Chapter 10 And Bang.......

Preparing for a mission was never much of a big deal since we agents have been trained for most of the process. This mission wasn't any different. The last couple of hours, Picard has been helping me through all necessary information. After I woke up from my nap, Picard suggested we visit the surroundings of the hotel where my target was supposed to be the next day. Picard has already picked the most suitable location where a sniper expert like myself could easily hit a target 2477 metres away.

Most of the information Picard had given me were approximately accurate to the most possible high success rate with a low margin of failure. All I had to do was show up on the rooftop with my rifle waiting for the target.

Sometimes you would wonder why that weird handsome looking Picard didn't take on the mission instead since he had all the information. Apparently, there are two types of field operatives; the ones that pulls the trigger and the ones incapable of pulling the trigger. Think of this like a business organization where the research department puts information together while some other department executes the plan that results from the information. Just like the business organization, the glory goes to the people who executes the plan successfully, the same if it fails. Agents like me were trained to pull the trigger while we are decorated the hero. Agents like Picard puts most of the information together and they are trained to do so efficiently with minimal error. With all that Picard has planned for this mission, he was definitely effective.

All I had to do now was rest for the next six hours before I set out to do what I was trained to do. I was glad I was on this mission because it felt like I was doing something amazing unlike the last few missions I had done. I wanted to make it special so I asked Picard about his arsenal. Just like every other safe house I have been to, there was a small closet where lots of munitions are always piled up in. He led me into his own room. It wasn't that bad but it did smelled like shit. The couple of hours I have spent with the guy, I could tell he loved alcohol but it was hard to tell when he was drunk.

"It's in there," Picard said pointing to the old wardrobe few feet away from the tattered mattress he called a bed.

I walked closely behind him as we went for the wardrobe. He pulled it open and at first, there were bunch of clothes. He pushed a button inside the closet and another closet inside the closet opened up. It was made of leather and it had a small handle which Picard pulled. My face was suddenly overtaken by awe with what I saw. To my surprise, Picard has the most organized weapon closet I have ever seen. Picard turned to look at me feeling impressed at what he had just shown me. It felt like he was showing a beautiful lady his collection of exotic cars. This was however more special than exotic cars. It was the most modern ammunition closet I have ever seen.

"You like it, huh?" Picard asked with a big smile that could reach his eyes.

"I had the institute fix this up about seven months ago."

I just stared in awe as Picard took a step away from the closet. There were amazing weapons inside the closet strapped to the reddish leather background. It was like having a mini ammunition store inside that apartment. I step closer to the closet, carefully examining everything I was looking at. There were a couple of hand grenade, the MK2's and stun grenade. Pistols like Beretta 93, M9 and a few others. M4043 rifle, the M39 marksman rifle and a M4 were placed line by line. I was more impressed when I saw my favorite, the 54 inches long Steyr HS. 50 sniper. I removed the strap holding it to the closet as I pulled the cold metal out. I sized it up as I turned slowly to face Picard who was standing with his chin up and chest out.

"I see you have a nice taste," he said as he held his hands behind his back.

"I used this on my first mission. It was a remarkable experience and I want this to be remarkable as well," I said slowly as I kept caressing the weapon in my hand.

"I am glad I have it here for you. Besides, I heard you are a sniper expert that was why I chose that building. It would be impossible for you not to make that shot with this weapon," Picard said smiling gently.

"I guess that's a good sign then."

I turned back to the closet and returned the rifle back to its former position. Picard closed the closet and returned it to its former hidden state.

"You still remember the plan, right?" Picard asked as he locked up the wardrobe.

"Sure....to the last detail. What about the guitar case?" I asked as Picard turned back to face me.

"Oh that is in the living room. I had it here last night. The sniper should fit in real nice," Picard said as we walked out of the room.

"You still have the tablet, right?"

"Yes, it's in my bag," I replied as we walked into the living room.

"Good. The control centre will communicate with you through it. I suggest you get some rest," Picard said as he picked up his coat about to take his leave.

He continued as he turned to face me, "My work is done so I better get going. It's been an honor, Agent Adam."

I smiled as I shook his hand. I watched as Picard walked out of the apartment and shut the door behind him. All I had to do now was wait which was one of the things I hated doing. The anxiety of finishing this mission and getting back home where I was a real human overwhelmed me. I also wanted to be a hero who saved the life of a top official. I went back into the room and fell straight into bed. I took a glance at my stopwatch. There was still six hours before it hits zero. I decided to have a little nap before I set out since I was to be in position on the roof top before 8pm. I picked my phone out of my pocket and stared at my wallpaper which was a picture of Nene and I kissing. I eventually dozed off still looking at the photo on my phone.

