Story 13 – Part 2 – A Streak of Independence

Dev sighed as he hung up the phone. Agent Michaels would get back at the hotel soon, once he ditched the people tailing him. The other team of agents had screwed up and now Dev was going to have to go and fix all their mistakes. He had wanted to buy his kids tacky souvenirs, not babysit what should have been a top team.

Lately, things had been a mess at work. Agent Driver flopped on the hotel bed with a groan. His dear wife, who was very patient, was beginning to complain about not seeing her husband much for the past few months. Now he had gone on more business trips in the past year than he had all his years as an agent. It was not that he had not noticed his sudden change in duties, but things had been so crazy that he had hardly a chance to think about it.

Now that he had a few moments to breathe, Dev let his mind wander through the past couple of months. He and Regg were not the only ones who had noticed the sudden changes. A few of the other agents had pointed out that they felt like they were being given pop quizzes all the time. Only, instead of pencil and paper, it involved a gun and wits. Suddenly Dev sat up and snatched up his phone. If his dazed thought process was correct, he was going to kill his boss.

“Driver,” Bosere answered. “You’re not supp…”

“You’re retiring?” It was almost more statement than question.

“Thank you,” Bosere laughed. “Driver, I have now won my bet. I’ll be expecting full payment, Kazei.”

“This isn’t amusing,” another voice said. “Your agent wasn’t supposed to call.”

“And didn’t I tell you that if Driver decided to put his mind to it, he would figure it out?” Bosere asked. “Yes, I’ll be retiring.”

“But we’re not being tested to find a replacement,” Driver said. “The new director isn’t even from our agency.”

“Correct again,” Bosere answered. “I told you he was good.”

“This agency is not supposed to be a charlatan joke,” Kazei snapped.

“You’re just annoyed that he figured it out,” Bosere said.

“My room is secure,” Driver snapped. “So tell me what’s going on before Michaels gets back and we head off to save James and Moto.”

“If an agent screws up, they’re on their own,” Kazei growled.

“Then next time don’t send out your incompetent ones with my agents,” Bosere said.

“Your agent is breaking protocol.”

“He’s always been a little independent,” Bosere agreed. “What can I say? He was Owens’ rookie. You do remember Nero Owens, don’t you Kazei?”

Dev shook his head as he listened to Bosere antagonize Kazei. Agent Drvier was pretty sure that he was not going to get along with the new director or any agency reforms. Kazei was not the new director yet, but he was going to need to learn that the agency was never normal to begin with. It seemed that Bosere was taking the long way around with training Kazei. Dev laughed to himself. He truly doubted that Kazei was going to last long in the agency if he did not get an attitude adjustment.

“You need to learn to think outside the box,” Bosere was saying when Dev finally decided to listen to the conversation again. “I think you lied when you said you read everything about this agency. This agency operates by different rules. Now then, I think we’ve beaten this argument to death. Agent Driver?”

“Yes, sir?” Dev answered, glad that his grin could not be seen over the phone.

“I’m tired of letting Kazei learn from doing,” Bosere yawned. “Kazei, watch and learn. Driver, I want you to go rescue Kazei’s agents. They’re just like him. They have no idea how to work in this agency. Use whatever tricks you feel like, but try to keep it small. You only have Agent Michaels as your back up.”

“That’s all I need.”

“What’s all you need?” Regg asked as he entered the hotel room in the ugliest shirt ever.

“Free reign,” Dev said with a wicked grin as he snapped the cell phone shut.