I somehow suddenly regained my motivation.
I stepped inside the room, kicking off my shoes and sinking into the single bed. The mattress wasn't up to standards but the sheets looked clean enough. I tore off my earpiece, desperately in need of some peace after the bar. I'd had a couple drinks tonight. Should probably sleep it off. No. There was some vodka in the fridge. I peeked. I saw.
-
"Welcome. You disappeared last night," Ray said as I dragged myself through the door. He was always the one to worry about everyone. Sweet, but I could take care of myself. Also his scolding was annoying.
"Stop worrying so. I was tired," I whined, wrapping his arm around me. "Miss me much, then?" I teased, winking at him. He shook me off, laughing now.
"Saucy. You can't cast your witchery on me, Miss Kobach. I've grown immune," he replied. "Now come on, Kylie cooked food."
Kylie cooked really good food. I never want her to relocate ever. Her omelettes are to die for. She served a plate of heaven in front of me, and I ate happily. Mmm. Creamy. Tasty.
"What happened then?" Kylie asked, staring at me.
"Shh, shh. I'm eating," I replied, holding a hand to her lips. Pretty lips. Needs to shut up. "Gourmet...fucking...cuisine righ-"
"Sadie we really need the updat-" interrupted Ray.
"Fuck yourself, Peralta," I interrupted back. He shook his head at me, the bitch.
"You're drunk. Or high."
"No. Fuck off."
They fucked off. Not for long though, but long enough for me to finish eating.
-
I woke up with a start at about two o'clock in the afternoon. I slept throughout the whole morning. I was buzzed and needed my rest. I was awake and functioning now, but I had a massive hangover. Maybe avoid vodka and weed. I lugged my aching body and aching head and aching everything towards Kylie, who was leaning over at the kitchen island, drinking a glass of coke. She wasn't a drinker, come to think of it. Or a smoker. Unlike the rest of us, I thought. I'm pretty sure Ray gets through half a pack of cigarettes a day, and I was hardly any better. Pretty sure I qualified as an alcoholic. Fuyumi indulged in either one every now and then, and Lexis smoked pot regularly. The perks of living in Amsterdam, I suppose.
I shook off my thoughts and approached Kylie.
"Sober now?" she asked, passive aggressiveness lacing each word. This motherfucker really hated me, didn't she? I ignored her bitching and told her what I knew.
"I managed to follow him back to his motel. He was not at all cooperating, as Lexis may have told you, bu-"
"Lexis doesn't tell me shit. He doesn't trust me, but he seems interested by Miss Japan," she interjected. I glared at her. She glared back. Fuck her.
"But," I continued, "I caught sight of the girlfriend. Audrey might be a bit more helpful. Even if she's uninterested in girls, I could at least befriend her."
"Don't lie, Kobach. You want to seduce her," she accused. Rightfully so.
"Nah, of course not," I lied. Audrey was insanely cute. I wonder what she'd look like flustered. Kylie raised an eyebrow at me, clearly not believing shit. She was always honest, never scared to tell people what she thought. That also meant she never knew how to take a joke.
Makoto Fuyumi slid through the door, Lexis following close behind. Now that's a person who maintains a poker face at all times. I never really know what Makoto's thinking. She sounds very blunt when she talks, as if she speaks nothing but the truth, but I knew better. People are fooled by certainty. I knew how to read people like a book, and my guts told me Fuyumi knew this and took full advantage. My gut also told me that Makoto seemed trustworthy, albeit somewhat...distant? Dishonest?
Lexis tossed a notebook towards me ー my notebook that I'd left with him.
"We dug up some stuff on Audrey. Looks like she goes out a lot, but almost never seen out with her boyfriend. Hendrix just lurks in bars and in his motel, mostly," he reported, opening up the notebook and showing me random dates and photos. "Fuyumi found a bunch of CCTV footage of her in a couple cafes, especially this one."
Fuyumi turned the laptop to face me and showed me a recording. "See. She usually stays here in the afternoon. I helped Hirscht find him and sent the location. Seems like a journalist, I've found several articles written by her," she mentioned. I focused on the sign above the café. I knew that café. Fuyumi seemed to know the café too, since I saw the briefest glimmer in her eye when she looked at it. Maybe it was part of her past. She hasn't mentioned anything about her previous life before. She's so reclusive that any conversation I manage to have with her sounds like tedious small talk, so I just give up.
"As I was saying," Lex went on, "we have a couple leads on where she'd be. From the information Sadie sent last night, Hendrix is not an easy target. He has his guard up. With how stuff went with Hendrix, it'd be easier sending Sadie after Audrey instead."
"So we take Audrey? But how?" Kylie asked.
"Simple. Sadie befriends her. Ray sent the updates to your unit head, and he should be back with any instructions. Fuyumi and I found something on her. Sadie has the address to the motel, but she's hardly ever there. We have two places she might be; this cafe, or this park. You four will split up. Two go to the park and monitor the places near it, and two stay at the cafe. I'll be here. I contacted Layla ー I'm under her at the moment ー to help track stuff down. She's currently driving round, should be here in a bit. Fuyumi, Sadie, you two take the cafe. Kylie, you and Ray take the area near the park. Do your best."
With that, he handed us an earpiece each and shooed us away. Ray entered a bit later, with a disposable phone in his hand. That was the downside with being an agent ー I couldn't even have a permanent phone on the account that I could easily be tracked down and killed. Upside was I had a wide selection of burner phones, so I was rich in phones.
"Did I miss anything?" he questioned, tossing his phone on the table.
"Yes. Kylie can explain it to you, I'm gonna go get dressed."
