Chapter 1- Hoover

How is Alex running like this..?

He ran very fast like when he was in the unit. Ran at the same pace as Keith.

He can't run that fast!

But he ran today.

Faster.. Like a cheetah..

Haha... No wonder...

According to Anil, Alex was the son of Satan..! According to colleagues in the unit, Alex was "the best bullet in the unit"!

No wonder then that he ran like a cheetah in spite of the pain!

They ran, sneaking through tall trees, jumping over logs.

Jumping over the swamps they ran.

They ran forward without knowing where to go or in which direction.

Only the moonlight in Interlaken guided their way.

Keith was not running for his life; but to save Alex's life.

To keep him alive!.

To support him.!

Regardless of how things turned out, he was Alex's duty partner.

It doesn't matter if Alex denies it!

Anil officially appointed himself as Alex's duty partner the day he arrived to the unit. Every day for a year and a half since then, Keith protected Alex!

Even though Alex himself terminated the partnership with Keith, Keith himself did not terminate it!

When Anil appointed Damian Wood as Keith's new duty partner, the document did not include Anil's official signature and official seal!

It was because of Anil's reluctance to end the Bishop-Evans partnership!

Therefore, he is still Alex's official duty partner!

Not Stephan!

But himself..

Officially he still has the right!

Keith Evans officially has the right to protect Alestair Tristan Bishop under any circumstances!!

Keith realized that the forest area they had run through was slowly becoming higher ground. Running fast, Alex suddenly slipped and rolled off a slope.

"Ale....x....!!"

Without any hesitation, Keith jumped down the slope and slided. Keith attempted to catch Alex as he tumbled in front of him, but to no avail. Alex fell down the slope and stopped by hitting the trunk of a huge tree there.

"Aaaaaa...hhhhhhh..!!"

Alex screamed in excruciating pain as his stomach hit the tree trunk.

"Alex..! Alex...!"

Rolled over, Alex clutched the left side of his stomach and gritted his teeth in pain. His face bore the marks of an effort to bear severe pain.

"Lea..ve.. me.. here... an..d.. run..for... y..our... life.. Eva..ns!"

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"Knock..knock.. knock"

"Come in.."

Following the command heard from within, Keith opened the door and entered the room.

"Evans!.. So is everything ready?"

Arnold inquired with a smile as he got up from his chair.

"Yes sir.."

Keith answered excitedly.

"Haha.. How proud we are to have an agent from our department join the K12 unit?"

Arnold stated joyfully as he walked over to Keith and placed a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith replied with a smile, responding nothing. Keith found that Arnold had been cordial with him and his colleagues as his head for the past few years.

"You're coming to see us, aren't you?"

Arnold said sounding a little sad. Arnold, who had made a special request to fully retire in a few years, treated all the officers under him in his department like his own children. Among them Keith became his special loved agent as a kid.

"It's not far.. I will definitely come to see you!".

Keith said comforting Arnold.

"Then good luck. Keep up the good work in K12 unit"

Arnold greeted Keith as he shook Keith's hand.

Rushing out of his boss's room, Keith dragged his bag by the hand and walked out of the FBI branch in Pittsburg Street, feeling both excited and nervous. The wheels of the bag were still new, making a gentle hum. Keith loaded his bag into his car parked in the parking lot, took one last look at his old duty station, got into his car and started it up. Keith looked at his smart wrist watch.

It was almost 6 in the morning. Keith immediately set off. On the previous day, he attended a farewell party with fellow officers. He arrived to Pittsburg Street early in the morning to see Arnold for the last time, because Arnold owed him like a father. After a four-hour drive, Keith finally reached to Philadelphia. Without further delay, he drove to the J. Edgar Hoover FBI headquarters building in Philadelphia Street.

The public was not allowed to use the sidewalk near the Hoover Building; That was for security reasons. Because of this, the sidewalk in front of the Hoover Building was not as crowded as other sidewalks. The only individuals there were security officials visiting headquarters, FBI officials, government officials, law enforcement officials, and officials who were somehow connected to headquarters. Several official police vehicles were parked on the sidewalk to one side of the Hoover Building. Keith parked his car in its space.

He showed his FBI ID to a police officer there and the police officer saluted him. Keith got out of the car and took his bag out of the car.

Reaching the main front entrance of the Hoover Building, Keith paused and took a deep breath. Since his days as an FBI agent, he dreamed of joining the K12 unit. He determined and audacious for that. Although he worked at the FBI's Pittsburg Street branch, he often visited the Hoover Building, which was the FBI headquarters. Once there, he witnessed a K12 unit officer. Keith's desire badly went high.

Today his dream has come true.

Entering the headquarters, Keith went straight to the spacious reception and information section. It was located in front of the main entrance. 21 counters were established there to provide efficient service to all those coming to the headquarters. Keith reached to a counter and confirmed his identity to the lady there and explained his business. The young woman pressed the computer there and took the information and called someone on the phone. The young woman leaning on Keith;

"Please take seat, Mr. Evans. He'll be right back."

Keith turned to thank her and took a seat in the row of comfortable seats reserved for guests. Next to him was his wheeled suitcase. It contained his stuff and important documents which he used in his office till now. Those should had taken to his new office. His old office identity card was on his palm. It was handed to him on the day he was assigned to duty at the FBI Pittsburgh branch. Keith loved his job.

