Sergei
Chapter 22: Sergei
Earlier-
Thema Shehata-
The sun was shining when Thema Shehata sat on a bench in a small park. It wasn’t Central Park, nothing nearly so grand, but it did have wide open spaces and a clear view in all directions. There was no way for anyone to overhear her. She sat there with her cellphone and kept going over different news sites on it. There were plenty of stories of Club Cod, plenty of little mentions about a bit of evidence being found here or there. There had even been one story that had mentioned when the men who’d been arrested at Club Cod would be having their day in court, but she didn’t see her name. When she had finished, she began to look at news sites from countries other than America. There were fewer stories of Club Cod, but there had been some along with speculation about who might be implicated. There were a rare few stories about Dino Golzine, a respected businessman running such a place as Club Cod and how no one could have ever suspected it. Still, she didn’t see her name. She kept waiting, expecting it to appear and ruin her life. Sitwell had said he’d taken her name off the list that the police had, but she didn’t trust him. She had an awful feeling that, sooner or later, her name would turn up and then it would all be over.
She turned her phone off with a scowl. It wasn’t as if she’d done anything bad... not really. Club Cod had been a clean place, the children had all been healthy - aside from being kept drugged - and fed. She wasn’t a bad person. And it had just been one boy. She wasn’t bad. No, Golzine never should have tempted her with what he offered at Club Cod. It was definitely his fault, not hers, that she was in such a predicament. She hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t her fault. Not a bit of it.
In her hand, Thema’s phone rang. A look at the screen showed her a phone number she recognized. She looked carefully all around and, when she saw that she was entirely alone, she stood up and started walking away from the bench before she answered. “Yes?”
“We’ve got him, Madam Shehata.”
Her breath caught in her throat and she stopped walking. “You’re sure?”
“We’ve tracked Blanca to his hotel room. We’re right outside. He won’t escape.”
“Don’t underestimate him.”
“There are five people in my team, Madam. We’re all armed and trained. There won’t be any issues.”
“Just bring me the necklace with the two rings and make sure Blanca is dead when you leave him. I don’t care how you do it, but kill him.”
“Not a problem.” He told her where he and his team were and hung up.
Thema, eager to have that necklace in hand, left the park and made her way to where she hoped Blanca would die. With every step she took closer to the address her soldier had given her, she felt her heart lighten with hope that her troubles would be over. The feeling of relief that washed over Thema was like a tidal wave. She almost felt faint from it. If she got the Banana Fish for HYDRA, and proved her value, it would put her in a much better position to keep her secret safe.
And then an explosion rocked the city. She heard it an instant before the ground trembled and she felt something - a shockwave, she’d later realized - push against her. The street was suddenly filled with yelling people. Someone was screaming. Thema listened to the wailing sirens of approaching fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances. People ran by her and she heard them talking about a fire, a building had blown-up. She looked up and saw black smoke rising into the sky in great plumes.
“No. No, no, no.” She quickened her step and there, at the address her soldier had given her, it looked as if a bomb had hit the building. There was fire and broken chunks of masonry on the ground. Police were holding back crowds of gawking spectators while firefighters rushed here and there to tame the flames. She stood near the back of the crowd and watched. All the relief she’d felt melted away. That was the building her soldier had been in, where he’d had Blanca cornered. The situation only got worse when she saw several members of The Avengers’ team in the crowd. She watched with dread when five men were brought out by several members of The Avengers team and with only a fleeting glance she saw that they were her men. She did not see any sign of anyone fitting Blanca’s description and, though she’d never seen him, she had heard that he was a massive man and she should have noticed him at once if he were around. He might be dead and still in the building, in which case she would probably never get the necklace and rings Gregory demanded as payment for the Banana Fish. He might be alive and have escaped the explosion, which, given his reputation, was entirely possible. The fact that she just didn’t know sent a cold chill down her spine. The Avengers left. Ambulances with the HYDRA soldiers left. The crowds began to disperse. Soon, only the firefighters and police investigating the explosion were still at the site.
