Our next move

Archer buttoned up his shirt and tamed his curly hair. But they never listened to him. Whenever he would be in the office, he would apply a lot of hair gel to make sure they remained in a single place but now he was undercover, he could let his hair play with the wind.

The lift opened to a lobby where at the entrance a man was sitting looking bored even while reading an arms magazine titled, ARMS AND AMMUNITION. The tagline of the magazine was "A MUST GUIDE FOR ALL THE GUN TOTTING IDIOTS. The front of the magazine had a dynamic picture of an AR-15 vs Glock G19. The side of the page read "Which most wanted gun you should buy?"

Archer went ahead and stood near the reception desk, but the man was too submerged in the book. Even though he had a page open, it was clear that he was staring blankly at the page. One would even say that he was fast asleep with his eyes open, which is not an easy task.

"Ahem…!!!" Archer cleared his throat. But there was no reaction. He tapped the magazine and the book fell from the man's hands. It was extremely clear that the man was sleeping with his eyes open. Archer facepalmed. "Jack!!" he shouted.

"I am awake! I am awake!" Jack jumped from his chair and stood up. "Oh, Sir, good evening," he greeted Archer as soon as his eyes fell on him.

"How do you do this, man? How are you able to sleep with your eyes open, you have to teach me one day?" teased Archer.

"Sorry, Sir. Won't happen again," apologized Jack.

"See if Assistant Director, Chris Anthony, is available right now," commanded Archer.

"Yes, sir, right away." Jack picked up a phone and dialled a number. When the other person picked up the phone he spoke on the phone, "Special Agent-in-charge, Archer Moore to see Assistant Director, Chris Anthony." He just kept nodding for a second and then put the phone down. He looked at Archer and informed, "they are waiting for you."

"They?" inquired Archer.

"That's what she told me, Sir."

"Very well and don't go back to sleep. Be vigilant," ordered Archer.

"Right sir, absolutely," Jack stood up from his chair but before Archer could leave him, his mouth opened like a hippopotamus, and he yawned loudly.

Archer shook his head in disbelief and started laughing at Jack. He then moved towards Chris's cabin. He knocked at the door and walked in before he could even hear the reply. He was too eager to tell Chris everything. He had an eventful day.

The moment he walked in, he was surprised to see his whole team waiting for him. Noelle, Harris and Chris all were sitting and talking. When he opened the door, his juniors stood up and greeted him. He too greeted Chris, "Good evening, Sir."

"Good evening, Archer. Sit down."

Archer went ahead and sat down in front of Chris. Noelle and Harris moved onto the couch next to the side of the table.

"You have not reported in two weeks. Is everything alright?" asked Chris.

"I am the bodyguard of Zion, the Don, well the new Don. I have responsibilities. Every eye is on me, I can't just walk in the federal plaza whenever I want to," explained Archer.

"Archer, typically, agent-in-charge is not given an undercover job. That is meant for field agents, but you insisted on this job. You lost your partner because of the hall crime family, and we all understood your motive, and everyone is helping you take down the hall family, but you need to give us timely information. You know about the paperwork we have to do before an operation," defended Chris.

"Why do you think I am here today? I didn't come earlier as nothing significant was happening," replied Archer.

"So, something happened today," noticed Chris.

"Yes, today Theo came to see Zion with a few members of Bratva," notified Archer.

"What the hell?" shouted Chris. He flayed his arms so loudly that his pen cup flew directly into the wall next to him and all the pens dropped on the carpet.

But Archer was calm. He glanced at Noelle and Harris who moved to the edge of their seat and were looking at him with great interest. "Yes, if Theo came to see Zion and Bratvas are involved, something big is about to go down."

Chris composed himself and replied, "I will immediately get a meeting with Bruce Meyers. He has someone undercover in Bratva. He would know if they are planning to work with the Hall family. What did you hear?" While talking Chris made a note in his calendar about talking to Bruce.

"That's the thing, nothing. Theo made sure that everyone would stand outside while they discuss the minute of the plan," answered Archer.

"But I thought Zion trusts you," interjected Noelle.

