5
The thrill of making contact and successfully inserting herself washed over her body, leaving cold chills in its wake. At this point in any investigation, she knew how to contact her handler, to share the news, give him a heads up or simply hear his voice to ground her mind.
Carys had found it easier to immerse herself into the lie she had fabricated for the job, knowing the familiar notes of Brent’s voice would always point her towards home, but this job was different, there would be no one waiting on another line to speak to her or advise, Carys was on her own, and the feeling left her empty.
To pass the time she mentally counted the hidden cameras in her room, summing it up to a whooping twenty. Each covering crucial angles, leaving no blind spots, the only safe place was the bathroom, but she knew a mic was stashed somewhere- at least they had the decency to respect her body, not like she wouldn’t have given them a show if they didn’t.
It was the part of the job that dug up every ugly feeling, and even after swallowing the bitter pill numerous times, she wasn’t used to the taste.
Recounting her journey from the airport, she drew up an image of the man who had been watching her, relying solely on how heavy his stare was. Her art turned out to be a dark blob, but she stashed it away for when she got a face to fill the space.
Her cab driver had also been picked; what other way to stoke the fire than to come in close. Carys was a teacher coming from New York for a job in Milan, it was too far away from home to call it coincidence.
The Valachi’s were not casual drug dealers, and the challenge made her pulse race; from the little she had seen, their hold on this city was absolute. Brent needed to know their influence didn’t end behind the heavy gates of their estate, he was wrong in that assessment.
Double the risk, double the reward, if Carys blew her cover, she was certain she wouldn’t leave this city alive.
~~~
After hours of pretending to be busy for the cameras, Carys threw on a shirt, form hugging jeans and slung a camera over her neck. It was time to play tourist and she knew the perfect place to start.
The elevator ride down to the open space of the hotel’s reception was always a sight to see, but Carys was too pumped to dwell on its beauty today. Waving one hand over her head like the enthusiastic American she was, she exaggerated her surprise when she hopped into the cab that stopped for her.
“It’s you!” The same cab driver that had picked her from the airport, two times a charm? She didn’t think so.
“Nice to meet you again.” His smile was wide and genuine. “Where do you want to go?”
“You told me this place was magic, so why don’t you take me to see different places where I can capture it?”
He scratched the back of his head, mumbling something in Italian under his breath. “I don’t eh- understand”
Right, he only knew the basic words. Time to put her teaching persona to the test, tapping the camera she said. “Picture”, then followed with “Magic, remember magic.” He nodded, sporting a wide smile.
“Tourist! You want to tourist the place”
He was too excited and Carys didn’t have the heart to correct him. "Yes, I want to tourist the place”
Carys took pictures as he drove, half listening to the history lesson he gave. They stopped at a few places for her to take more pictures; and somehow she connected with a dozen middle aged women who were here to sow wild oats.
She joined their train after telling him to wait for her, oohing and ahhing at every word the tour guide said. Two hours later the excitement had trickled down to a dull buzz, and the women chattered amongst themselves.
“Keep looking ahead, there are a few eyes on us, and I want this to look as friendly as possible.”
“I don’t know what you mean” Carys looked the woman seated beside her dead in the eye. “Is that supposed to mean something? I didn’t see it in your brochure.”
“Blackjack”
The code word she shared with Brent straightened her spine, “You know there are several eyes on us, so you know you can blow my cover with this stupid stunt, Brent would never be so reckless.”
“This is the only way we can contact you so permit our recklessness, besides; this little band is flying out in two hours.” The woman laughed when everyone laughed.
“The agency can’t contact me and I wasn’t briefed on us having any eyes here, so how exactly did you know I would be here?” Trust was a fickle thing that didn’t exist in her line of work, suspicion on the other hand was the perfect substitute.
“Did you think the Valachi’s were the only eyes watching you?” A hint of amusement and something else crossed her eyes, “Everyone is watching, so be careful who you trust. Our people are everywhere in the city, but you’re truly on your own when you move to the estate.”
That was old news, the question bugging her was, “Now I know the city is saturated with our people so who do I trust?”
“Trust no one, the threat gets real when you insert yourself into their lives, focus on your goal and try to leave that place alive or at least gather enough proof to bring them down.”
The message was loud and clear, her life was forfeit in the face of this mission, the least she could do was take them down with her.
“Rest assured, no one from our end is going to reach out to you after today, we are never going to meet again, now, look away and laugh.”
Doing so effortlessly, Carys joined the conversation with the other women until they departed, not giving her contact so much as a double glance.
“Back to the hotel, please” Carys infused large doses of enthusiasm into her voice, because burying her face in her hands was not an option.
According to what she now knew, a lot of people were watching her, and she had no way of knowing who to trus- ‘Trust no one’ – the words echoed in her head until she got to her room.
Too wired to keep up the pretenses for the cameras, Carys retreated to the bathroom; she took her time washing her face and tried not to pace when she was done, it would give too much away.
‘Trust no one’
The man watching her at the airport, the cab driver and whoever was behind these cameras belonged to the same or opposite factions. Carys needed to keep both sides happy or heads would roll; most definitively hers.