She swallowed hard, then turned and started to walk away. Less than two hours later, she was in the apartment she used while in New York. She found several messages from Nick Fury on her answering machine, but ignored them. He worked for her, not the other way around. She hadn’t been in to work in days, not since the whole mess Golzine had left behind him had turned into headline news. She shrugged off her coat and put her purse on the table, feeling put upon by the whole world. It wasn’t until she stood in her living room that she felt she was being watched. She tensed all over and casually went to the kitchen where she would be able to get a hold of a knife.
In the kitchen, Jasper Sitwell sat at the table with one leg crossed over the other. “Fifty soldiers?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you, obviously.” His voice seemed to make the air chilly. “Do I understand correctly that you obtained fifty soldiers from HYDRA in your attempt to regain the Banana Fish?”
“Yes. I had all necessary approval.”
“I saw that. You then sent those fifty people out across the city for what purpose?”
She gritted her teeth. “I found the person who knows where the Banana Fish is, but he’s not willing to hand it over unless I can get Blanca killed.”
Sitwell raised an eyebrow at the name ‘Blanca’. “Blanca is in the city? And you want to kill him? Do you never think of the future of HYDRA? He would make a magnificent agent. He should be contacted.”
Thema let out a sigh. “Have you lost your mind? Blanca is a renegade, a mercenary. Do you seriously believe you can tame him?”
“There is no harm in trying.” He sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. “And why are you jumping to someone’s orders? He’ll only give you the Banana Fish if you do what he wants? There are more efficient ways to get information. I know you’ve been on desk-duty for a long while, but you can’t have forgotten that.”
Thema slapped the palms of her hands on the table. “I have forgotten nothing! Don’t talk to me like I’m some soft-handed administrator! I was a field agent while you were still wondering how to get rid of pimples! The man who has the Banana Fish is Gregroy Dufort - Dino Golzine’s bodyguard. I know what I’m doing and I know that Gregory will not break under threat of pain or death. I remember him at Golzine’s back for as long as I’ve been involved with this project. He has mindless loyalty to Golzine, even with Golzine dead. He has no other motivation in life but to serve Golzine. He was one of Golzine’s boys, you know.”
It was satisfying to see the look of surprise on Sitwell’s face. Finally, something he didn’t know.
“Oh, yes. Turns out, Golzine had been running his business for many years and Gregory was one of his first boys. For whatever reason, Gregory grew loyal, so much so that Golzine allowed him to survive and to serve him. He went from being merchandise, to being Golzine’s bodyguard. And to this day, he still calls Golzine ‘Papa Dino’.” She shook her head and folded her hands in front of her. “He will not submit to torture. He’s out to avenge Golzine - that’s clear enough - and he needs Blanca out of the way to do it. So, since he’s too engrossed in his plans to give up, I give him what he wants, then he gives me what I want.”
“Does Gregory want to kill the witness against Club Cod?” Sitwell asked it quietly and Thema could see from the tiny twitch on the corner of his eyes, that he was almost beyond furious.
“I don’t know.” When Sitwell opened his mouth to protest, Thema held up a hand to stop him. “Save it. I know - you want him for HYDRA and you won’t take any chances. I already thought of that. So the minute Gregory gives me the Banana Fish, I will kill him. I won’t take the chance of letting him hurt your new acquisition.”
“Let’s put that aside for a moment. Do you realize that your hunt has ended up in a very conspicuous explosion in the middle of New York City? It was so very obvious that the entire team of The Avengers showed up to help rescue the poor victims. They pulled five men out of the fire. One of the men was dead and a preliminary examine reported that his heart had been crushed.”
There were few people in the world with the training to do something like that and Blanca was one of them, she knew very well.
