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Scott (Scoop) Butki challenged several of us to come up with a fictional story that met particular criteria.
Here is mine:
Avery Johnson stopped in front of the mens room and carefully checked the surroundings. Being clear, he slowly pushed the door open and entered.
It was as common as any public restroom, but was obviously cleaned daily. He stood for a minute and allowed the door to close as he listened for the sound of any one and looked carefully around the room. Crouching down he looked under the stalls first and then under the sinks.
Avery stood and walked to the first stall and slowly pushed it opened. He glanced at one wall and then the other. There was lots of graffiti, but not what he was looking for. He duplicated the exercise for the second and still did not see what he was looking for.
He stepped forward to the third and next to the last stall and slowly pushed the door open. It was there. Just as he had been told it would be. He carefully checked the wall, stopping for only a short second to look back at the door as if he half expected someone to step through it.
On the gray wall were the words "I am watching you." Below it was a handbill for a club called "The Talking Head" that touted several bands and gave dates. He stood there for a minute and thought about what he was looking at.
He stepped out of the stall and quickly went to the last stall and looked at its walls. Then quickly moved to the first two and looked at those walls before returning to the writing he had been looking for.
His thoughts raced. It struck him that this stall was the only one that had a hand bill of any kind. The cleaning crew would have removed this one, if they had removed others. A person posting handbills would have put them in all stalls. Being the only one in the stall with the message, meant it had to be a message. So, he carefully studied it. He noticed an owl in the upper right hand corner and there was a band highlighted for that day.
Avery quickly pulled his phone out and took three pictures. He stepped out of the stall and hurried for the door as he pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed the number.
The voice said, "Elucidate."
Avery responded, "Fetish."
"Line secure. Go Agent Johnson."
"1325 W. 13th Street. Two teams. I think we have him."
"Pictures received. Teams in route. Good luck."
Johnson closed the cell, turned it over and pulled the battery out. Next he removed the sim card and placed it in his pocket. As he passed the trash can, he casually pitched the remaining parts of the cell into the trash and slid out his second phone and slide the battery into place.
When he arrived at the club, he parked and went inside. It was dark and the music was loud. His eyes quickly scanned the room and he saw Murphy standing near the stage fitting in with the other young people that had come to hear the band. Murphy looked at him, but neither acknowledge the other.
Standard operating procedure dictated another agent in the club, one behind the club and one somewhere near the front. Considering Murphy was on team two, Avery glanced to the other side of the room for Hernandez. He was near the bar talking to a blond that Avery did not recognize. He figured Hernandez would leave with two or three phone numbers and never miss a beat in the operation.
Then he heard the melodic and suave voice chirp in his ear, "Agent Johnson. Fancy seeing you here. You are smarter then I presumed."
Avery was startled to hear the voice of Ankasa, but held his bearing and composure. The combination ear wig/microphone short range transmitter embedded in front of his ear and just behind his jaw was supposed to be on a secure radio wave, but it had obviously been compromised. Needing to know the depth of the compromise, Avery said, "A lot of people have made that mistake."
Avery glanced around looking for any sign of the man as he heard the voice again, "Not a mistake that I will soon repeat."
Avery ran his fingers through his hair.
"Signaling your team?" The smooth voice asked with a chuckle.
Avery felt a coldness envelope him. Not only had the trans-dermal transmitter been compromised, but the subject also knew there were others. Still, it could be an educated guess and he knew he had to play the situation carefully. If the teams had been compromised, then they were in danger too. If not, Avery knew he had the upper hand. He quickly decided to go with his gut as he saw Hernandez light a smoke out of the corner of his eye. A clear answer from the non-smoking Hispanic. "No team this time. I want to kill you myself."
"Still upset over Cairo?"
"You killed 39 people with that sarin gas." Avery kept scanning the crowd as he spoke, needing any sign as to where the terrorist was. He started moving through the crowd hoping Ankasa's eyes would follow him and miss Hernandez who had started moving through the crowd.
"Didn't you hear? It was bus accident." Ankasa said snidely.
"We both know better." Avery hissed as he watched Murphy leave the room and head into the back Kitchen. He felt relieved that no one followed the young agent.
"This time the press will not be able to ignore me."
"They ignore you because you are insignificant."
"No. They ignore me, because your government lied about my actions. You won't stop me."
Avery felt the vibration of his cell phone and slowly slipped it out. Holding it low he pushed his thumb between the top and bottom halves and pushed it open. He read the text message and grinned.
"You mean the small pox canister in the subway? We found that six hours ago." Avery said in a matter of fact way that was only met with silence. He kept looking while waiting for the words to soak in and panic the man. When Avery guessed Ankasa had enough time to pull the detonator out he continued, "Or the one in the box of lettuce in the kitchen?"
He saw the man stand up quickly and he was less then 20 feet away. Avery pulled his Glock 9mm from its holster as he pushed through the crowd. Hernandez moved in their direction, gun in hand.
Seemingly from out of no where, Ankasa pulled a Russian made Stryj 9mm machine pistol and raised it toward the crowd. As he did Avery fired six shots at the man.
Ankasa flew backward into the table and flipped over landing chest down on the floor. Avery charged him, but Hernandez reached him first and grabbed his arm twisting it behind the man. Grabbing his other arm he quickly had cuffs on him. The two men pulled him up.
Agent Johnson moved in front of his prey and pulled the mans shirt open. Six bruises were forming in a tight pattern. Pulling the shirt open more Avery saw that next to the red and blueish welts was a tattoo of an owl, just like the one on the handbill.
"Rubber bullets." Avery said to Ankasa as he gave the man a big smile. Hernandez was joined by Murphy and the two men drug Ankasa away.
