“Shit Sam none of them are open!” Mallory panted breathlessly. She started up another flight her shoes echoing off the gritty cement walls. Sam felt her shoe slip in the dirt that had accumulated over the years. She caught herself on the railing and kept going.
“Mom, Sue come on!” Sam called behind her.
“What the fuck is going on? Why are they chasing us where are the police?” Sue yelled. Suddenly loud explosions came from below as the men opened fire. Bullets panged off metal and blew cement shards at the women as they impacted with the wall. Sam covered her face and pulled her mom to keep her going. “I’ve got one!” Mallory yelled. “It’s the roof door though.”
“Its good enough!” Sam hollered. She reached the top of the stairs and burst through the door her mom and Sue right behind her. Sam turned and slammed the door shut looking for a lock.
“Shit” she muttered to herself. The damn thing had no lock. She looked franticly around her for something to jam the door but when she didn’t find anything she pulled everyone behind a large vent that protruded out of the roof.
“Is there any other way off the roof?” Sam asked Mallory. Mallory just shook her head as tears streamed down her face. Sam sighed. She didn’t want it to come to this. She wanted to keep her secret for as long as possible, but now she had no choice. She slung her backpack around her shoulder and dug into it.
“What are you doing?” her mom asked. She peeked over the vent to look at the door.
“Keep your damn head down and give me a minute.” Sam hissed. She pulled various items out of her bag and started to take them apart. The others looked at her with confusion. They heard the roof door burst open and feet crunch as men walked out.
“Ladies there is no reason to run. We just want to talk to you. You have nothing to fear.” A man called. His voice was light almost feminine.
“Then why did you shoot at us?” Sam called. If she could just buy some time to finish what she was doing. “That was one of my more eager men. He was dealt with severely. I promise he wont do that again.” The man said. Sam started putting the pieces together like she had done hundreds of times before in training. Soon the object actually resembled the gun it was supposed to.
“So if I come out right now what will happen?” Sam asked. She raised a pocket mirror up just a little to see the men. Nearly a dozen of them stood lined up on the roof. They all had guns out and pointed at the vent. The talker was a tall thin man. His head was shaved and tattooed, he had earrings in both ears and he wore heavy leather.
“We will talk, that is all.” He said. Making signals with his men. Two of them silently started to move forward.
Sam pulled her belt off and ripped it open. Inside was an ammo clip. She attached that to the automatic she had just assembled. Her mom stared open mouthed at her. Sue and Mallory mirrored her. Their eyes wide with fear, held curiosity. Sam smiled and popped up, pulling the trigger as she did so. She caught the two men sneaking up on her at mid chest and ripped them in half. At close range this was brutal. She sprayed back and forth into the lined up men. Many had already jumped for cover when they saw the gun, but the slower ones were helpless under the onslaught. When Sam’s gun started dry firing she dropped back down. The men took this time to fire on the duct.
“Where did you get that? What’s going on?” Mallory said. Sam hushed her and reached behind her coat to two magnums she always carried. She pulled them out and waited until the men stopped firing. She motioned for her mom to hold the mirror up again.
The men were behind various pop-ups from the hotels heating and cooling system. Sam took a deep breath and stood up. The men popped out, guns pointed. Sam smiled as she pulled the trigger. She grunted as something hit her in the chest, knocking her back but not stopping her as she stepped around the vent and started walking forward. She took one man low in the stomach, he screamed as he fell to the ground. Sam was knocked back again as something hit her in the side. She fired at two men near the door, blowing through ones head and shooting the other in the chest twice. Something hit her in the back and she pitched forward rolled and came up in a crouch. She turned and was face to face with the tattooed man. Sam emptied her gun into him. His shots hitting her in the chest drove the wind out of her and sent her to the ground.
She rolled over onto her stomach and came up on her hands and knees. She crawled to the tattooed man. His eyes held disbelief. He reached for his gun and Sam knocked it away. “Who sent you?” she demanded.
“I shot you.” He said incredulously he gasped and went limp as his eyes rolled up in his head. Sam growled as she stood. Her mom came running up to her.
“What happened? Where did you get guns? Where did you learn to shoot like that? Why aren’t you shot? What’s going on?” she grabbed Sam and shook her. Sam winced form the pain and shook her off.
“I’ll explain in a minute.” She said looking past her mom to the man she had gut shot. He was on a phone talking to somebody. “Hey!” Sam yelled running up to him he laughed as he hung up.
