Between Lies and Alibis

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Silver Bullets

A spy had three main missions; to assimilate information and knowledge; to use information accordingly for the country; to keep secrets safe, especially those that would put others in danger.

A spy had three instincts; the instinct to always be alert; the instinct to always notice the smallest details; the instinct to profile everybody.

These were things programmed into Reini as she became a CIA agent. She was taught to always be quick on her feet and to always be alert. She was taught to always be ready, and to always prepare for the worst.

However, no amount of spy training would have prepared her for what she was seeing.

It had been three hours since their meeting in the break room and Reini was currently sitting at the conference table, looking at the files before her. She managed to stop herself from throwing up but really, she couldn’t help but feel the irony of it all. Here she was, one of the CIA’s best spies, wanting to throw up for seeing evidence of rape, and yet she could speak calmly even after seeing a man got assassinated right in front of her.

She supposed that it was because this woman, Janice Elliot, was a civilian. She didn’t deserve this.

Tiffany was beside her, breathing deeply as if trying to calm herself down. Her eyes were slightly wet, but no tears came out. Joshua looked at her pitifully and continued the presentation, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as a picture was shown.

It was the picture of the crime scene, the bed filled with so much blood. Tiffany bolted out of her chair and ran towards the exit, tears streaming down her face and her hand covering her mouth.

The room was silent as the door slammed behind Tiffany. Christian threw the folder he was reading back on the table and sat properly.

“Sometimes, you just have to wonder why they do this,” murmured Christian. “What did Janice ever do wrong?”

Samuel ran his fingers through his hair. “These people are just so sick.”

Reini remained sitting still, staring at the door where Tiffany previously exited, tears streaming down her face.

“Reini.”

Reini turned her head, looking at Joshua. “Yes?”

“This is one of the things you’re going to be facing.”

“I know.”

Joshua sighed and rubbed a hand on his face, sitting down beside Samuel. “Are you ready?”

Reini blinked once, twice, three times, until she opened her mouth.

The problem was that no sound came out.

Was she ready? Spies were taught to always be ready—to always prepare for the worst—but this wasn’t something she was prepared for. She was a tough spy; one who could shoot a man with a single clean shot to the head without flinching, and yet she wasn’t sure if she could do this.

Joshua was looking at her expectantly. Reini raised her eyes and looked at him fully. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “How can you even do this every day? How do you deal with all of this?”

“We have our own ways, I suppose,” murmured Joshua, looking at the presentation before closing the laptop lid, unable to look at the picture fully anymore.

Reini knew what it was like, being a criminal justice lawyer. She used to be one, after all, before she handled a case which involved a rogue spy and got employed by the CIA to work with them full-time. She knew what it was like in the conference room, where evidence was their key to solving a murder and providing justice. She knew what it was like in the hospital, listening to the rape victims retell their stories, their eyes downcast, their feeling, hollow. She knew what it was like in court, defending those who need it, and working hard to put the ones responsible in jail.