Prologue

He knew his time had come, but he was not prepared.  Not like this, not here, not now. Neal fell back, looking at his killer straight in the eyes, “It had to be done,” he said. “You know that as well as me.”  Neal looked at his pale chest, bloodied, and bruised.  It didn’t matter anyway.  I got it out, I got it out.  As he collapsed and was shoved to the hard pavement, and all Neal could think of was the only person he truly trusted, his only daughter, Sarah.

Chapter 1

“...And may God send him to heaven.”

It’s been one week since my father’s funeral, one entire week of “I’m so sorry” and “I’m here for you.” All those lies they told me because they still think I’m a little girl. My father was never there for me because of his work in the CIA, but he was still my father and I loved him anyways. I swore to myself on the day I got picked up by the officers, that I was going to catch whoever was behind this.

No matter the cost.

Chapter 2

“...And may God send him to heaven.”

Darian stared at the girl kneeling over her father’s grave 20 feet behind the mass of friends and family.
Poor girl.  Poor, poor girl.  You don’t know what your father really did.  Too bad you’ll soon be involved as well.  Darian never imagined that the plan would have to come to this.  How is that the commander is always right?  As predicted, he would have to do the unspeakable once more.  And his target was standing directly in front of him, ready to die.

Chapter 3

Was it yesterday he died?

I’m not able to answer that question, from what I remember it was only a few days ago but I look at the date and it has been two weeks, two weeks. Since then nothing has changed I still don’t have enough courage to face the world again, I just want to join him down in the ground, far from all my problems, but I won’t. Not for him. I swore to myself to find his killer, and I will follow through, despite all the cost.

Worst of all, these kids at school don’t stop throwing paper balls at me.  I may have been mean to them all these years, but I still can’t believe that they would do this to me now, it's enough I have to deal with everything at home. Luckily, my house is close to school, and now, I don’t have to be outside much, near all of the bullies. Best of all, today was the day our mail came, and now is the time for me to read more depressing apology letters (yay!).

That’s when I noticed the man with the package.

I knew it wasn’t our usual mailman, and when I called out to him he started to run away. I knew this was important, and ran behind him. I could hear my mom call my name behind me, but I ignored her. I needed to know who this guy was, he has the answers. With every step I took, he took two. I knew it was a lost cause when I turned the corner he was gone. Just like that.

When I opened the package it was a VHS tape. Something only dad  used...something Dad used! I rushed to find the tape player, which took me forever, but when I finally found it, I plugged it in. Then I pressed play.
“Hey Sarah, if you’re listening to this that means…”

Chapter 4

Darian already knew what she was going to hear. Not word for word, but he had been around Neal for long enough to know what he would say to his only daughter.  What Darian didn’t know, however, is how farl he would go to explain what he can. 

Darian’s life was a tough one.  Abused and neglected by his parents, he fled Mexico for the States in hopes of a better life.  His street smarts and his persuasiveness attracted the CIA.  Darian was there for the money, never on the same side twice. This time, the CIA had the higher bid.  Because of his small height, he is able to easily adapt to any kind of situation, whether to appear as a college student, or as the professor, and these traits are what allowed Darian to be as good as he could be at his job.

The day he got hired was a memorable one. 

On a hot August evening, Darian and his partner Sebastian decided a Victorian mansion would be a sweet place to get some extra cash for a decade’s worth of rent.

“Come on man,” Sebastian whined, “I don’t think it’s worth it.  There’s probably security cameras all around the house.”

“Don’t worry, my amigo,” Darian replied as he eyed over the medallions in the window, “I’ve been watching this house for the past week, and the couple leaves at exactly 7:00PM each night.”

“Who would leave at 7:00 every night, and why would they?  I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.”

“Who cares?  Let’s bring it together and go break in,” Darian whispered. He looked around frantically, then closed his eyes, and turning himself back towards Sebastian.

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

10 minutes into their heist, all of the lights shut off, leaving them completely in the darkness
“Don’t worry boys,” the darkness whispered. “You’re in good hands now.” 

Sebastian released an unusually feminine sound and promptly fled the house, never to be seen by Darian again.  Darian stood, afraid but curious.