I jerked awake as soon as I heard the buzz from the alarm on my phone. I rubbed my eyes gently as I sat at the edge of the bed. Time had passed quickly and I had woken up fully refreshed. I couldn't contain the excitement of getting this mission done and going back to where my heart really wants to be. I had some water to drink before I slouched into the shower to clean up. I wore my white long sleeved shirt behind my black jacket with black pants. I walked into Picard's bedroom to get weapon. As I had seen the closet opened before, it was easy to open now. I picked out the Steyr HS .05 and a couple of things I needed before putting the closet back to its former state. The guitar case was in the living room just as Picard said. I was to go into the building disguising myself as an artist or more or less a performer.

The sniper fit right into the guitar case just as Picard suggested. I picked up my bag which had the tablet and a few things in it and a baseball cap as I set to leave the house. I locked the door right behind me as I stepped out into the corridor with the strap of the guitar case around my shoulder while the guitar case rested on my back. As I stepped into the street, I took a glance at my watch. I had just an hour to reach my position which meant I was still on schedule. The street was busy at this hour with lots of people going back home after the day's work. I got a cab and thirty minutes later, I was in front of forty-seven meters tall building with eighteen floors. There was an emergency exit at the back of the building with just one CCTV camera currently active watching the exit area. It was impossible to walk through the front entrance because of the security.

I walked cautiously to the back of the building and waited for someone to use the exit door because it could only be opened from the inside. Less than five minutes later, a janitor walked out of the building trying to dispose some garbage. Immediately she walked back into the building, I sped towards the door to avoid it from closing. I placed a small wood between the doorway to stop it from closing all the way. I couldn't walk into the building immediately. I needed to maintain being in stealth and the janitor couldn't have gone far. After a few seconds, I walked into the building with my baseball cap still on. I found my way to the lobby in the building. I couldn't take the stairs because there were lots of camera mounted on each of the stairs. So I walked to the elevator instead, at least I had a way to take care of the camera. I made sure I was the only one that got into the elevator. I opened my bag and picked out a small black device which looked completely harmless. I placed it behind me gently while I avoided the camera in the elevator. The black device was completely harmless but quite useful. It was called the interceptor. Whoever came up with this device was a genius because it could interrupt the information being exchanged between two computers. Inside the elevator was a small computer, invisible to the users which sends information to the terminal which was somewhere in the building. It sends the information from the camera and the control panel to the service terminal. With the interceptor switched on, all the information sent to the terminal will momentarily stop until I got out of the elevator.

My destination was the roof top so I took the elevator to the seventeenth floor and then used the stairs to the eighteenth. The stairs in the eighteenth floor led directly to the roof top where I stood few minutes later. I didn't switch off the interceptor because of the CCTV camera on the roof top. Picard was obviously a genius to have picked this spot. I could see the large entrance of the Continental Swiss from where I was standing. It was also possible to see every cardinal point leading to the entrance of the Continental Swiss. I picked out the binoculars from my bag and viewed the environment through it. It was busy and there was basically few cars coming to the entrance of the hotel. I stood by the railings as I looked to the sky. It got darker real quick and the air was soft with cars honking on the street. It was definitely comforting to be up here.

I turned on the tablet as soon as I took it out my bag and I received a message almost instantly. It was the line I was to call the control centre with. I placed my earpiece in my ear and dialed the number. Just less than a second, the line connected.

"Welcome Agent Adam. We have been waiting for you," a female-voice receiver spoke. It was unfamiliar but it didn't bother me.

"Hello. What's the target's E.T.A?" I asked immediately.

"He should be about an hour away from your location," the receiver replied.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came on. "Hello, Adam."

I could recognize that voice anytime. It was Oyelola, the director. I knew he would be at the control centre and since he was the director, he would want to be at the control centre to know exactly how the mission was going. That was how much a priority it was.

"Director." I replied calmly as I peeped through the binoculars intensely.

"Good to have you here. How is the view up there?" asked the director.

"You know? Cold and a good spot to shoot," I replied.

"I hope you got my present?"

Immediately the director said that, I knew what he was talking about. So it was his idea, I thought to myself. What baffled me was he was around during my first mission and he doesn't the history with that rifle. The only people who knew we Yosef, Ella and the former director, Abdul Sahir.

"The rifle? That was your idea?" I said sounding a little surprised.

"Yeah. I just wanted this to be special. Besides, it would do a good job from your position," the director replied.

