An Evening With Eva

Episode 52

Sophia hid herself well among the large
number of people ascending the steps in the
viewing room of the cinema. She watched
Sean and Eva from the corner of her eyes as
they settled in their seats. Sophia walked past
their row and turned right two rows after
Sean’s. She sat in a chair directly behind
them, settling in comfortably. She had no idea
what she was going to do or how she was
going to proceed. She had no clear cut
strategy or premeditated plan. And that was
how she wanted it. She knew the importance
of planning. Even Ope had suggested that they
come up with various attack and defense
options just in case things got out of control.

Sophia had carefully listened as he presented
his strategies for extraction and infiltration.
The objective of the operation was to bug the
targets, trace them to their nest and then
attack.

Sophia had seen a lot in her career with
GhostCorp especially since they began to deal
with The Colonel. He was always one step
ahead no matter how failsafe their plan was.

With every check and balance, with every
possibility factored in and with every loophole
envisaged, they always came second best. The
Colonel was always in the know and was
usually more intelligent. Initially, Sophia ha
felt that there was someone leaking
information to The Colonel. However after a
series of serious investigations, she arrived at
the answer; The Colonel knew everything
about GhostCorp and always predicted every
possible step they would take. The chip she
collected from Ambrose contained every
information about GhostCorp prior to
BeeHive’s reprogramming. She had no doubt
in her mind that The Colonel was aware of
their little plan to rendezvous with Sean and
Eva.

So she made her decision. She was going to
go in with only one plan; to follow her
instincts.

Settling in her seat she removed her necklace,
putting it carefully in the small purse that she
carried with her. The movie started and the
room went graveyard silent. Sophia’s eyes did
not leave the back of Sean’s head. She
pondered different ways to place the bug in
him.

Sean felt very uneasy. He was constantly
aware of eyes behind him. He desperately
wanted to turn and catch a glimpse of his
stalker but he thought better of it. He drew
Eva close to him, wrapping his big right arm
around her shoulders. They cuddled in that
position affectionately like long lost lovers. To
the normal eyes, it may seem like a lovers’
cuddle. But they did not just cuddle. Sean was
telling her how he suspected someone was
already onto them. He felt eye peering at the
back of his head. He could not just shake
away the feeling. He told Eva he was going to
use the rest room. If anyone followed after
him, then she should follow. Eva pecked him
lightly on the cheek and sank herself deeper in
Sean’s embrace.

Five minutes later, Sean got up and went out
of the viewing room.
Immediately Sean got up, Sophia thanked her
stars. Finally she would get the chance to be
alone with Sean. She immediately got up and
followed Sean out of the room. As she stepped
out she asked the guard standing outside the
door where Sean took. The guard signaled
towards the ground floor. As Sophia began to
move towards the same direction Sean had
gone, she slowly but audibly whispered to the
guard;
“Stop her.”

The guard did not need any further
explanations. His orders were clear. He
immediately stood erect and at attention,
waiting for Eva to come out of the door at any
moment. He checked his baton and
straightened his starched black police uniform.
Not too long after, Eva got up from her chair
and walked through the door.
“No one is allowed to leave the cinemas lady”
The guard said stopping Eva as she tried to
leave the viewing room.

Eva ignored him and continued away from the
door as the guard was talking. She walked
fast, forcing the guard to come after her. He
grabbed her by the elbow.

“I said no one is allowed to leave the viewing
room.” The guard repeated, yanking her
towards him with a strong, turgid pull on her
elbow.

That was a huge mistake.

As he tried to force her hand behind her back,
she punched his biceps with her free hand.
She turned and twisted, freeing herself from
his grip. He made to grab her neck with both
hands but she saw it coming. She clasped her
hands together and put them in between his.
She opened both hands forcefully, making his
arms fly sideways. She punched him fiercely, a
left punch on on the chest and a right one in
the belly. The guard was dazed but still
strong. He made to get up from his sprawling
position but she jumped in the air and
launched a black flip kick to his face.

The guard fell on his face. He was not moving
anymore.

Eva walked-ran into the male toilet. She half
expected to see Sean and Sophia making out.

But the toilet was empty. She was disoriented.

There was a near tear in her eyes as she
thought of where else to look for Sean. She
had no idea where else to look. She hurried to
the staircase, jumping three steps at a time
till she got to the second floor. She checked
the male and female toilets in the second
floor. Nothing. She was worried. She was
desperate. As she walked down the stairs
dejectedly to the ground floor, hot tears fell
from her cheeks. She had looked everywhere in
the cinemas and could not find a trace of
Sean. Eva knew how ruthless and dangerous
GhostCorp was. She had once been an
instrument in their employ. Once you were
marked, you could not escape. She could not
even begin to imagine the kind of torture that
Sean would be going through at the moment.