“As you can see, boy, I chose you,” the darkness said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you really think that a couple would always leave at 7:00PM each night?  If you were rich, you wouldn’t be doing the night shift.  Although your friend was correct, I came for you.”

“Why?”  Darian, who was completely confused at this point and continued to look in the direction of the sound to try and find out who was speaking.

“To work for us, the CIA.  We’ve been watching you for quite a long time, Darian, and you have the skills to become one of the best.”

“What if I don’t want to do it, what if I refuse, what then?”

“Well,” it replied, “I guess we’ll have to send you back to Mexico, and we all know that you don’t want that now do you?”

Darian knew he never had a choice, but he seemed happy with the decision anyway.  He had come over the border illegally, but this was the time for redemption.  The CIA was about to turn a street criminal into one of the world’s best agents.

Chapter 5

“Mom, you saw the tape for yourself,” I yelled, “Dad was killed, and he knew he was going to be killed, he made a video and everything. What kind of person, especially one works for the CIA, would make a video to be sent to his children in case he died unless he thought he was mom?”

“Honey, for the last time I don’t want to hear this,” Kate sobbed “It’s enough that your father died, in an accident let me remind you, and I don’t need his daughter, my daughter, to follow in his footsteps.”

“But mom, you saw the video, I mean how dumb can you be not to understand that dad was murdered, and from someone on the inside! He said it himself that he was investigating something bigger than himself and that might get him killed, he said they would say it was an accident.”

“Stop, babygirl, I know it has been tough on you, but you have to stop imagining all of this. The CIA said it was an accident, so it was an accident. You always were like your father, always fighting for what you believed in.”
“But mom…”

“No buts, I’m done with this talk, go to your room and be thankful that your father left us with enough, and don’t even think about continuing down that path young lady.”

“Going down what path mom? The path to bringing the killer to justice, I’m sorry I’m starting to think you don’t want me to find the killer.”

“I did not mean that and you know it, so take it back right now!”

“No mom, I’m not, because I know what I’m doing is right, and why you can’t see that means there is something wrong with you mom, not me.”

“Go to your room young lady, I can’t deal with this now, losing your father was enough.”

I know he was killed, I know it. The evidence is all there, how does she not see it. I’m going to finish what dad started, and who ever killed my dad is going to regret it. I’m going to make him regret it.
     
Chapter 6

He was there the night of the crime.  The fateful story repeated a thousand times in his head.  It is one he never wants to relive, one he never wants to see again, yet one he seems to always see.  Unknown to all, including his superiors, he was there, lurking in the shadows.  Waiting, watching in all of its glory and horror.  It wasn’t right, why did it have to be his partner.  Why him?  Who chose him instead of me that night.  It’s just not right, NOT RIGHT! 

Darian didn’t believe in fate, and nor did he intend to.  However, something seemed different that night, like a supernatural presence.   Something, or someone near to him, a connection, maybe?  Darian shook it off as he tried to go to sleep.  But he couldn’t stop thinking about that girl.  That girl.  That was it!  Although too tired tonight, he knew that Sarah had to be of some use to him, but what could it be? The video must have some of my questions answered.   I have to meet with Sarah.  I guess I’ll go back to my old days and do some old school lurking.

Chapter 7

“Hey Sarah, if you’re listening to this that means…”

I’ve seen this a thousand time, and I don’t know what I missed. I’ve watched everything in every way, he must have put a secret message into it like the movies, but he didn’t. I’ve tried every code I knew that he taught me when I was younger.

“Hello this is the CIA Director Matteo Malvolio, is Kate Moreau home? I am here to give my sincerest apologies about the loss of your husband. Anyone home?”

Right then and there I knew two things, not to trust anyone, -- that is what my dad told me through his video-- and that I needed to hide this tape, and fast. The only problem is I don’t know where to put any of it. All of my books filled with notes of me trying to figure out who would want to do such a thing to my father. I hid it in the only possible place I could think of on such short notice, under the table.

“Hello and back Director Matteo, thank you for coming.” My mom said.

All I saw were three large men, all looking exactly alike. Large build, black sunglasses black suits, all so depressing, yet so scary at the same time.

I knew things could get bad if he looked under the table, he would ask me what it was and everything, I can’t trust him or anyone else.

