Chapter 88 – The Elites
During one Monday night, a man looked over the night city from his skyscraper penthouse’s balcony. New York was a little quieter. Los Angeles so much more. Like the fire keeping it ablaze has been extinguished. The man should feel relived; however, he cannot fully rest until he sees their corpses. The Rios mafia was a dangerous bunch until just recently. The world must think they’re safe from their schemes, but as long as the head is still alive, it can always find its way back to its body—or create a new one.
He cannot fully feel relieved until he sees their corpses with his own eyes. After all, the only one that can compromise his position is him.
“Mr. President,” called his secretary. “They’ve contacted the agent involved with the Rios siege, however, she refused to come back. Will we still proceed with the joint mission?”
The man, allegedly the President, scoffed. “That arrogant bitch. Who does she think she is, refusing to come back? Kill her.” He turned to his secretary who merely fixed his glasses. The man’s frown deepened. “Did you not hear me?”
“Yes, sir. How about the mission?”
His wrinkly hands moved to fish a cigar stick from his suit’s pocket. The secretary diligently gave him his gold-cased lighter. “Hmm. Push through with it,” he murmured and lit his cigar. “Ask for the FBI’s best agents instead.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And…” The secretary’s hurried steps stopped. “Do not let any of this trace back to me. Use one of the senators’ names, like always.”
His secretary nodded stiffly. The man, with greying strands and drooping eyes, smiled wickedly as he turned to look back out his balcony. Beyond his stern and righteous reputation, US President Warren Mongarde was an uneasy and fraught man when it came to Jett Rios.
Two years ago, before Jett Rios went off grid, he paid him a visit. An ominous visit that haunted him to this day. That made him glance over his shoulder more often than normal. They had a long conversation because of their long history, but there was one line President Mongarde could never forget.
He said then, with his casually threatening tone, “Enjoy your little roleplaying, Mr. President. Impeachments proceed fast once they’re started. You know?”
That brat. He was so young yet already so nasty. It’s all for nothing, though, because before he gets to compromise his position, he’ll already be seven feet under. Two years was enough to let him roam free. A criminal like him don’t deserve any thing more than what they gave him.
Someone so harmful as him cannot be given too much freedom.
---
“Director, are you sure about this?” Jaguar asks, clad in his corporate attire and freshly retired from field work. From behind him were the rest of the elite agents all wearing the same expression as him. He continued, reasoning to the man behind a desk in front of them, “You know how dirty and underhanded the Interpol does things. This one is no exception. We can’t work with them.”
Director Morris, with noticeably more greying strands, sighed.
“This may be a joint mission in the papers, but I myself know how different we are from the Interpol. However, the President has signed this top secret high-profile mission. There’s only so much we can do.” He stared at everyone one after another; Jaguar, Panda, Rhino, Leo, Fox, and Doe. “Just stay professional, elites. You can do it.”
They eventually left; gazes downcast after realizing there’s no convincing out of this.
“We’re gonna end up killing her after all these years,” muttered Leo, her voice almost breaking. “I hate this.”
“Let’s not put personal feelings into this mission. Keep in mind she’s a deserter and not one of us anymore,” Jaguar, the leader and always has been, convinced the team. They nodded reluctantly.
“Had I known things would turn out like this, I shouldn’t have led that jerk to her. He just got her involved.” Doe whispered to herself as they entered their special strategy room. It was a soundproof metal room with a large table inside and chairs for each elite agent. They respectively sat in their own places.
Leo turned to her, confused. “What do you mean? You told us you said the wrong place to him, though?”
The rest turned to her and Doe suddenly regretted having said it out loud. She hesitated before choosing to tell them the truth. “Actually… I told him she was in Norway.”
“Doe!”
“H-Hear me out!” She immediately continued, “I was blackmailed. My boyfriend was formerly his bodyguard and I was too afraid to lie to him.” Doe bit her lip as she avoided everyone’s eyes.
“God damn,” cursed Fox. His brows were completely furrowed, almost meeting. “So he didn’t find her on his own? You actually helped him? Didn’t he, I don’t know,” his sarcastically calm voice finally rose, “put a bullet in your skull before?!”
Jaguar, who was surprisingly composed, interrupted, “Stop it, Fox, she said she was blackmailed.”
The teenager merely glared at Doe, wheeling away from her.
“Anyway, our mission is to cooperate with the Interpol to catch Jett Rios, the most wanted worldwide fugitive, and Hawk, a deserter agent. The orders were clear – they want us to return only cold corpses. Objectively speaking, it is impossible. It has been for the past three years,” Jaguar started, placing his intertwined hands over the steel octagon table. “However, we gathered an intelligence report recently. And let me tell you, it was quite the game-changer.”
“May I ask what it is, leader?” The other big man in a corporal suit asked formally, Rhino.
He let the silence linger and the tension build up.
