Chapter Thirteen: Gerard
It wasn’t exactly the greatest thing to have to cancel a ticket at the last minute, but Charlie assured us that he would make sure that things were taken care of with the airport. He seemed anxious to have them on their way, something that Gerard had noticed but decided not to bring up. It was frustrating to see the look of confusion on Elena’s face, but he assumed that Charlie was going to fill them in soon. When he finally pulled the cab into one of the side streets and put it into park, Gerard prepared himself for whatever was about to happen.
“We’ve received a request for another mission, as I mentioned before. It involves the retrieval of treasure thought to be long abandoned. The only catch is that it is not in a place that will prove easy to get to,” he said, handing back a large manila folder to Gerard.
“Why is it going to be hard to get to?” Elena piped up, grabbing the folder from Gerard and flipping it open, revealing a large amount of paperwork that was contained within.
“It seems that while the treasure was being unearthed, a traveling band of mercenaries attacked the crew that was searching for the treasure and commandeered their equipment. Now they are being forced to unearth the treasure for the mercenaries, and I’ve heard that the mercenaries have been killing off hostages that don’t work fast enough,” Charlie continued as Gerard read through the documents he had provided them.
“Does it matter if I state for the record that I really don’t like the sound of this job,” Elena muttered, shaking her head as she stroked a hand through her hair nervously.
“Yeah, I can’t say that this really sounds like the kind of job we are prepared for,” Gerard said hesitantly. “Is it really a good idea for us to face off against an entire group of trained mercenaries with only the two of us?”
“I think the two of you aren’t giving yourselves enough credit,” the older man said from the front seat. “How many times have you guys gone off to do stuff like this before?”
“Too many times, if you ask me,” Elena replied, sighing as she looked out the window. “I feel like we keep pushing our luck with these kinds of missions. What happens if something goes wrong? Are you going to make sure that we have backup in case something doesn’t go as planned?”
“Of course. I would never leave the two of you on the lamb with something like this. You will be going in with seven other agents, and I am thinking that with the nine of you working together you should be able to finish whatever mission I throw at you. I will let you know right off the bat that you would receive a sizable sum from the profits of the treasure once it is retrieved. Money like that could probably even allow you guys to retire from the business. You could live the lives you’ve always wanted to live without worrying about money ever again,” he said enthusiastically, gesturing wildly with his hand.
Elena turned her head to look at Gerard, biting her bottom lip gently as she considered the offer. Gerard couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t worthwhile, but he knew that Elena wasn’t in the same position as he was. That much money would be enough to help her start a new life, and what guarantee did he have that she would want to stay with him the whole time. What the hell am I thinking? She hasn’t given any indication that she isn’t happy with me.
“Do you think we should do it?” Elena asked softly, her blue eyes looking at Gerard with obvious uncertainty.
“I honestly don’t know, Elena. I feel like this is a really big decision that we need time in order to make,” he said, casting a look at Charlie in the front seat, noticing that the older man had been quiet for a while now. “I don’t suppose time is a luxury we have at this point, though, is it?”
“I’m afraid not. The fact that I came to get you here in Barcelona rather than allowing you to waste precious time on a flight back to London should give you some indication as to the timely nature of this mission. We must be willing to act right now if we are going to even hope to have a chance of walking away from this in a satisfactory way. Tonight is the night that we will have the best chance to pull this off, so haste is required. I’m afraid this is one of those times where you are just going to have to take the plunge,” Charlie added apologetically, his hands gripping the wheel tightly.
Gerard stayed silent for a while before finally sighing, nodding gently. “Alright, I will agree to do this,” he said softly.
“You will?” Elena and Charlie asked together in unison, their voices equally incredulous.
“I have been having a pretty good time playing spy, but at the end of the day, this career is a lot more dangerous than I like. If I want to think about having the possibility of settling down, I have to take better steps to preserve my life and the lives of those few people that I consider close to me,” he replied, giving Elena a knowing look as he did. “I will finish this mission and use it as my final goodbye to the world of espionage. After that, I am going to fall off the grid and make my living the totally legitimate way. You can trust my silence on what happened during our partnership, but I ask that this be the final mission for Elena and me.”
“What brought this about all of a sudden? I only gave you guys a week off, yet you guys seem to have convinced yourselves that it is time for you to quit. What happened in the time that I let you guys take off?” he inquired, gazing intently at the two of them through the rearview mirror.
Elena began to blush brightly, suddenly looking out the window to prevent herself from having to meet Charlie’s gaze. Gerard tugged gently on the collar of his shirt, averting his eyes good-naturedly as he smiled. He didn’t know if it was the time for Elena and him to reveal the fact that they had started a relationship with one another, and in all honesty, he didn’t think it was any of Charlie’s business to begin with. “Let’s just say that the two of us have had the chance to spend a lot more time together, and we are starting to think that maybe this isn’t the right line of work for us anymore. At least not for what we were discussing doing in our future, anyway.”
Charlie shrugged gently at that, his head shaking back and forth. “It’s a darn shame, but I don’t suppose there is anything I can say to change your minds, so I won’t even bother trying. Let’s just focus on getting this mission finished and then we will see where you guys are at afterward,” he said, clearing his throat as he lifted up a tablet from the front seat and typed his password in quickly before handing it back to them. On the screen, a picture of a rugged looking man with obsidian colored skin glared out at them. He wore an eyepatch that covered his left eye, and he seemed to be missing many of his teeth, resulting in his clenched teeth in the picture having many gaps that detracted from how intimidating he would have normally been.
“This is Randall “Alligator” Dubois. He started out as a small-time punk, but I have reason to believe that lately he has been recruited by someone willing to put him on a much higher payroll. I’m not sure who it is that is pulling his strings right now, but I do know that he is a very dangerous man that has never had a problem with taking drastic measures in order to get what he wants. I would recommend utilizing the utmost caution if you find yourself confronted by him,” Charlie said quickly, sounding just as anxious as Gerard was beginning to feel about the whole situation.
“Man, way to make me feel like we aren’t quite so out of our league,” Gerard said with a laugh, feeling slightly better despite himself. “I feel like we can probably manage it if we have this team that you are talking about. What do you think, Elena?” he asked, his hand still not having left hers this entire time.
“If you think that we can do it, then I will follow you,” she said eventually, doing her best to offer him a weak smile. “Just promise me you will have my back.”
“Always,” Gerard said without hesitation, leaning over to plant a gentle kiss on her lips.
“Well, if that is settled, how about I get you guys on your plane and you can get acquainted with your other teammates,” Charlie said, pointing in the direction of the airport as he pulled out of the alley and made his way toward the airport.
“So, how did you guys enjoy your week off?” Charlie asked conversationally as he weaved the car in and out of traffic. “Did it give you plenty of time to relax?”
“I can’t say that I got a lot of time to relax. Someone seemed to insist on riding me the whole time that we were here. I couldn’t seem to keep her off me,” Gerard said, immediately letting out a soft grunt as Elena elbowed him in the ribs.
“I was not!” she exclaimed heatedly, her cheeks blushing a furious red from her embarrassment.
“Now, now. No need to fight back there, you two,” Charlie said patronizingly from the front seat, pulling two plane tickets from the glove box and handing them back to Gerard. “Here are your tickets. I’ll meet up with you guys in the plane; I just need to park this taxi someplace first. I don’t imagine the man I took it from would be too happy if I damaged the vehicle or let it get towed,” Charlie said with a chuckle, making it very hard to tell whether he was joking or not.
“You stole this car?” Elena asked incredulously, her eyebrow arching in surprise.
“Time to get a move on,” Charlie deflected, flashing a smile.