Limbo

Part 1

I stood outside his office staring at the closed door. The sign read Captain Broyles. My boss. Unsure of what was going to happen, I knock on the Captain's door.

"Come in" commanded a gruff voice from inside. I pushed open the heavy door and entered swiftly. Placing the tip of my right hand fingers on my right brow, I saluted to him. He gave a quick nod signalling to me to stay at ease and sat back in his seat.

"Twenty years I've served in this division" he says piling up the files on his table and stacking them by the side. "Twenty long years of my youth I've spent attempting at catching the worst of their kind. Stopping the unstoppable and losing my own along the way" He reflected deeply whilst stroking his chin gently. Staring intently into my eyes. Hoping to catch a glimpse of my thoughts, I guess, as if he were able to read me.

I shifted infinitesimally at that thought. And nodded relying "Sir" which he acknowledged.

"However, Agent Riley, there's one case that I can't quite wrap my head around. That sneaky girl gets away every time we get a little closer to her. She's always ahead of us, somehow." His eyes give off a shiny glint, as if amazed by the criminal.

I nod at his statement.

"Which demands a need for a fresh set of eyes to look into this right away. And I think you are the perfect agent for this case. What do you say Agent Riley?" He questions me. His left brow raised wrinkling the skin into folds on his forehead.

"I have sworn to protect my country from all those who threaten its security and its people's since the day I joined the Force, sir. And so I will fulfil my duty to the best of my ability, sir" I reply crisply.

He gives me a curt nod. He then hands over to me the cardboard box containing the files of the famous Limbo Case.

I accept it like a child accepting a gift and carefully set it down over to my side of the table, relieving him of his twenty year old baggage.

"Adequate Agent. You will be solely handing this case in collaboration with Agent Amy Garcia, of the Fringe Science Department and will subsequently personally report to me, and only me, should you came across any new development in the case." He pressed on the only and gave me a deep stare. 

"Yes sir." I assure him and leave his office after offering a non-verbal salutation once again.

~~~~~~~~~~

As an agent of the Fringe Division, CIA, I was to remain "officially off
-duty" (whatever the hell that means) for as long as it took whilst working on Limbo until I caught a break on the case.

It took me 11 days and 10 nights to read through the files given to me. This was crucial as it helped me understand the psyche of this highly trained assassin. She wasn't a killer per se, just a sketchy and super-talented thief.

The magnitude of damage brought to the US Government by her was magnificent. She stole all kinds of state secrets and either sold it to our enemies, the USSR or in the dark web.

She was by far the most powerful woman. Off the grid of course. The only lead we got on her, apart from the fact that she was a woman, was that she used several aliases each time she carried out a heist. While every time it was an acronym relevant to the occasion. Like I said, smart. And she's been doing this for 20 years.

"Whew" I exclaimed. All this information was too overwhelming for me. But I got a high out of it anyway. It was my job now. A retirement plan sort of. Besides it seemed as though this Limbo woman might just change my life, chasing her was my priority now.