“Hey Sarah,” The Director exclaimed, “You know the last time I saw you, you were only half my height, and look at you now! I’m really sorry about your father kiddo, and I’m here for you, the whole United States Government is here for you.”

“Thank you Matteo, Sarah, do you have anything to say to these kind men?”

“Oh yeah, thank you.”

“No problem, anything for a fallen soldier’s family. If you need anything Kate, I am here for you.”

“Thank you, that is very kind of you, I’ll be right back with some coffee.”

“So, Sarah, did you get anything in the mail recently?”

“Uh, no. Why do you ask?”

“No reason, just trying to talk to you.”

I started to panic, I know he thinks I have something or that I am hiding something from him, I don’t know what to do, and I’m too scared to do anything but leave this room and make sure he doesn’t look for the box.
I can’t let anything happen to it.

Chapter 8

      Darian felt like he had nothing to worry about, that’s what the Director told me, but when has the Director been very truthful lately?  He has been waiting for this moment all day, and he wasn’t happy about it.  Darian knew that the Director never said anything good when he ‘invited someone’ to his office.

“Come in,” boomed the Director through the thick ornate, maple door.  “Do you know why you’re here, agent?”
“No sir, but I may have an idea.”  

Darian knew he was very blunt, but the Director always had a way of giving a lot of suspense to his thoughts.
“Well, we don’t have enough time to wait for you to guess correctly, I am a busy man as you may know.

So, did you, Darian, kill Neal that night?”

“Sir,” Darian responded impatiently, “we have been over this multiple times with the interrogators, I didn’t kill Neal, and you know it!”

“How can I be so sure of that?  You weren’t at your home the night of the murder.”

Crap.  Darian remembered that his house was thoroughly bugged as soon as he became a CIA agent, and that’s why he held all of his private conversations far away.

“We also traced your GPS location to approximately the same location of the murder. You do enjoy wearing that blue hoodie often.” 

That struck Darian as odd, he had not worn his blue hoodie that night, and nor as the Director, or anyone in the CIA for that matter seen him wearing a blue hoodie.  He had hardly worn it anymore, it was an oversized gift from his grandmother when he was 14.  This doesn’t feel right, I need to get out of here.

“Hey!  Darian!  Are you awake?” yelled the Director.

“Wha-oh, sorry, sir.  I was just daydreaming for a second.”

“Well, as I was saying, you are going to be held here for a few days until we get this sorted out.  The public is getting angry and we need to give answers, or everything is going to fall apart.  And don’t be thinking about escaping either, we have 24 hour security with extra SWAT teams on call.  I’m sorry agent.”

And with that, the door closed loudly behind him, with and extra metallic sound after it.
I need to get out of here.
   
Chapter 9

I found it.

For the past few days, I’ve been researching into what my father was doing, what he was really doing. What got him killed.

I learned a lot about my dad in the past few days doing this research, mainly why he likes this job so much. I’ve only been digging into all his old notebooks and computer and I already love this type of work. I can now see why he has joined the CIA, it seems so thrilling, so adventurous, but that's not the point.

Every time I was dug deeper into my dad’s old case files, I kept finding one thing that kept recurring in every unsolved case my dad and his team were working on, someone or some crew were always one step ahead of them. The amateurs, the pros, the old-timers, all of them, and my father suspected it was someone in his team.

A mole.

This explains everything, why someone would want to kill him, to keep him quiet, they didn’t want to get caught, and it looked like my dad was getting close. If I traced all of the high-end jobs until the months before his death he gets a better idea of who it is, and best of all there’s a key.

Chapter 10

I need to get out of here. 

For the past hour, Darian had been trying to get out of the director’s room in every way.  First, he tried to bash open the door, but after hearing flesh hit solid metal, he regretted his decision immensely.

“At least they gave me some food,” Darian spoke out loud, “but you still had to frame me as the killer, not someone you hated, or an old enemy, you just had to pick your best agent of them all, you know it’s true!”  Darian was severely out of breath, even though he has gone through rigorous training.

“Why me? I didn’t do anything for you!  You saved me from a horrible life, I repay you with my time and energy, and this is what you do in return!  Lock me up only for me to be killed by the public, just so you guys can get away looking fine!”  Darian was surely losing it, he didn’t have much energy left in him.  He had been yelling like this for hours on end, and all of it on tape, soon to be released to the public.