I smiled to myself. It felt like this guy was trying to play friendly. But why would he be acting so concerned now? It felt like I had something on him he didn't like and being my friend would suffice enough to stop me. He really didn't know me if he thinks like that.

"Target thirty minutes closer to destination," the female voice came on again.

I had such a long time to sit still until that bastard shows up. Too bad I had nothing to do. I stared up into the sky and there were a couple of stars here and there. The thought of Nene suddenly crossed my mind. I remembered we were once lost in the woods few years ago while we were trying to hike to the top of a large rock. She had lost the map and I was too pissed to find it. She finally sat me down in the middle of the forest and made me stare at the stars as we laid on our backs. It was dazzling and way comforting. We were there for a couple of hours before we heard some people walking by who eventually helped us get back into the town.

"Twenty minutes out," the female voice said again and I snapped out of my hallucination.

"Adam?" the director said.

"Yeah?"

"The prince has a couple of people around that place. We feel like they might try to attack the whole building. Being a victim of such assault would definitely exonerate him of being involved."

The director continued, "Allowing him to go into the building is not an option. We don't want you to engage him in the building to avoid any confusion."

"Does the target have any security detail?" I asked focusing on the stars.

"He has a few men following him around. Most of them have military background and we were unable to get any further detail how he plans to attack precisely. But if you....."

I cut him off immediately, "If I shoot him immediately he shows up, I would save myself the trip of going into the building to take him out."

"Exactly," said the director. "All you have to do is take him out as soon as he shows up."

"Sure."

"Eight minutes out," the female voice said few minutes later.

"Get ready, Adam," the director said.

I picked up my sniper rifle and placed it on the railings waiting for my target. This shot was nothing compared to the ones I had made in the past. It was going to be an easy strike for me. I took out the .50 BMG cartridge and loaded it into the sniper. I placed my left eye behind the scope of the sniper examining the entrance of the hotel. It seemed nearer looking at it through the scope but I needed to adjust the scope to give a closer and a more certain shot. I slowly turned the control clockwise which was just at the side of the scope. The scope zoomed in and now I had a clear view of the image I was looking at.

"Target is sixty second out," the female voice said again.

"It's time, Adam. Take your shot once you see him come out of that SUV," the director said.

Seconds later, a black SUV parked right in front of the hotel. I could only see the passenger door to the left and I had assumed the prince would want to alight from the right since it was closer to the entrance.

"Alright, they are here," I said.

"Okay. Now, it's up to you. Take the shoot once you have a positive sighting," the director said.

Suddenly, the door to the right passenger seat opened and a black man walked out wearing a black suit. Just at the same time, the door to the left opened as well and a light skinned man wearing a black suit as well walked out. I assumed that was my target but I wanted to be sure so I waited for the SUV to leave since it was obstructing my view. I suddenly recognized the dark skinned man as he turned to look at my direction.

"Uhmmm.....control, the ambassador just got down from the SUV alongside the prince," I said still looking through the scope.

"I don't think so. The ambassador should be inside the hotel. He arrived a couple of hours early," the director said.

He continued after a while, "That doesn't change anything. Take your shot at the prince once you have him in sight."

I looked through the scope for a few seconds as I watched the SUV drive off. The prince and the ambassador walked to the entrance talking and laughing. They didn't try to approach the doorway into the hotel. Instead, they stood at the entrance like they were waiting for someone.

"Control, the ambassador and the prince seems to be having a lot of fun. They are just standing at the entrance. Seems like they are waiting for something," I said.

"If you have a good shot Adam, take it. We just need him out of the picture," the director said.

Few seconds later, another SUV showed up in front of the hotel.

"Control....another SUV just arrived and it has the flag of France on the car," I said looking at the car carefully through the scope of my sniper.

I continued as soon as I saw who stepped out, "It's another Frenchman and he seems to have more escort."

"Adam, I think they are about to sign the deal tonight. That means that attack might be happening anytime soon. Take your shot once you have it before all this goes to shit," the director said hurriedly.

Just as the three men were about to enter the building, the prince stepped aside to receive a phone call. He was a couple of feet away from the Frenchman and the ambassador.

"The prince just got a phone call and judging by his expression, he doesn't look pleased," I said back to the control centre.

"That's it. That's it.....Take the shot now, Adam. He must have given the order. Shoot now," the director said shouting through the speaker.

I gently placed the scope on the prince as soon as he ended his call. His head was definitely my target. With a headshot, he has 0.002 percent of surviving. Some people survive a gunshot to the chest but to the head, it was unlikely they would survive. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.......

And BANG......