SCARLET

I unbutton the top button of my blouse as I walk into the Senate building. I check my suit pants to make sure there isn't a visible bulge in my pants swiftly and continue walking, just like I own the place.

This mission isn't as easy as the rest; making the victim look like they died of natural causes is quite hard. You have to master the way they fall and the death factor itself.

This time, I chose air embolism. It was said in my file about Millis that he was diagnosed with carotid artery stenosis a little over a year ago, which isn't very fatal due to the amount of time he's had it. But injecting air into the carotid artery would cause either a transient ischemic attack, a real heart attack, or a full-on stroke, which would lead to his immediate death.

I appreciate the government giving me the space to choose the way I kill in my missions. Otherwise, it would've been much harder to perfect the missions as much as I wanted to. With the given circumstances today, I'll be able to sneak into Millis's office easily when they are on lunch break. My only problem would be the guards at the post at that time.

Men I can easily deal with, and that is the main gender any government-associated persona chooses for guards; women are much harder to infiltrate. I certainly can't seduce a woman, but a man falls right into my traps. Which is one thing those said personas should learn: men can guard you until a woman spikes their interest.

I walk into the elevator, thankful to have a moment alone to check my appearance as well. I look like one hell of a businesswoman, in a satin white blouse and black dress pants with a shoulder bag, red lipstick, and heels. I would've preferred my usual suit and shoes, but learning from all the women who work here, this seems to be the unsaid uniform for the perfect female worker in this building.

The elevator stops three floors before Millis's office, and that's my alone time gone. The door opens, and a handsome guard walks in, his eyes dropping down to my cleavage briefly, then back to my face. Ugh, men, looking at what benefits them before even knowing who they're looking at.

I smile at him, and he smiles back—exactly what I meant when I said guards stay guards till a woman strikes their liking. This is my chance to get the access card for the office, and I can tell from his uniform that he has that tied somewhere around his pants. Damn it, Scarlet! How the fuck are you supposed to get to his pants?

Luckily, the elevator is made out of mirrors, so I bend down and pretend to fix my heel straps. I catch a glimpse of the card attached to his belt with a carabiner. That's going to be easy.

I loosen the strap of my heels and pretend to sway as I get up, doing the classic fall and holding on to anything around you move. Holding on to his torso, my hands slide to the carabiner and unhook it from his belt in one swift movement. The guard's hands move to my waist to steady me, and I slide the card along with the carabiner into my pocket.

"Steady there," he says with a smile, and I give him an apologetic smile in return.

"I'm so sorry, these heels definitely need to hold their ground a little," I chuckle, moving to the left so the pocket that has the card is hidden.

"No problem, miss," he says as the elevator comes to a stop a floor before Millis's office. "See you around," he says, nodding to me and getting out. Finally! some space in this damned evening.

I know the elevator doesn't have any working cameras, so I take out the card and observe it. I have approximately 5 minutes until Jack Benedikt realizes his precious access card is missing and connects the dots together.

I get out of the elevator once the door opens and walk directly in the direction of the office, remembering all the halls and doors from the map I received earlier today. I find the corridor to Millis's office to my left, and I walk right in. I know it won't be much longer till Millis is back from his lunch; I just hope he stopped to grab a coffee or something on the way.

I swipe the access card, and the door opens for me. Thank god! I walk in and close it quietly. I have to move quickly; I put on my gloves, and I get out the piece of cloth out of my pocket. I put it on the floor and remove the tiny bottle that was put inside my bra, taking off the cap. I make sure not to inhale any of it. It's a mixture of anesthetics Grey had made for me a few missions ago, mainly sevoflurane and nitrous oxide.

I soak the cloth with it and put the bottle back where it belongs. It's very uncomfortable, but at least it's temporary.

Footsteps sound at the door, single heavy footsteps. I stand beside the door, to the side where the hinges are, so Millis won't see me until he closes the door.

I hold the cloth tightly and hold my breath as Millis walks into his office and closes the door behind him, not even noticing me standing there as he turns to his desk to lay down some kind of dessert. Call that stupid.

I walk behind him, making sure to be silent, and then I clear my throat when I'm close enough to be able to shut him up for good. He turns around, his eyes widening at the surprise stranger waiting for him in his office. I clamp the cloth on his nose, making sure to close his mouth with the rest of my fingers.

That's it. Good job. Deep breaths. His eyes start closing, and man, he's heavy. I struggle as I lay him down on the ground while trying to be silent and not cause any signs of struggle on the soon-to-be dead body of the senator.

He's out by the time I lay him down, but I don't remove the cloth for a few seconds just to be sure. There can't be a chance for error here; this has to be perfect.

I lay the senator down and get to work. I remove the tiny syringe from my pocket and put it on the ground. I move to his neck, putting two fingers against the side of his windpipe to check the pulse. I find the carotid artery within seconds.

I remove the cap of the syringe with one hand, keeping my left hand on his pulse. Holding the syringe at a precise angle, I inject 4 ml of air into the carotid artery.