-
I pondered over outfits before finally deciding to wear a cropped t-shirt with cute fishnet sleeves, a black dress, sunglasses, and tall boots. Just because we were doing work didn't mean I couldn't look fine. I met up with Makoto outside, wearing a dark turtleneck and a cream coat. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. I opened the car door and beckoned to her, the car revving up as I got in. She drove us to the café without needing to look at directions. Maybe this café really was a part of her past. I didn't want to ask though, and kept quiet.
-
We spotted Audrey almost immediately. She was even more friendly than imagined. She seemed to be talking to another person, stone faced and serious. My guess was this was a publisher, since Audrey passed a notebook full of writing to him and showed it to the guy. His mouth was pursed as he read through it, but nodded and handed her something. He muttered a few more words and the serious guy went out, leaving Audrey bubbling over with excitement.
A cute young waiter made his way to our table and asked us what we wanted to order. He had fluffy blonde hair similar to Audrey's and soft brown eyes. I might have even tried my luck with the guy, but he seemed smitten by Fuyumi. Fuyumi looked equally interested, albeit subtly. I wasn't gonna mess this up for Makoto. I gestured for him to sit with us once he took our order, and he made polite conversation with us. He was a college student studying medicine. This was just a part time job to afford existence, although he had a scholarship. He chatted to Fuyumi a bit while I observed Audrey, straining my ears to hear what she was saying and straining my eyes to read what she was writing. She eventually walked out of the cafe, her notebook in hand, and I slipped out unnoticed. Mission success!
I came home to the sound of chatter from the kitchen. They were all seated around the table, gossiping about our coworkers. Layla was staying with us, and she always had good gossip.
"Did you hear about Jonathan? He was caught red handed by the police and he has a court appearance due next week," she said.
"Jonathan from unit 2?" Ray asked, eyes wide. Top gossip girl, Ray Peralta.
"Yes! We think he was somehow set up, he never gets caught," she added.
"Hate to interrupt, but is this the same Jonathan I briefly went out with? The twenty-eight year old?" I guessed, joining in.
"I don't know your love life, but he's definitely twenty-eight."
"Hell no. He was caught?" I laughed, surprised that old Jonny would ever get spotted. He was famously short, standing at around 5 feet and no more. "Wait, what if we have a double agent on our hands?"
"Nah. No one ever betrays nobody. Probably led on a goose chase, he was tracking down some con guy."
"I don't want to interrupt your gossip session, but we have a job to do," Kylie said. "Pretty sure Sadie saw Audrey, since I didn't."
I switched to telling Lexis what I saw, publisher and all. I mentioned the restaurant she babbled about on the phone, the way she sighed about her boyfriend, and the article she was writing. I went to bed surprisingly relaxed and un-aching for the first time in a few days, and I fell asleep almost immediately. I would befriend her soon, given Sev and Lexis provide the needed information and cash.
-
I scanned the café once more before rising from my seat and making my way over to the blonde's table. I was at her usual coffee stop, and figured this was the time to approach her.
"Hi!" I said warmly. She turned towards me and responded enthusiastically, pulling a chair out from under the table and offering the seat to me.
Befriending her seemed easy enough.
"So, uh, I'm just here visiting, and I don't really know much about this place. I was wondering if you knew any places with good food?" I asked, sitting myself down and facing her properly. The goal was to get closer to her, and manage to capture her boyfriend. I could probably get Kylie to help with that. Maybe Fuyumi would be of use? Either way, all I needed now was to befriend her. Everything was set, things had been decided, and I was feeling confident about this.
"Oh, there's a little restaurant my boyfriend and I usually eat at," she replied. "It's on a little side street near the chapel, do you know it?"
I shook my head.
"I'd take you, but my guy's a bit protective and would get suspicious. He doesn't really like my friends. What an ass, am I right?" She chuckled, bringing out a pen and paper from her purse and beginning to draw me what looked like a map. She wrote her number at the bottom of the paper and handed it to me.
"Here's a map on how to get there, and call me if you need anything. My name's Audrey by the way, what's yours?"
"I'm Sadie, nice to meet you! Thanks by the way, I'll be sure to check the place out."
Easier than expected.
I chatted to her for a while, getting to know her likes and dislikes. She complained to me about her boyfriend, but sighed and shook her head, softly staring at his photo set as her lock screen.
"He's not bad to me though," she whispered. Must be nice having someone that forgiving towards you. The sun was just dipping behind the horizon when she finally got up.
"It was nice meeting you, stay in touch, yeah?" she said, looking at me eagerly.
"I will, no problem! Take care Audrey," I replied, meaning it for the first time in a while. I really wanted her to take care, she was too precious for this world.
-
"So, what happened?" Kylie asked as soon as I returned. I shook off my jacket and hung it on a chair.
"I befriended Audrey. She gave me the address to a restaurant and her number," I responded, pulling the paper out of my pocket and handing it to her. I fished a cigarette from my pocket, lighting it up.
"Quite sweet, although she seems a bit down about her boyfriend."
"That'll make it easier for you, won't it?" Kylie said, scanning the paper. "Hey, I know this place."
"Really?"
"Really. My parents took me here when I was twelve as part of our Europe trip," she recalled.
I felt like a dagger stabbed me at that. She still had family vacations at twelve. Other kids had vacations at twelve. Other kids who weren't me, or anyone else from the orphanage for that matter. My vision fogged up and my lip trembled, wishing for a second, just a second, that things were different. Could things have been different?
No. I was not going to cry. Shut up, Sadie. Past is past, don't let it affect you. I swallowed my sobs, puffing fiercely on my cigarette.
"Hey, you good?" Kylie asked, surprisingly gently. I nodded, snapping back to reality.
"Just the smoke."
ns 15.158.61.55da2
