Rumlow's Call
All viable options involved time lost to waiting. Except I just got authorization and orders to use all search time as effectively as possible. He hadn't gotten where he was today by being ineffective.
"Report."
He didn't bother to double-check his surrounds; the room was secure, or he wouldn't have made the call. "Nothing yet. Rogers is still loose. Fury's only got one lead, and it's cold."
"What is it?"
"Two man law-firm, with a secretary, that started up this year. Rogers was there yesterday, and they probably know where he went. None of them are talking."
"He ended up there after you lost him."
Blood seeped onto his tongue from the raw slice on the inside of his cheek where his teeth had split the flesh the day before. Order only comes through pain. "Yes, sir."
"What law firm?"
"Nelson & Murdock."
"Never heard of it."
"They're green, sir. Just admitted to the bar in November of last year."
"Not a threat, then."
"Coulson's been blocked by them. Twice."
Condescension thickened the silence emanating from the other end of the call. "If he hasn't put a watch on them yet, institute one from your end. They know where Rogers is, sooner or later they'll lead us to him."
It was later that was the problem. "Sir, we're coming up on twenty-four hours since his escape."
"Yes," his superior hissed. "And in that time he's already put your probationary team out of commission and made contact with a law firm."
He'd heard this man speak in that tone before – right before someone died. Excuses got men killed. So did promises they couldn't keep.
Rumlow bit his tongue, hard.
"Reacquire the target. Before SHIELD."
That gave him some latitude in timeframe, then. Maybe he doesn't want me dead after all.
"Condition?"
"Irrelevant."
In that case. "Sir." He didn't hesitate. "There is one way to get the job done. For certain." And without compromising my cover with SHIELD any further. Sitwell, with his puling demands, was a crawling worm.
One heartbeat. Two.
"… Call in the Asset."