Falling For The Assassin

Chapter 4

Dubai (UAE)

Burj Al Arab

16 04 2016

2050 hours

James sits down on a lounge chair by the outside pool of the Burj Al Arab hotel with a Rum and Coke in one hand, and his iPad in the other.

He’s been staying at the hotel for almost a week now, and he’s quite pleased with what it has to offer. So far he’s slept with three men he met at the hotel nightclub (which means he’s finally out of his two-week drought-if he thought of f*****g a certain blue eyed someone during all those times, well, no one needs to know), won nearly a hundred grand in poker in the casino on the third floor, and has been on a yacht party with Arabic billionaires.

Neither Liam nor Nick have tried to contact him for the past six days, which probably means that there’s no new lead in the case.

As he stares down at his iPad, trying (but not succeeding) to read the latest news on BBC, he thinks about going down to that night club later and pulling someone.

He stays by the pool one more hour until it’s 10pm, when he finally gets up to leave and go up to his room.

After he takes a long shower, he dresses up in tight black skinny jeans, a white button up, and a pair of white sneakers he rarely even uses anymore.

There are already a few people at the nightclub taking up the dancefloor, and some sitting by the bar or at the tables.

James goes straight up to the bar, and sees that bartender who he f****d on the first night of being here. It’s the first time he’s seen him after that night, but he’s glad to, because he knows he has at least one person he can take up to his room for sure. Judging by the look the bartender (Sam? Jake?) gives him, it’s a done deal.

“Hello.” James says and sits down right across from him with a smirk. “I’d like a-“

“Rum and Coke? The usual?” the guy asks in perfect English. He’s from the USA but studying in Dubai for God knows what reason.

“How would you know my usual? You’ve only served me on my first day.”

“That’s all you’ve been drinking.”

James smirks and leans over. “So you’ve been stalking me?”

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. I just noticed, that’s all.”

“Well then.”

Sam (thank God for his name tag) prepares his drink and then slides it over to him. James nods as a thank you and then turns around to scan the room. There’s a guy looking over to him every once in a while, with broad shoulders and bulky biceps. James likes him already.

He’s about to turn around to talk to Sam when a voice interrupts him.

“Out of all the places in the world, this is where you chose to come for your holiday?”

James turns his head to look at Louis. “Lovely seeing you here. But as far as I know, this is your first night here, and I’ve already been here a week. So I don’t know who copied who.”

“I didn’t know James Smith would be one for visiting and enjoying one of the most expensive places on earth.”

James c***s his head. “You said I’m an open book; apparently you’re not as good as you say you are.”

Louis shakes. “Oh, I’m plenty good.”

The suggestive tone in his voice gives James a little hint as to what he might be referring, but before James can lean in and ask about his stay so far, Sam interrupts them by asking Louis what he’d like to drink.

And, okay. James completely forgot about him.

“I’d like a Scotch On The Rocks please.” Louis says and smiles. It’s the first time James’s ever seen him properly doing that.

“Coming right up.”

While Sam looks for the bottle, Louis focuses back on James.

“So how’s your week been?”

James shrugs. “Eh, pretty good. Been staying here ever since we got a break.”

“Done anything interesting?”

“Not sure what you define as ‘interesting’.” James says, and then points at a guy he shagged on his third night. “Shagged that lad, though. Very fun.”

“Oh. He looks like he could be rough in bed, don’t you think?”

“He isn’t. Such a noisy bottom, that one.”

Louis raises his brows. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a top to be quite honest.”

“And why is that? You shouldn’t judge people by their cover.”

“Trust me Smith, I know that.”

James looks at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“Nevermind.”

“Oh, come on. If you start something, the least you could do is finish it.”

“You’ll find out. Maybe. Eventually. Probably not.”

James rolls his eyes and turns his entire body to look at Louis. “What are you blabbering on about? Honestly. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“Harold-“

“That’s not my name-“

“Stop overthinking for once and have a drink.”

“I am. You’re usually the over thinker.”

Louis shakes his head as he raises his glass towards James. “You don’t know me, Smith. Not even my last name.”