"He does, Theo not so much. He rarely trusts anyone," responded Archer.

"Did you plant the cameras I gave you?" questioned Noelle.

"That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about," Archer looked at Chris. "I have planted two cameras in the room where he holds his meeting and a few in his hotel room."

Chris could sense that something else was there. "But?" so he asked.

"But there is another team who is surveilling Zion," replied Archer.

"Impossible!" Chris was shocked. "Everyone knows not to interfere in our operation."

"I found a lot of cameras all around his hotel room today," said Archer.

"Where are those cameras, we can trace them and find out," suggested Noelle.

"That's the thing. There was a girl," Archer started his story.

But Chris stooped him mid-way. "Oh god! We are not interested in your sex stories, Archer."

"This is not that. Will you listen to me?" scolded Archer.

Chris made a disgusted face and said, "go on."

"So, there was this girl who was in the next room to Zion's. I couldn't see her face, her hair was all over it. I don't how but she too knew about the cameras and also that I removed every single one of them. They were safe in my pocket but the sleight of her hand was so amazing that she swiped every single one of the cameras from my pocket and I had no idea," narrated Archer.

"Who was she?" asked Harris.

"I don't know," replied Archer.

"What was her name?" questioned Noelle.

"I don't know."

"Do you know anything?" asked Chris, irritated.

"I know her address," replied Archer, excited.

"Thank God! You are not a total idiot," taunted Chris.

"Excuse me! She was a professional. I think she walked on the ledge of the hotel to spy on Zion. She was no ordinary detective. I think she was CIA or something," Archer put forward his notion.

"Nonsense, the CIA doesn't operate on American soil. They have nothing to do with Organised crime," shouted Chris, surprised.

"How would you know? Are you in contact with them? I am telling you, the only person with good quality training could do what she did. She pretended to be drunk and took out every single camera from my pocket. Moreover, I am sure that she wiped every inch of the hotel room to get rid of her fingerprints," said Archer.

"Then how are you sure that she gave her right address to you," interrupted Noelle.

His mouth fell open with shock. Noelle was right. "I… I never thought about that. Harris, the first thing you have to do in the morning is, go to this address." He took out a sticky note from the table and jotted down an address on it. He handed the sticky note to Harris.

Archer continued, "and Noelle, go to Hotel Grandeur, room no. 503 and pick up Mr Adam Gamble. He spent the night with that girl. He must know her name. Even if she gave him a fake name, he must have seen her face. Also, get the footage from that corridor and try if you can make out her face."

"So what's our next move?" asked Chris.

Archer exhaled and replied, "to get you a sample of the new drugs Hall family is about to float in the market. With the sample, you can track all the places that sell that grade of drugs, and we can find the places that deal with the Hall family, first, let's hit the distribution. That will break down the Hall family to some extent. Harry, are you ready?"

"I have been practising," replied Harris.

"You have to bring your A-game. You have to steal the sample from my pocket. If that does not look genuine, you can blow my cover," warned Archer.

"Trust me, Sir, I won't do anything that would jeopardise your mission," assured Harris.

"Good! The exchange will happen on Saturday in broad daylight in central park. The whole Hall family will be there for a picnic," informed Archer.

"What a cover!" exclaimed Noelle.

"That's brilliant!" nodded Harris.

"Yes, at the start of the picnic the drugs will arrive under the meat packets, fruit baskets, inside picnic coolers, everywhere. There will also be a lot of presents, completely wrapped in wrapping paper, that would be the money. Everything will happen before people's eyes and none will be wiser. At the end of the picnic, trucks would arrive to take everything back to the house, but those trucks won't go back to the house, they will go to the distribution centres. I will take out a packet of drugs for Zion's locker as I always do. You will pick my pocket. Is that clear?" Archer pointed out every single detail of the plan.

"Yes, sir," replied Harris.

"And Chris, as soon as I find something about Bratvas, I will tell you and as soon as you find something out, inform me. Noelle, tell the IT department to start the 24x7 surveillance on Zion. The cameras must be up and running. And Harris, find out that girl," he ordered around. "Now, if you all will excuse me, I have to call my mother," he smiled at them.