After Mia watched Nick drive off, she dashed into the briefing room at the APO headquarters, below the Civic Center station, where Ken, Ryu and Aundrea were waiting for her. She took a seat at the table.

“Sorry I’m late guys, I—,”

“You lied to me!” Ken yelled at Mia cutting her off, as he slammed down a stack of papers on the table. At first Mia was somewhat taken aback at Ken’s sudden outburst. Then she noticed that the papers were a bunch of candid photos of her and Nick on their date earlier that day and from the night before; all were taken by the paparazzi.

Mia remained silent.

“Mia, what do you think you’re doing? Do you realize—?”

“Of course I realize the danger I’m putting him in!” Mia interjected angrily. She was angrier at the fact that it was the damn paparazzi pictures that gave her date away rather than the fact that Ken found out about it.

“It’s not only a danger for him but it’s also a danger for us. Do you realize what this could do to the agency? You’re in danger of exposing us and this agency, which we have worked so hard to keep secret!” Ken continued, crossing his arms across his chest.

“I have the situation under control and I know what I’m doing,” Mia insisted.

“You have your secret identity and our agency to protect, and being in a relationship, especially one that involves exposure to the mass media will be impossible to do.”

Mia felt like a teenage girl being scolded by her parents for dating a guy they didn’t approve of. Ryu and Aundrea shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they watched their fellow agent, whom they never suspected would break an APO code, being scolded by their superior.

Ken gave a tired sigh and turned away from Mia to continue the briefing. “Back on topic…now as you all know, the disc and Agent Davenport are still missing and are yet to be found.”

“Agent Rochester did contact me and said that someone else is after the disc and that he needed the weapon so they could destroy it themselves before it gets to the wrong hands,” Ken said.

“Agent Rochester contacted you? Does that mean he finally resurfaced?” asked Mia curiously.

Ken sighed exasperatedly at Mia’s tone. “Yes, as a matter of fact, he tried to contact you first but you weren’t answering your phone.” He gave Mia a look.

Guess now I know who my mystery caller was, Mia thought.

“I checked on the Black Market database and the EMPE is the most valued item out on the market right now. I also found that the highest bidder went to the name ‘K-Rock,’ which is obviously an alias,” Ryu reported, trying to ease the tension building between Ken and Mia.

“Every crime lord and government agencies around the world want that weapon. There’s also a shipment for Black Corporation coming in New York from Japan that we will need to investigate,” Ken reported. “Will this interfere with any of the Boys’ schedule?” he asked Mia hesitantly.

“No, they’re doing promo in New York a few days before the shipment. I’ll just make an excuse to stay a little longer.” Mia avoided Ken’s gaze. She slid a copy of their itinerary toward Ken still avoiding eye contact with him.

Ken picked it up and studied it and then looked at Mia intently, who still avoided eye contact with him. Though he didn’t approve of her breaking a sacred code, he still trusted her and knew she was one of his best agents.

“Mia, I trust that you will complete this mission without any problems, but you have to be very careful about the position you’re in. You are assigned to protect the Backstreet Boys, first and foremost, as an agent. Our priority is their safety, which you are assigned to protect. Aundrea and Ryu will follow you and the Boys when you travel to New York. We will all meet at the APO safe house,” Ken reported.

He sat down at the end of the table and motioned for Ryu to have the floor.

Ryu stood up and opened a thin silver briefcase revealing several gadgets. He held up a ball point pen.

“Okay, remember the time when you were a kid and you would write secret messages to your friends and then they would have to decode it by brushing lemon juice or whatever to reveal the message written with some sort of invisible ink? Well, I just developed this awesome gadget that revolutionizes that idea.”

“This is not just an ordinary pen. This pen has a special ink that is only visible to a certain type of light which is actually in the pen itself.” Ryu clicked the pen once and wrote his name on a piece of paper to demonstrate the invisible ink; he held up the seemingly blank piece of paper. He clicked the pen twice and shined a beam of light onto the paper. The light revealed his name in his chicken scratch hand-writing.

“This pen would come in handy, especially for you Mia—our little rebel,” he added wryly, “—when you need to write a quick message to one of us and don’t want any of your Boys or associates in The Firm to know what you wrote. It’s also handy for storing liquid, paper, a small knife or even a lock pick. It’s a handy-dandy pen.”