“One of the survivors has been identified as a HYDRA agent. Nick Fury is, understandably, upset. He has posted guards in the hospital and there are plans to move those men to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters so they can be questioned. I don’t think I should have to remind you that when Fury gets personally involved in an interrogation session, there are very, very few people who can resist him. Those men you sent out have less than a year experience in the field - they’ll talk the minute Fury gets his hands on them.”
“They don’t know anything except that they were sent out to find Blanca. They don’t know anything about the Banana Fish.”
Sitwell snarled, without moving an inch, “They know YOU sent them! Have you forgotten - already! - that if you are discovered, years worth of operations will be ruined. Everyone inside S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council will have to be pulled out and new people will have to be trained to take their places. And, after all this, where is Blanca? Do you even have a trace on him or has your little operation only alerted him to the fact that he’s being hunted? Because if he decides to retaliate rather than run, then your life is most definitely on the line. At this point, I’m tempted to give you to Blanca.” Sitwell sniffed and straightened his necktie before he pushed his glasses up a littler higher on his nose with one finger. “The captured men need to be liberated or killed. As you’ve already set this in motion, find Blanca to complete the deal with Gregory Dufort and then kill Dufort. This has been going on long enough. I don’t want any more of our people caught or identified - it’s already hard enough to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. out of our way.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but walked out with a biting, “Don’t mess up, again. You’re running out of chances.”
She sat on her couch and did nothing for a time and when Gregory called on the phone and asked, “How’s it going? Any news for me?”
“I don’t have the necklace, yet. My people are working on it.”
Gregory was quiet for a moment. “Let me make this clear - every minute that Blanca is alive, my life is in danger. He doesn’t like me. If he kills me, you will never - NEVER - get your hands on the Banana Fish. If I see any sign that you’ll betray me, I’ll sell the Banana Fish to the highest bidder and that highest bidder won’t be you.”
“Now just hold on,” Thema sat forward a little, desperate to calm him before he did something she would regret. “There’s no reason to be rash. Blanca isn’t an easy man to find, let alone kill. You have to give me time. And why are you in a hurry? You said before that Blanca was in your way. What’s your game? What will you do when Blanca is dead? No matter what it is, I’m sure I can help.”
“I won’t take any help with that. It’s personal. You just worry about Blanca.” And he hung up.
Later-
The Avengers’ Tower-
Natasha-
After the meeting in Phil’s rooms when he’d told them about the HYDRA agents they’d found and about Agent Sitwell coming to the Tower and speaking with Ash, Natasha had left the meeting. She’d gone straight to the gym to run on a treadmill as it was one of the most effective ways for her to settle her thoughts.
She had said very little in the meeting. She hadn’t seen a need to. Phil informed them about what was happening and he gave orders; that was how life worked. Orders were simple and easy and Natasha liked them. Of late, Phil and Clint had been encouraging her to made her own decisions and choices, but that often left her muddled. Orders were much preferred. She’d said nothing when Phil had spoken about Sitwell or when he’d mentioned the HYDRA agents. She hadn’t even said anything when Tony and Clint had started talking about having Ash work with them because Tony thought he was brilliant and Clint wanted a decent shooting partner. But, she couldn’t help but think that it sounded a tiny bit as if they were trying to arrange his life, as if they thought they might decide for him what he would be.
Memory-
“Move! Move!”
Natasha ran with all her might right along with the other girls in her group, all in their uniform black shorts and white, sleeveless shirt. Her breath labored in her chest and her legs burned as she ran furiously around the track. It was large, the type of thing that might have been used to train athletes, with a large grassy area in the center of the track. The trainer drove a little motorized cart next to the girls running and shouted as she did.
“I expect better of all of you. I had best not see any failure. Failure will be punished. Failure is unacceptable. What did I say!”
As one, all eight girls running on the track shouted back, “Failure will be punished! Failure is unacceptable!”