“Wait for a second,” gasped Darian as he started to calm down for the first time today, “Oh no, this is worse than I thought...”  As Darian realized the horror of the mistakes he has made over these few hours, he started to look at the impossibly small camera to his right.

Hello world, I have something to tell you all, something that will change...    

Chapter 11

I knew I’ve seen this before, how could I have been so blind.

I’ve been looking for the key hole for a while now, and I have never been able to find it. I looked through everything I could think of to look through, every desk and drawer he has, and had. I even asked to see his old desk from the CIA, and nothing worked.

Nothing.

That was until I remembered my dad after Bring Your Daughter To Work Day, he stopped at an old storage center, somewhere off of Main Street, and I think if I look hard enough I can find it, I mean how many storage units can there be?

     Chapter 12

“Did you cancel the upload?”  asked the Director.

“What, of Darian?”  responded one of the CIA’s techies, “No, we’re going to edit out his speech before then.”
“That’s good, we only need the people to see what we want them to see.”

“Of course, sir.  I would also like to note that since we are also allocating most additional resources to actually finding the killer, the upload of this may take a few days.”

“A few days!” yelled the Director, waking the napping staff nearby, “We don’t have that kind of time!  If we stop all progress on finding the real killer, how long will the upload take?”

“Um, I’m not too sure, but I bet we could do it in around 24 hours.  We have a lot of other investigations to go through.”

“Whatever gets this whole mess over with, I’m really done with it.” 

And with that, the countdown had begun.

Chapter 13

Four.

That’s how many storage units there are in any area near Main Street, and it doesn’t seem like a lot at first, but when you remember you have hundreds of units to search through it gets you worn down a lot, and really hungry. I don’t get how dad was able to stay in shape, I feel like I can eat a cow, I think I ordered enough burgers to make a cow.

Nonetheless, I think I narrowed his storage unit to one of the storage units next to the airport. Now like usual, it will take me a few hours to look through the whole storage units, probably two days.

I thought I had everything planned out, but I didn’t. The minute I walked I knew something was wrong.
The CIA was already there.

I had to get out of here before any of them saw me. If any one of them saw me, they would ask why I was here, and I don’t want that.

“Sarah?” Called Matteo.

Too late.

Chapter 14

And the doors opened.  Just like that, no warning, no click of a lock opening.  Darian just woke up, and the doors were open.  “Hello?” Darian asked as he stepped outside of the room.  “I probably should stay quiet.”  But as he started to walk out, a screen turned on in the hall with five words on it: YOU KNOW WHERE TO GO.  He stood there dumbfounded, trying to remember where this ‘place’ was. I can’t remember where it is, or what this is saying at all.  Who could have hacked the CIA? 

Then it clicked, and Darian bolted to the one place where he knew he was safe, for now.

Chapter 15

“Hey, Matteo,” I called back.

“What are you doing here?” Matteo called back, “This is a crime scene, does your mom know you are here?”
“Yeah Matteo,” I called back, “I’m just looking around for my dad’s old storage unit.”

“Your father had a storage unit, here?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty old though, my mom gave me the key.” That wasn’t a lie, my dad really did have a storage unit, except it wasn’t here, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He doesn’t need to know that, he doesn’t need to know I am here for the same reason he was, looking for my father’s storage unit. “What are you doing here Matteo?”

“Nothing Sarah, just some business here.”

“You were never a good liar Matteo, I am not a child anymore, just tell me why you are here.”
“Sarah, you are too young for this.”

“I am not a child anymore, tell me what you are trying to find out about my father?
“Sarah…”

“Don’t Sarah me. I am not a child anymore Matteo, I deserve to know what happened to my father. I deserve that much.”

“I know Sarah, but this would be too much for you, even for a young lady at your age.”

“Don't tell me what is too much or too little for me, you are not my father.

“Sarah, I have had enough, you want to know what I am doing here? Do you?” Yelled Matteo, “Fine. Your father was a mole, are you happy now Sarah? Are you happy now?”

Sadly, I was.