“Oh really.” James smirks, c*****g his head and raising an eyebrow. “What if I do?”

“Find out my last name? Ha, good luck with that.” Louis snorts before he takes another sip.

“What if I do though?”

“What if you find out my last name.” Louis repeats in disbelief.

“Yeah. Will you tell me what you meant?” James leans in.

“By knowing not to judge a book by its cover?”

James nods. “And the whole ‘me maybe eventually finding out’ thing?”

Louis ponders about it for a few seconds. “Hm…sure. Why the hell not? There’s no way you’re going to find out my last name anyway.”

“Can you give me, like a hint? Where you’re from or something?”

“No way. No hints. And no going to Nick for help. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

James sighs. “Fine.” He downs the rest of his drink. “Bring it on then.”

Louis raises his glass. “Bring it on.” Then he downs his drink as well, before he turns around to properly scan the dancefloor.

James is about to ask him whether he’d like to dance (although he’s not really sure whether Louis is into dancing with guys-he’s not even sure what Louis’ s****l orientation is, and he’s not one to judge by stereotypes), but Louis is one step ahead of him. He pushes himself off the bar and walks straight towards the guy James’s been eyeing until Louis showed up, and pushes himself against him.

Talk about c**k-blocking and stealing other people’s shags, James thinks, but then remembers that he has a very willing, perfectly fit bartender right behind him (no pun intended), so he’s not too bothered about the situation. Also, Louis is gay. Or at least bi.

James’s not sure why he thinks that information is important.

As much as James would like to focus on whatever Sam is saying to him, he can’t. He can’t, because Louis is a few meters away from him, grinding on one of the hottest guy in the nightclub, looking like a f*****g pornstar in those jeans and the tight shirt.

“I’m just…I’m going to go back to my room.” James says.

“Can’t you wait one more hour? I finish my shift then.”

James shakes his head and steps back. “I feel a bit sick. ‘m just gonna head to bed.”

Sam looks disappointed but nods nonetheless. “Sure. Hope you feel better. See you tomorrow.”

And because he can feel Louis watching him, James leans over the bar and places a kiss to Sam’s lips. He pulls back and turns around, heading straight towards the door without looking back.

As soon as he gets to his room, he collapses on the bed and doesn’t even think twice before unbuttoning his jeans. He gets his c**k out and spits on his palm.

There’s already an image of Louis forming in his mind as he closes his eyes; Louis bent over on the bed for him with his ass up, moaning James’s name into the pillow while James f***s him from behind.

James takes his palm down to his c**k and begins to stroke it lightly, pace picking up as he continues thinking about Louis in different positions.

Louis on his back with his legs thrown over James’s shoulder, cheeks stained with tears of pleasure.

Louis riding him with his legs around James’s waist, kissing James’s neck and moaning into his mouth as he slams up into Louis.

James’s hips buck off the bed and he bites his lip as he runs his thumb over the tip. He’s embarrassingly close, but no one is here to see him right now, so what’s about to happen will stay between him and the sheets forever.

His hair is already sticking to his forehead and he’s never been this turned on in a long while, so the orgasm washes over him in waves, causing him to shiver all over.

James lays on the bed for a couple of minutes in order to regain and even his breathing. He pulls himself off the bed and walks over to the shower with slow, heavy steps.

Louis Tatcher has some kind of effect over him, and James doesn’t like it at all. First of all because it’s anything but professional, and second, because Louis kills people for a living, not to mention the fact that he’s got the attitude of a f*****g prick.

Speaking of pricks; James goes to sleep that night with a smile on his face, but he pretends it’s not partially thanks to Louis. And this might just be the best sleep James’s had in a while. It’s thanks to the insanely comfortable bed. That’s it.

***

Dubai (UAE)

Burj Al Arab

18 04 2016

1645 hours

James doesn’t run into Louis the next day, which isn’t that odd considering the size of the hotel. It's a coincidence really, when it happens. James is hurriedly walking towards the elevator because he fell asleep on the beach and slept halfway through Happy Hour.