Aundrea and Mia exchanged amused glances at Ryu’s quirky presentation. Ryu handed a pen to each one of them as he dug out another device from the briefcase.

“This was created with my special girl in mind,” Ryu said, winking at Aundrea who giggled in her seat like a schoolgirl. Mia made a face and Ken cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“I developed special contact lenses that enhance infrared, x-ray and night vision. No more lugging bulky binoculars to missions and stake-outs…this is the new wave of technology in eye spy ware. And it’s so comfortable; you won’t even feel ‘em!” He handed them each a pair of his “special” contact lenses.

“That’s all for now. I’ll be back Thursday!” he waved at them as he shut his briefcase and took a bow.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Agent Rochester entered a small nightclub on the Mexican-Californian border.

He flashed his ID to the bouncer who led him to the back of the nightclub down a staircase to a door. The bouncer scanned his keycard on the door to open it. The room smelled of tobacco and alcohol as Agent Rochester entered it. Several men, who sat at tables playing Mahjong, all turned to look at him when he entered the room. Agent Rochester ignored them as he made his way toward an empty plush seat in the corner waiting for a contact he was sent to meet.

A woman dressed in a black cocktail dress caught his eye; she sat cross-legged on a chair at the opposite corner of the room sipping on a glass of martini. She wore a hat that had a veil partially covering her face. He looked her up and down hungrily and wondered what a woman like her was doing in this place. The men in the room seemed to not notice her there as they continued chatting amongst themselves.

He stood up and made his way over to her.

“Did you come here with anyone, Miss?” he asked charmingly as he sat down next to her.

“What’s the matter, Rochester? Forgot who I was already?” the woman purred, giving him a half smile.

Agent Rochester did a double take and the color drained from his face when he recognized her.

“Regina?”

Regina rolled her eyes as she put her martini down on a table in front of her and took off her hat to reveal her face.

“Wow, for a CIA agent you’re pretty slow. And do you seriously think a woman like me would be interested in you?” she said with a laugh.

Agent Rochester glared at her.

“What the Hell are you doing here?” he barked.

“I’m your contact, idiot. You’re here because you have something of mine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Agent Rochester said flatly.

“I am the contact you were assigned to meet and give the weapon to. My father thought it was best to send me, as I’m the only one he could trust,” Regina said smugly.

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Regina’s face scrunched up in anger and leaned forward so that she was only inches from his face.

“Don’t fuck with me or you’ll end up like your partner!” she hissed. The men in the room suddenly stopped chatting and turned to look at them, reaching behind their belts for their guns. Agent Rochester realized they were all Regina’s henchmen.

“What did you do to him?” he asked curiously and slightly impressed.

“Buried his ass somewhere in the Mojave. That bastard was such a pussy. I can’t believe you had to work with him,” she said with a laugh.

Agent Rochester laughed at her remark. “He was a pussy bastard,” he muttered.

Regina raised a pencil-thin eyebrow.

“You’re not concerned about him? That’s a surprise.”

“He found out I’m working for your father,” he grumbled.

“If that bastard partner of yours snitched to your boss—” she began, her voice becoming dangerously shrill.

“He didn’t…thanks to you.”

“So, where is my weapon?” she demanded.

“I don’t have it,” Agent Rochester said.

Regina narrowed her eyes at him.

“Your partner swore to me that you had it!”

“Well that son-of-a-bitch lied to you! He probably got the disc and kept it with him to give to the APO agents since he’s gotten close to them now,” he continued.

“Don’t tell me I buried my weapon with that bastard!” her voice rising to a deadly screech.

Agent Rochester shrugged his shoulders. “It looks like that might be the case, but while you go dig up his body, I’ll go deal with APO and see if they have the weapon,” he said standing up to leave.

“You better have my weapon the next time you come see me,” Regina growled through clenched teeth. “My father is getting impatient.”

“Technically it’s your father’s weapon. So I’ll have it for him after I deal with APO,” replied Agent Rochester as he left the room before Regina could say anything else.

He got out of the club and into his yellow jaguar and drove off.