Natasha was twelve. Her hair was tied into thick braids that slapped against her shoulder blades when she ran. She wanted it short, but the trainers kept everyone’s hair long. When they were ready to go out into the world and do missions, long hair would be an advantage when trying to seduce a target... or so they were told. So her hair was long and sweaty and sticking to the sides of her face and on she ran. They ran forever, it seemed, and only stopped when one of the girls in Natasha’s group dropped. Natasha had seen it out of the corner of her eye. The girl next to her had fallen, collapsing in a heap, but Natasha, and every other girl in the group, kept running until the trainer yelled at them to stop. As one, they all stopped running and turned to face the trainer who stood over the fallen girl. It was Petya, who had always strived to best Natasha, but had never quite managed it.
The trainer got out of her little cart and stood over Petya. “Failure will be punished. Stand up.”
Petya did as she was told, her legs shaky from exhaustion. She, like all of them, knew what was coming but didn’t resist.
From out of her little cart, the trainer pulled out a switch. Then, she looked at Natasha. “Come here. You’ll do it and show her how badly her failure angers her classmates.”
Natasha took the switch. She didn’t want to. Petya had been exhausted, they all were. She didn’t want to. But she raised the switch high and brought it down sharply, striking Petya on the left leg. Petya didn’t cry out or move. She waited for the next blow which Natasha delivered to Petya’s right leg.
The trainer growled, “Failure will be punished. Failure is not allowed. Repeat with each strike!”
Again, the whole group did as they were told, even Petya as she breathed hard and shook as she struggled not to cry out. Ten blows was all it took for the trainer to be satisfied and take the switch from Natasha. They were made to run back to the dormitory, even Petya with her bloody legs.
In the dorm, when everyone stood at attention at the ends of their cots and waited to be allowed to sleep, the trainer had stood in front of Natasha and smiled down at her. It hadn’t been a nice smile. “You did very well today, Natasha. You beat your personal best in running and you didn’t flinch when obeying orders. This is the right life for you. Be grateful you were chosen for this program because we’re going to make you into a perfect weapon.”
Natasha knew the right answer. “Thank you.”
End Memory-
To that day, Natasha could almost feel the switch in her hand.
It was wrong to decide what other peoples lives ought to be. She had never wanted to hurt people, never wanted to be a weapon, but that was just how life had worked out. They had made her perfect. She was excellent at her work, there were few people in the whole world who could compare, but she hadn’t chosen it.
Natasha turned up the speed on the treadmill.
It was too late to chose something different, because she was what she had been made to be.
Neither Tony nor Clint would ever to that sort of thing to another person, she was sure. They were good. They didn’t hurt people just to hurt them. They were her friends, her family, and she would trust them, even if the whole conversation they’d had made her uneasy.
The meeting hadn’t gone any easier when Phil had mentioned the crushed heart. The dead man they’d pulled out of the burning building had died because his heart had been crushed. Crushed. There were so few people who could do that, even Natasha had never been able to do it because she simply wasn’t strong enough.
Sergei.
She remembered Sergei with regret. It was possible that someone else had crushed that man’s heart, but in her career, Sergei was the only person Natasha had ever met who’d been capable of delivering that blow. She had seen it, once.
“Nat?”
Startled by the voice, Natasha looked up and found that Phil was standing next to her treadmill. She hadn’t even heard him enter the gym and, shamed by her lack of attention, Natasha bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood and the pain soothed some of her guilt. She was supposed to notice everything, to be constantly aware. To be so lost in thought that she could fail to notice someone standing right next to her... it was disgraceful.
“Nat, you left the meeting very quickly. Practically ran out of the room. Everyone’s worried.”
And that wouldn’t do. She was negatively affecting the team which could end up causing troubles on a mission. And Clint would look at her with those big, sad eyes if he was worried. Natasha stopped the treadmill, but didn’t step off. “That was not intended. I needed to think.” And she hadn’t sorted everything out, but she did think one thing was clear - no matter how conflicted her thoughts were, her team needed all the information if they were to succeed. So she told Phil, “I believe The Red Room is involved in our current mission.”
