She ran faster and faster, pushing herself further as the steady beating of her heart was sending shivers down her spine. She logically knew that her heart should be beating a lot faster than it currently was, that her breathing should be coming in gasps, and her lungs should be burning from exertion. She knew all that, yet it wasn’t happening. Her breathing was controlled and even, her legs were pumping faster and faster, beating lightly against the pavement, and her heart was the same steady beat it had when she’d woken up that morning. She smiled to herself, knowing they would never catch up. It was intoxicating to realize that you could get away with something like this.
She was coming up to an intersection faster than she expected. She knew that the best path for her to take in order to lose them was by rounding the corner and turning left onto Oak Lane. The shopping strip, constantly overrun with locals and tourists, would be the perfect cover. Briefly, she mentally ran through her comprehensive knowledge of the cameras that lined the shops and the street. Carefully planning, down to the foot, the route she had to take to stay out of “Big Brother’s” eye, she slowed just enough to safely turn right at the light. She could sense the passengers of the speeding cars watching the pursuit. It certainly wasn’t every day that you saw a 22 year old girl in a lab coat being chased by armed officers.
She heard rather than felt the vibration of her ringing phone on her right hip. She considered ignoring it but knew the person on the other end would not be overjoyed at having their call rejected. Rolling her eyes, she let out an exasperated sigh before tapping the earpiece to answer the call. “Yeah?” She tried to contain her annoyance and fear.
“Did you get the package?” The deep, synthesized voice demanded.
“Yeah. Just like I told you I would.” After hesitating, she added, “Just ran into a slight hiccup. Nothing I can’t recover from, though. I’m working on remedying the situation now.”
“What hiccup?” The voice growled in her ear.
“Nothing I can’t deal with, as I just said. I’ll be there with the package in under an hour.” She assured the person and herself.
“You know the consequences otherwise.” The threat hung in her ear as a final click indicated the person had hung up. She closed her eyes for a second, envisioning just what the voice was referring to. Tears sprang to her eyes as the intense pain of an event that hadn’t yet happened, and wouldn’t if she could prevent it, hit her gut more intensely than she anticipated. Shaking her head free of the cloud that was threatening to impair her judgement, she returned her full attention to the matter at hand. Make that on foot.
After a red mid-sized car whizzed past her, she cut hard to her left in order to cross the street before the incoming traffic caught up to her. She could hear the grunting and panting of the officers behind her, alerting her to the fact that she had allowed the conversation to withdraw attention from her pace and she had inadvertently slowed down. Give them a small sliver of hope that they can catch up with you, she thought sarcastically before rerouting her energy back to her legs and springing from the ground at a faster pace. She laughed to herself as pictured the metaphorical cartoon cloud of dust that engulfed the officers behind her.
Turning left onto Oak Lane, she started seeing the packs of people up ahead. Slowing her pace in order to prevent negative attention being drawn to her, she wove through the throngs of shoppers and tourists. The reflective surfaces of the parked cars and shop windows provided her with an easy way to keep tabs on the officers struggling to keep an eye on her. The poor suckers looked more lost than she had felt for the past few months. As she came up to the doors of the two story mall, she allowed herself another smile. When she entered the mall, she’d loose them. Once she lost them, she would be able to make the trek back to the office of the person. Once she had met with person, she would be able to hand over what had been demanded of her, the package that was burning a hole in her lab coat. And once she had rid herself of that burden, she would let the federal agents cuff everyone in that office.
—–
“This is not over, do you hear me?! It’s not over by a long shot.” The person looked at her dead in the eye, making sure she saw the menace those cat-like eyes contained. She couldn’t help the fear that seized her, the shivers that caused goose bumps on her arms. The person, ever so watchful, noticed the brief second when she couldn’t help but show the fear on her face before she controlled herself fully. The truly evil ghost of a smile that touched the person’s face as satisfaction was mirrored in those icy gray eyes was imprinted in her mind as the federal agents took the person away.
“Don’t feel threatened by that,” One of the agents walked up to her. “We’ll make sure that nothing will happen to you.”
“Thanks,” She smiled artificially. “But you and I both know that that person has almost more connections than your entire bureau has agents.”
“But you and I both know that our bureau is an expert at making people disappear. Both people in your position and people in that one.” The agent countered, winking and giving her a knowing, mischievous smile. She couldn’t help smiling while she shook her head. Here we go again, she sighed inwardly. She really had to stop accidentally being a key witness to cases.
Listening to: Hello my old heart by Oh Hello's
crossingroute66 