The Retribution – Episode 21 & 22

Chapter 21

“I need to see the Master, please,” Eva said to the office assistant at her desk.

The round-faced lady looked up and squinted at Eva. “Is he expecting you?”

“No,” Eva shook her head.

“Then, you should leave right away,” the lady advised.

“No please, it’s really important that I see him.”

“If it’s important, you should talk to your handler first.”

“My handler?” Eva narrowed her gaze at her. “Come on, I’ve been here to see the Master several times.”

“He called for you on those occasions. This time, he’s not expecting you,” the lady insisted.

“Why not just make an effort to ask him first?” Eva pleaded.

“He’s gonna be pissed with me if I do that,” she scoffed.

“Why?” Eva frowned.

“It doesn’t matter that you’ve worked with him on a mission before. You’re a recruit. And recruits can only pass their messages to him through their handlers.”

Eva heaved a sigh of frustration. She turned to stare at the door to Eric’s office for a while and wished he could just come out at that moment.

“Just go to your handler,” the lady advised again.

“Thank you,” Eva muttered and turned to leave. But just as she took a step, she heard the sound of the door opening. Her wish was granted.

She turned back to see Eric stepping out with another male assassin whom she did not recognize. He looked so handsome in his navy blue suit.

He was so busy discussing with the assassin that he didn’t notice Eva until he got closer to the assistant’s table. His legs froze as soon as his eyes met with hers. He wanted to speak but his lips only moved without any words coming out.

They had their eyes glued to each other for a few seconds until Eric was finally able to talk.

“What are you doing here, Eva?” Eric blinked.

“I needed to talk to you, Master,” Eva replied.

Eric drew in a deep breath and tried to compose himself to hide his reaction from the Assassin beside him.

“Why do you need to talk to me?” He forced a frown. “You should be talking to your handler.”

Eva was dumbfounded. Was he really saying that? And was he not even glad to see her again.

“Yeah?” he questioned further when she was delaying with a response.

“I..” her lips trembled and she wasn’t able to put together a sentence.

“Whatever you need to talk about should be told to your Handler,” Eric said and turned towards the lift with the Assassin beside him.

“A recruit, Anna, has been activated for a task she isn’t qualified for. She’s gonna get killed if you let her go,” Eva finally found her voice.

Eric stopped and turned slowly. He had a furious look. “Who the heck made you a judge to tell whether or not a recruit is qualified?”

Eva stared at him, perplexed.

“You need to stop sticking your nose around, or you get yourself into trouble,” Eric warned and turned to leave.

He stopped at the entrance of the lift and turned again. “One more thing, Eva. Make sure you’re never caught here again without invitation.” With that, he turned and got into the lift.

To say Eva felt sad was an understatement. She felt completely shattered. Not only had Eric not listen to her but he also warned her to never come to his office again. But there was something bothering her more, Anna was being sent on a mission she couldn’t handle.

“I told you, girl,” the office assistant said in a calm voice. “You need to leave now.”

—15 Minutes Later—

Eva got into Jack’s office in the Eagle building to find him already seated.

“What the f**k were you thinking, Eva? Why would you go to the Master’s office?” Jack fired at her as he saw her approaching.

“How did you know I was there?”

“I saw Ben while coming up. He told me you were activated and also that you went to see the Master about Anna.”

“Yeah, I did,” Eva answered dryly. “He shunned me and warned me never to come to his office again.”

“You are lucky, he could have done more to you. You need to face your own business and forget about Anna,”

Jack counselled. “Where’s your flash drive for the task?”

Eva dipped her hand into her pocket and handed the flash drive to him. She picked his android phone on the table beside the computer and turned on the camera.

He turned to take his phone from her but simply shook his head and turned back on seeing her pose for a selfie.

“You can’t keep your pictures on my phone,” he remarked.

“Why?” She asked, still snapping more.

“Because it’s not yours,” he replied dryly.

“Can’t I have them there until I graduate and get my phone?” She questioned, getting up from the seat to find a better place for a selfie in the office.

“What the f**k! Your pictures shouldn’t be seen on my phone,” he scoffed.

“You have a girlfriend who is going to get pissed off?” She smirked, disregarding his remarks while taking more selfies.

He glanced at her and shook his head.

After some seconds, she stopped with the selfie and began to scroll through the device.

Jack wasn’t bothered since the device was locked with a password and the only feature she could access was the camera and the new pictures she had taken.

After about two minutes, he looked up and was surprised to find her still busy on the phone.

“Hey! You gotta come over here now,” he ordered. “We’ve got work to do.”

“Just a minute, I’m trying to delete the ugly ones,” she delayed.

“I’m gonna delete everything off, so you don’t have to bother about that.”

