𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔: 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬

Matthew Perry-Benson

"What on earth are we supposed to do now?" Charlie's voice sliced the silence in the air with the question they were all reminiscing about.

"We should tell Bourne," Giselle sniffed, wiping the quiet tears that kept falling down her cheeks.

They all agreed that staring at the dead body of someone they used to know wouldn't make the situation better. Vanessa placed the call quietly while they stood around the banged-up van.

"Agents, what's wrong this time?"

The four of them looked at each other, someone had to break the news.

"Nothing is wrong, Bourne, we found the tech van," Vanessa responded.

"Yeah, I see the little dots on the satellite. Is Kaufman with you?"

More uneasy silence filled the dark alley.

"Agents, is something wrong?"

"It's Kaufman..."

"Where is he? I told him to report back to the CCPA days ago and-"

"He's gone, Bourne."

"What do you mean, gone? Where would he run off too?"

"No... Bourne, Kaufman is gone-gone."

They all stood waiting for their boss' response. But nothing sounded on the other end of the line.

"Bourne... are you still there?" Vanessa asked.

They could hear Bourne getting choked up on the other end. "The man worked here for ten years."

Matthew could see Giselle start to tear up again, as did everyone. He went over and put his arm around her. She immediately covered her face in her hands and dived into his little side hug.

At that moment, Matthew felt a bit of an outsider. He couldn't explain it, but it seemed that everyone knew this man, yet Matthew had never gotten the pleasure of actually getting to know him. He cried for the sake of their loss and tried to show sympathy to his teammates. 

He knew what it was like to lose someone you cared about, someone you loved very much. And even if it wasn't the exact same situation, Matthew knew that the people who Kaufman would miss him very much.

"I'm sending down our inspectors. Continue to follow Walter. We have to put an end to this now before we lose anybody else."

"Are you suggesting that Walter and  his gang killed Kaufman?"

"It's the only logical reason."

He felt nervous. It all began to seem too realistic. People's lives were in danger. He didn't know how long it would take.

He could only pray that no more lives would be taken away from them.

~~~

Vanessa Vaughen

Bourne's call ended abruptly. They all decided to sleep in the cars tonight until the inspectors come and take a look at this part of the crime scene.

Vanessa's emotions were all mixed up. She was still in shock about losing Kaufman, she had known him ever since she began working at the CCPA.

"Hey, you alright?" Matthew's leaned back in his reclined seat.

"Just buzzed I guess," Vanessa replied, taking deep breaths and forcing herself to just relax.

Matthew just kept his eyes closed and listened as she began to pour out her feelings. It was too overwhelming, too stressful, too tiring.