𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐: 𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝟏:𝟗

Vanessa Vaughen

"That doesn't make any sense, why would Kaufman just leave?"

"V, I'm not sure, but something's up. I'll have him come back to the CCPA here in New York and I'll see what's the matter, until then, the mission is still on."

"But Bourne, we don't have a driver now."

"Giselle and Charlie will handle the van, I'm sure you all have your license."

Vanessa shook her head even though Bourne couldn't see her. "No, you see, Kaufman took the van with him, we don't know where he is or if he'll return it."

She could hear a pause on the other end, it meant that Bourne was trying to wrap his head around the situation.

"No van? Yeah... something's definitely up. I've just sent him an invoice, I'll see what the real issue is as soon as he comes back. We're tracking the van from here also, looks like he's already on the move."

"Bourne, we don't have a tech van, how are we supposed to continue with the mission?"

"I'm not sure, Vanessa. I'll ask for someone to book you a rental for a bit. I'll also be in contact with Charlie and Giselle to see if their systems can be set back to normal."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Gosh, sometimes I wonder why nothing ever rides smoothly during these missions."

She's heard that stressful tone of voice more than once throughout her career. It seemed like every time there was a new mission to solve, his emotions would come crashing down eventually.

"Hey Bourne," Vanessa switched the phone to the other ear and tucked it under her chin, she stared out the huge window that overlooked the rest of the beachfront town.

"What?" He responded sounding more tired.

"It's going to be alright. God is in control, remember?"

"Yeah... yeah, I remember." Although his voice made Vanessa doubt something inside.

"Good. Hey, thanks, we'll keep in touch."

"Of course, until next time."

The call ended abruptly but Vanessa didn't mind. The sun was already awake and shining over the palm trees. She could see the colourful beach umbrellas line the shore of the water, people were already out and surfing on boards. Some were riding bikes off of the pier in the distance. Ice cream stands were being set up and a few food trucks kept stopping by.

"Knock-knock."

"Oh, hey," Vanessa turned and saw Giselle enter her room.

"Matt said the door was unlocked and you were still talking to Bourne."

"Yeah, I just got off of the phone with him."

"So, what's the verdict? Anything on Kaufman?"

Vanessa shrugged. "He doesn't know much, I mean, none of us do. Kaufman going MIA and running off with our tech van like that really puts a damper on the mission."

"How's Bourne doing with all of this?"

"I can tell he's stressed."

Giselle sighed. "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but there was a rumour going around that he was thinking of retiring."

Vanessa was shocked at the words. "Bourne? Retiring? He never said anything about that."

Giselle shrugged. "There's a point in time where you need to slow down. I mean, when is the last time you've seen Bourne slow down?"