Eva chuckled to herself, wondering how Jack would react if he knew she had done more with his phone than take selfies. He had believed it was locked but forgot that he used the same password for his computer. Eva’s sharp eyes had caught his passcode on the first day he entered it into the computer with her beside him.

A few seconds later, she back to the table and returned his phone to the previous position. She sat beside him to stare at the screen.

“Your new mission is to destroy a coke producing factory in the forest,” Jack spoke out loud.

Eva squinted at the screen to read the details of the mission.

“The purpose of this mission is to help the nation take down the illegal cocaine manufacturing factory, when did we become the police?” she wondered aloud and then turned to Jack. “Why don’t we just report the secret factory to the police if our purpose is to take them down?”

“Your only job is to carry out the task, Eva. Not to question why you were sent,” Jack scolded her. “You need to desist from questioning your orders.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. However, she realized the real purpose of the mission as she continued to read more. The Nanl Clan was only interested in taking out a competitor in the drug pushing business and it had nothing to do with helping the nation.

The forest in which the factory was located had been identified but it was well protected. There were able-bodied guards securing the perimeters around the factory. Eva’s job will be to go into the factory and destroy the building with the billion dollars worth of goods in it. That will be a fatal blow to the owners and will cause them to run into debt, eliminating them as a competitor in the business.

The mission seemed like an exciting adventure to Eva and she couldn’t wait to get on it. But at that moment, she remembered Anna. Jonathan had said all the activated recruits would have similar tasks. There was no way Anna who did not excel during their training sessions would be able to get the job done. It was indeed a suicide mission for Anna.

Chapter 22 — Lady Penelope

*8:30 PM*

Anna was laying in her bed quietly, staring blankly at the ceiling. She was excited about her first task which was to kick off the next day. And even though everyone seemed not to believe she could do it, she believed in herself. It was her first task and she wasn’t going to allow anyone’s negative thoughts to determine how she would face it.

Rose had also helped to make her bolder during the mind preparation session. The psychologist had assured her that she was selected because she was the best for the task and asked her to let nobody deter her from giving her best in the mission.

She kept wondering how it would be to step into the real world again. This was her six months in the territory and since she got in, there had been no reason for her to step out. She was determined to succeed in the mission and prove to herself that she was capable.

A knock at the door distracted her. She sat up in the bed quickly and stared at the door, wondering who could be behind. She rarely had anyone knock at the door except for her handler. And she had been with her handler for several hours that day already. So there was no reason for her to be there that night.

She got up and checked through the peephole to see Ben standing there. He was looking left and right to ensure no one was watching him.

“Open up, Anna. I need to talk to you,” he said in low tones, sensing that she was behind the door.

She finally opened the door and let him in after some seconds of hesitation. She poked her head out to see if anyone had seen him enter her room.

“Why are you here?” She questioned, right at the entrance.

Ben took in a deep breath first. “Listen, Anna. Can we sit?”

She squinted at him in hesitation for a while before agreeing.

“Can you tell me what it is now?” she asked after they sat side by side.

“I noticed you’ve been avoiding me since you got activated, why is that?” Ben began.

She frowned. “Because I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“Huh? I thought we were friends,” Ben remarked.

“Yes, we are. But you were with Eva every time I saw you. You are probably going to tell me the same things she told me. She thinks I’m not qualified to be activated yet and I know some other people believe the same thing. That’s why I didn’t want to come close.”

Ben sighed. “Anna, Eva means well for you.”

“I doubt that,” she argued. “If she means well, she would believe in me.”

Ben closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled slowly through his mouth.

“Do you also think I can’t get it done?” Anna had an accusing look on her face.

“That’s not why I’m here, Anna. I’m here to offer you assistance to get the task done.”

“Are you crazy?” She widened her eyes. “You know you can get yourself into trouble for saying that. And how are you going to assist me? I’m leaving the territory with my handler tomorrow.”

Ben brought out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. She stared at it. A phone number was written on it and the name “Lady Penelope” was underneath.

“What do I do with this?” She raised a brow.

“You will be given a phone to use when you get outside,” Ben explained. “Lady Penelope needs to reach you. You must find a way to let her have the mobile number you’re given.”

Anna stared at him, confused. “You want me to call this lady Penelope with the phone I’m given?”

“No, any calls you make from that phone will be monitored. You have to send your number with a public phone or any other means to Lady Penelope. he will then contact you with the phone given to you. They won’t be able to monitor her calls but they can monitor it when you call from yours.”

Anna sighed. “And who is she?”

“She’s Eva’s friend, the one who helps Eva when she’s on a mission,” Ben replied.