"Hold the elevator!" He asks when he sees the doors starting to close, and three groups of people hovering by the other elevators.

A hand presses against the door from the inside so James can slip through the crack with his beach bag. He doesn't even notice who's in the elevator with him until it makes a stop on the third floor so a family of five can get out.

James makes eye contact with Louis through the mirror.

"Which floor?" Louis asks.

James goes to press the tenth button, but sees that it's already lit.

"Same as you, I suppose."

Louis c***s an eyebrow and smirks, before he steps closer. "So, any luck on finding out my last name?"

"Oh..." James trails off. "I forgot about that."

There's something in Louis' eyes James can't quite place. Louis steps closer.

“So…you’re not interested in finding out?”

James c***s his head and purses his lips, pretending to think about it. “Hm…no.”

“When did you get so cocky?”

“What? Just because you like to be so full of yourself all the time, that doesn’t mean everyone else around you isn’t the same.”

Louis opens his mouth, but before he can say anything else, both of their phones ring.

"Hello?" They answer at the same time.

"Agent 09, we've got a huge break in the case, you need to report back to headquarters immediately. Pack your bags, there's a car waiting for you and Mr. W outside, and a jet ready to take you back to England at the airport. Agent 05 is waiting for you there." Nick's voice rings into his ear.

“Alright, thanks Hemsworth.”

Nick hangs up, and apparently so does Louis’ handler, because they both stare at each other in silence for a few seconds, until the elevator dings and the doors open.

“I’ll meet you outside my room in ten minutes.” Louis says.

“Which one is it?”

“1096.”

James nods. “Alright. See you in ten.”

They part ways at the end of the hallway, when James takes a turn to the left, and Louis to the right. James packs his suitcase quickly, and realizes that this might be one of the longest holidays he’s ever had since being an agent.

James’s already in front of Louis’ door five minutes later, but it looks like the other lad isn’t ready yet. He knocks on the door and gets no response, so the polite thing to do would be to wait for Louis to come out.

But James’s a secret agent, which means that politeness isn’t one of his strengths when he’s not undercover.

He opens the door and walks inside the giant suite, trying to find out where Louis is. James eventually finds him in the living room, loading his gun and collecting the last remainders of cocaine from the table into a small bag.

“You do drugs?” James frowns.

“Well I wasn’t on the job these past few days, was I now?” Louis retorts and then zips his suitcase shut and places the gun at the back of his belt.

James doesn’t say anything else as he watches Louis gather his stuff and finally stand up, meaning he’s ready to leave.

“Finally.” James groans.

“Oh shut it. You should be lucky that I didn’t start doing my hair or anything.”

James rolls his eyes. “You and Zayn, I swear.”

***

London (England)

MI6 headquarters

18 04 2016

2200 hours

Liam is leaning against the lab door with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.

“Don’t say it.” James says when Liam opens his mouth, probably to comment of the fact that the jet had to wait twenty minutes for the two of them, because Louis really wanted a Kebab and the queue in the airport was a nightmare.

Liam leads the way inside the lab and straight to Nick’s desk.

“So what are we onto here?” James asks and shakes Nick’s hand, and then gives Zayn a hug because he hasn’t seen his best friend in what feels like ages.

“After ten days of looking through the footage of the cameras on Champs-Élysées, we stumbled upon this guy.” Nick says and pauses on a picture of a guy with a hoodie on, before zooming in.

“Dominique Sauvageon. Last name is french for the word savage.”

“Why this guy?” Zayn asks, crossing his arms.

Nick points at the screen. “Look at the back of his hand.”

“That’s the Russian Military Symbol, isn’t it?” James speaks. “Those two guys in Russia also had these tattoos.”

“They’re definitely connected somehow.” Nick continues. “I tried monitoring his steps after he left the phone booth. His trail leads us eight kilometers away from Champs-Élysées, in Courbevoie on Rue Kilford. You have to find him in the next forty-eight hours, because a plane ticket to Russia has been booked on the twentieth. If you let him go, we lose him forever.”

James nods, patting Nick’s back. “We got this.”

