Regina walked through the streets of Chinatown in New York City when her cell phone rang. She pulled out her phone from her purse and checked the caller ID. She was in no mood to talk to any of her henchmen telling her they failed at another errand she sent them to do. But she answered it immediately when she saw that it was her father.
“I’m in Chinatown,” she said.
“I’m getting impatient,” his deep voice resounded on the other end.
“I know, Father, but my contact is having trouble delivering the weapon,” she answered.
“I have no use for excuses!” he shouted.
Regina winced. She hated not pleasing her father, which is the only thing she wanted more than anything.
“I’ll have it for you soon. I won’t fail you, Father,” she answered, almost desperately. She heard her father take in a deep breath as if trying to keep his cool.
“Alright, keep an eye on my shipment until I get there. Kill anyone who tries to get to it. I also have another task for you while you are there.”
“I’ll do anything,” she declared.
“Good. I want you to pose as White Tiger,” he ordered.
Regina took a long pause. “What? Why would you want me to pose as that—“
“Just do it!” Black snapped.
Regina sighed exasperatedly. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
“Good, I’ll contact you when I arrive.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
She waited until her father hung up. Grumbling, she dialed for her least favorite contact. She waited impatiently until he answered.
“Rochester,” he answered after a couple of rings.
“My father is getting impatient with you,” she barked at him.
“Nice to hear from you, Ms. Black,” he said sarcastically.
“I want my weapon!” she snarled.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s being sent to me as we speak. I had to take it out of hiding,” Rochester replied.
“I hope you didn’t sell it to your CIA friends!” she accused.
“If I had done that, you wouldn’t be calling me from New York and you’d be in confinement right now,” he retorted.
“I don’t take kindly to people who double-cross me!” she warned.
“Just be patient,” he grumbled since his own patience was wearing thin just hearing Regina’s banshee wail on the phone.
“Well you better find it soon!” Regina screamed. “If you don’t bring it to me in 12 hours, I will tear you from limb to limb!”
The sound of a dial tone greeted Regina’s ear. It took all of her might not to smash her phone onto the pavement she walked on. Agent Rochester had hung up on her as she was delivering a threat to him. Pissed off that he didn’t seem to fear her as she had hoped, she threw her phone in her purse and continued walking until she reached her destination.
Agent Rochester sat alone in his condo. He shut off his phone and tossed it carelessly on his desk. He hated hearing Regina scream empty threats to him, but it kind of amused him a bit. He enjoyed getting under her skin.
He got up from his desk and walked to his front door. A small thin manila envelope marked with “BMG” was slid under his door. Not bothering to see who had given him the mysterious envelope, he picked it up and brought it to his desk to examine it, even though he knew exactly what was in it. He tore the envelope open and slid out the new Backstreet Boys CD.
He smiled to himself as he finally held the embedded weapon in his hands.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mia stood in front of the mirror and looked herself over. She was getting ready to go clubbing with the Boys later that night. She was wearing a stunning, sleeveless black, cocktail dress with matching black pumps. Her hair was up in a curly ponytail. Mia had just placed her communicator, disguised as earrings, in her ears when there was a knock on her door.
She opened the door and saw Nick’s jaw drop.
“Wow, you look amazing!” Nick said, looking her up and down.
Nick continued staring at Mia when one of their security guards came by and cleared his throat.
“Ride’s here to take you guys to the Music Lounge,” he said.
“Alright, we’ll be right down, Q,” Nick replied, his eyes still glued to Mia’s outfit.
The Boys and their security team arrived at the Music Lounge. The paparazzi flocked around the entrance snapping pictures of the Boys and their entourage. Mia tried her best to avoid the cameras again.
They finally made their way inside the club and were ushered to the VIP section which was roped off by their security. They sat around the booth and a waitress went around taking orders of their drinks.
Nick led Mia down to a seat.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Nick said giving her a drink the waitress had just put on the table.
“Thanks,” Mia said, taking a sip of her drink.