Chapter 16

The storage unit.  One of only a couple in town, and that’s where Darian would meet up before his days in the CIA.  There it is.  The infamous, within his friends, blue storage container where many memories from years past had started.  Unbeknown to most, a small hatch beside the container led to the inside of the unit.
“Hello, my amigo,” whispered Darian.  “Long time no see.”

“Indeed.” answered his friend.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me.”

“Anything for a friend.  And before you ask, I sent all of the security guards emails that they had the night off from ‘The Director’.”

“And they fell for it?” Darian couldn’t believe it.  This was the CIA they were talking about.  Not some small business with underpaid workers. “It is a Friday night, but are they just not that careful?”

“You need to remember, they aren’t you.  Also, you were pretty funny back there in the room.”

“What?! What are you, oh my gosh!  You also got into the security feed!  I feel so dumb.”

“The CIA never really knew what I was capable of, I always made myself hidden to them.”

“Anyway, we need a way to stop the Director from leaking that security feed and find the killer so I don’t spend my entire life-

The old doors of the storage unit swung open, revealing the figure of a child

  “What are you doing here, Darian?”

Chapter 17

“What are you doing here, Darian?”

“Sarah…”

“Who's the guy next to you?”

“The names Sebastian, or Seb for short. I was a friend of your fathers, I I'm sorry for your loss by the way.”
“Don’t worry Sarah, he is very trustworthy, your father and I trust him with our life. As a matter of fact he has saved our lives a couple times.”

“Very funny Darian, I’ve saved your life more than a couple times, and to say thank you is the least you can do.”

“That still doesn’t answer why you are here Darian.”

“She is not ready to hear this Darian, Sarah what we are doing here is far from legal and your father would kill us if I ever let anything happen to you.”

“How did you find this place anyway Sarah, your father and I made sure it was well hidden. The CIA doesn’t even know we are here, so how do you?”

“Neal, I mean my dad used to tell me about this house we owned somewhere in New York, and apartment number 121.”

“I still don’t understand how you found us, Sarah.”

“The company that owns this storage unit is the Big Apple Storage, and this crate number is 121.”
“Neal never lied Darian, she really is smart.”

“How did you guess the lock? It’s an eight-digit passcode.”

“It’s my birthday, dad always used that for his passcodes.”

“Well that's good and all, but you have to leave now Sarah.”

“I'm not leaving Darian, not until you tell me what’s happening.”

“Fine, your dad and I were looking into a mole in the CIA, and we got close, real close.”

“Matteo told me my dad was the mole.”

“Matteo is the mole.”

“Impossible.”

We spent so many Christmas’s together, so many holidays, so many birthdays. I gave him a hug, and he is the one man I have been looking for, and he has been right in front of me the whole time.

Chapter 18

It was nice seeing Sarah again.  Not in the, “Oh, I missed you so much and let’s chat for a bit”, no.  We need her, Seb and I.  She might know more than we think and she can’t hurt us.  It was a surprise, don’t you forget, but I believe this was the test she needed to go through to prove herself to us.  The fact that she could find her father’s bin with what seemed like ease, then she is ready to face the truth. 

And the truth came out, sort of.  I told her of our conclusions, something Seb definitely wasn’t ready for, spilling the beans for a girl he’s never met.  There’s still more I’ll need to tell her, but not now.  We need her, and I can’t let her go now before it’s done.  To be honest, I’m not really sure what’s next.  I can tell you though, that with our skills, we’ll figure something out.

And I bet my life on it. 

Chapter 19

It’s actually happening.

After all this time it’s finally happening. The man that ruined my life will get what he deserves, and all I have to do is leave a few doors open here and there for Darian.

This is going to be easy, real easy.

It's not, and I know it. All this stress is killing me, and I have to do nothing. Its Darian that has the hard job, he is the one that has to confront Matteo, not me, I don't even know what I am nervous about, but whatever it is I can't stop shaking because of it. Darian should be nervous, but the last time I saw him he was fine, hell he was more than fine. The guy was joking about getting caught with Sebastian. He has the nerve.
God!

I wish I could be like him, no stress. No fear. No nothing, but of course I’m stuck shaking nervously before-
“Sarah, is that you?” Matteo asked.

“Hey Matteo, how are you doing?” I called back.

