Beggars can't be Choosers

I hold the phone to my ear as I hear one of my bishops blubber. "Allen wanted to prove himself so we gave him a task because the rest of my people were busy. You know, preaching is a long road so..."

"NOW THAT YOU TRUSTED SOME PRECIOUS INFORMATION TO AN ENTRY-LEVEL, IT'S IN THE WRONG HANDS!!!!" My bishop wasn't blubbering anymore. Just dead silent.

"Tell me this; was Allen's death worth precious information falling into enemy hands?"

"No, his death wasn't worth it," replies one of my top bishops.

I look at some neighborhood children kicking a ball outside from my office window. "Then since this is your screw up, what do you suggest can be done to retrieve this precious information?"

"The information in the vial is a paper dipped in acid. Once the paper leaves the tube and gets exposed to the elements, that message is lost. If the people who took his vial are clever, they'll have the paper locked in an indoor lab to retrieve the information."

"Do you remember what information Allen was protecting?"

"That vial had information about your financial holdings in the Bahamas." Of course it did. My financial holdings in the Bahamas is one of my biggest reserves.

"Frankie, I can't believe this has happened! I'm holding YOU personally responsible for this disaster." I hold my ear away as Frankie's blubbering becomes a wail of pleas. Please, begging when you know you're done is just pathetic. So, I hang up with Frankie and dial a different number.

"Joseph? It's your commander speaking. There's a bishop that needs to be taken off of the board."

The line crackles for a moment. "Who is it?" asks Joseph, one of my knights.

"Frankie Diumenti. He left some critical information in the wrong hands so he is disposable now."

"Understood," replies Joseph, before the line clicks off.

The knights keep everyone on my board in check. They also kill whoever becomes a liability. I wouldn't have killed Frankie if he owned up to his screw up. However, he had to go and start begging. I don't care if Frankie Diumenti was a Catholic Priest.

Begging is a huge no-no in my organization. If Frankie didn't get the freaking memo then he shouldn't have sold out his flock in joining my cause to begin with!

Taking a deep breath, I open my laptop. As I pull up the CIA camera feeds, I frown as Agent Cloak slips into one of the CIA top level laboratories. Since their labs are in the basement, everything is illuminated by flourescent lights.

Ayla smiles as she hands the tube to one of the techs, who puts the vial through various tests before even trying to open it. If only Conroy was the one who found the vial in Allen's wrist. He would have opened the tube to the elements for sure. However, it had to be clever Ayla.

None the matter, I still have a counter strike to implement. Since they're still testing the vial, I have some time to play with.

Agent Cloak isn't the only clever person working in the shadows. I better teach her that lesson once and for all.

I leave a text message to a contact of mine. A useful pawn in a useful place who trusts me even though he's never seen my face. It's amazing how people in my line of work trust the faceless when they're better off trusting the fearless. Fortunately, I happen to be both.

How cute is Ayla once the vial is open in an incubator box. She writes down the series of numbers and looks at her note like a child on Christmas. Undoubtedly, she'll contact Agent Dagger with her lead and they'll find what they're looking for. Fools!