Story 14 – Part 3 – Caught Unaware

Agent Michaels sighed as he looked at Agents James and Moto behind him. He now had a greater respect for Agent Driver putting up with him as a rookie. Being the temporary senior agent over James and Moto while Dev helped Bosere deal with the agency overhaul was not all that fun. Regg had not realized how much he had tried too hard to be an agent rather than do his job. James and Moto were both trying to be agents first rather than ignore any concept of pride and just do the job.

“So, have you two located our target at all?” Michaels asked as he sat down in the mall food court.

“It would be easier if the mall was evacuated,” Agent James said.

“Well, get used to not getting the easy jobs,” Regg said for the eighth time.

“It would be safer and more logical to evacuate the place,” Agent Moto added.

“And you need to get used to having crazy assignments,” Regg sighed, then he perked up. “I just spotted our trump card.”

“What?” the other two agents asked as Regg stood up.

Without bothering to see if the other two were following him, Agent Michaels began weaving his way through the food court. He had not expected to see Jordan and Tech, but now that he had spotted them he was going to use the opportunity. Maybe James and Moto would start realizing the importance of improvisation. Knowing he would be heard, Regg said Tech’s name with a normal tone. He had to say it twice, but the second time Tech stopped and tugged on Jordan’s sleeve and pointed in the direction that Michaels was coming from.

“Regg,” Jordan grinned. “We’re just running into all sorts of people today. Where’s Dev?”

“On the verge of becoming the next director if he isn’t careful,” Regg answered. “Anyway, I was wondering if you two could briefly help me with my latest assignment.”

“Their civilians,” James snapped.

“Ignore them,” Regg apologized. “Anyway, what I really need right now is Tech’s ears. I know I haven’t asked you in awhile, and it is pretty busy.”

Tech waved his hand, interrupting Regg. Regg grinned as Tech gave him a thumbs-up as indication that he would be willing to help. Agent Michaels knew he would have to learn some more sign language since he was now waiting for Jordan to translate.

“So,” Jordan finally said. “He says he’ll give his best shot. Just tell him what sound you’re looking for.”

“Well, it’s a game for the person who set up the bomb,” Regg sighed. “But they never said anything about getting ‘civilian’ help.”

“And…” Jordan prompted.

“Oh, and basically the bomb is attached to a little remote control car that’s driving around the mall,” Regg explained.

Tech raised his hand and then tilted his head. Regg had to cut off Agent James and Agent Moto a few times as they tried to interrupt. Even though they could not control the noise level in the mall they could keep quite so Tech could filter out a few noises. After a little bit longer, Tech finally started slowly walking through the mall. Jordan and Regg stayed near him and after a little bit they started making occasional comments to each other. James and Moto tailed behind, looking unsure about the whole situation.

Occasionally, Tech would pause and stand still for several minutes. Regg was glad that they had until the end of the day to find the rolling explosive. He doubted it would actually take that long since they now had Tech, but the time was still nice. Panicking was never helpful, something Regg had learned from Carmine and the rest of the freelance crew. Unless you were dead there was no real reason to freak out.

“We’ve covered the entire mall,” James snapped. “Following a child is getting us no where.”

Tech signed something that Jordan would not translate for the sake of being polite.

“He says that the person is changing the batteries of the car nearby,” Jordan finally translated. “In other words, all we have to do is sneak up behind them.”