Mission Failed

Selene

“Agent Viper, are you in position?” my boss asked through the earpiece.

“Yes. Target locked,” I replied calmly. I’ve been doing this job for a long time. Undercover missions, assassinations, intelligence work. You name it. People think I’m just a professional model, but I’m not. I’m a lieutenant… and an agent.

I aimed my sniper rifle at my target, Emmanuel Reyes, the leader of a major syndicate. I was stationed on the rooftop of the building opposite his. Through my scope, I could clearly see him laughing and chatting with his business partner.

“Laugh while you still can,” I muttered.

He never gets caught not because he’s innocent, but because he’s powerful and untouchable. He’s been accused of multiple crimes, and still manages to slip through the justice system every single time. So the government gave us clearance to do what needed to be done. That’s why I’m here ready to put a bullet in this bastard’s skull. Orders from my boss. And trust me she’s not someone you want to piss off.

What makes this worse is that every agency is scrambling to catch him dead or alive.

There’s a huge reward on his head, which explains the competition. But through my scope, I didn’t see any other agents just me. Whatever. I’ll just do my job. I’m talking too much anyway.

If my boss wasn’t counting on me, I wouldn’t have volunteered for this mission. But when you’re high-ranking, everyone expects you to deliver. I’ve been sitting here for hours waiting for the signal, my butt’s numb. Damn Emmanuel. He must’ve been a professional hide-and-seek player in his past life. No wonder he’s never been caught.

None of my friends know what my real job is. Only my parents. I was sitting there in that abandoned building, chewing my gum out of boredom, waiting for my boss’ go-signal. If I could just shoot him now, I would. But then I’d probably get terminated. And I love this job. I love hunting criminals. I hate how they act so normal like they haven’t done anything wrong. Crazy as hell.

I still don’t get why Emmanuel never fell for my cover as a model. He barely even looks my way during runway shows. I don’t know if he’s blind or just has trash taste. It would’ve been easier to infiltrate his organization that way.

“Agent Viper, can you hear me?” my boss finally said.

“Yes, Boss,” I replied, getting back into position.

“I’ll send the signal in a moment. First, count how many people are with him.”

I looked through my scope. “There are four. Including Emmanuel.” Only four?

“Can you finish them in a second?” she asked.

Is she underestimating me again?

“You’re underestimating me, Boss,” I sighed.

“I’m not. I just want this mission done properly.”

I exhaled slowly and aimed. A moment later, I received the signal and pulled the trigger.

“Rest in hell,” I muttered.

But the bullet didn’t hit him straight on. Instead, chaos broke out. My shot had been thrown off course.

I cursed and checked through the scope everyone inside was panicking and searching for the shooter. Shit.

As I was about to pull away, I noticed something a man in a dark silhouette rushing down the other building. His build… felt familiar. Whatever. The hell? How did I not notice someone else was here? And more importantly how did we fire at the same damn time?

“Mission failed. Someone interfered,” I said quickly as I sprinted out of the building.

Emmanuel’s men would be moving soon and if they caught me, that would be the end of our agency.

I put on my helmet and mounted my Ducati.

“Damn that asshole,” I growled. “My shot only went off-track because our bullets collided.”

“F*ck!” my boss cursed through the line.

“Get back here immediately. We need to talk.”

I sped back to headquarters. When I arrived, I walked straight past everyone and into my boss’ office…

And froze.

Francis was there.

I felt like I turned to stone. After everything… after I left to avoid him… here he was. Right in front of me.

I didn’t want to believe what Mathew once said that Francis is good at tracking people.

“Selene, come in. Why are you staring like that?” my boss snapped me back.