Underneath It All

Part 2

Now Ethan was a trained agent. Nothing really bothered him into the point of making him break his cover. But seeing the girl he had been tirelessly looking for over the past few weeks literally sitting right in front of him nearly made him run up to her and demand to know everything a about her. 

But being the man he was, Ethan kept with the plan and got a table with Luther. They ordered coffees and made small chat about fake jobs and lives. Every once in a while though Ethan would carefully flit his eyes over to the girl. She was still bent over her textbook, nodding along to music that Ethan was about 95% sure wasn't on. After about ten minutes a woman who Ethan assumed was the buyer arrived. A lean woman in heels and a tight buisness suit. She was done up and looked quite smart. She took a seat and ordered tea and a scone. They conversed for about an hour, with the alley girl taking a trip to the bathroom. She eventually left, with books tucked under her arms. She passed by Ethan's table, tripping and scattering everything she was carrying. Ethan knelt down to help her pick up her things. 

"Leave."

The word was whispered just loud enough for Ethan and no one else to hear. But he went on picking up books, choosing to ignore her comment. 

She whispered again to him, "If you want to live, leave."

He looked at her in the eye, "why should I trust you?"

"Because." Her answer was simple as she stood, Ethan handing her the highlighter, "merci monsieur, je vous suis très reconnaissante." 

She turned and left before Ethan could respond, leaving him contemplating her words. Should he listen and leave? Ethan turned to Luther, who's eyebrows were raised practically to the sky. Ethan knew that once he gave the word, everyone would follow him without a question. He looked over at the target table. The target stood and started to walk away. 

Ethan put his phone to his ear and pretended to make a call, "Ilsa, stay on mission. Everyone else leave the cafe." 

Luther immediately stood and patted Ethan on the back, mumbling an excuse under his breath as he left. Ethan went the opposite way as him, opting to go down the street the girl traveled. He kept his eye open for anything out of the ordinary. But nothing caught his attention until a block or so down from the cafe he noticed a pile of textbooks sitting by a dumpster. He turned his head every which way without being to indescrite. The girl was no where to be found, so Ethan went down a side street, hoping to intercept her. Just then a crackle came over the comms. 

"Uh Ethan. We have a problem."

He kept walking, "Wha-"

Just then he was cut off as a huge explosion happened. Ethan could feel the heat even though he was two blocks away. Without any information he knew that the cafe had been the place the bomb was planted at. 

"Ilsa."

"Right, okay." She sounded somewhat out of breath, "the target has already been taken down."

He stopped, "What?"

"I found her in a side alley behind a dumpster, she was still breathing but there was no file on her."

"Did you see anything?" He started moving again.

"There was a pile of school books next to her but-"

Ethan started to jog, "I know where you are."

He turned the corner and ran to Ilsa, who was standing by a parking meter. They both started searching the area. Ethan scanned every  inch, and his eyes came to rest on a flash of brown hair disappearing into another street.