Phil blinked. He folded his hands behind his back and looked down at his shoes, as he sometimes did when he was thinking, then looked back at Natasha. “How do you think they’re involved? Are they after Ash, too?”
“I don’t know. But the person I knew who could crush a heart... he was part of The Red Room. I know that when we examined the bodies of the shooters in Chinatown, Ash had made the comment that leaving bodies laying around was ‘sloppy and unprofessional’. In The Red Room, we were all taught that it was sloppy and unprofessional to leave evidence where it could be so easily found. That he would say those exact words seems suspect, especially when an agent from a rival organization is found with his heart crushed.”
Phil grimaced. “HYDRA and The Red Room... this is getting messy.”
“It’s not Ash’s fault.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I know. Doesn’t change the fact that this is all getting just as muddled as I’d feared it would. However, at a glance, this man you know who can crush a person’s heart killed a HYDRA agent, they weren’t going after Ash. Is it possible that this person you knew turned against The Red Room, like you did? What can you tell me about him? How well do you know him?”
“He was my husband. It had been such a long time since she’d even thought about Sergei.
Memory-
Natasha had been twenty-three-years-old when she had been given an unusual mission. She had been ordered to report to a briefing room and the moment she walked in, the cold of the room seemed to seep into her bones. The room was made of unpainted cinder blocks. The floor was bare cement. There were bright lights overheard, almost too bright for comfort. In the middle of the room was a metal table and two metal chairs. The trainer who would give Natasha her mission was already seated at the table when Natasha walked in and that woman didn’t so much as look up from her paperwork when Natasha walked in.
“Sit.”
Natasha sat and waited.
After several minutes, the trainer finally looked up at her and said, “Your mission is to test one of our operatives.” The trainer put a folder on the table and slid it over to Natasha. “Take a look. You’re going to get to know him very well.”
She had questions the moment she opened the folder and found the photograph of a black-haired man in a military uniform. His face was broad and square as he looked at the camera without expression.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed he’s a man. You had no reason to know before, but The Red Room does have a male division. It had been decided that it would be best to keep males and females apart to discourage unwanted physical interactions, so the two halves of our organization were kept separate. Separate facilities entirely, in fact. He was trained many miles away from here. You won’t have met him. His name is Sergei Varishikov and he received much of the same training that you did. You are going to test him and see if you can tempt him into turning traitor against us.”
It was a test Natasha had never heard of, but she didn’t question her orders. The thought never even occurred to her.
“He is the prize of our organization, a perfect specimen. However, he is so good that it is feared he will attempt to rebel and, with his skills, he would be able to do that without much difficulty. We need to be certain of his loyalty and you will be the one to do that. You will take the role of a civilian woman who chances to meet him. You will attempt to seduce him and make every effort to get him to talk about our organization. If he tells you any secrets, we will know he can’t be trusted.”
Talking about The Red Room was forbidden. One did not speak about The Red Room to anyone outside the walls of the headquarters and to do so was the gravest sin possible. If it were discovered that an agent did tell an outsider about The Red Room, they would be slated either for retraining or termination. Frankly, if Natasha had to chose between the two, she would have chosen termination.
Natasha looked quickly through the packet of information the trainer had given her. There was a photograph of Sergei - large with dark hair - and a physical description of height and weight and other such identifiable features. There was a list of his jobs - all successes - and of his educational accomplishments - a degree in psychology and in psychiatry. He wouldn’t be easy to deceive. If the people in the male division of The Red Room had training that was similar to what she had gone through, then part of his training would have been to resist such temptations and if he couldn’t resist, then he wasn’t such a perfect agent as the trainer seemed to think he was.
The trainer kept talking. “Your code name will be Natasha Karsavina. Here is the clothing for your cover.” Natasha’s trainer put a pile of clothes on the table. There was a pink dress with lace on the collar and white sandals. There was a brimmed hat with a daisy tucked into a ribbon. “Your hair will be dyed, too. We have already had him approached by several agents, none of whom he showed any interest in, and one of them was a redhead. You’ll have blonde hair.”
