Sleeping Operative

Days like today are when Daniel likes to think back to his youth when he served in the Marines, the friends he made, the lessons he learned and the experiences he had; unlike most ex-service men who would do anything to forget the horrors they saw. He was on target to make Sergeant by the end of his third year of service, this however was too good to be true. A bad motorcycle accident spelled the end of his career and was discharged in 2012 at the age of 24.

“Dan? Hello? Dan I’m talking to you” Amy said in a spiteful tone

“Huh? Yeah, I’m listening… sorry” He replied

“Where are you? We were just talking about when your next shift at the bar was and you just zoned out”

“Sorry babe was just thinking about… you know it doesn’t matter. Next shift is tomorrow evening.” Dan said meekly.

“Thinking about what? The Marines? The crash? That was almost 6 years ago now Dan I think its about time you move on.” Amy dictated.

“Its easy for you to say!” exclaimed Dan. “It was my dream, the only thing I ever wanted and now I’m stuck in this shitty town in the middle of fucking nowhere with barely a dollar to my name”

“Not this again. Is being here with me that bad? What about Thomas, what would he think if his Dad could not get over something that happened before he was born. You know the crash wasn’t your fault- the driver was 4 times over the alcohol limit” pleaded Amy.

“I was meant to have deployed to Afghanistan. Instead, I was stuck in a hospital, hearing the news of my mates getting shot, my mates dying. It should have been me.” Dan cried. “I need to get some air; I’ll be back to pick Tom up from school”

“Dan wait!” wept Amy.

But it was too late, Dan left the house and slammed the door behind him.

He met Amy whilst going through his rehabilitation after the crash, she was one of the nurses that cared for Dan. They immediately had a connection and started dating. Some months after Dan’s treatment had finished Amy fell pregnant with Thomas, so they decided to have a shotgun wedding. 4 years of marriage had not been easy on either of them but with Dan becoming more volatile neither of them knew how much longer it would last.

Dan was heading back home when he noticed something in the undergrowth of the trees- he saw a small black duffel bag. Normally he wouldn’t bat an eyelid at something like that, but something about the bag seemed familiar, like he had seen it in a past life. He crouched down and slowly opened the bag, fearing it would be a bomb, after unzipping it about a quarter of the way he peered into the opening. “Holy fuck” squealed Dan as he discovered stacks of money, more money than he had ever seen in his life. He promptly zipped the bag back up, scanned his surroundings looking for anyone who might have put it there, picked it up and headed home.

After getting through the front door Dan sprinted upstairs to his bedroom and threw the bag on the bed.

“Dan is that you” Amy shouted up the stairs.

“Yeah, it’s me, come up here quick!” Dan excitedly beckoned

Amy rushed through the door and was confused at the happiness she could see on Dan’s face.

“After the argument we just had Dan don’t expect me to be taking my clothes off and hop into bed with you”

“Not that Amy, the bag. Empty it out on the bed”

Reluctantly, Amy walks over to the bed opens the bag and tips its contents out onto the bed. Out of this little black bag fell a little black book, $20000 in cash, a silenced pistol and a couple of passports from different countries.

“DAN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING BRINGING A FUCKING GUN INTO OUR HOUSE. WHAT IF TOM WAS HERE.” Screeched Amy

“I just found it on my walk, I didn’t know there was a gun in there. I only saw the cash and I took it. I know times have been hard and I thought this could help.” Said Dan

“What do you mean you ‘just found it’? Who knows where this money has come from” Amy growled.

“What I mean is what I said. I just found it. Help me get it back in the bag and ill put it back where I found it” sighed Dan

Amy picked up the passports and flicked through them before placing them back in the bag, she started caressing the money and said to Dan “You don’t have to put it all back, the money could really help us Dan. Think about Tom”

“Amy who knows what trouble this money would bring us, what happens when whoever owns this gun, and the money comes looking for it. I’m taking it back to where I found it.” Pled Dan.

He loaded the money back into the bag and picked up the black book, something was eerily familiar about the book so he started to turn its pages, on its first page was just a bunch of random words, naturally Dan paid no attention to it, but as he turned the pages he noticed that most of it was blacked out or crossed out, but he could make out a few of the names so decided to do a quick search on the internet to see if he could make any sense of it. The first name he searched was that of a ‘Charles Loft” he was an investment banker who was found dead in his flat in summer 2014, not long after Dan and Amy’s wedding day. The next name he searched was ‘Andy Mann’ found dead after attending a house party in December 2015. Every name he searched had the same ending, they were all dead, all with suspicious circumstances but no convicted suspects. There was one more name in the book, ‘Mohammed Hassan’ but not crossed out and no information on him anywhere on the internet.

