The Fifth Agent

Chapter Six

Someone was roughly shaking my shoulder. I sucked in a sudden breath and winced in pain. Shrugging the hand off and grabbing my shoulder, my eyes flew open as warm, sticky blood coated my fingers. Kara and Tom, stood over me, gazing down at my crumpled body lying on the floor, with concern. "What happened? Where's Jeremy?" Tom looked from me to the door, and back again. "Where's your dad?" 

I sat up and groaned, clutching my shoulder to stem the blood flow. "Okay, first of all, can someone grab the medical kit for me?" I pointed to a drawer in the side counter with my foot. "It's in there." I mean, priorities people. 

Kara rushed over and grabbed it, leaving the rustic wood drawer open. From the way the window over the sink was still dark, I gathered that I hadn't been out long. Crossing the black and white tiled floor, Kara crouched down beside me, opening the kit. Glancing at my shoulder, Kara winced in sympathy, her dark blue eyes searching mine for answers. After carefully removing my hand and gingery probing with her own, she began to assemble the supplies she needed for a bandage. Her methodical process reminded me of assembling a firearm and somehow, that was comforting. "You're lucky the bullet went straight through your shoulder, missing the major arteries and tendons. But it's going to take a while to heal, so you'll have to take it easy for a while." I rolled my eyes. That would be impossible in this line of work. 

Kara started cleaning  my shoulder with disinfectant and gauze, and I flinched, covering it with a roll of my eyes at Tom, who was still standing in front of me with his hands at his sides, looking helpless. "We're on a mission," I muttered, scowling. "There's no way I can 'take it easy'." 

Tom shook his head vigorously, his blond hair swaying with the movement. Slapping a pained smile on his face, he forced out, "Yes, you can. Just let Kara, Jeremy and me do the hard work." 

I stared at him incredulously. "You want me to do the easy work?" My voice rose with each word. "Hell no!" 

Kara stood up, brushing off her pants. "There you go. Just don't strain your shoulder, or ruin the bandages, and you should be fine. Just take it easy." She grimaced at the look I sent her, and raised her hands in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay, just take it easier." 

Tom looked around the kitchen again. "You never answered the question. Where did Jeremy and your dad go?" 

My eyes widened and I jumped up. "My dad hit Jeremy on the back of the head with a gun then shot me before hitting me on the back of the head with the gun," I let out in one breath. "Oh no."

I turned and ran out the back door, and could distantly see tailgate lights dissapearing through the trees on the dirt road. I ran over to our agency vehicle, yelling at Kara and Tom to hurry up and get in, but then froze. 

"Bloody hell!" All of the tires had been perfectly slashed. I looked to the road again, but the lights had disappeared.

Tom started running down the road barefoot. "Come on! We have to catch up to them!"

Kara halted to a stop besides me. "Tom," she called, cupping her hands around her mouth. "There's no way we can catch up to them." She turned to go back to the house, her shoulders drooping, and ran a hand through her black hair. "I'm sorry." 

Tom slowed to a stop ahead of us, bent over slightly and placed his hands on his knees, panting. "No!" 

I stood there in the dark, my chestnut hair blowing around my head with the slight breeze, grappling to come up with a plan. "Tom, come on, we need to go back to the house and figure out what-" 

"NO!" He turned towards me sharply, and I froze when I saw the tears that were trickling down his face. "You don't understand, Jeremy, he-he," I took a step forward with my hands creeping up from my sides as Tom started hyperventilating. "Jeremy was the one who recruited me into the agency, he took care of me and watched out for me- he always had my back- and now I'm supposed to leave him?" Tom shook his head. "I c-can't." He looked up at me, his voice breaking.