It was a clear and quiet day in the neighborhood. Leigh was securing the perimeter of the house while her partner, Paige Sobel proceeded with sweeping of the interior. It did not take Leigh long to complete the survey of her surrounding. She made the round about before entering the house to join her partner. She caught a familiar figure out of her peripheral vision. She was slightly confused as to why that person was there. Silently, she shadowed after the person to confirm her suspicion. Unmistakably, an explosive device was being wired next to the outdoor gas pipe.

“I always thought there’s something phony about you Sobel.” Leigh announced the finding to her surprised partner. Paige Sobel dropped the detonator and reached for her weapon, too late.

Pfft….thud…

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Leigh grimly cautioned the other woman following a warning shot from the silencer in her hand. Paige knew Leigh meant business seeing the bullet grazed the tip of her boot and ricochet off a side. She kept her hands out not wanting to challenge Leigh’s marksmanship. They kept their eyes locked on one another. Any wrong move would mean death for either one of them.

Leigh was weighing the option of capping her rogue partner and carry on with the task alone when she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder and a hard object against her back. The smirk on Paige’s face confirmed her fate.

“Well, well, well look who’s in the pickle now.” Paige wickedly mocked while keeping a safe distance from Leigh.

“Why Paige…why?” Leigh gritted her teeth and asked while keeping the aim pointedly on Paige. The leverage her weapon held gave her some hope despite the grim outcome.

“It’s simple really, money talks. I’m earning 4 times what they paid me at NIA for a fraction of the work. Why don’t you join me and make it rich agent Ostin?” Paige’s enticing words didn’t sway Leigh one bit. She already caught on to the traitor pretentious tone as well as the subtle signal Paige gave to the goon on her back.

“Not in your lifetime lowlife.” Leigh grunted her final statement and emptied the round of bullets. Likewise, the hard object behind her jerked as she felt it burned through the flesh and exited her gaping wound. Her blood runs cold. She took a hard fall and stumble face down, seconds before witnessing the body of her traitor knocked back and deadly still.

Her entire body numb and disable after the fall. Leigh can sense someone kicking her repeatedly but she felt painless. They mistook her for dead. They dragged and hid her body from view, essentially shielding her from the explosion that took place shortly thereafter. Leigh later found out that Paige’s body was used as a decoy to tricked Elizabeth, who’s since perished in the devastation of the blast.

“I failed to save her.” Leigh’s teary admission underlines the guilt she’s been harboring. The statement brought them both back to the harshness of reality.

“You did your best under the circumstance.” Max delicately comforted the sullen woman. The truth would set everyone free but she is bound to secrecy until the final hour. She placated Leigh’s guilt and spent the rest of their time together enjoying the good news of Leigh’s wonderful progress, keeping the uncertain future at bay for just another day.

TBC…