Natasha turned a page in the file and saw photographs of the women who’d failed to get Sergei’s attention. One wore a leather mini-skirt, one dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt. It appeared they would have her go for a ‘sweet-and-innocent’ look when the other two looks hadn’t worked.
After that, it was a simple process to getting ready for the mission. She studied Sergei’s records and sat quietly while her hair was cut short and colored blonde. She didn’t like it blonde, but what she liked or disliked had very little relevance. She dressed in her new costume and went out to create a chance meeting. It all worked out very well. She succeeded where the others had failed and, after quite a bit of time, managed to seduce Sergei. He didn’t spill any secrets. She romanced him and whispered sweet things to him. He still kept quiet. When he’d asked her to marry him, she had agreed because she hadn’t been told that the mission was over and she had to play her part. They married and, still, he told her nothing about The Red Room or his training. She tried all of her tricks, but he had easily dodged questions and would only tell her that he worked for the military. She simply couldn’t get him to say or do anything incriminating.
Her admiration for him as an agent was immense as he had played the role of innocent civilian very well and, as far as she could tell, his only failing had been that he hadn’t realized that she, too, was an agent of The Red Room. Natasha hadn’t been entirely certain why or how the deception had worked as Sergei had been perfect in all other regards, but, for whatever reason, he had developed feelings for Natasha and he had decided to act upon those feelings. He had given her flowers. He had taken her on walks. He had confessed his love. He had married her. And through it all, even when they each wore a gold wedding band and had settled into several months of comfortable matrimony, Segei had apparently never guessed that she was only there to test him.
End Memory-
Natasha told Phil, “I had to report to my superior that Sergei wouldn’t break. His training was excellent and no amount of persuasion could tempt him.”
“Did you like him?”
“He was good to me, I think. If the briefing I was given was to be believed, he had as little experience with personal relationships as I did, but he played his role so well. He’d always been gentle, always mindful of how much bigger he was than me. I didn’t dislike being with him. He is the only person I ever married.” She shrugged. “But as he couldn’t be convinced to betray our superiors, they determined that he was as reliable as any other agent. I was told that the mission was over. I was to go to another job.”
“How did Sergei take that?” Phil asked.
“He didn’t. In order to prevent him pursing me, my death was faked. It was very well done. I never found out what happened to him, but there were rumors that he disappeared shortly after my death. Perhaps, that he had even escaped The Red Room.” At the time, it had been an unthinkable possibility that someone would escape The Red Room, but she had to change her mind as she thought about it. “If anyone could have escaped, he could have. I looked into his records very closely in preparation for my mission. He was immensely skilled. I think if he had escaped and they had sent anyone to bring him back to The Red Room, they would not have survived the attempt.”
Phil made a sound that was almost a laugh. “It’d be ironic if you had been sent to test his loyalty, but taking you away from him turned him disloyal.”
Natasha didn’t know what to say to that. “Sergei could crush a person’s heart. I saw him do it, once. A man pulled a knife on us when we were out walking. He tried to grab me but Sergei punched him. It was just one blow, but the man fell, instantly dead. Sergei brushed it off, said he just knocked the man out, but he didn’t know I was an agent, too. I know death when it’s right in front of me.”
“So, you think this Sergei killed the man we found? He’s around?”
“It is possible, but I doubt it. Far more likely that some other The Red Room agent with the same training Sergei had is operating in the area. Sergei hasn’t been seen or heard of in years. Most likely, he is dead.” And it hurt to say it because while she hadn’t been in love with him, Sergei had been kind to her and she’d had precious little of that in life.
J.A.R.V.I.S.’ voice suddenly sounded, “Phil, Gregory has been seen! Eiji saw him on the drone’s camera and he is most upset.”
“Call everyone to the common room, please,” Phil said even as he and Natasha hurried out of the gym.
