pack.”

Agent Derny stood, nodding. “I’ll take over from here. I hear there’s some travel in your future? Have fun.”

The ghost of a smile surprised me. She seemed to really mean it.

“Um, thanks. Have a good night.”

She gave me another tight smile and headed back to the company car she’d parked a few cars back, still in sight of the house. Once she was in position, I looked at the window I’d last seen Robin in. The light clicked off as I pulled away.

This time when I drove home, I couldn't help my excitement. It was a mission like I'd always dreamed of getting. Jetting off to an exotic European destination to help a beautiful woman find her father and a mysterious artifact shadowy people were after. Only one thing made me pause, and I wasn't sure why I hadn’t thought of it before.

Was it my finding ability, or something else warning me not everything was as it appeared? The entire time I’d been following Robin, I hadn’t known the professor was missing, only that he’d gone overseas. Why hadn’t they told me earlier?

The tingle of awareness stayed with me as I packed, telling me to be on my guard. Things were about to change. I just didn’t know how yet.

I wanted to call someone to let them know where I was going, but I couldn't. So, I made do with texting my mom to ask how things were going. When she didn’t reply right away, I let her know I’d be tied up for a week or so, and would try to check in when I could.

The hardest thing about my job was not being able to tell the people I cared about what I was doing. As far as everyone but my parents knew, I was a lowly administrator in a government job somewhere in Ottawa. It was technically the truth; I did work for the government. And most of my days really were spent doing paperwork, even if my actual job title was a little cooler than admin or paper-pusher.

But once family obligations were taken care of, my thoughts quickly turned from regret to anticipation. I'd never been to France before, and my previous travel experience consisted entirely of one brief road-trip with a friend after graduation. My best friend, Paul, had been recovering from a horrible act of random violence and his doctors didn’t want him flying because of recent brain surgery. It had been a great trip, but not exactly something which qualified me as a world traveler.

Now I was going to Paris, the first long-distance trip I'd been on since beginning with the agency and since that long-ago summer trip with Paul. I was excited and full of trepidation, even more so after I opened the encrypted email my supervisor had sent.

I scrolled quickly, scanning pages of information before going back to the start to read it more carefully. My cover story was simple—carefree backpacker—and most of the information involved maps and cultural highlights, but the details about Robin’s father were what I was most interested in.

I already knew where Robin would be sitting, but reviewed the flight again. The trip across the pond was just over eight hours, and would land in Charles de Gaulle airport. Robin had a room rented at a hotel with her father, which was where she was expected to head once she arrived. Because her trip had been planned well over a month ago, we had several points of information. Tomorrow morning, at eleven a.m. Paris time, she’d audition at the Paris Opera House.

Once that was done, she had a voice lesson with Natalie Dessay, a world-renowned opera singer, after which point her itinerary was wide open except for staying at the hotel. From what I was able to glean, she planned to do some sightseeing with her dad before leaving Paris on day five. It was a short trip, but adequate to see the tourist areas in Paris.

It also meant she had a deadline to find her dad, unless she changed her flight home. I knew she had exams the following week, so I didn’t think she’d have that opportunity. Shaking my head, I considered what a tough spot she was in. I knew how important exams were. Everything depended on them, especially if you planned on doing postgraduate work.

The timing of the professor’s disappearance totally sucked. Even if she hadn't been a decent person, I’d have felt bad for her. Hopefully between the two of us we’d be able to find him, along with whatever it was the department was so interested in getting their hands on.