Into The World

#6 - Covert Operations

"They've found the facility. It's exactly where the informant had predicted this afternoon," a lady in her mid-thirties says, astounded. "The manor's located in Castor, a forsaken town around 50 miles from here." She scrolls through the recent notification she received on her phone. "And Chief Chambers has dispatched the Alpha Team. They will reach the destination in ten minutes." She lifts her head, when she doesn't hear a response, to look at the figure seated behind the mahogany desk. "Ma'am?"

"Tell Chief Chambers to keep them on standby." Veronica closes the file and casts her pen down. "And Laura, these documents are reviewed and signed." She places the file on a stack of thick files. Laura taps on her phone, nodding in response. "I've relayed your message to the Chief."

Veronica lets out a weary sigh as she leans back in her executive chair. "Any messages from Tom?"

"No, ma'am."

Veronica's gaze shifts to the array of family photos on the bureau. "How long has he been in there now?" Laura checks her phone. "Almost three hours."

Veronica exhales slowly while she visualizes her next step. Everything will be settled soon. She gets up from her seat. "Let's go."

...

"Sir!" A young man's voice reverberates into the quiet office, awakening the man who's found slumping on his cluttered desk. "Who is it now?" Grevton mumbles, rubbing his bleary eyes. He stretches his stiff neck as he arouses himself from sleep and gazes at the five-story edifice through the glass window. He leans forward to see distant black-clad guards patrolling the premise. It's midnight already?

"Sir," The young man rushes in, adjusting his lopsided spectacles. "What is it, intern?" Grevton grumbles. "I haven't received confirmation of Jason's arrival, sir." The intern answers, "and I'm not able to reach him or the driver."

Grevton observes his ashen intern. He's not lying. He straightens. It might be a small comm. issue. He scans his desk, pushing empty coffee cups out of his way. "Where is my phone?" He asks. The intern looks around. "It's here." He says, finding the phone on the couch beside the desk. How did it end up there? Grevton muses as he pulls his chair forward.

"Did you switch it off?" Grevton asks when he receives his phone from the intern. "No, sir." The intern responds, "Your phone was already switched off when I found it."

"Did you inform the squad?" Grevton tries to switch on his decrepit phone. "No, sir. I wanted to report to you first." The intern replies. Grevton sighs. When is this intern going to learn? He tosses his unresponsive phone on the desk. "Get me my cell!" He loosens his tie. "It's in the cabinet there."

"Y-y-yes, sir." The startled intern races to the cabinet on the other end of the room. "It's a black one." Grevton says, lowering his tone. The intern opens the unlocked cabinet and notices a transparent pouch containing five black devices. "Sir, there are five." He holds the pouch for Grevton to see.

"Those are pagers!" Grevton hisses. The intern shudders, almost dropping the bag of pagers. He turns back and sees a black cell on the bottom shelf. "I found it. Ah!" The intern hits his head against the cabinet shelf above. Ignoring the throbbing pains in his head and ears, the intern races to his fuming senior with the cell.

"Close the cabinet," Grevton says as he flips his old phone open. The intern nods and rushes back to close the cabinet. Grevton pulls a notepad out of the pile of papers on his desk and flips through the pages. "Call Jason one more time," he says as he fingers through a long list of scrawled contacts. "Yes, sir." The intern says, pulling out a smartphone from his pocket.

Grevton punches in the numbers and places the call. Come on. Pick up. "Hello," The receiver answers. "This is Alfred Grevton from the Security Center. Please track Jason Smith's current location."