Active Duty (closed)

[TheAntiRebel]

http://l.yimg.com/img.tv.yahoo.com/tv/us/img/site/29/82/0000002982_20060919195547.jpg

Thomas Renyolds sighed as he walked quietly up the hill in his backyard to where his little log cabin house sat. He was in the Rockies of Colorado, there was barely a soul around and he now owned an acre of Rockies forestland - with a crystal clear river in the back with some of the best fly fishing in the world.

Renyolds, who had once worn tuxedos and wined and dined women all over the world, now was wearing blue jeans with a flanel shirt as he hoofed it up from the river, carrying his fishing gear. Once the man had reached his cabin, he headed into it from the back door and threw the gear down on the floor, near the closet.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and checked his cell phone, which was sitting on the counter. No calls. Nobody ever called anymore. After a career with the Central Intelligence Agency, he had no family, all of his friends were dead or living someplace secretly, and a moderately sized pension. He cracked the beer open and sipped it.

Yep, this was retired life. Boring and lonely.

 

[1FreakyGirl]

Amanda Ritter watched patiently as she had her target in sight.

Waiting. It was all part of the game. She was patient. Her training had taught her to be patient. This was the second full day she was watching and waiting.

So far it had been interesting watching the target go about his new 'life'.

From what she could surmise, he was a schedule person. It was 1700 on the dot and he hadn't caught anything while fishing. He was headed up to his cabin where at 1715 he would start dinner, have it ready by 1745 and finish up by 1800. Dishes washed and dried by 1830.

Yeah, this would be a piece of cake.

This was Ritter's first official assignment alone. Some thought it was a crap assignment but it was actually rather interesting. She had limited information on the target at the moment but she knew enough. She had memorized the dossier she was given.

Her first solo assignment. Yeah, she had time. Earlier this morning she figured the best time to strike would be late night, early morning. That was when the satellite was at the lowest point for the cell phone strength so even if cried out for help, it wouldn't do any good.

"So Mr. Reynolds--are you ready for the party? Because I am."

http://wiki.rpg.net/images/thumb/9/91/Nika.jpg/280px-Nika.jpg

 

[TheAntiRebel]

After his beer, Tom flipped on the TV in the living room and turned up the volume. SportsCenter was on, and that would be the soundtrack to his dinner. He grabbed some hot pockets out of the freezer and tossed them into the microwave. Ironically, they still tasted better than the MREs he ate during his short military stint before his life in the CIA.

Following dinner, he had another beer and watched some TV before cleaning up and heading off to the small bedroom. He checked his laptop, no e-mails. Then shred his clothes off, leaving just his white boxers on. Despite being retired, Reynolds kept himself in top physical condition. He turned off all the lights, except for the lamp on his end table.

Reynolds settled into bed with a book - the memoirs of a former US President - he read a few pages before quickly dosing off.

A few hours later, his eyes opened. He heard the front door of the cabin creek open. He glanced at the time, it was just after midnight. He didn't move, but his eyes darted around. His left hand slowly reached down to the space between the night table and the bed, where he kept a loaded handgun. He grabbed it and slowly brought it up to the bed, tucking it under the covers while the rest of his body looked like he was asleep.

Somebody was in his cabin, and was trying to kill him. He knew that. He just had to wait for them to make their move.

 

[1FreakyGirl]

FUCK! Amanda thought as the door creaked. Talk about a stupid rookie mistake. A mistake she wouldn't repeat that was for sure. She had her Glock drawn and ready, she had the small laser pointer turned off which would assure her an accurate shot.

Deep down, after studying her target more, Amanda kinda felt sorry for him. A man of his caliber didn't deserve to die in his sleep. He deserved to die in action. At least that was the way she wanted to go, that much was for sure. She never wanted to reach this 'retirement' in her life.

A true soldier talking she thought.

With careful, quiet steps, Amanda took her time. That's all they both had, time. She was more cautious as she moved further in the cabin, leaving the door open behind her. This wouldn't take long, just a quick in and out.

Poor guy, it would probably be days if not years before they would find his body.

 

[TheAntiRebel]

Tom couldn't hear the assassin anymore, but he knew he was here. He could just see him in his mind's eye, slowly moving towards the bedroom. The lamp on his nightstand was still on, from his pre-sleep reading. He reached up slowly and switched off, hoping it wouldn't give away that he was awake. He raised his AMT Hardballer and aimed towards the door, in the darkness. He was still sitting up in bed, not an ideal position for firing a weapon, but he wanted to get the jump on this assassin.

