Chapter 25: Chapter 25

"What do you want? Let Micah go." I hiss down the line, my hand wobbling slightly. I force myself to tighten my grip, pushing my fears aside.

"What I want is to live in a world where I am most powerful. I have full control over the FBI and now I have full control over its agents too." Christopher Black says casually, pride and venom dropping from his every word.

"You do not control me. You will never control me." I spit down the line, a flaming ball of anger beginning to take place of the fear inside me. Christopher Black pauses before the sound of his low laughter rumbles down my ear.

"The FBI have been after me for years. I despise you, I loathe you but now I've found my way in.”

"Screwing my boss isn't a way into the FBI." I cut him off, rooting through Micah's drawers for whatever weapon I can find. I don't come up with much and the frustration begins to take over.

"So you know about the arrangement between Veronica and I as well as your Agent friend." Christopher responds. I pause at his words, frowning a little.

Arrangement as in relationship? Or business? Maybe both?

"Arrangement, tell me more about this arrangement?" I ask him, intrigued. Christopher grows silent down the line and I know that he's realised he's given away way too much information.

He's not so careful after all . . .

I wonder what arrangement Veronica Kilburn has made with Christopher Black. I've always known there was a dodgy element to the women, total bitch.

Is the arrangement to kill her agents and grow Christopher's illegal business on the down low?

How is she involved besides from screwing him and why does she want Micah and I killed?

"Come and get your friend so I can get rid of you both. It's been a long time coming." Christopher snaps. The phone line goes dead but by that time, I've already hooked the phone to Micah's laptop and tracked his location. I'm not excited about it though, Christopher Black knows I'd eventually find him.

I sit down in Micah's seat, searching through his laptop as best as I can. Several passwords and encrypted codes get in my way but I type them in without ease. I've mentally remembered Micah's passwords much to his protests. The image of my boss and Christopher Black is permanently etched inside my mind and I can't seem to shake it.

How dare she deceive the FBI for a criminal like Christopher Black.

My hands ball into fists and I make a silent promise to myself that I will expose Veronica Kilburn for who she is . . .

I quickly jot down the location on a blank piece of paper but a shuffle from behind me catches my attention. It's the faintest sound, barely audible to a regular person however as an FBI Agent, I know I need to stay alert at all times. As quick as a flash, I whirl around in my seat, my gun pointed, aimed and ready.

"Stop!" I shout out, springing up from my seat. In front of me are Ted and Margaret. Ted is standing in front of Margaret, a long shotgun pointed directly at me. I don't drop my gun and instead narrow my eyes at him. Both of us hold each other's stare for what seems like forever, chests rising up and down. I'm not a stranger to staring at the end of a barrel but when it's a ex-FBI Agent holding the gun, nerves begin to grow.

"I was right, you're in on this too!" I exclaim, shaking my head in disbelief. Ted doesn't say anything and from behind him, Margaret places a hand on his shoulder. Her face is blank, totally unreadable.

"I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to." I say firmly.

"What's going on here? Who are you? Why are you really here? You're going to put that gun down, sit in that chair and tell us everything." Ted snaps at me, his voice full of authority despite his old age. I hesitate for a moment, unable to decide whether I trust them or not. My gun is still pointing at them, finger hovering over the trigger.

"It's two against one. You're not going anywhere Hunter." Margaret says, the softness still lacing her voice. I break eye contact with Ted and look at Margaret. Eventually I nod slowly, lowering my arms down because the truth is, I know they aren't going to hurt me.

I can see it in their eyes.

"Sit down." Ted says, signalling at the chair with his shotgun. I grimly nod my head, placing my gun down onto the floor before backing up and taking a seat on Micah's office chair. Ted and Margaret inch inside the room before slamming the door shut behind them. Both of them are keeping their eyes trained directly on me, barely blinking.

"You can put the gun down, I'm not some wild animal that could pounce and kill at any moment." I tell them, eyeing up Ted's shotgun. He doesn't respond to my words but the grip on his gun doesn't loosen either.

