DECEPTIVE REFUGE (part IV)

The caller squinted his beady eyeballs as he replaced the phone after his employer had permitted him to "contain the situation" and had hung up. His employer who prefers to conceal his identity even after two successful missions. He removed a shiny pistol, screwed on a silencer and advanced out of the dark where he had ingeniously concealed himself. He was in the agent's private room, rummaging through files when he heard footsteps. He had scurried to the bathroom and remained there until he decided to take a peek, it was then that he made the call that set him to his current task. This had always been an interesting task to accomplish, the frightened look on the face of his prey and the overwhelming feeling of superiority but this time, he only felt a great surge of remorse and regret for what he was about to do. More troubling was the fact that this situation could have been evaded if he had listened to his employer who was sceptical about his 'hidden in plain view' strategy. "I have no choice" he muttered and stepped out of the shadows. Agent Edmund Mark tried hard to fathom the situation but could not. This is someone he had known like the back of his hand. What had he turned into this few years he was abroad? "it can't be true" he said as he lowered his gaze to the objects lying before his feet- a black pair of boots with it's threadings matching the one on the paper, gloves, black ski-mask... "it's true Eddy," agent Mark snapped his head towards the door, at the same instant his hand reached to his belt where his gun used to be, he had dropped it on the couch in the sitting room. The figure that emerged from the door cleared any trace of doubt in him as he stared into the muzzle of a .45 hecklar and kotch pointed to his head by the hand of his best friend - Joseph. "I'm really sorry dear friend but you left me no choice" Joseph said with a sympathetic shake of his head. Adrenalin pumped into his blood stream as his instincts for grave dangers took over him. Joseph was a man of few words, his finger was already curling over the trigger when with a calculated aim and a flashing speed, Edmund grabbed a boot from the floor and sent it spiralling through the air. The projectile hit the pistol and it fell to the ground with a thud. Agent Mark needed only a second of distraction, he dived towards his assailant but was late, he was stunned when he saw the gun facing him again as it had been retrieved by his assailant. He reflexively rolled away from the gun's line of fire in time to hear a whipping sound past his left arm. A warm trickle of blood ran down his left arm as he was luckily only creased by the bullet which buried itself in a 1-foot metal statue of a woman with a basket on her head. With the agility of a mamba, agent Mark swung his leg upwards like a street dancer towards Joseph's hand which pointed down on him ready to release another bullet. He hit his target this again and this time, the gun flew out of his hand without a clatter. He had hardly staggered back to his feet when he received a deadly blow which emptied his lungs of air and left him clutching his abdomen. He opened his eyes in time to see Joseph's second blow aimed at his face, he deflected it with his left hand and at the same time, sent a heavier blow into his enemy's stomach. With Joseph's face now vulnerable as he held his stomach, he threw an upper-cut which almost lifted him off his feet and left his nose and upper lip in a bloody mess. Agent Mark wasted no time to charge towards his assailant who was still doubled over but was surprised to find both his legs lifted off the ground as Joseph's massive and strong shoulders plummeted him into a wall, he felt as though his ribs and spine had been crushed as he slid slowly to the floor with his back still against the wall. Joseph immediately clamped his throat with a strong elbow in a death- grip. He held his own right wrist to tighten the grip on Mark's neck between the joint of his arm. Agent Mark gurgled and thrashed desperately as his air passage was blocked. His struggles began to wane when his vision darkened with purple spots and his entire body began to yield to unconsciousness. Darkness seemed to stretch tentacles of fear to him as he began the decent into an endless void. His pupils dilated as his blood and lungs strained for oxygen. Agent Mark was almost gone when his left hand struck something hard on the floor, it was one half of the broken sculpture.