Running Round Red Mountain

A white-tailed deer drinks water from a pond in the middle of the forest. Suddenly, she snaps her head up, the silence that usually fills her home is broken by a strange humming sound. It spooks her, she dashes away from the pond and across a road home free to the other side. In the distance, a white van comes driving up the road. After about half a mile the van begins to slow down, coming to a stop. The driver cuts off the engine and the double doors in the back of the van swing open. A young woman emerges from inside; looking around, she takes a deep breath and hops out into the street. She then continues to scan the perimeter while walking up the road. Behind her, a large man exits the van from the passenger side, he grabs something out of the glove box and puts it over his head. The girl turns around to face her associate, who was adjusting the mask he had just put on. "This is it Henry, it's perfect," she said, clapping her hands together.

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Back at the agency, Carson is shown to a small private airstrip located a few miles behind the base. Analyzing the selected method of transportation, he realized that the jet was a lot larger than he had anticipated. The detective made his way to the entrance steps and climbed in. A flight attendant was standing by the doorway; she greeted Carson as he entered the plane. "Good morning Detective, follow me this way and ill show you where you'll be sitting." The young woman had a welcoming smile as she turned around and headed down the walkway. Long brown hair ran down her back and her beauty was something to be appreciated. It took a few seconds before he snapped out of it and started following her lead. Your still married asshole.

The jet seemed even larger on the inside and Rose could see a blue curtain a few feet ahead of them. the flight attendant pulled it open to reveal what looked more like a lounge than the inside of a plane.

"Here it is Detective, feel free to make yourself at home."

"Looks cozy... Good to see my tax dollars are being put to good use."

This seemed to amuse her because she let out a tiny giggle. "My name is Sydney, I'll be available if there's anything you need. Would you like a beverage before we take off?"

"I think I'll be okay for now," Carson answered.

"Alright then, I am going to leave you to it. Reach out to me if you need anything at all." She then turned around to head back towards the front of the jet. At the other end, Rose could see the two agents who took JBL away earlier. One of them noticed him staring in their direction and shot him a small nod. He then turned to greet the flight attendant, who was now back at the entrance.

They must have already locked him up in the plane some where.

A phone began to ring to his left, so Carson reached out to answer it. "Detective Rose, are you set in yet?" He recognized the directors voice.

"All good on this end, how about the ground team?"

"A-okay down below new guy, just make sure nothing happens while your in the air." Jack was grinning ear to ear, he wasn't very happy with being put in charge of the clean up crew and planned on giving his new partner a hard time to show it.

"Thank you Jack," the director chimed in again, "he's not wrong Carson, this is our chance to put this monster down for good, see to it that it doesn't go to waste."

"Yes Sir," Rose responded with assurance.

Several minutes later, the plane began rolling forward. Carson was relieved that they were finally on the move. He pulled out his phone and clicked on the icon labeled photos. Whenever he found some spare time, it was always spent looking through his old pictures. His wife, his daughter, he missed them both so much that on some days it hurt. Deep down, he always knew that they would all be together again one day.

Rose continued going through the pictures on his cell phone as the plane took off. Ten minutes into the flight, the attendant from earlier was making her way down the aisle.

"Everything okay back here? You ready for that drink now?"

"Not sure if that's a good idea," he answered her with a smile, "I am technically on the job right now."

"We still have two hours before we land, I'm pretty sure that one drink won't kill you."

"Alright, fuck it, I'll have a glass of whiskey on the rocks please." Rose couldn't help but find her persistence amusing.

"Coming right up Detective," she started to turn around but something seemed to catch her attention. "Is that your daughter? She's beautiful."

The question caught him off guard, he hadn't realized his phone was still open. "Yes ma'am, that's my little girl."

"Whats her name?"

"Gabriella, her mother and I named her after the archangel Gabriel."

"How adorable, she must be lucky to have a father who care's so much about her."

"These days I'm not so sure..." Carson responded, looking down to the floor.

Sydney opened her mouth as if to say something but decided against it. She turned around and went off to fetch Rose his drink. It didn't take long before she was back setting the glass down on the table next to him. The detective felt a notch of anxiety deep down in his gut and he was counting down the minutes until this was all finally over. Determined to kill some time, he put his head back and shut his eyes.

Just a few more hours and I can finally go home...