xx| 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 |xx
I crept through the halls of the hotel to the top of the staircase that descended to the lobby. After glancing around the open landing for a decent hiding place, I spotted an area of the wall that jutted out. I slipped behind it. It was a narrow fit, but it did the job of concealing me from Miss Monpelie when she came down the stairs. Right now, surprise was our greatest ally.
Based on the surveillance cameras, we discovered that the French diplomat had eaten breakfast at seven in the morning and returned to her room. More than likely, she would be leaving the hotel very soon. But I was ready for her. I was determined that no matter how much she insisted on leaving the hotel on her own, I would doubly insist the opposite. We needed her to join us on the tour. The last thing that we wanted to happen was for Miss Monpelie to roam Belgium alone. It simply was not safe.
I will admit, it probably would have been more productive to follow Miss Monpelie and find out exactly what she was doing in her spare time. Unfortunately, I had already promised Mr. Le Foie that Ty, Dari, Finn, and I would accompany him and the other diplomats on a tour of the Mont des Arts.
In a brief conversation that I had with the Belgian diplomat (and primary host for the convention), I discovered that six of our nine main suspects were going on the tour. The ambassadors of the UK, US, Italy, Switzerland, and Brazil had all agreed to come with us. And of course, the Belgian diplomat was attending. In addition to our prime suspects, the representatives of Russia and Kenyan also agreed to come with us.
The only prime suspects who had not agreed were the ambassadors of Germany and Japan. That came of little surprise. Mr. Freiburg always filled his schedule to the brim. Mr. Aoki also declined the invitation due to his work in preparing for the meeting. Though he did have a high appreciation for art and the outdoors, his major presentation took precedence over the outing. Besides, he'd been to Brussels before.
The last of our prime suspects—Miss Monpelie—was most likely going to decline our invitation initially, but she was going to join us. We would make sure that she did.
Footsteps and indistinct chatter began to echo through the quiet halls. I held my breath, remaining perfectly still. Slowly, I inched my head from behind the wall to peer at the source of noise. A man in a dark suit rounded the corner. It was Mr. Aoki and his two guards. I quickly ducked back before he saw me.
The footsteps faded down the stairs. I exhaled, my heart pounding in my chest. The suspense was killing me. Why is she taking so long? What if I missed her? Or, what if she does come, but she refuses to join us?
The trouble with second guessing yourself is that your doubts snowball. I took in a deep breath and shoved my thoughts aside. It wasn't good to think negatively. It would only make me more nervous. And the more nervous I become, the higher the chance of making mistakes.
"Agent 24," Dari whispered over the radio. "This is Agent 30. Come in Agent 24."
It was semi comical that she found it necessary to speak in a low tone, since we had already decided that I would connect wireless headphones to my radio. Perhaps she's just trying to be cautious.
"I read you."
"She's coming. We'll round up the others ASAP."
"Got it. Over and out."
I prepared myself to walk from behind the corner. I heard the muffled clip-clop of heels on the carpet. It was coming closer and closer.
"Xara, she's rounding the corner!" Dari's voice rang in my ears.
I pressed the green button on the side of my radio to tell her okay. Showtime.
I strolled from my hiding spot just as the diplomat started down the steps.
"Madame Monpelie! It's so good to see you!" I exclaimed. Roselle whipped around to face me, her curled, blonde hair bouncing. Her eyes were wide in surprise, and she looked like she was about to cry out in fright, but she quickly relaxed her stance.
"Oh, hello Miss Oclen. How are you this morning?"
"Wonderful, and you?"
"Quite well. I was just on my way to the gardens. I'm in desperate need of fresh air. Please excuse me." She turned and started down the steps. I followed right after her.
"Oh, but Madame Monpelie, we were hoping you would join us on a tour of the Mont des Arts. We have one extra ticket that we need to use up. Would you join us?"
"Yes, please join us." I turned around to see Ty standing with the ambassadors of the US, UK, and Switzerland.
"Oh, are you joining us Miss Monpelie? It's such a lovely day," Sarah Norris remarked. "Why don't we have a picnic?"
Good old Miss Norris. She helped us out without even meaning to.
"Excellent idea, Mrs. Norris," Ty said. I met eye contact with him and exchanged a glance. We had actually already accounted for this idea. Dari and Finn had run out to a local store and purchased a cooler, ice, and some picnic-like foods. We figured it would be easier than trying to coordinate lunch at a restaurant.
"Yes indeed," Mr. Peter Kohler agreed. "It's good to get out in the great outdoors." He was the aged delegate appointed to represent Switzerland in the convention. He was the oldest of the bunch, as evident in his slower speech and hunched forward posture. His hair had fully transitioned into a thin layer of gray, though the silvery strands spoke more of wisdom than senility.
Miss Monpelie shifted. "Well I-I don't know... I am rather occupied..." She glanced at the hotel door behind her.
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun," Ty said.
At that moment, Mrs. Jebet appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh, Miss Monpelie, so good of you to join us! We haven't spoken in ages."
Miss Monpelie was a deer in the headlights. Clearly she did not want to join us and had other matters to attend to, but she didn't want to appear odd in front of so many of her fellow representatives. "Alright, I'll join you," she said softly.