“The jet is leaving in fifteen minutes, so I suggest you hurry up.” Liam tells them. “I already arranged for Agent 05’s Aston Martin to be transported to your hotel so you’ll have it when you get there.”

“Always thinking ahead.” James teases and follows him to the other side of the room so Josh, the guy who designs their gadgets and makes them work, can take his blood pressure and a sample.

Once they have everything they need, they grab their suitcases from the door (which they didn’t even get to unpack and wash the contents), before they head out.

Paris (France)

La Tremoille

19 04 2016

0050 hours

They’re staying at one of the fanciest hotels in Paris, which means that their beds must be really comfortable. James however, isn’t going to find out anytime soon, because he’s had about three Red Bulls on the flight over and can’t sleep to save his life.

Instead, he decides to spend his time trying to find out Louis’ last name. He pulls out his laptop and sits down at the desk in his room, and then logs into the police database with his username and password.

He knows Louis was born in the winter (he mentioned it once without giving it any thought, but James latched on to that information for some reason-and now he knows why), either in 1991 or 1992, so James searches for males who were born in January or February in 1992, and whose first name is Louis.

He has forty-five hits, but none of the pictures match Louis’ profile, so James tries December 1991. He has three hits, one of them without a picture.

Louis William Tatcher

There’s no picture on this profile, which is weird, since everyone has their picture taken for their ID at some point. Something’s not right. There’s no information about the person either, other than their birth date and their hometown.

“Doncaster.” James reads out loud.

He then opens a new Safari window and searches for articles containing ‘Louis’ and ‘Doncaster’. The only articles he finds are one about Louis Van Gaal related to football, and the other one is from April 30th 2006, and it’s from an obituary. James’s stomach clenches.

There’s a scanned piece of newspaper so James clicks on it, and reads the few sentences written on there.

Family of seven from Doncaster dies during home invasion

The article talks about the Austin family’s home being invaded by three strangers on the night of April 25th, who killed everyone in the house except of Louis Troy Austin, who was transported to the hospital still alive, even after taking three shots to the chest. He apparently slipped into a coma and one week later, he completely disappeared from his hospital bed.

James reads the article again to make sure he read everything correctly, before he scrolls further down and zooms into the black and white photo of the family of seven. There are five girls, the mother and the father, and the fifteen-year-old boy who is staring into the camera and smiling.

He has a bowl cut and the biggest; brightest smile James’s ever seen on a kid in his entire life. It’s too bad that he can’t make out the color of his eyes, but he’s pretty sure that the Louis in the picture has the same facial features and crinkled smile like Louis in the room next to his does.

James closes his laptop and scribbles the information on a piece of paper, before he walks over to the bathroom to take a shower. It’s time he went to sleep.

***

Paris (France)

Rue Kilford

19 04 2016

2000 hours

James stares up at the giant gym located on Rue Kilford, where Sauvageon was last seen a couple of weeks prior. Zayn and Louis are currently spread out over the area, asking for the man, so it’s up to James to find out if anyone knows where Sauvageon might be.

He walks up to the front desk and plasters a smile on his face, before he asks for the guy in perfect french.

“We can’t give out any personal information about our clients, sir.” The lady behind the desk replies in french.

 James pouts and bends further over the desk. “I just haven’t seen him in a few days and I’m really worried. He’s got a…you know. A drug problem, and I was hoping you could tell me when he’s usually here.”

The lady sighs and checks something on the computer.

“He came in half an hour ago, which means he’s still here.”

James smiles. “Merci.”

He meets up with Louis and Zayn by his car, parked a block away. “He’s in the building right now. I say we wait for him to come out and then follow him to wherever he’s headed.”

Zayn gives him a brisk nod. “I’ll follow him on foot, and you can trail behind me in the car just in case I need backup.”

They get into the car, with Zayn in the passengers seat and James behind the wheel, and just wait. They listen to the news on the radio while they smoke and talk about what they did during their break.

“That’s him.” Zayn suddenly says and rolls down the window when he sees a guy dressed in a hoodie that matched the one on the tape.