“…His name is Sebastian Danbury, a three-year-old kid with pneumonia. From a wiretapped audio in the confinement room of this kid, we recognized the voices of our two targets. This kid reportedly called out to his mom, when Agent 067 codename Hawk answered to his call. Jett Rios was also heard during their exchange.”
Leo could not hold back her gasp of surprise. She clasped her hands over her mouth. Fox cursed under his breath, unsure of what the proper reaction to this information was. Doe gritted her teeth and looked away. Panda and Rhino remained quiet; their expressions controlled.
“I can’t believe this,” muttered Leo. She looked at Jaguar with wide eyes. “Hawk and Jett has a son together? This is so far-fetched!”
“It is highly possible.” Jaguar, no matter how crucial the intel he dropped was, retained his composed state. “The two fell in love inside that mansion and Hawk ran away because she was pregnant. She raised their son alone for the past years and now Jett has followed her to live with them. It is realistic and makes total sense.”
“No,” argued Fox. His eyes were focused on the table but his mind was flying with theories. “If they were in love, then why did Hawk continue to cooperate with us and even poisoned them when she left? She could’ve poisoned Jett Rios. She could’ve poisoned herself and her future son.”
“You think she’s that careless?” Rhino spoke, calmly sharing his opinions. “She could’ve planned it all out before escaping. Hawk was a sneaky and patient agent, and that made her dangerous. She must’ve pretended to fall in love with him. Maybe it was just lust that produced their son. If she was actually in love, she wouldn’t have worked so hard to succeed in her mission. She would’ve turned against us.”
“Rhino’s right, guys. Hawk isn’t your usual girl. Maybe she didn’t really love Jett Rios, but she loved their son. That’s why she went AWOL. She must’ve wanted a new life for her son, or I don’t know, got tired of this whole thing. I’m a parent too. I know how she feels,” Panda agreed.
“But…” Doe trailed off. “Why is she together with Jett now? She didn’t accept the mission. If she’s not in love with him, what else could her motive be?”
“Hmm…” Panda shifted in his seat. “Maybe she wants her son to know his father?”
“Hold on, are we even sure Jett is the father?”
Jaguar nodded at Fox’s question. “The timelines match the intel and personal information we got on Sebastian Danbury. Nine months before he was born, Hawk was still at the mansion. She couldn’t have gone with any other man but her ‘husband’.”
Silence lingered.
“So, what’s our plan?” Leo asked, her eyes on Jaguar. She meaningfully said, “To kill…or not to kill?”
“I mean…whatever our plan could be, let’s go easy on the kid, can we? He’s got pneumonia at three, guys.” Panda.
The others faintly agreed. Then, Fox sighed, “Does the Interpol know about this new intel?”
Jaguar smirked, his eyes on the table. “That’s why I said this was a game-changer. The Director said this was a ‘joint’ mission only on paper. Then it’s safe to assume we’ll be secretly operating on our own while acting to cooperate with the Interpol.” His gaze raised to meet everyone’s curious ones. “We’ll solidify our plan of action once we have a serious talk with Hawk—rather, Jess Danbury, and her family. She’s a new person now, after all, and a civilian at that.”
The first to catch on was Leo, who laughed loudly and clapped her hands. “Wow! That’s…wow.”
The others followed and nodded in silent approval.
After all, their oath was different from those merciless cops. Elite or not, they’re still agents. And as agents, they shall never betray their integrity and the public’s trust. How will they show their face after killing civilians, old friend or not?
“By the way, is there any way we can find out who’s so determined in catching Jett Rios? It’s been two years and usually all operations about him should stop, yet they’re still forming this joint mission. Isn’t it…I don’t know, suspicious?” Leo mused.
“You’re right,” Rhino nodded. “They weren’t this intent when it was the Agnellos that ran away, and they were pretty equal with power and influence...”
“Isn’t it just the Interpol trying to save face?” Fox wondered; his head tilted in curiosity.
“Then they should’ve done this to the Agnellos, too.”
---
A few weeks later, the special high-profile squad was on their way to Norway. The Interpol sent an equal amount as the FBI sent—six. Six highly qualified and experienced agents to carry out one final operation against the Rios head. However, the twelve agents were divided. Both parties were hiding their own agendas.
They landed to the North, greeted by its eternal winter, their minds intent on carrying out their joint and hidden tasks. From here on out, it was only a matter of time before shit goes down. Not only in Norway, but back home too. The table is set, everyone was in position.
Jaguar’s composed mien was impenetrable. However, his eyes were so transparent. His resolution was steeled for this mission as his subordinates listened to his every word. They spent days in the strategy room, polishing their plan and getting everything ready.
A few weeks ago, they had established communication with Hawk and from then on, they’ve been formulating a plan together. It’s Hawk and the elites against the Interpol agents and a bigger shadow pulling the strings behind them.
It’s the last stretch of the battle, to finish one that started many years ago. Between the last Rios leaders, the then Nevada Governor, and the spy. A battle for the history books.