From his school days, he wanted to join the FBI. After graduating in International Law from the Defense University, he received special FBI training at Quantico and worked under Arnold as a junior officer in the Pittsburgh branch of the FBI. While doing so, his mind turned to the special unit called K12 established in the FBI. Keith, who dreamed of one day becoming a K12 officer there, his wish became a reality today.

He heard a gentle voice interrupting Keith's trance.

"Keith Evans! Welcome. I'm Nathan Rogers. K12 Unit agent."

A tall young man with light brown hair reached out to Keith and spoke with a smile. Freed from his right, Keith immediately stood up and saluted the young man in front of him by placing his right hand on his forehead like a state security officer, and then cordially extended his hand to him and smiled with him.

"Thanks. Call me Keith... who doesn't know Nathan Rogers, right? Even a rookie at the FBI knows who Nathan Rogers is!"

Nathan laughed pleasantly at Keith's tongue-in-cheek.

"Then call me Nathan. We're going to be one family anyway... come on, let's go."

Nathan invited Keith. Keith nodded and followed him.

Keith, who walked behind Nathan, recalled Nathan's reputation for duty. Nathan Rogers was the leader of the K12 unit. As a very calm and affable FBI officer, his leadership spanned all the state security and administrative departments of the country. Under his leadership, the K12 unit fulfilled uncountable excellent services to the United States of America. Keith guessed Nathan should be around six feet two inches; taller than Keith. Keith remembered that Nathan was only 36 years old, yet had an even older matured leadership look.

They marched to the south of the Hoover Building. They boarded an elevator and went to the 11th floor. In the elevator, Nathan chatted with Keith about his FBI work experience. Keith's heart was instantly drawn to Nathan's friendly demeanor. He realized that he was fortune to work under such a leadership.

The elevator stopped; as Keith and Nathan got out, a large wooden door caught Keith's eye. It was a double door instead of a single door. Nathan pushed, opend the door and invited Keith inside. Entering excitedly, Keith found a typical office environment. A red carpet was placed in the middle of the large space. A computer had placed each desk in the office space. There were around 40 computer desks and a woman or a man was sitting in front of each those computer there. They were occupied in their duties. Some people moved around with files in their hands. One person was performing something in front of a large fax machine while drinking a cup of coffee. A large television was mounted on one wall of this office space.

Walking into the middle of the red carpet, Nathan turned to Keith and extended his hands to both sides of the office space.

"This is our information section.. KIC. Kennel Information Center. You can call it the office area."

"Brilliant.. then where is my work desk?"

Keith quizzed excitedly smiling.

"Yours is there!"

Nathan held out his hand and pointed to a glass door in the office space. The red carpet had spread on the floor, ended at that entrance. That door was also double slides made of glass. Nathan walked in with pulling one slide of the door and Keith followed him in.

It was a big hall. A red carpet was spread over the floor. There were rooms around the hall. The rooms were arranged in the shape of the letter U. Each room had a certain name and a number on the door. At one end, there was a drinking water filter, and an oil painting hung. Near the filter was a comfortable sofa and in the middle of the hall, was a large long table and chairs. Some documents were scattered on the table, and a few young men surrounded it and were discussing some matter.

"Attention boys! This is our new member. Keith Evans. He is our K10 from today."

Nathan addressed to his unit mates.

"This is the common room in our unit."

Nathan introduced to Keith.

With the sound of Nathan's voice, everyone around the table paused what they were buried in and paid their attention to Nathan.

"Hello. Good morning! I'm Keith Evans. I came to the unit from the FBI Pittsburgh branch."

Keith introduced himself with a smile and an enthusiastic greeting.

The faces of all the young men gathered around the table, were bright.

"So this is the guy.. Welcome man. I'm Lucas Jeffrey. K5."

The young man with the round, pimply face jumped forward and greeted Keith with a hug. Keith was suddenly taken aback by the unexpected welcome, But Keith was instantly impressed by Lucas' sociability.

"How are you Evans? I'm Eric Cooper K12"

The red-haired young man shook Keith's hand and welcomed.

"Welcome Evans! I'm Austin Miller K7"

"Welcome to the family Evans. I'm Damian Wood K11. Come to me for anything if you want"

The dark-skinned youth approached him and said.

"If you want a girl, I'll find that too. Of course."

Damian winked at Keith and smiled softly into Keith's ear. Keith couldn't stop laughing. He never expected such a light welcome from a tough unit like this. In his mind K12 unit was as a team that existed in the midst of very strict rules.

"Of course I will"

replied Keith, holding back his laughter with difficulty.

"Welcome Keith. I'm K8 Gavin Peterson."

"Be prepared to die with us starting today, Keith. I'm Logan Reed K6."

Said the curly haired young man with a sunburned skin, as he shook hands with a smile.

"Hello Keith, I'm Colin Thomas K9."

"Where are the others??"

Nathan asked the others as he looked around. Through the glass door, Keith saw two young men walking down the red carpet towards the common room. The first youth was very tall. He quickly stepped towards the glass door. The other young man was a little shorter than him and he rushed up behind the tall young man saying something. The tall young man suddenly stopped and turned to look at the slightly shorter young man coming up behind him. Extending his left hand, he said something. Again he turned around and walked towards the glass door of common room entrance. The short young man was irritated more; Keith could tell by the way his mouth was moving that he was shouting something at the taller young man.

Reaching the glass door of the common room, the tall young man quickly pushed and opened both slides of glass door with both his hands.

Bang!!!

To be continued.

©Diran Athularachchi