The pain persisted, the room blurred as he tried standing, but there was no time to reflect.
“My head. F**k! What just happened?” he said. “The Chief sure as hell won’t like this but I have to call it in.”
The most important witness to the biggest scandal was missing. Being entrusted to protect her, Agent Fatts knew everything his department worked for might be lost. Was he to blame?
“Hello operator? Fatts here. Patch me to the chief ASAP!”
“One moment please,” said the operator.
Back and forth he went around the room as he tried to remember. His head rattled with every step, and his ears like a stuck doorbell. I can hardly think, he thought.
The drips of dark blood from his temple started to calm, and his heart continued to race with each breath as he counted… 1, 2, 3, 4. What’s taking them so long, he moaned. A hefty and sturdy voice shortly appeared, cleared his throat, and spoke through the speaker.
“Fatts, it’s Houser. What in the hell is going on? How’s our asset?” Chief surprisingly said with a hint of worry.
Fatts applied more pressure on the gash they gave him and took a seat on the loose-sheeted bed and sighed, “She’s gone, Chief. I lost Lacey,” he said.
Chief Houser rocked his weight in the chair, pulling the phone closer,
“You did what?”
“I… I lost Lacey. I just… I don’t know how, but these guys. One of em’ knocked me cold. Someone got the drop on us. When I woke, the house was empty.”
Lacey’s scent still crowded the room, taunting him with nothing but her lingering smell.
“Hold that thought,” said Houser.
Chief stood firm, the phone picked up his movements as he edged over to close his front office door without alarm. But the dread across his face suggested something suspicious was growing inside him. Does he know?
“Look, Fatts,” his heavy voice lowered. “I should’ve mentioned this. Intel from a week ago says your girl might actually be working with the Max Brothers.”
“That’s a crock of shit,” Fatts replied, cracking his fingers.
“It’s not a stretch. She’s even got pictures with the bastards! Think with your head on this,” Chief reminded him. “You still have the tracker?”
Fatts’ thoughts started to cloud as the accusation grew inside his mind. All that time he spent protecting her, those late nights, her whispered secrets, her smile and alluring voice seared deep in his memory.
Was it all an act? A work of lies to lower his guard? Fatts, you’re a fool he thought.
“Fatts. FATTS!” Roared the Chief, snapping him out of it. “Do we still have the damn tracker on her?”
“Tracker? Right, yeah!”
Fatts surveyed the room that looked like a disaster struck. He patted his pockets for the locator then noticed his black jacket across the chair by the window. There it is, he thought. “Yeah, Chief! It’s here,” Fatts said in relief.
“Good. Now get your ass down here. We cannot lose this damn battle when our people need a win, you hear me?”
“I’m leaving now,” Fatts said as he pocketed his phone and the Chief’s words flooded his mind.
His ears had finally settled, and his breath even slower as he counted… 1, 2, 3, 4. But in the back of his mind, as he gathered himself before the door, a question lingered: was she a pawn in the Max Brothers’ game, or did she really betray me?