"Good bye, Millis." I stand by and watch as the life drains out of the senator. I get up and collect everything I used, stuffing it in my bag. I took one last look around, making sure I didn't forget anything. Nothing, good.

Now it's time to handle the dead body on the floor. His fall doesn't at all look natural; it looks like someone laid him down to eternal sleep, which I in fact did. And it was quite hard.

I move his arms and bend his legs, turning him a little to the side. Then I walk back a little and act as if I'm entering his office. Nope, something looks off. I fix his arms a few more times until it finally looks like a natural fall. I almost pretended to fall myself so I could mimic the fall.

I walk back and look at him one last time, when the piece of chocolate cake on his desk catches my attention. That's what caused your disease in the first place, you food inhaler!

I open the door slightly, making sure no one is in the corridor leading to the office or passing by it, and I get out when I find no one.

I press on my earpiece once to connect to Grey. "Agent Azura," he says, as if he were waiting on the other end of the line.

"Mission comple–'' I'm pulled into a room, and the door shuts.

I get pinned against the wall, and a very familiar face is a breath away. "You," I spit out; it's not a question.

"Agent Azura? Everything alr–" Grey asks on the other end, "Don't activate the cameras." I interrupt and cut the connection off.

"I should've killed you the first time," I say between gritted teeth. He has me pinned by his forearm to the wall, his other hand on the wall beside my head. He has a small bandage on his nose, the aftermath of my punch last mission.

"You killed the secretary, didn't you?" His eyes roam my face for any reaction, striking green eyes. I'd give him credit for knowing where I'd be and following me if he didn't just walk right into his grave.

I scoff; he doesn't really think I'll answer him. I need a distraction so I can reach the dagger in my waistband. How the fuck am I going to get a distraction here? He's a man, scarlet! Figure it out!

"What are you going to do, pretty boy? Hand me over to the police?" My hands slide down slowly as I chuckle, trying my best to mask the movement of my shoulders as they shake from laughter.

"Who are you?" he asks and I take hold of the hilt, another smirk tugging at my lips. In one fast movement, I have the dagger out and against his heart. I push on it slightly, and he starts backing away. I move forward with him, keeping the knife pressed against his chest.

"Just the infatuation of well-dressed men and their stair shenanigans," his back hits the wall. I raise the knife and put it against his throat. I told the chairman I'd kill him if I saw him again, so why am I hesitating?

To my surprise, he smirks, and I press the dagger deeper, drawing blood. I'm not joking; I will kill him. I just need... I don't know, why am I not slitting his throat?

An alarm goes off. No, no, no. I can't be here when they find the senator; I need to leave now.

"What did you do?" he asks, looking over my shoulder at the closed door. I should slit his throat and make a run for it, but for some reason, I lift the blade off the bloodied skin of his throat and run for the door, with him on my heels.

We get out, but there's no one in the corridors. There's no one anywhere. I look around and make my way to the stairs, but the sounds of heavy footsteps stop me in my tracks.

Approximately 10 sets of feet just went down the stairs on the other side of the wall. What's going on? I glance at the stairs, and I see their heads as they descend. Oh shit!

"Russians," ninja thief says from beside me. Why is he even still here? He should run for his life before I change my mind and end it for him.

He whips out a gun and shoots. For a second, I think he's shooting at me, but the bullet misses my head by a few inches, followed by a loud thud. I turn around and see a man with a mask lying dead at my feet.

I share a look with him, a temporary truce between two intruders caught in a bad situation. I take the dead man's gun and head for the other stairs, running in heels.

By the time we're on the first floor, I've eliminated three men. Leaving their bodies on the stairs. We stand in the middle of the back parking lot, our backs to each other, as three more Russians come our way.

This is some mission-impossible shit, and I don't like it, but it's keeping me alive. I shoot at one of them, and he handles the rest. I turn around, and six more men make their way to us.

I start shooting at them before they're even halfway through the parking lot, eliminating and injuring two of them. Meanwhile, he kills one of the ones who got too close.

"Your left!" He turns around and shoots at the man. Then he fucking sprints, running away. No shit! What happened to the secret fucking truce? Traitor.

I fire at him, then at the three men left, eliminating one and injuring the other in the leg. I have no more bullets, fuck!

This is not my lucky day. I have one man in front of me, a hungry smirk forming on his face as he eyes me up and down slowly. Disgusting. I grab both my daggers sheathed at my waist and swing.

He gets the first hit on my shoulders, but it's not dislocated, not yet. I swing, and I catch his inner thigh, making a clean cut that stains his black suit a darker shade of black.

He clutches at his leg, falling to his knees. Oh, come on! Don't be dramatic; it wasn't even that bad. I take his distraction as a chance to run. Running in the same direction the ninja thief ran in.

I'm hit with a tang of disappointment at not seeing his body thrown on the ground from the bullet I fired at him. But I didn't even aim the bullet, so I shouldn't expect much.