Her heart was beating three times faster than
normal. She checked where they had parked.

The car was still there. She touched the
bonnet to feel whether the car had been driven
before she got out. There was no single sign
of warmth.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless search, she
walked back into the viewing room to get her
handbag. She expected to see the guard
waiting to pounce on her but he was not. Eva
could not be bothered. She was already
emotionally drained and was already on edge.

She walked slowly to her seat, picked up her
bag and began to walk out of the viewing
room. Then suddenly she remembered
something. She opened the small area where
she kept the device that Sean had given her
and took it out. She walked briskly to the
stairs, got to the car park and entered her car.

She was panting as she got in the car. She
closed the doors and engaged the central
lock. She adjusted the rear view mirror as she
peered into it, making sure that she was alone
and not watched.

She put the tiny device inside her ear and it
glowed green.

“Hello DaVinci. This is Diana. Are you there?
Come in pls. It’s a red alert.” Eva said,
pressing her hand against her ears.

She silently hoped and prayed that a reply
would come in from the other end. She looked
sideways, turning left and right as she waited
for the Colonel to reply her signals. The car
park was getting deserted. People were
thinning by the second as they went in to see
the movie of the night. It was dark and eerie.

“Hello Da Vinci. Come in Davinci. This is a red
alert over!” Eva said, raising her voice.
She was desperate now and almost in tears.
She stifled a sob and bit her lower lip. She
sniffed and cleaned her nose on the back of
her palm. The Colonel doesn’t usually take
this long to reply incoming messages.
As she rested her head on the chair
dejectedly, two hands came out of nowhere
and grabbed her. One holding her mouth and
another covering her eyes.

She tried to let out a scream but nothing
came out. Her screams were muffled by the
palm covering her mouth.

“Shhhhh….Shhhh…. Be Calm Eva. It’s me.” A
voice said.

Eva recognized the voice and relaxed. At the
same time the hands that were holding her
relaxed and loosened its grip.

“Dad?” Eva asked, looking back amazed.

“Shhhhh….” The Colonel said,
“Quiet, Diana.” He finished, taking out the
device from her ears.

“What are you doing here?” Eva asked the
Colonel feeling relief and worry at the same
time.

“I sensed danger when I lost contact with
Sean. So I had to come down to see things for
myself.” The Colonel said.

“They took him away. We need to get him
back. They took him from under my nose. I
was a failure. Now I have no idea where to
look. Please help me. Let’s get him back dad.

Please.” Eva cried.

She had lost every bit of mental and emotional
strength she had mastered over the years as a
deadly spy. This was a very different person
from the agent that killed targets in cold blood
and did not care for her own life nor that of
any one else. Yet here she was crying her eyes
out and acting totally out of order. She was
beginning to show that she was going to be a
problem if she did not get back to her killer-
agent self immediately.

“Diana! Snap out of this! What has come over
you? I demand some composure. Now! Or I am
going to waste you myself!” The Colonel
threatened brandishing a silver .23 semi
automatic.

Eva buried her face in her hands as she
gradually got herself together. For the next
two minutes, The Colonel watched her
carefully as she transformed. With a final
heave and sigh, she raised her head. The
crying Eva had disappeared. There was a
deadly glint in her eyes. It now seemed like
she had now found a renewed zeal to kill.

“Better Diana. Now, this is the plan. Sean was
the bug. We deliberately left you out of the
loop. We planned the whole charade and
excluded you. We needed your reaction to be
real and convincing because of the agents
that would be watching you. We were counting
on G.C to go after Sean once he went to the
toilet which he did. He has been taken by
Sophia but I know where he is. He has an
undetectable wet bug inside him that works
with his heartbeat.” The Colonel said.

He brought out his iphone, opened an app and
showed it to her.

“The bug is directly connected to his heart.
Once his heart stops beating this red dot
stops blinking.” The Colonel explained to Eva
showing her the red dot.

“This is also a tracker. We can find out where
they are.” The Colonel finished.

Eva was not interested in any of the
technological gibberish her dad was spewing.
With clenched teeth, she spoke.

“I am ready Da Vinci. Just tell me who I have
to kill.”

---

*
The General pushed the button on the table
connecting him to Bee Hive.

“Who is in charge of things down there? This
is the General.”

There was a momentary pause. Seconds later
a voice replied.

“I am now in charge, Marcus. Things are
going to change from here onwards.”
It was the voice of Sophia.