Chapter-01.5: Contrasting Perfections

Date: April 14, 2046
Time: 13:05:19
Location: GPS Error

~Renault~

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned lazily. The black leather couch was cool against his skin, making him drowsy. Renault lifted his dirty boots and slammed it down on the end of the sofa, sending dirt and mud dripping to the pure white marble floor. He chuckled at what she would do.

The sound of running water suddenly ceased and Renault could hear footsteps in the bathroom. With a sigh, he lifted himself up to meet her, but she had already silently slipped out of the shower into the living room. He didn’t even hear the door open.

Mariah’s figure paused as she caught sight of Renault in her room. Smiling, he gave her body a quick run over. She was wrapped only in a white towel, her hair still dripping wet, her sapphire eyes glistening brilliantly. Before he could wipe the wide grin off of his face, Mariah growled, “What do you want?”

Renault looked back up to her eyes and replied calmly, “He has a job for you.” There was a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

“Tell him I’ll be right up,” Mariah said and whipped around for a set of clothes laying on the black loveseat.

Then, right before Renault’s eyes, Mariah unashamedly let the towel fall to the floor, revealing her entire slim figure from the behind. Under Renault’s ever watchful eyes, she quickly got dressed into a pair of tight black jeans and a black low-cut sweater. Her hair seemed to sparkle as she wiped the water off with her towel. The room smelled of fresh strawberries. Renault never got tired of this.

“Enjoying yourself?” Mariah finally turned around and faced Renault with condescending eyes.

“Immensely, love.” He chortled and then led the way out of Mariah’s room.

The pair walked quietly through the metallic hallway which seemed to twist and turn in every direction. Renault’s eyes darted past the people they passed, looking straight forwards. In the back of his mind, he replayed the scene with Mariah back in her room. They had worked together for too many years now, yet never once has he thought of her in a way different from a colleague. Now for some reason, after an ordinary, once-every-day happening, something in his brain jumped irrationally.

Pushing it aside uncomfortably, he reached the end of the corridor and punched a series of numbers into a keypad. The glass double doors slid aside with a small pneumonic hiss and let them into the boss’s office.

“Welcome back, Renault and Mariah,” he said without even looking up. He was shuffling through some papers behind his computer.

“Thank you, Kole.” Renault replied formally and plopped himself down on one of the chairs in front of his boss’s desk.

“Now let’s see…” Kole’s eyes flickered from the papers to Mariah then back down again, “I see you fired six bullets on that last mission, Mariah.” Renault smiled smugly. “That’s disappointing.” The last words were more for himself than for Renault and Mariah.

“The job?” Mariah asked in an irritable tone.

“I was getting to that,” Kole sighed, “My Mariah, you are always so impatient.”

“It runs in the family,” she grinned slyly back. Renault chuckled to himself.

“Anyways” Kole continued, disregarding the comment, “I have another assignment. This one’s different.”

Renault’s eyes narrowed. Different meant bad.

“The Birds have noticed an increased activity in the underground trafficking of illegal firearms and drugs,” Kole explained, “They have spotted a new face in town. Now with the ten mob leaders down for the count, there is nothing stopping his rise to power.”

“So how is this different from any other mission?” Mariah interrupted, “I go in, I kill him, I disappear.”

“That is exactly what you’ll do,” Kole replied. Both Renault’s and Mariah’s faces contorted into confusion. Kole smiled and continued, “Your target is not him. There is a far more deadly threat to us than him.”

Kole clicked a few keys on his keyboard and motioned to the big screen TV on the back end of the office. It flickered on and displayed a huge picture of a surveillance tape. The next mob leader was there, surrounded by his henchmen. Before them laid countless amounts of weapons, ammunition, and drugs, as well as a few briefcases filled with cold hard cash. Kole hit another key on his computer and the tape rolled.

Renault watched as the mobsters executed the deal hastily, trading the money for the loot right in front of The Birds’ set camera. Just when he thought it was just a routine exchange, something in the top left corner of the screen caught his eye. Renault leaned closer as Kole paused the tape and pointed up, “See that?” There was a figure leaning against a window of the building. He let the tape continue and after a few seconds, the face darted away. Sirens silently went off in Renault’s head as the mobsters suddenly took notice and rushed in pursuit. The screen went blank.

“That man, Matthew Travis, is a detective in the Maple Police Department. The mobsters have not gotten to him yet, so we have to first. That’s who you’re eliminating, Mariah.”

Renault tilted his head in confusion, “Wait why do we care about him?”

“Weren’t you watching the tape?” Mariah snapped in annoyance, “Did you notice what he was watching?”

“Yea, the exchange,” Renault replied, still not getting the importance.

“Look again,” Kole interjected and replayed the tape. Slowly, the impact hit him as Renault watched Matthew’s eyes. They were fixed on the mobsters, but right at the end, they flickered up to meet the camera dead on.

“Sh**, does he know?” Renault asked as the truth sunk in.

“He does not know what he saw,” Kole replied calmly, “But we have to be sure. We cannot risk it.”

“I understand,” Mariah whispered softly. Her eyes darted back up to Kole and stated, “Quick and simple.”

“Right, mission start will be at twenty two hours on the dot. Don’t be late.” Kole threw two files onto his desk. “Get on with it.”

Renault tucked the manila folders underneath his arm and followed Mariah out of Kole’s office. Her pace was so fast that he had to struggle to keep up.

“Bullsh**…” she whispered to herself as they entered her room. Mariah slammed the door and threw herself down on the black couch. “I should be going after the mob leader rather than chasing Matt around. This better be quick.”

Renault snickered as he took the love seat sitting in front of Mariah, “Get over it, love. You don’t want our cover to be blown do you?”

“Still, he could at least make Frog do it. He’s into this kind of bullsh**, in between thinking of women and being a pervert.” Mariah sighed, exasperated.

“Yea, Kevin is pretty messed up,” Renault agreed with a slow nod, “But give him some credit, he did help you that one mission in El Nath.”

“Right, and then he tried to touch me when he pulled me back over the cliff.” Mariah rolled her eyes and rested her head back on the couch to look up at the white ceiling.

Renault stared at her for a moment, not speaking. Mariah’s sapphire eyes were closed as she rested. Her body was beautiful against the black leather of the sofa, a perfect contrast to her fair tanned skin. Blonde streaks of brilliance hung loosely down the sides of her head like a waterfall of gold. At that moment, Renault was very glad she couldn’t read his mind.

Shaking his head, he set one of the briefing files down on the glass coffee table and silently started to walk away when her voice drifted in to his ear.

“Clean that up, you bastard.”

Renault chuckled to himself and turned back around, setting his own file down next to Mariah’s and taking his place next to her. The mud had dried into brown splotches on the white marble. A perfect contrast.