Agent Rogue: Renegade

Chapter 5

Bodies covered the floor the second the eight of us burst through the glass doors. Blood shone sickeningly bright in splatters  along the white walls and smeared onto the floor's grey tiles as though someone was trying to paint with it drunk.

"Oh my god." Gabby took a breath, bringing a hand to her open mouth.

Scotty turned white. "All these agents... dead."

"Top floor," said the Director. His unusually quiet tone gripped us more than his booming voice. "Now."

Whether or not anyone knew the dead agents remained a mystery. The silence said something; that whether we knew them or not, they were a valued asset lost. I personally hadn't known the faces of many of them -- the names of even less -- but the sight of their lifeless bodies had shaken me to the core, striking an angry flame.

The doors opened and the top floor -- our offices -- were no better. Computers were smashed, desks had been upturned, papers and files had been scattered all over. And the bodies...I couldn't even count them.

An agent I once knew, Nicholson, approached the director, paled and sheepish. "Director."

"Nicholson, what happened?" Rodriguez replied. Agent Nicholson exhaled, looking around the offices with watery eyes. He met mine when his gaze returned, tearing it away just as fast.

"We don't know who it was. Just a large group with guns and masks. They shot everyone in sight but there were only five of us working on this floor tonight. Agents from below had met us up here to help but as they stepped out of the elevator..." he shook his head. "We didn't stand a chance."

Derek narrowed his eyes at the nearby doors that led to the cells. "Why were they here?" He asked.

"They took someone from the cells," said Nicholson, rubbing the back of his neck.

My heart stopped, eyes darting to Derek, who appeared to already know the answer. "Who?" I asked.

Nicholson looked to Derek, his brown eyes saddening. "Kane Barnes."

The Director looked to the ground in silence, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Once he had calmed himself enough, he turned, looking between Derek and Nicholson. "Who is Kane Barnes?"

"He's the reason we were in Brazil, sir," said Scotty. "He's the assassin we were sent to catch."

"Then tell me, Agent Barnes," snarled the Director. He stepped close to Derek, attempting to get in his face without a single care that he wasn't tall enough to reach him. Derek scowled at him silently, swallowing his anger. "Is the name 'Kane Barnes' a simple coincidence or should I be worried about your affiliation with an enemy of the agency?"

Everyone was silent as they waited. The answers laid out for him weren't correct. He was doomed either way. Stating that the names were a simple coincidence would be a lie: a lie that Rodriguez would see through like glass, which would lead to Derek Barnes' discharge. But confessing that Kane was his father wouldn't win him any favours either. It looked too suspicious for someone that didn't know Derek as the rest of us present did.

Derek inhaled and clenched his jaw. "He's my father," he said darkly. Rodriguez shook his head, turned on his heel and began to walk away.

His voice was a growl that threatened to explode. "Barnes, Knight, Williams, I want the three of you out of my sight. We'll follow this up in the morning."