3 Hidden

"Hm," Mrs. Hawk heaved loudly and let out a smile, "Just like your parents, you all want to understand everything. Your mom is the one who insisted…"

"My mom?" interjected Arthur, surprised at the answer he had just gotten.

"Yes, your mum. The reason I faked my death was because they wanted to send me back to spy and convince them otherwise by any means necessary and I couldn't do it. The only way out without a hit on my head was to fake my death. The first place I went was at your place. You were only seven when I first saw you. So the easiest way to protect you guys without suspicion was being a high school teacher. I was like your guardian angel and I failed at my job. I've never even had the courage to come and pay my respects since their burial," she said as she hung her head down in shame, and started sobbing again, then shouted "I watched them get killed Arthur, I looked at their dying faces Arthur and yet I couldn't help them."

"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault, you can't save everybody Mrs. Hawk," Arthur tried to comfort her when she had broken down and started crying.

Mrs. Hawk forced a smile, "Strange enough those were the last words your mother said, before they asked me to keep you safe to the best of my ability. But I must tell you that you are going to have a long summer holiday. My cover is blown I don't know how they caught up with me. Soon they'll be able to put the pieces together. Don't worry Arthur, the person that killed your parents was working for the CIA, deep cover operative. I just would like to know who called the shots up there. Shooting is too good for him. I'll strangle him or her myself." She swore in front of Arthur as she illustrated with her hands. "So are we good Arthur?"

"We're okay, I understand. Just two questions, when did you get blacklisted as a rouge agent with a shoot to kill order on sight if you had successfully faked your death and what's your favourite color," Arthur asked.

"Seriously, we're going to do the color thingy... I was spotted during one of the daily security checks I did in your neighbourhood. What I don't understand is why they have waited until today. And I don't have a favorite color," she replied as she stood up and started surveying the area all of a sudden, "And we have to leave this place before company arrives.

Arthur's watch alarm suddenly went off. "Shit I'm soo late, it's five P.m. we've been here long, and who are those guys…."

"Duck!" Mrs. Hawk screamed as she dove with Arthur to the ground just in time to miss a hail of bullets that reverberated past them onto the tombstones splashing concrete chips all around them, dust rose from the concrete that was released from the blasted concrete.

"Call your car here now," commanded Mrs. Hawk, as she pulled out a MP-5 automatic sub-machine gun, "I don't have that much ammo and from the sound of their guns I think they are carrying M4's, which is a lot of firepower even for CIA operatives which I now don't think they are."

"An MP-5! Those are secret service and special ops weapons. Can I touch it," said an excited Arthur

"Just call the damn car," replied Mrs. Hawk as she shot back to the circle of guys that were slowly closing in on their position. "Now!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," replied Arthur as he put a small whitish, cotton like piece in his ear, "Janey, now!"

Suddenly the shooting stopped as the men started falling down one by one. Janey's high tech infrared scanners and laser beams picked out the men's positions as a 50 caliber riffle from the bonnet shot at them. The three remaining guys started retreating as they scanned the area to see where the shots were coming from.

Mrs. Hawk stood up to get a good look of the guys that had been firing at them. They were donned in black military attire, with high tech digital googles that could zoom, infrared, night and thermal vision. Her predictions of the weapons was correct. Her observation was cut short when she heard a car pull up next to them. She turned just in time to see Arthur enter. "Can you hear that?" she asked as she looked around.

"Hear what, maybe it's the sound of defeat that's getting you worked up," Arthur replied, "Janey can you scan for any radio chatter in the surrounding area"

"Overlord, I have the target on sight, shall I take the shot, I need a greenlight now, our window is closing, someone else came to pick them up," came a husky British accented voice on the radio.

"Mrs. Hawk DUCK!" Arthur shouted, as the reply came through the radio.

"Go ahead overwatch, you have a green light,"

Mrs. Hawk closed her eyes when she heard Arthur shout to her to duck. She had come to find absolution in Arthur and had seen he was capable of taking care of himself. She opened her eyes to look at the tombstones of Arthur's parents then a sudden blackness engulfed her as she let out a smile.

Arthur looked in horror as the bullet tore through her skull as if it was a piece of paper, splattering her brain matter all over the tombstones. He saw her smile as her life ended horribly.

Janey assessed the situation as fast as possible. Shut its doors to prevent Arthur from jumping out to Mrs. Hawk. At the same time it hacked the camera feeds and tried to pinpoint the origin of the bullet from its trajectory and speed. Then it played the video of the shooter exiting the Sims and Duntley building with the gun and started tracing where he was going from the street and any other camera in his vicinity.

He was wearing a blue baseball cap, a faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt with brown boots. He appeared to be about six feet tall and was well muscled with huge biceps and a well-tanned skin with brown boots. He walked briskly and so far had managed to avoid any street cameras and they had no picture of his face. Just as he was about to enter an alley with no cameras he looked at a coffee store which reflected his face just enough for Janey's processors to freeze the frame, enhance his face and start running a facial recognition scan in the background.

Right now Janey was operating on shock mode. It was set to automatically activate when Arthur's body statistics showed signs of shock. Its destination now was 224 E Pride way. It also shut down street cameras three blocks around the car while scanning number plates of any car in its field of view. This was a precaution if anyone was either digitally or physically following them.