“What?” Anna scoffed. “Eva sent you to give me this?” she handed the piece of paper back to him.

“No, I requested for it,” he lied. “You always wanted to know how Eva got successful in her missions, right? “

Anna squinted at his face.

“Lady Penelope helps Eva and she wants to help you too,” Ben replied and handed the piece of paper back to her.

She stared at it for a while. “Do I really need this? I can do it on my own without anyone’s help.”

“Yes, I know that. But just be on a safer side like Eva,” he paused to hold her one of her palms. “I want to see you back here safe, please.”

“Okay,” she finally gave in. “I will contact her.”

“Thank you,” he smiled and planted a light kiss on her lips. She wasn’t expecting it, so she stared at him blankly. He leaned closer again and kissed her deeply. This time she responded.

They broke the kiss after a minute. “Be safe,” he said as he got up.

She watched him silently as he proceeded to the door. He held the knob and turned to talk to her one more time. “Make sure you reach out to her and don’t make mistakes to use your phone.”

She nodded in understanding and smiled at him. He opened the door and peeped out to see if anyone else was in the corridor before he stepped out.

Anna took out the paper and stared at the number for some seconds. So, Eva was actually getting help on her tasks and that was why she had a hundred per cent success rate, she thought. It had never crossed her mind that Eva could have been deceiving the whole Clan that she was efficient all this while.

A thought came to her mind and she began to consider reporting Eva to the Clan for getting external help. But she thought of Ben and changed her mind. Since Ben knew about it, the clan was most likely going to punish him along with Eva.

– – –

Ben got back to his room to find Eva still there. She got up to approach him immediately after he entered.

“I just gave it to her and instructed her as you asked me to. She agreed to contact this lady,” Ben relayed.

“Thank you, Ben,” Eva heaved a sigh of relief.

“And do you really trust this lady you asked her to call?” Ben stared at Eva with a doubtful look.

“Yeah,” Eva assured. “She helps me on my tasks, so she would help Anna too.”

“I hope she does,” Ben let out a sigh.

“Thank you, Ben. I’ll see you again when I return,” Eva moved closer and hugged him.

————

*The Next Day*

10:20 AM

“We’re here again,” Jack announced to no one in particular as he stepped into his apartment. Eva followed behind with her bag. “You know how we did it the last time. You take the room and I take the couch.”

Eva walked straight into the room without making any comment. A few minutes after, she stepped out dressed in a black hoodie and jeans trousers.

“I need to go somewhere,” she announced to Jack who was already resting on the couch.

“Where?” He sat up and stared at her.

“To get some devices I need for my task.”

“What devices and why didn’t you ask the clan to provide them?”

“I have everything I need from the Clan already, Jack. But I need to get a device that will help me jam their network in the area when I attack,” Eva explained.

“The clan can do that if you ask,” Jack replied.

“No, the person who has to jam the device has to be closer to the area. Would the clan send someone else to assist me?”

“You know that’s impossible, Eva. This is an assessment task for you and you have to find ways to get it done yourself.”

“Exactly! That’s why I need to get my devices.”

Jack chuckled and turned back to lay on the couch. “Whatever you do, Eva, remember that the clan has a chip in your neck. I monitor you and the clan does the same.”

“I know that, thanks.”

— —

** Four Hours Later **

Jack was sitting at the computer table when Eva arrived back at the apartment. She returned with a backpack strapped behind.

“What the heck were you thinking going to your parents’ home?” He turned and blasted her immediately she got in. “What if someone had seen you?”

He had been tracking her through the chip and knew her location at every point.

“I was careful, boss,” she answered him confidently. “No one saw me.”

He got up from the seat and moved closer to her. “I got to check what’s in your bag.”

“Really?” Eva’s eyebrows gathered together. “You think I brought back something I shouldn’t?”

“No,” Jack shook his head. “I need to give a report on the task. So, I have to see whatever you come in with.”

She quietly took out the items from the bag. It contained two devices that looked like Android tablets and an earpiece.

“Isn’t this the same type of device you broke into the territory with?” Jack questioned.

“No,” Eva shook her head. “It just looks like it, I configured these differently.”

“And you’re going to be using it to jam the network around the area?”

“Yes,” she replied affirmatively. He stared at her suspiciously for a moment before he stepped back.

The recruits were allowed to use devices and tools that could help them on their tasks as long as the devices were left outside the territory after the task was completed. However, Jack knew that these devices in Eva’s hands could be used for more than the tasks.

He suspected she had something else in mind but couldn’t tell what it could be. He had no idea that she was planning to contact another recruit on the mission. Eva was Lady Penelope.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Huuuun Eva God get your back and thanks for caring about other, even if they don't see it. Keep it up success is always yours.

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