A figure came into view in the doorframe. He fired a shot, the loud noise of the Hardballer calling out. He missed the assassin, but Tom, still in his underwear, jumped to the otherside of the bed and ducked down, before ducking up from cover and firing a few more shots out the door. He heard them fire back.

He was cornered in his bedroom. There were two small windows in here, but he didn't even know if his broad shoulders would fit through them. But the assassin didn't know that. He shot out one of the windows and then leaned back behind the bed. He hoped that in the darkness of the bedroom, the Assassin would think he was trying to climb out. He watched and waited for movement from the door.

 

[1FreakyGirl]

Amanda didn't scream when the return shot was close to her, a little too close that it sent shards of wood shooting out from the door frame, some of the splinters hitting her in the side of her face, planting themselves in her skin.

She ignored the pain as she heard another shot fire, damnit! He was trying to escape out from the bedroom window since she had the only entrance blocked.

Her heart was racing. Both in a good and bad way. She lived on the adrenaline, thrived on it. It made her think quickly but yet, at the same time, it could make one act stupid.

The room was still dark. There was silence too. Someone had to make the first move and she was certain he wasn't getting out the windows because she didn't hear any grunting or movement.

Cat and mouse.

And right now, she was the mouse because this was his area, not hers. He had the advantage. She didn't.

But he was cornered and she wasn't.

It was time to let him know it was no use trying to escape. "Thomas Reynolds! Give it up. There's no escaping." She told him earnestly, her firearm ready.

 

[TheAntiRebel]

Tom watched carefully. The assassin didn't take the bait. He watched carefully for the figure to enter his bedroom, but they didn't. He sighed and waited. His handgun had 10 rounds left. Suddenly, he heard a female voice call out. "Thomas Reynolds! Give it up. There's no escaping."

A woman? That's a new one, Renyolds thought. He wondered who she was working for. He had done more than enough to earn a few death warrants, but very few had the resources to find out where he was retired. A woman, he thought. He looked down, still kneeling behind his bed wearing just his white boxer shorts, and I'm so underdressed.

He only had one plan to get out of this. And that would depend on baiting her into hand to hand combat. He put his hands up, but kept his AMT Hardballer still clenched in his right hand. He stepped out from behind the bed. "Alright, honey. You got me, don't shoot." he said, slowly moving towards the door. "Just tell me, who sent you?" he asked.

 

[1FreakyGirl]

Honey?! Amanda thought with disdain. She pushed away the feeling of what being called 'honey' did to her. She had a job to do.

When she realized that he was moving out from his hiding spot, she peaked quickly around the door frame and saw him with his hands up. She kept her weapon ready and pointed it toward him as she too started to walk to the center of the room--her senses on high.

"Does it really matter who sent me? Won't do you any good after you're dead." She told him, the laser pointer on the barrel of the gun was focused on his bare chest where his heart would've been.

"Let me guess, you only have at least 10 or 11 shots left right?" It was actually a rhetorical question as she moved forward a little more. It was hard not to notice that he was just in his shorts and she did her best not to let her eyes wander.

 

[TheAntiRebel]

Tom smiled at her. She had her gun aimed at center mass - a shot would take him out. "Yeah, something like that," he said. "I'm retired, I didn't exactly plan to fight a war out here," he said. She probably came prepared with enough ammo - even if her job was to kill one 'old man', Tom figured.

"Listen, I'll surrender to you, but as a last request, I'd like to hear a little bit about who hired you. Consider it the last request of a dying man," he said, with a friendly smile. With his right hand still clunching the pistol, he spun it around and held it by the barrel, and offered her the handle.

Before she could reply, or reach for it, Tom drove the pistol up and into her face, striking her hard. Before he could see her reaction, he turned and sprinted through the cabin. He only had precious seconds! Heading for the open front door, he spun through the kitchen, his bare feet slipping on the dark linoleum floor. He grabbed his car keys off of the counter top, and then ran out into the brisky Colorado night.

He sprinted on the gravel driveway, stopping at his old green Jeep. Fumbling with the keys in the dark and cold, he opened the driver's door before putting his head down, starting the Jeep and sqelling the tires as he sped off down the narrow mountain road.

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