Part 1 Sweet Capture

"Can you see anything?" I asked through my throat mike. I had been shut in that dark cubbyhole for over 3 hours by then. I had never tried a sensory deprivation tank myself, but I imagine that this was a similar, and not entirely pleasant, experience. It was stifling hot day and the broom cupboard's oppressive atmosphere was really starting to wear me down. I was cramped hot and miserable and, like the previous Sundays, it was looking like a no-show. The lack of response told me all I needed to know.

"OK…… we'll give it another hour and then wrap it up" I said with resignation and the knowledge that I'll be pulling this duty next week. I was thinking of what I felt like doing to the snitch that had given us this gem of a tip, when Bosch, my partner, crackled into life in my left ear.

"Ooh, you should see this one. A real class act, well out of my league. You know, maybe when I get lucky…" I had endured his commentary of the passing talent for long enough. I was just not in the mood for any more.

"Bosch, will you just shut it? I tell you, I've been shut in here for hours now and what I really don't need is your non-stop, endless, annoying…" Bosch interrupted me in mid tirade. The tension in his voice cut me dead.

"Hold… You aren't going to believe this. What do you know about the mark?" I felt myself shrug in the darkness

"Why?" I asked in alarm, sensing in his voice that something was wrong. Please let it be our mark, but what had upset Bosch so much?

"Like I said, you know that class act I was just describing to you?"

"I am not in the mood for this…" I began

"Nah, you don't get it," Bosch replied, "She's back. She is at your door and looks like she is working on it." I held my breath, Imagining what Bosch was seeing. Now he had the job of being my eyes, guiding me in what was going on.

"You got video?" I asked

"Affirmative, control. She's in and coming towards you. Now on the stairs. Recommend radio silence. Copy?" The sudden switch to official lingo indicated to me that things were getting serious and it was time for action. I replied by clicking the button on my mike to send him a beep in return.

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"She's now past your point, and now entering the office. The target has now taken the bait. Engage mark." Once again, I pressed the button on my mike to let Bosch know I was moving in to take the mark out. Breathing in slowly and with enforced calm, I pulled out my piece and stepped out of the cupboard, edging out and along the corridor slowly and silently, toward the office, where Bosch had told me she was.

Peeping around the doorway I first glimpsed her. Bosch had been right about one thing, she was pretty damn classy. Long blonde hair, with finely sculpted facial features. I had trouble believing that she was actually the target that I had been waiting for so long. I knew she was the enemy, but I knew I was having trouble believing it. Also I knew that that sort of thinking would get me killed. I steeled myself as I moved in for the kill.

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"Hold it right there" she turned to face me as I rounded the doorway. She raised her arms in surrender. "Move away from the desk and walk round slowly, very slowly". She edged her way around the desk. She was dressed in leather trousers and a dark brown pullover. As she moved around the desk, I tracked her with my gun held in both hands. She slinked slowly around to the desk, always maintaining eye contact with me.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

She moved like lightning. I had never even noticed the pile of papers scattered across the table, or the gun that was underneath them. I was lucky. Before she could draw a bead on me, I had fired. She staggered backwards, a shocked look on her face. Her gun fell on the floor and she looked down at it in dismay, slowly, she fell towards the floor and moved no more.

"What is going on control?" Bosch crackled through my earpiece.

"Target contained, going onto stage two of operation" I replied through the mike as I took out some metal cuffs from my pocket. "Going off the air now, number two, think the lady and myself need some privacy. End of transmission."

"End confirmed, you lucky bastard." Bosch replied in his singsong manner. I nodded to myself and rolled her onto her front and shackled her wrists behind her. After a few minutes, she started to come around and realized that her hands were cuffed behind her. She began to wriggle to try and get free, oblivious to me.

mmmmmm

"Good to see you are back with us" I said out loud. She looked at me with total disdain. "You may as well stop struggling. We have a long time ahead of us" She stopped struggling and lay on the floor, motionless. Now came the difficult part of the plan.

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