"Wonderful!" I said. "We will be leaving momentarily, once we gather the other ambassadors."
"Well, if you would just give me one moment, I must email my sister in France. I had promised I would respond to her, and I was going to do that in the taxi."
"Of course! Go right ahead." I turned my attention to the other ambassadors, though I kept my peripheral eye on Miss Monpelie in case she decided to slip away.
A twinge of guilt settled in my chest. After all, what if she had a valid engagement? But the more I thought about it, the more I came to the realization that she wouldn't have caved so easily if she had something important to do.
The remaining ambassadors joined us momentarily, along with Finn Jax. Mr. Le Foie—the host of the tour—was the last to arrive.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies and gentlemen," he declared as he rounded the top of the stairs. "I accidentally spilled coffee on my shirt right as I was about to leave and had to change."
"Sounds like you were in hot water," Ty remarked.
Mr. Le Foie chuckled. "Yes, I suppose so."
"Are we all ready to go?" Finn asked.
"Yes," Mr. Le Foie said. "I have hired three cabs for us diplomats to take." He turned to me as he said this, verifying that we didn't need one.
"We have our rental car," I said.
He nodded. "Good. In that case, everyone to the cars. Our tour starts in only half an hour, and we don't want to be late.
If I had gone on a tour of a National Archives building prior to this mission, I think I would have found it highly engaging, perhaps even entertaining. However, given the amount of neurological stimulation I had received in the past few days, having a stuffy man in a monotone voice lead us around a room full of documents (most of which I had already committed to memory by listening to recordings) was lackluster at best, and laborious at worst.
We finished the tour at eleven, just in time to jump into our tour of the Library of Belgium. Once again, it wasn't my thing, but at least the tour guide was more animated, providing lively retellings of the creations of important maps, manuscripts, and microfilm.
Finally, we completed our tour and exited the Royal Library of Belgium. The sun's beams stretched far and wide, radiating heat to all they touched. I basked in its warmth, allowing it to permeate my cold skin. The air conditioning inside had made the Library feel like a freezer. I pulled my coat a little tighter to trap the heat.
"Are you cold?" Mr. Le Foie asked as we descended a set of pale-yellow, stone steps.
"Yes, it was pretty chilly in there," I said.
"I thought so too," Mr. Le Foie said. I nodded, my eyes falling on his hands. I nearly gasped at the sight of his fingernails. All of the natural pink had been replaced with blue. I inspected my own nails, only to find that I had the same dilemma.
Someone snickered behind me. I turned around to see Ty, Finn, and Dari at me from the back of the group. I allowed the herd of diplomats to pass so I could walk with the rest of my crew.
"Really? A coat in the summertime?" Ty said.
"It was cold inside," I replied indignantly.
"You're not usually..." I glared at him to shut him up. He stopped mid sentence, his eyes growing wide as realization set in.
Younger Xara was far colder than older Xara.
Ty pursed his lips, and we reached the bottom of the stairs in silence. He almost blew my cover.
"Is the picnic all prepared?" I asked Dari.
"Yeah, it's in a cooler in the back of the rental car."
"Okay, I'll go with Finn to the car to retrieve it."
"What should I do?" Ty said, bouncing on his heels for emphasis.
"Mingle with the suspects," I told him.
"Yes ma'am."
Dari rolled her eyes. "I'll keep an eye on things over here."
Finn gave her a thumbs up and the two of us headed towards the car. We strolled past numerous clusters of tourists, ducking out of pictures.
The parking lot wasn't far, but it took us longer than usual to reach since we had to power walk, instead of run. Our energetic speed would make us stick out among the lazy tourists, who practically crawled across the grounds. After five minutes, we finally made it to our rental car. Finn popped the trunk and I grabbed the rather large cooler.
"Need any help?" Finn asked.
"Naw, I'm good," I said, setting the ten-pound cooler on the concrete.
"Kay." Finn slammed the trunk of the car down. "Do we need anything else?"
"Nope." My gaze flicked to my feet. I suddenly noticed that the laces of my boots were untied.
"Ugh," I grunted. As I bent down to remedy this problem, glass shattered overhead. Finn dropped to a crough beside me. I whipped around to see a bullet hole in the back window of our car—where I had just been standing moments before.
"Is that what I think it is?" Finn said.
"WAOIC," I confirmed. "With silencers on their guns, so they don't draw attention to themselves."
"Can't they just leave us alone?" Finn muttered.
"No," I said. "They're on a mission, just like us."
Another bullet whizzed past, inches from my face, as if to agree with me. Finn shook his head, and pulled out his gun. I opened my purse to retrieve a gun, only to find a couple euros.
"Darn it, I brought the wrong purse," I said. I had been in such a rush in the morning that I hadn't bothered to check. I felt the sides of my coat pockets for a weapon, but only found my cell phone and radio.
"I'll hold them off if I see them," Finn said. He aimed his gun in the direction of the shot.
"Do you have a silencer?" I said.