It seemed that everyone had arrived in the common room at the same time and it was nearly a full house. Only Jessica and Michael had stayed away as she didn’t want Michael to be frightened if he saw or heard something he shouldn’t. Ash looked grim but was quiet and in control. Max spoke quietly to Ash and had a hand on his shoulder. Just after Phil and Natasha had walked in, Eiji, limping heavily on his cane, walked in with Ibe-san at his side. Eiji didn’t so much as look at anyone else in the room, he went straight to Ash.
“I saw him!” Eiji exclaimed. “I saw Gregory. Just after you left the room. He was near that place... the corner where the hot dog stand is. The one you took me to. I think that’s where he was. I saw him. Ash, I know it was him!” Eiji spoke in a great rush, as if he were afraid he would forget something. “His hair was dyed and he had shaved his beard off, but it was him. I’m sure of it. He shot the drone, he has a gun.”
“Of course he has a gun,” Ash said, almost absently. “He’s always armed.”
Steve said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. J.A.R.V.I.S., please show us the recording Eiji saw.”
They all watched the replay of what the drone had recorded, little though it was. Ash agreed with Eiji that the man who’d shot the drone had been Gregory. Phil contacted the police to have them start looking for Gregory in the area he’d been seen in. They watched the recording replay several times until Max said,
“I don’t see the suitcase. You think he just got rid of it? Maybe it was too much trouble to carry around.”
Ash shook his head. “He’s not that stupid. That suitcase is a golden ticket.”
Natasha didn’t understand the phrase and made a note to ask Clint about it, later.
Ibe-san cleared his throat and looked at Max with his eyebrows drawn together in worry. “You don’t think he’s sold it, do you? There were a lot of people who would buy it.”
Max thought for a moment, but shook his head. “I don’t know. Ash?”
“I doubt it. He’s after me and money won’t help him with that. The suitcase is more valuable to him than money, right now.”
Phil asked J.A.R.V.I.S. to pause the recording and then looked at Ash. “There is something else I wanted to ask you about. Natasha said that when you went to see the bodies of the men who shot at the Chang Dai Restaurant you made a comment about it being ‘sloppy and unprofessional’ to leave bodies laying around. She told me that this was something the people who trained her had taught. Do you know someone who might be involved with all of this?”
“No.” He answered easily, without any hesitation.
Eiji said, “But, Ash, what about...”
Ash narrowed his eyes at Eiji. “I have no idea what they’re talking about. All I meant was that it seemed obviously bad practice to leave evidence behind you when you committed a crime. Doesn’t need any training to know that, it’s common sense.” Ash looked back at the paused image J.A.R.V.I.S. had left the recording on, Gregory holding his gun, aimed at the drone. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his fists. “I need to go.”
“He isn’t likely to still be there,” Steve said. “He knows someone’s looking for him, now, so he must have left the area. Phil only wants the police to go look in case there’s any evidence to be found.”
“Besides my poor drone,” Tony said, sadly. “That one was one of my favorites.”
“I’m not going after Gregory.” Ash stood up and slipped his phone into his pocket. “He’ll show himself sooner or later. I’m going to my condo.”
Elsewhere-
The wind was cold. The people were all strangers.
Scared.
He was so scared.
The driver hadn’t been waiting for him when the appointment was over. The driver was supposed to take him to the appointment and take him home when it was over. Everyone was going to be so mad. He was going to get yelled at.
He walked slowly down the sidewalk with his arms wrapped around himself, trying so hard not to touch anyone, trying not to make anyone angry. He was going to get yelled at because he didn’t go home after the appointment, but without the driver he didn’t know how to get home and he was scared.
So scared.
Cars honks and people talked loudly everywhere around him. He saw a policeman and hurried to get away because talking to the police was a big ‘no-no’ and he’d get in even more trouble if the policeman caught him.
He was so scared. Scared. Scared. He wanted to go home.
To Be Continued....