"Taylor, I'm cold." She's jittering, her words are no longer whinny. They come out weak. We've been walking for hours, and I know my sister needs to rest.
Harlin is 3 years younger than me, and tiny, like mommy.
I wish I could stop just for a minute. Every step I take, my legs burn, and my calves ache, as they pull taut from the long walk daddy took us on yesterday. But, daddy told me not to stop.
For our own good coming here needs to happen. We had to come here to be safe. I pray, please god just keep my parents safe. I promise I won't steal marshmallows anymore. I'll stop swearing Richmond about peeing his pants, and I swear I would be nicer to my sister. I'll even let Harlin play with Toby. I'll never tell another lie again. Please God, please let them be safe.
"Taylor, can't we stop? I need to pee."
"I know. We're almost there, Harlin. If it makes you better, I need to pee too."
"I don't wanna be here. It's scary, Taylor. Why did we leave Morrison? The Manor is safe. I wanna go home, to McKinney. Please Taylor, please."
"Stop Harlin, alright!" I yell, spinning around to face her. Her stiff shoulders rise and fall, and I'm sure tears are gliding down her cheeks. The dark doesn't allow me to see her face clearly.
Harlin sniffles, and it makes me cry too.
"Daddy said we had to alright. At the restaurant, those men who walked in were bad men. Mommy said she's going to find us later. We need to get to the cottage or else we are going to get sick. Daddy ain't gonna take us to see the eagles if we sick." I wipe roughly at my wet cheeks as Harlin does the same.
It's black outside, and late. My parents didn't like us out late. Daddy said lots of dangerous men waited in the shadows to take kids who lurked outside, wondering at night by their lonesome.
Daddy was right. I always thought he was just trying to get me to stop riding bike with Toby. Those men were evil. They didn't want us though; they wanted the grownups. My daddy used to be a great fighter, and he still looked strong, so he will be alright. I felt it.
"Can't you carry me?" Harlin asks in that pleading voice she makes when she wants something.
Daddy would say yes, and I want to make Harlin happy. Carrying her meant leaving the food because the bag would not carry itself.
No bag meant no food. And hunger pangs weren't something I wanted to experience. Our key priority was getting to the cottage.
Whenever Daddy took me this route to the cottage, he made sure I memorized the way there. Whether the people who owned the place could help us once we got there were real, I wasn't so sure.
"I can't kitty cat, the bags too heavy. We'll be there soon."
"You said that hours ago Tay, I'm too big to pee my pantys."
"I won't tell if you do," I assure her, as we take the dark road.
"Okay, I'm doing it." She is quiet for a while and I know she's peeing as she's walking. And true to my word, I won't tell a soul. Harlin never messed the bed, I sometimes did, but never Harlin.
"Tay, do you think the stars are aliens?"
"I think they are gods, with wings that glow so bright it never dims, even in the sun."
"Do you think daddy is going to get me that telescope for my birthday?" She asks as she puts her icy fingers in my hand.
"I think daddy will get you a better one if you eat all your spinach."
"I don't like spinach Tay, it gives me gas."
I giggle at her octave voice, shaking my head.
"There's over 100 thousand million stars in the MilkyWay, when I am older I am going to map them all," Harlin states. Although I know nothing about stars, I know my sister is correct. Harlin is different, smart and crazy different, but she's always correct.
"I see the cottage," She shouts excitedly.
We rush toward the hill. Harlin is already halfway up, whereas I am slower to climb with the backpack of food dragging me behind. My bladder threatening to burst doesn't help my load as I trek my body up the hill.
"Harlen wait!" screaming, I rush after her. The relief I feel is palpable and the reality of my parents' absence scares me. But, daddy told me I must keep Harlin safe, and this place is going to help me do that.
"Taylor, open up I need to pee."
"I thought you peed in your pantys?"
"I lied. I ain't ever gonna pee in my panty, I ain't you, now open up," She groans and I roll my eyes.
"Okay, okay."
Keying the lock, I push the wooden door open. My baby sister rushes into the dark cottage straight to the bathroom. Next is my turn and when I am done, I head straight for the button daddy said I should press if I ever was in trouble. Looking at my sister, she gives me a sharp nod, as though she can feel our lives are about to change.
A tiny part of me wishes for the ability to see into our future, but it fades to anxiety as soon as I press the red button.
Black Ops Agent T519
"Sir, the breach came from the Frankfurts safe house. Do you want us to check it out?" The young soldier asks from the untraceable phone. It was almost 96 hours since I gave the team the order to land in the Mountains Park, in Denver.
He suspected because of their previous 8 week departure in the Congo, Team 5 wanted to get the job done, quick and clean. He had a strange feeling this matter was going to complicate things.
Next week Agent G9 was expecting his first child, and Christmas was right around the corner. Agent T519 just wanted to get home to his own kids.
"No, head straight for the cottage, by the lake, tell Agent C to head North East. I will send the coordinates."
"Yes, Sir."
"Let's get this one done and call it a year," He says, feeling the relief in Agent G9's voice when he sighs.
"Over and out."
Agent T519 stared out into the blackened sky. The crisp, wintry air promised the snow would fall soon, making a white Christmas an inevitable fate.
Thoughts of his daughter took hold of his attention. She was 7 going on 40 and although she'd never admit it; she was more like him than she was like her mother, wild and ferocious. A remarkable girl, however naughty she was. He couldn't for the life of him understand why her mother would decide to just leave her. Although she came back, he didn't need a psychologist to tell him it scared his daughter's spirit.
But his ex-wife's sudden departure was the eye opener he needed to become a better man. It helped him to see what this job was doing to his family. And it was time to change that, not just for his kids but for his peace of mind.
Agent T519 wasn't getting any younger, it was time to hand in his badge and leave this part of his life for good.
He'll always remember being part of the black ops team 5, but if he didn't get out now and something happened to him, his kids would never know their father.
"Sir, we have them," The agent calls in, and it confuses agent T519 who ‘them' were. He was hoping for a clean swift take out, not an extraction.
"Them?" He questions and the other end of the phone goes mute.
"Sir, we have two female kids here. They say they are Frankfurts. Agent C just confirmed the last whereabouts of our order, and the order is now… sir, mission Frank Vera is complete."
His heart speeds up. For years Agent T519 has done these kinds of jobs, and for years he hunted Allan Frankfurt down. He learned everything about the man, or so he thought. Because from the many things he knew, Allan Frankfurt never had kids. Now Allan Frankfurt was dead. 12 years of tracking to this, a cold case.
"Sir? WE NEED TO EVAC, we can't find the file."
"Wipe the course off the map, this mission is now a 024, nobody will find out about this, do you understand?" Agent T519 orders his team.
"Sir?" The puzzled question filters through the phone.
"Do you understand Team 5."
"Yes sir," The group says as he clips the call off. His fingers hover over the device, considering his options. Eventually a resigned conscious decision filters through his mind and like he has done in the past when things are difficult he takes a deep breath, holds it and exhales. Agent T519 punctures in the new co-ordinates for the team to meet him.
He was only an hour's flight away. He could make it there before the team arrived.
"I hope I'm making the right decision. God help me if I'm not."
