Entering the Lion's Den

Katy's Point of View.

Something about the way he said the words had me frightened as it had me excited. Carson Cooper? Carson Cooper! Everyone in this room knew what that man was capable of. A dangerous arms dealer and for some reason, they thought I could take this under my belt. Maybe I wasn't going unnoticed after all.

A throat clearing came from the other corner of the room. Johnson smiled small as he'd seen that he had in fact brought attention to himself.

"Okay. You might think this is me being stereotypical, but... Boss, you can't possibly be serious about her." He said. If I could guess correctly, which I always did, I would say he was trying so hard to swallow the shock that I was chosen instead of him. It annoyed him. The more he tried to hide under the painful smile betrayed him. So did his grip on his own. It was cracked. "Katy is... Fast. She is great, if not the best. But for someone as dangerous as Carson Cooper, we are going to need someone who could fight their way out of trouble. What if he recognizes that she's a fake and decides to kill her—" I couldn't take any more of his excuses. I thought I was alone, but apparently, Jamie, the office hound was going through the same pain of boredom Johnson freely offered.

"It's an undercover job, Johnson. Do you really think our respective genders would make things a little bit more out of reality?" 

He frowned. "What reality?"

"That he could catch either of us at any time. It does not really matter what skills she has. The most important thing needed here is briefness, which can of course be amplified by the office's offer to help."

He took a rather frustrated gulp from his cup. "With all due respect, Katherine, I have been on this job longer. I know how guys like Carson Cooper think."

I shrugged. This time it was me trying to remain calm. I would not lose my temper. Not today. Not in front of the supervisors. I had been bustling for the past few months to get noticed, to get into good graces. Now that I was, I wasn't going to let Johnson take that away from me. It was a miracle that someone with an ill temper like me successfully retained a spying job for the FBI. I was not going to mess up that in Johnson's favor.

"You might have been here longer but we all know I've had better results." Mocking whistling and whispers filled the air. Johnson was infuriated. Before he could utter a comeback, Micah stood. And since he was the boss, his standing meant no talking. At least not until he was done talking.

"This is a big case. We have been trying for years to pin this man down and now that we might actually have a lead, I think the both of you should be figuring out how to get your expertise to good use instead of saying crazy things to each other on a meeting table. You're spies, not nine-year-olds."

Johnson backed into his seat. I, on the other hand, tried to hide my smile with a friend that might convince them that I was serious about this job. I wanted this particular case. Maybe this would help me finally get into the computer room and out of the fields. Maybe it would finally bring about that satisfaction. Maybe...

"Mayers?" Micah's voice rang into my ear, making me jump. Why did he have to sound so concrete sometimes?

"Huh?" I finally asked when it was obvious he was not going to repeat the previous question. All eyes was on me again. Urgh! 

"I asked if you could handle this for real?" He squinted, leaning closer.

I nodded so hard, that I could probably be mistaken for an agama at that moment. "Yes!" I slowed myself down. I didn't want to appear too desperate. "Yes. I know it's hard—"

"Oh, you have no idea how hard this is going to be," Johnson muttered. I would vote to ask him to go get coffee for everyone. He needed to walk off the bitterness.

"It's going to be hard, yes, but as you liked to tell us during training, it's only hard if you think you can't do it."

Micah smiled. So did Mrs Smith. They had both been the ones who had drilled me, on the name of training a few years back.

"I like how you're going about this, Mayers. I like how you're choosing to approach it but you must know that this is not like the other jobs we've had you on. What we're talking about here is crazy. Bullets... Threats... Um, bad news. This man is terrifying. We have been on him for years and for some reason, we can't just get him. We can't catch him. He's fast. He thinks fast. He acts fast. He's dangerous and in a fast way."

I nodded slowly. Reading from the files they had given me about this mystery man. Or if I could get creative, I would say he was my promotion plan. "It does say here that he offers charities to the department." I had no idea what had given me the boldness to say that, but if I was going to be risking my life, if I was going to be setting my foot as bait for the lion, I might as well know some things. I knew they would not tell me everything, but I needed some things at least and this statement made Mrs Smith really uncomfortable. Perhaps it was not best for me to say everything just yet. "I meant to ask if that is why he's not been caught. Because perhaps he had gotten very comfortable with us?"

I could see her exhale at that. What was she hiding?

"Perhaps, but you don't really know these things. Anyone can donate. My advice as someone who's gone before you, is don't let your guard down. Don't let his smile cloud your senses. Don't let him come close to you."

"Well, I doubt that could ever happen. I don't watch romantic movies for a reason." I said and everyone chuckled. Everyone but Mrs Smith. 

"It's more serious than you think. This is our first time sending in a Fed. Representative. For all we know, he might even be aware and be waiting for you right now."

I swallowed, not ready to show the fear her words had suddenly sent into my belly. "I can handle myself."

She stared at me for a while, as though trying to get me to tell her something with my eyes. When I didn't, she nodded and reached for the remote that controlled the slideshow.

A picture of a small boy appeared on the screen as the lights dimmed.

"Born to an Irish mother and an American father. Moved to the U S when he was just five years old, got bullied a lot." The picture changed to an older version of the previous person. Perhaps three years older. "His mother died giving birth to his younger sister. No one really knows her name, they call her Carmen." The picture changed to a family picture, with what was now obviously a young Carson holding his younger sister's hand with their tall father towering over them.

"Carmen? What if it's her real name?"

"What makes you think it is?"

"Well, for one there's a haphazardly knitted 'C' on the collar of her dress." Mrs Smith zoomed in, then sighed softly, staring at me.

"Maybe I'm worried about nothing. Maybe you are ready for something as big as this."

I smiled at her. "That's what I'm trying to tell you." I rubbed my palms together. "Anyway, is this how he looks now? Because if it is then he needs an up-to-date photographer. Something about the lighting of this one feels like it was taken in the nineties."

Mrs Smith rolled her eyes and punched the remote. I couldn't quite take my eyes off the photo that popped up next. Wait...

"I thought he was blonde during childhood?"

"He obviously dyed his hair," Johnson muttered again. Hands akimbo, face crumpled, heart bitter.

"Correct, Johnson."

I stared back at the big screen. There was something about his features that had me. I wasn't one to crush on a picture, but there was something about this one... And for the first time since I had learned about this operation I wondered if I should go for this job. Perhaps Johnson was right. Perhaps it wasn't so smart for me to go blonde and start pretending to be his housekeeper. Maybe that would ugly... But I still had to try.

When I realized that I had stared too much, I quickly averted my gaze back to Micah's determined ones. "So when do I start?"

"Right away, Mayers, right away. He already expects a housekeeper. One Josie Philips."

"Copy that, sir."