Arthur could not believe that Mrs. Hawk was died just as he had started to grow fond of her. He closed his eyes but could not shake off the graphic image of Mrs. Hawk's brain splattering all over his parent's tombstones. He looked around him and noticed Mrs. Hawk's hand bag on the passenger seat though he couldn't remember how it got there. He looked at it again and then burst into tears. The horror of the matter became overwhelming. Then he realized that Janey was slowing down very fast. He looked at the windscreen just to see Alicia's Porsche parked in the driveway.

Alicia had arrived at the address that Arthur had given him, still unsure why Arthur wanted her there in the first place. As soon as she arrived at the driveway of the house she was first surprised at its size. The automatic gate slid open revealing a hundred meter driveway. The driveway was decorated with flower bushes along it and orchids on the sides. She marveled at how the modern finishings complemented the mansion's ancient English architect. All this was quickly forgotten once she saw the dolphin water fountain just in front of the house. Checking the address again she realized that this was where the wealthy guys in the city stayed.

She got out of the car and went to ring the doorbell. The door themselves were carved with lion's heads on the surface and strange enough felt that they were made of iron but she quickly brushed off that thought. The door slid open by itself. She entered slowly unsure of herself, first peering but then pushed in by the automatically closing doors. Alicia became mesmerized and absorbed by the furnishings in the house. There was a glass of apple juice already on the table. As she studied the intricate designs, naturally carved tables, ancient dining tables, came a sudden screech of tires just outside. Suddenly red lights started rotating inside the living room. Alicia became more alarmed when the front door opened by itself.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cursed inwardly, "I can't believe that I forgot about Alicia."

"Arthur Brown," he said once he entered the living room, and rushed and hugged Alicia tightly, and started sobbing on her shoulder, "It was horrible, Mrs. Hawk was murdered just now and I was with her when it happened. I couldn't save her."

The red lights retracted into openings on the walls as the evening sun rays entered the living room. It took away the dullness of the room but not the sadness, anger and resentment that Arthur had walked in with.

"Why are you telling me that, how is it related to me?" asked Alicia as she gently patted Arthur's back.

"I know she's your Aunt, you don't have to pretend with me," Arthur replied softly.

No sooner had she finished that than Alicia hugged him tighter, almost squeezing the air out of his lungs. He smelled her vanilla scented hair for the first time up close. They broke the hug after a few minutes. Alicia's eyes were red with tears already. Arthur sobbed loudly because he couldn't shake off the images of Mrs. Hawk's brain tissue splattering all over the cemetery.

"She always told me that it was only a matter of time," Alicia told Arthur. Then she sat down on an armchair, lifted her head and looked at Arthur directly into his eyes, "Did she suffer?"

"Nop. She was actually smiling, a shot straight into her cranium, it did quit a large mess but she didn't suffer. It's my fault. I should have headed her advice sooner," Arthur replied amid sobs, clenched his hands into a fist and started banging the table, "It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

"Don't blame yourself over nothing Arthur. It's not your fault," Alicia replied and rushed to his side and patted his back gently, "It won't bring her back or even avenge her death if you just blame yourself, trust me."

Arthur pushed her away gently. His eyes became cold. It was as if he had gotten a new energy from somewhere else. He turned and looked at Alicia. She moved back as if she had become afraid of the person she was looking at right now. It was as if she had unleashed a demon that had been caged and needed just a little push to be free.

"You're right," he said with a confidence that surprised Alicia but scared himself, "Whoever they are they have taken enough people in two months. I didn't ask for any of this. Janey do you have a location on the shooter, I know you've been tracking him."

Suddenly the glass table in the lit up sky blue and a hollogramatic screen rose up in the middle of the living room. The curtains drew back by themselves dimming the room but enhancing the clarity of the hollogramatic screen. It showed the face of a man with a facial recognition scan running in the background. Arthur moved close and looked at the man's dark pupils and studied his face in detail.

"You don't want to go down that road, Arthur, there is no going back Arthur, trust me," Alicia suddenly spoke up in a feeble tone as she studied the way Arthur looked at the guy in the hologram.

"They've left me no choice, I have nothing else to live for," replied Arthur.

"Please don't do this, you will be living but you'll just be another empty shell, not a person, especially with your photographic memory," Alicia pleaded with Arthur.

"Janey, what's his location?" he asked, "Alicia don't waste your time, nothing you say or do will make you change my mind."

"I've tracked him to an abandoned warehouse down at the Santa Guinto port." Came the reply in the house's intercom. "I've uploaded the co-ordinates to the car's computer. I'm analyzing the warehouse for any movement and it's showing a lot of activity. There are Government SUVs and it seems that they are packing. It must be off the records, a black ops team most probably. We'll be getting a feed of inside in three, two and we're live sir."

"Thank you Janey, I don't know what I would do without you," Arthur replied.

"Arthur you can't possibly go after such a team yourself, look at the speed and presicion at which they're packing. You need to organize yourself," Alicia tried to reason with Arthur.

"Who said that I was going after the whole team. I'm only going after one person. The bastard who took that shot," replied Arthur with a smirk.

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