“This is a fucking hitlist, we don’t want anything to do with this Amy” Dan said while cramming the book and gun back into the bag. “I’m taking it back right now before it’s too late”

Quite shocked at the events that just occurred Dan left his house and headed to where he found the bag, making sure to make a mental note of everyone he saw and anything that was out of place or suspicious. He was about 50yards away from where he acquired the bag when he noticed a man pacing back and forth. Immediately Dan knew something was not right, he turned to leave undetected, but the ominous man had spotted Daniel and was headed straight for him. With running not an option because of his crash Dan decided to keep walking in the direction of the man with hope that he could walk by with out any drama, ditch the bag and go home. Adrenaline was coursing through his body as the suspected assassin was just a few paces away from him. Trying not to arise suspicion he gave the man a passing greeting.

“Hey there, nice day isn’t it” said Dan

“Nice fucking day?! I’ve been trying to find you for the past 30 fucking minutes.” The man said in a rough English voice.

“What do you mean you’ve been trying to find me” questioned Dan as he clenched his hand into a fist.

“You’re meant to get into contact with your handler after you collect the package” spat the Englishman.

“Handler? Package? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about buddy, but I’d suggest you’d back down before”

“Are you feeling alright? You don’t remember who I am do you. It’s me Grant. Guessing you skipped that first page of the book? And why you’re trying to put the bag right where you found it. Give me the fucking bag”

Dan tossed Grant the bag and Grant pulled out the book. He turned to the first page and started reading it.

“Freedom. Information. Ceremony. Honour.”

“What are you doing? Is this your bag?” interrupted Dan.

Looking back with piercing eyes Grant continued “Liberty. Democracy. Pain. Hate. Love.”

Dan immediately fell to the floor as he was overcome with emotion, he started to remember everything. He was never in a motorcycle crash, it was an IED ended his active service. He was never in consideration to become a Sergeant; he was a special forces operative.

“Who am I?” Whimpered Dan

“You’re a sleeper agent son, someone who our governments can rely on to get very specific jobs done.” Replied Grant.

“The names in the book, I killed them all didn’t I? I never consented to this”

“That’s where you’re wrong pal, you wanted this more than anything trust me” calmly said Grant.

“You were there when I was blown to shit weren’t you. Why me, why now?” asked Dan

“We don’t have fucking time for this Dan, get in.” says Grant as he unlocks his car “The last name in the book, ‘Mohammed Hassan’ a black-market arms dealer. That’s the target. He’s been dealing to terror cells across the world and pissed off the wrong people. Now those people want him dead. Luckily for us he’s been invited to attend a party right here on home soil. We’ve got you a gig as a barman at the party and you’re going to put a little something in his drink, 5mg of fentanyl to be precise, to make it look like he overdosed. The party is hosted in downtown Manhattan, in some 80-storey building. The penthouse of course. Oh yeah you’d better take a good look at this photo, this is him.”

“What about my wife? I’ve got my kid to pick up soon. Do I even have a kid? I don’t know what’s real or fake.” Worriedly said Dan.

“Your wife knows all about you and your occupation, she’s been in the loop ever since she met you, she was one of the brains behind the neural rewiring program you went through. I’m sure she will tell you all about it when you get home, but now isn’t the time, we have a party to get too.” Exclaimed Grant.

A couple hours had passed since Grant had collected Dan.

“Right, we’re here, party starts in an hour. I’ve got you a suit to wear, inner pocket has your ‘barman’ papers, security will be tight ok so leave your piece in the bag, there’s gonna be some of the richest assholes in the world here. Take this phone and call me when you’re done. No matter what happens, Hassan can’t leave Good luck soldier” croaked Grant

After making countless drinks for some of New York’s richest, Hassan finally comes and gets a drink from the bar. He asked for a strong mojito and slip the fentanyl into his drink. He takes a sip and just as Dan thinks his job is done a blind drunk man stumbles and spills his drink all over the target. Hassan is visibly mad and throws the mojito all over the idiot and proceeds to get his bodyguard to eject him from the party. He gets his guard and heads to the bathroom to clean himself up. Without thinking Dan picks up a barman’s ice pick and follows the target. His bodyguard is standing outside the door to the toilet and denies entry to anyone. Dan tries to slip past, but the guard grabs him, within an instant Dan snaps the neck of the guard with technique he didn’t even think he knew. Thankfully, no one is around to see the murder, you bundle him into the bathroom to get the body out of sight. Now it’s just you and Hassan in the bathroom together. Death follows.