“You wanna dance?” Nick crooned in Mia’s ear. Mia nodded and followed Nick out on the dance floor below the VIP section. The rest of the Boys and their dates were on the dance floor as well.
Nick led Mia to the dance floor and grooved to the beat. As she danced with Nick to the music, Mia quickly scanned the room for Aundrea and Ryu and found them dancing a few feet away from her and Nick. They exchanged subtle nods with her as they continued dancing. She turned back to Nick and enjoyed the music.
A slow song came on making Mia snuggle closely to Nick as she rested her palms on his chest and Nick held onto her waist. She rested her head against his chest as she and Nick swayed to the slow beat of the music.
She looked toward a booth in the back corner of the room. She saw a man looking at her intensely from where he sat in the booth. The booth was too dim to recognize the man’s face.
She turned her head to scan the room for Aundrea or Ryu and found them at the bar ordering drinks. She subtly turned her communicator on and was about to alert them about the man in the booth, but when she turned back to the booth it was now empty. She looked around the club for the mysterious man and just saw him disappear around the corner leading to the restrooms.
“Are you looking for a comfy spot on my chest?” Nick laughed when he noticed her moving around.
Mia smiled up at Nick. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said, pulling away from him.
“Oh okay, I’ll meet you back at the table.” Nick kissed her sweetly before letting her go and heading back up to the VIP booth.
Mia nodded and watched Nick go up to the VIP section where AJ and the rest of the guys were sitting.
Mia headed to the back of the club and saw the sign that read “Restrooms.” She was about to contact Aundrea through her communicator, but as she rounded the corner a large hand grabbed her arm. Out of reflex, she grabbed the hand and flipped her attacker on his back.
Mia looked down and saw Agent Davenport lying on the floor. He was now styling a shorter hairdo with a darker hue, and he had some dark stubble on his chin. She almost didn’t recognize him.
“Agent Davenport?” she asked, surprised at his new appearance.
He got off the floor and stood in front of her. “Nice dress,” he commented, trying to ease their already tense meeting.
Mia ignored his remark. “What are you doing here?” she asked folding her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. She was relieved that no one was around to witness their encounter.
“It’s a long story, but I followed you here. I didn’t know how else to contact you. I don’t want any of the other APO agents to know I’m here. You’re the only one I could trust right now and the less your team knows about, the better,” he added.
Mia raised her eyebrow. She didn’t know what he was getting at but she didn’t care.
“Where have you been? Why did you steal the weapon out of our vault?” Mia demanded.
“I’m sorry but I had no other choice,” he replied.
“No other choice?” Mia repeated.
“Look, I’m sorry. I had to do it. I figured it would be better if I handled this on my own.”
“Handle what on your own?” Mia asked confused.
“I don’t have a lot of time to explain right now…Agent Rochester is after me and the disc,” Agent Davenport finally said.
“What do you mean ‘after you’?” Mia asked carefully.
Agent Davenport sighed. “Look, I don’t want to get you involved anymore than I can help it. Let’s just say…it’s CIA business.”
“Well, it’s too late for that now. Why can’t you tell me why your own agency is after you? Did you piss off the wrong people? Look, if you’re in some kind of trouble, I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s going on,” Mia said in a serious tone. Normally, she could care less about “CIA business,” but somehow she sensed Agent Davenport was in more trouble than he was letting on.
Suddenly, Aundrea came through the link on Mia’s communicator.
“Mia, where are you? You found something?”
Mia hesitated before she responded, “I’m taking a bathroom break. Be back in a minute.” She waited until Aundrea clicked her communicator on standby then she looked to Agent Davenport.
“I have to get back,” Mia said, handing a small business card and the special pen to Agent Davenport. “This has the address to our safe-house here in New York, and it also has our cell phone numbers.”
“Use the light in this pen to read it. Make sure you’re alone if you plan on going there in person and please don’t call me tonight,” she added.
Agent Davenport took the card and pen and looked at it. The business card looked blank.
He was about to ask Mia about the card but she had already disappeared around the corner leaving him by the restrooms.