"Oh." Finn fumbled in his pocket for a silencer and screwed it on. I nodded in approval. We didn't want to cause a scene or get caught.
"Cover me, I'm going to call the Belgian IIA for backup," I said.
"What about Ty and Dari?" Finn asked.
I thought for a moment. "No, we'd better leave them out of this. We don't want the representatives to know that something is wrong."
Finn nodded in agreement. I grabbed my phone and proceeded to dial for help. A man with a thick, french accent answered the phone.
"IIA Headquarters, Belgium. How may I assist you?"
"Hello, this is Agent 24. I am currently in the southwest parking lot at the Monts des Arts. We are currently being shot at. We're going to need a new, black Toyota Corolla and backup agents to pick up the WAOIC Agents."
"On it. We'll be there in ten minutes max," the agent said.
"Thank you. Over and out."
I hung up the phone. Finn held his finger to his lips and pointed to the northeast corner of the parking lot. I craned my neck to see past the clumps of cars. My eyes zeroed in on two shadows sneaking between the vehicles. I slipped my fingers into the side of my boot and pulled out my knife. It was better than nothing.
"Let's wait for them to settle," I breathed. Finn nodded. We kept low. Our eyes never deviated from our targets. They made a few car switches before stopping behind an old Ford. I held my breath, watching, waiting. Slowly, a leather-gloved hand inched out from behind the car. Finn fired his gun. The silent bullet darted through the air, meeting its target with a deadly accuracy. The hand dropped the gun.
"I'm going to sneak around the back," I whispered. "You keep them busy."
The other agent shot at Finn. He pulled his hand from view just in time. Instead of striking flesh, the bullet buried itself in our car.
Another rental bites the dust.
I darted behind a silver Lexus, peering out to make sure they didn't notice. They were facing Finn, riddling our car with bullets. I could feel the adrenaline beginning to pump through my veins. I scurried to the next car, a green jeep. Slowly, I snuck around the backs of the cars in an arc, until I was one car away from the Ford—the hideout of the WAOIC Agents. The male agent, who Finn had shot, crouched behind the car and cradled his injured hand. I focused on the female WAOIC. She was aiming her gun in Finn's direction with her right hand. I calculated the distance I needed to run, the movements to end her gunfire. My heart pounded so loudly now that I thought that it would give away my location. You're good, Xara. You got this. I forced myself to take in a breath. One false move, and I could die.
One, two, three.
I dashed from behind the car. My hand clasped the WAIOC Agent's wrist and wrenched her right arm behind her. I swung my left arm around and held my knife to her neck. The male WAOIC Agent's uninjured hand darted towards his gun.
"Don't move, or she gets it" I warned, in a low, deadly tone. The other agent froze. Finn rushed over from his hiding place and trained his pistol on him. A little ways away, a silver car screeched to a halt. A man in a black suit hopped out of the front seat and ran over.
"Agent 24, 23," he said. "I'm Agent B-39 of the IIA."
Two more agents raced over, each in matching blue suits, black hair, and dark sunglasses.
"Take custody of these two," I told them. The twinning Agents hand-cuffed the WAOIC spies and led them to the silver car.
"Agent B-06 is bringing your car replacement," Agent B-39 said. "It'll only be a few more minutes."
"Thank you," Finn said, looking forlornly at the broken window. He shook his head. "Why can't we be like normal people who only need one car?"
"We can question our lives later," I said. "Right now, we need to get back to the diplomats. They will be wondering where we are."
"I'll join you in a bit. Just say that I went to get gas or something."
I snickered. "Sure."
I grabbed the cooler and trekked across the parking lot. A chilly wind swept through the air, slipping between my locks of hair. The air smelled clean and fresh, like it had just rained. And when I drew closer to the geometric gardens, I caught a floral scent in the air.
I found the rest of the group sitting on the stone ground by a series of fountains.
"The food is here," I announced.
The diplomats cheered. I parked the cooler in the center and removed the lid. Dari's head tilted to one side, brow furrowed.
"Sorry it took so long," I said, glancing at Dari. "Finn thought that he had lost his keys, but it turned out that they were just buried deep in his pockets."
"No worries, no worries at all," Mr. La Foie assured me. "Now, let's dig in!"
Dari gave me one more confused look, before wiping it off her face and starting to pass out the apple-and-brie sandwiches on croissants to everyone. I took up the job of passing waters out.
"Excuse me," a voice said. I turned around to see two women standing behind me.
"Hello," I said. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Yes," a lady in a floral, sleeveless blouse said. "Could you tell us how to get to Brussels Park?"
"Oh, um, Mr. La Foie?" I turned to the Belgian representative. This was his kind of job.
"Yes?" he said, standing.
"They want to know how to get to Brussels Park."
"Certainly. Do you see that road over there?" he said, pointing to a road in the distance.
"Yes," the second lady said.
"You're going to drive along there until you reach a roundabout. Take the fourth road within the roundabout. You'll see the Park on your right."
"Thank you so much!" the ladies said.
"My pleasure."
La Foie returned to his seat. I was always impressed with how sharp his memory was. He had memorized the entire layout of Brussels just so he could assist lost tourists. That was no easy task.
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