“There are more coming bitch! They’ll get you even if we didn’t!” he sneered at her. He snaked behind his coat and pulled a little shooter. Sam pulled a knife and stuck it in his throat before he could lift the gun. She heard someone squeal behind her and thought it might be Mallory. She pulled her knife out and wiped it clean on the man's shirt.
Sam ripped her shirt open and pulled the bullets from her kevlar vest. She turned to face her mom.
“Ok, you want to know what going on? Well I’m not exactly sure but it might have something to do with my job.” Sam said walking back to her bag. She pulled her automatic apart and started to build something else with it. “I don’t really work in a gym. Well, I do but it’s just a cover. Remember when I said I wanted to be CIA or NSA, well three years ago I was approached in school by an agent. He recruited me. I went and trained in a boot camp. You all thought I was at Christian camp. Well I’ve done jobs all over the US. When you guys think I’m on a class trip or a retreat I’m usually doing a job. I’m based primarily in the US, but I’ve done a few Canadian jobs. After graduation, the trainer job was a setup.” Sam snapped the last piece into place and went over to the door. She closed it and turned her thing on. It was a welder. She slowly went to work on the door.
“Are you on a job right now?” Sue asked.
“See that’s where I’m confused. I’m taking a vacation. I shouldn’t be on a job, nor should I be shot at for no apparent reason. Remember that guy who wanted to take our pictures in the square the other day? And them he disappeared. Well he approached me with a call sign. There are different ones to tell you what kind of job is being offered to you. Well his call sign was one of war. It’s only used in dire circumstances. I declined because I’m not used to Europe. I’m out of my element here and if there is a war? I sure as hell don’t want to be in it. He got pissed and left. The next thing I know I’m on a rooftop being shot at.” She finished up the last of the door and turned. “So now that you know my secret, what do you think?”
“Normally I would think what you do is really cool, but its one thing to know what you do then to see it happen and to be a part of it.” Mallory said. “But if we get out of this alive? I support you.” Sue nodded and so did her mom. Mallory turned and looked around her. She ran behind a vent and retched. Sam sighed. This was not how she wanted them to find out. This was supposed to be their vacation in Europe. Sam went over to her bag and pulled a phone out. She snapped it open and punched in a number.
“Guten Tag.” A husky German woman said.
“English” Sam, said. The phone clicked and another woman picked up.
“Hello?”
“I need an extraction.” Sam said. Her mom came over to her. With a question in her eyes. Sam held a finger up signaling her to wait.
“Name and identification code please.”
“Agent Parker, six two three”
“I’m sorry Agent Parker. You are on vacation. Uses are prohibited.”
“Let me speak to a supervisor please.”
“One moment” the phone clicked again and a man came on the line.
“Agent Dougy, what can I do for you Agent Parker?”
“I’ve got a code Jade and need extraction.” Sam said. She motioned for the others to come over to her.
“A code Jade is family and or friends finding out who you are. There is no need for extraction.”
“How do you think they found out? Do you think I blurted it out, or maybe I waved my gun around.” Sam said rolling her eyes.
“Your on vacation how did they interfere in a case?”
“I’m not on a case, I am how ever under attack. We are on a roof with men coming to kill us! I have taken several out already but they don’t seem to want to give up.”
“A helicopter is on the way. How many people are with you?”
“Three.” Sam turned as banging started on the roof door. “Shit how long till it gets here?”
“Fifteen minutes”
“Not enough time. I’m out of ammo I need backup. Is there an agent in the area?”
“Hang on.” He talked to someone behind him. The muted voice responded and he came back on the line. “Yes there is an agent in the hotel next to yours. She is coming in, she’ll be there in a minute.” He disconnected.
“Shit!” Sam threw the phone to the ground. She looked at the surrounding hotels. How were they going to get here in time? She picked her phone up and put it in her bag with the rest of her things. She walked over to the dead men and rooted through their things pulling extra ammo out and taking their guns. She took the phone from the man she stabbed and put it all in her backpack.
“What now? Are we getting help or no?” Mallory said in a panic.
“Help is coming.” Sam said. She just hoped it was before those men decided to blow open the door. A faint rustle in the wind pulled her eyes skyward. A dark shape was flying down from one of the buildings. It looked like a human sized bat. Sam chuckled. These European agents sure knew how to make an entrance. The woman was wearing a flying suit, webbed to slow her descent to earth. She glided down to a stop in front of Sam’s mom. She gave everyone the once over and approached Sam.
“You must be Sam,” she said in a heavy German accent, she extended her hand. “I am Liza”