“I’m good, but what are you doing here, shouldn't you be at home?”

“I actually came to talk to you, privately.” If he couldn't see how nervous I am he can't be a good agent. I’m literally shaking from all my fear and he doesn't notice anything.

“Of course Sarah. Hurry inside you seem cold.”

“Okay, thank you.” This was my chance, all I had to do was drop the paper. Darian told me it should be enough to make sure the door doesn’t lock shut, should.

Chapter 20

She actually did it.  I knew Sarah was smart, sure, but actually pulling it off?    Darian was thoroughly pleased with the job done.  From what he saw from the camera on her shirt, the entry was flawless.  I guess being friends with a corrupt man can be good.  Although a backdoor was left open for him, quite literally, there was no reason to enter yet. 

“Be quick but don’t rush.”

A saying Darian would always remember from the last moment he saw his father.  Seemed like a worthless thing to say to a seven-year-old child, but it started to come in handy the older Darian got.  Since there was still time before entry, Darian decided to drive by his old home before he’d go in.  A time to relax.
Darian is in the heart of the city, everyone in one place, but he still feels alone.  Sirens wail, dogs howl in the adjacent block.  Winter is bad for all but worse for the poor.  Darian had been there before, a time he never wants to revisit.  The smell of gasoline is strong, almost intoxicating.  Darian looks around for any sign of life, but it is not there.  He kneels on the hard pavement, for a long time.  So long, it seems, that time has stopped altogether.  The rhythmic pulse of his heartbeat and the crunch of gravel under his dirtied knees is all he can hear.  This is good, very good.

Darian was relaxed and ready to go.  But his thoughts seemed distant, and he wanted nothing of this world, except to relax.

Chapter 21

“Darian, if you can hear me, now is your chance to get up here, Matteo is taking a call, so it’s now or never.” It’s been ten minutes and he still hasn’t responded.

Where could he be?

Matteo won’t be gone for long he won’t have much time.

“I’m coming, just shut up, act normal, and lead him downstairs.” He whispered.

“Isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

“Your father was a natural, I expect you to be too.”

“My father is good at everything he did.”

“And maybe you will be too.”

“Sarah, who are you talking to?” Matteo called out.

“Just myself, sorry it became a habit after, you know, my dad died.”

“No it’s ok, you are coping with a traumatic event, it’s understandable.”

“I miss my dad, he was amazing.”

“He was, he was something else. A better man than I will ever be. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. I had it thrust upon me, your father achieved it with all his hard work.”

It was now or never really, I have to distract him so Darian can come, but how? Worse, I started feeling bad for him, like he was the good guy who just lost his best friend.

I feel disgusted.

I had to do something before he becomes suspicious. This man is a genius, I remember that from dad. “Uh Matteo, I should go, can you show me the way down?” That should do it.

“Do you not remember the way down?”

“Yes sorry.”

“OK, come on.”

I can’t believe it worked, it actually worked. All this time I got nervous over nothing. “Matteo,” I whispered, “All clear.”

“Sorry Sarah, something popped up. I got to go, but take your next right and the elevators should be down the hall, nice seeing you.”

Could I have not spoken earlier.

Chapter 22

I’m in.

Darian strolled in through the door that was ‘accidentally’ held open that also ‘happened’ to lead into the Director’s office. 

“I guess I have some time once again,”  Darian mumbled as he fell back into the Director’s chair. 

This was the moment Darian had been waiting for ever since he was forced into the CIA.  Matteo had been a very bad Director for Darian.  In the beginning, Matteo had looked like a hero to Darian.  He had given Darian a home, a place to eat, and all just for him to keep on doing what he has been doing, just for the other team. 
Then about a year later, it all fell down. 

As the CIA got smarter, so did it’s workers.  Information became public, secrets were exposed, lies became more apparent.  Darian uncovered a lot about his colleagues, and Matteo, that they definitely didn’t want him to know about.

That’s why it felt so good to be sitting in that chair.

Darian had always wondered what he was going to do to Matteo once he finally had the chance.  Kill him? Torture him? What do I do?

And then he opened the door.

“Darian?”

Chapter 23

One single gunshot.