"We don't know who you are so for now, it stays. You need to start explaining yourself young lady." Margaret says, her eyebrow raised high. She stands beside her husband, both of them looking like their up against the world. I wonder how it feels to rely on someone so much, have their eternal love and support.

My guess is it feels pretty damn good.

"Are you working for Christopher Black? I need to know before I tell you anything.”

As soon as I ask them the question, a look of disbelief flashes across their face.

"Isn't Christopher Black the man you're currently hunting? Why would you think that we're working for him?" Margaret asks me. Ted remains silent and I can practically see the gears inside his mind working hard.

I breathe in deeply and decide to tell them everything because I don't have a choice really. I'm being held inside Micah's room by two former very experienced FBI Agents with a shotgun pointing directly at my face.

Now would be a good time to talk.

"Last night Micah and I chased up a lead regarding Christopher Black. It was a coffee shop on the other side of town. We sat there and waited, eventually Calvin Black and a John Doe exit the shop after firing several gunshots. Micah and I decide to follow them and they eventually lead us down into the quiet areas of town. I knew it was a trap so I told Micah to abort but it was too late. The gunman turned on us and opened fire. . . He wanted us dead. If we weren't in a bullet proof car, we would be dead. We managed to get out of there in time but on the way home, something didn't seem right. I went through every single piece of this mission and it wasn't adding up," I explained, leaning forward in my seat. Throughout all this, Margaret and Ted continued to give each other side glances, speaking silently through their own language.

I decide to continue.

"It only comes down to one thing, a suicide mission." I add, my voice dropping to a low whisper. I can hear the defeat in my words and I glance at the floor, unsure of how my future will turn out. As soon as I mention the suicide mission, Ted lets out a low grunt, his face scrunching up in anger.

"You're sure about this Hunter? Absolutely sure?" He asks me, speaking for the first time in a while. I nod my head, taking a deep breath before continuing my explanation.

"All night Micah and I have been trying to understand why Veronica Kilburn might want us dead. What have we done to deserve this? The clues for Christopher Black we're constantly hitting a dead end and we didn't have enough information to begin with. It's like finding a ghost, if Calvin Black didn't mention him, I would have thought he never existed.”

"Calvin Black is the son of Christopher Black?" Margaret questions. I nod once, a lump appearing in my throat. All along I haven't even stopped to think whether Calvin knew the truth about me.

How angry is he? Does he hate me? Will he kill me the first chance he gets?

"Yes he is. Next thing I know I wake up to find Micah gone. There's been obvious signs of a struggle but when I walked over to his laptop, I found this." I say, pressing a key on the laptop to spring it back to life. The picture of Veronica Kilburn with her dirty paws all over Christopher Black fills the screen and a shocked silence fills the air.

"Good God." Margaret whispers, breaking the silence.

"I don't think God can save us in this one." I mutter under my breath. I turn back around to face Ted and Margaret. Both of their eyes are fixed on the screen and I notice Ted has lowered his shotgun.

"Now we know why she wants you dead.”

He believes me.

"I got a call from Christopher Black. He's taken Micah and he mentioned some sort of arrangement with Veronica. I managed to track his location from the call but he knows I'm coming for him. He told me he's planning on killing Micah and I and taking control of the FBI and it's agents." I finish off, the defeated tone in my voice growing.

I finally collapse backwards in my chair, closing my eyes and tilting my head back to stare up at the ceiling.

"This was supposed to be a Black and white mission. Instead it's opened up the biggest can of worms I've ever seen." I say bluntly. A silence fills the room and for several minutes, no-one speaks. I like to think that I completely shocked Margaret and Ted into silence because even I struggled to believe the words coming from my mouth.

When I open my eyes and look at them, they are both staring intensely at me.

"What do I do?" I ask both of them, my eyes flickering between the two. I feel completely helpless, stuck in a spiral that can only lead downwards. When Ted speaks, he ignites the smallest of hope inside me, bringing my fighting spirit back to life.

"No Hunter, the question is . . . What are we going to do?”