That was all I heard. I don’t know what happened, to who or where, but I can guess. I had to run out of the elevator as it was closing on me, I needed to make it back. Was it left or right, oh god they could be dead or dying and I can’t even remember the way back. “DARIAN! I can’t lose you too, I can’t.”
“What are you doing here?”

Chapter 24

A sole bullet.

The first day on the job, he never saw it coming.  Windows all around him crashing, masses of black in the already dim lit room entered.  Emotions were flying wild through Darian’s mind, What do I do?  What’s happening?  He remembered the gun put under his seat, Darian scrambled to find it, finally wrapping his fingers around the trigger. 

Methodically, Darian stood up and took three shots, the men falling back onto their rappels.  It was done. 
The lights immediately turn back on, their luminescence too much for Darian, still with adrenaline coursing through his body.

“Good job Darian.  You passed,”  uttered the Director, “You’re free to take the rest of the day off.”
It wasn’t until later that Darian realized they did that to everyone.  But what he didn’t realize, is that his pistol had live rounds in it.

Chapter 25  

“What are you doing here?” Darian asked again. “You have to leave before they come, before anything happens, before anyone comes.”

“What happened? Wheres Matteo…” I never got to finish that sentence because as I moved toward Darian I could see his legs. Sticking out in a way they shouldn’t. I could already start to smell his body. I don’t know what happened to me but my limbs went stiff, I couldn’t take my eyes of his dead body.  “Is he-is he dead?”

“Yes.”

“Good, we should leave now. I’m not leaving without you, so we can either leave or stay together.”
“Sarah…”

“No Darian, no. Just stop. So let's get going because someone is going to be here any second.”
“Let’s go then, don’t want your mom to kill me,” Darian chuckled.

“What happened?” I asked as we were running through our escape route, the one that I wasn’t supposed to leave on.

“I confronted him, and don’t worry I got the confession, he was on the phone talking about it.”
“Why did you kill him then?”

“He saw me and he tried pulling a gun on me. Anymore questions or can we escape?”

“No, let’s go.”
  
     Chapter 26

Darian’s happiness lasted only as long as the adrenaline in his body.  A few days passed without incident before he got a letter in the mail.  The one he knew he was receiving.  Darian felt lucky, but still had a spark of anger still within him.  He’s not going to Mexico, or a federal prison, but he ain’t going anywhere fast.

 
In the blink of an eye, the pull of a trigger, and it was all over.  But it didn’t feel right for Darian, like something was still left unsolved. Matteo couldn’t have done it, this doesn’t make ANY SENSE! 

The next day Darian paid Sarah a visit.

“Hey, how are you doing?” asked Darian.

“Ok, I guess.”  replied Sarah, whilst staring out the window.

“Something up?”   Darian was starting to feel uncomfortable.

“Nothing, just I flunked a math test yesterday.”

What?  That was most definitely not the answer Darian was expecting.

“Was it because you were so busy yesterday?”  Darian was starting to get impatient.

“No, I was home all day! I was quite lazy yesterday, in fact.  Why would you-

Darian’s head started to throb, the world around him started to spin,with bright colors dancing across his vision. 

“You know wha-”  Darian was not feeling well. “I think I need to go hom-” 

Something serious was going on, but Darian couldn’t figure out what.  He needed to get home, quick.
“Ok..” Sarah replied, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Darian could not remember the car ride home, he couldn’t stop spinning in circles.  Eventually, he opened the door to his apartment and fell flat on his face.

Epilogue

“Darian, look partner everything is going to be alright.” Neal cried. “You got that.”

“Neal, Neal is that you? I thought you died.” Darian cried. “I thought you died.”

“No son, only hurt, nothing for you to worry about.”

“No, you were dead. Sarah and I, we went and got revenge for you.”

“Hello Darian, I’m Doctor Sloan, you passed out. You’re lucky your friend Sebastian here was there with you, he tells me you passed out right after you heard Neal died.”

“Yeah, I-I remember.”

“If you had stayed longer you would’ve heard that miraculously he came back, you have been out for a while, enough time for Neal to recover. Frankly I never thought you would come out of the coma.”

“I’m not in a coma, Neal you died. Sarah and I got our revenge on Matteo because he killed you.”

“Darian, who’s Sarah?”