Zayn gets out of the car and nonchalantly starts trailing after the guy, while James and Louis look after him from their places in the car.

When Zayn is out of their sight, James starts up the car and slowly drives in his direction. The sun is starting to set when the car eventually stops a few blocks away, in front of a bar.

“I’m going in.” Zayn says into James’s earpiece.

“Alright. We’re ready.” James responds, taking the watch to his lips.

He turns off the lights and engine, before he settles into the seat and looks towards the door.

For some reason, James feels like there’s some kind of tension between Louis and him, but then again, it might just be his own imagination playing tricks on him.

“Louis.” James starts after a while.

He sees Louis raising his eyebrows in the mirror. “Yeah?”

“William Tatcher.”

Louis makes an impressed face. “Not bad Smith.”

“Formerly known as Troy Austin.”

This time, Louis tenses up and avoids eye contact for a few long seconds.

“So which one is it?” James pushes, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.

Louis opens his mouth, at the same time that a gunshot is heard. The two of them immediately react by grabbing their guns and getting out of the car in a heartbeat.

James nearly clears the door open and enters an outdoor bar. The scene in front of his eyes is unfolding to a quick pace, but he manages to see Sauvageon holding a gun to Zayn’s forehead, three other guys pointing their guns towards James and Louis, while two bodies lay lifeless on the ground.

“Drop your guns!” a tall guy with a lot off tattoos yells at James and Louis, pointing the gun between them. When neither of them budges, the guy yells again. “NOW!”

James sighs and drops his gun, waiting for Louis to do the same. He doesn’t though, and the next thing he hears is three gunshots that apparently are directed towards each of the men present, except of Sauvageon.

“I can shoot you with my eyes closed and guarantee that I’ll get you right in the middle of that big forehead of yours.” Louis growls.

“Not if I shoot your partner first.” Sauvageon says and teases his finger against the trigger. He looks to James’s right, and then Louis is suddenly unconscious on the ground, with blood pouring out of his head.

“What the-“ James starts, and then he feels tremendous pain against the back of his neck, before everything goes black.

***

James wakes up in a dim lit room with one small window and a door in the corner. He feels pain in his wrists, so he looks up only to realize that he’s bound to a pole, sitting upright against a wall. God knows why he’s shirtless, and although his watch is still on, his earpiece has been taken away from him, as well as his gun.

He sees Zayn a few feet away from him, but no Louis.

“Finally.” Zayn groans and pulls against the ropes that keep him tied up. “I thought I was going to die of boredom. You were out for a while.”

“What day is it?”

“I think it’s the twentieth…around seven I think?” Zayn says and looks outside the small window the sun setting outside.

James looks around the empty room, possibly what used to be a small warehouse. “Where’s Louis?”

“I don’t know. After they knocked you out they took him and then the two of us up on the third level.”

“Do you think you can reach my back pocket? I’ve got my car keys in there.”

Zayn rolls his eyes and sarcastically answers: “Uh, I’m pretty tied up right now mate.”

“Hold on.” James mumbles and grips into the bar that’s holding him up. He pulls himself up and latches his feet onto the bar holding Zayn, so that they’re ass-to-face. “Try to like, take the keys out with your mouth.”

“This is some kinky shit.” Zayn mutters but forces himself to reach the keys hanging out of James’s pocket.

Once James is back down, Zayn exchange the keys with their mouths and James then proceeds to cut into the rope as much as he can before he wrings himself out of it.

“You wait here and pretend you’re sleeping or something. It’s way too dangerous for the both of us when we’re not armed. I’m going to find Louis.” James says and buries his keys into Zayn’s palm.

His partner nods with a serious look in his eyes, and James turns on his watch, bringing it to his lips. “I don’t know if you can hear me Nick, but don’t respond just in case they’re listening. I’m fine, Zayn’s too. I need you to check Louis’ pulse and whereabouts and then send them to me.”

James walks towards the door and tries the handle. Of course these idiots aren’t smart enough to make sure they lock it, since it opens with a light creak.

Once he’s made sure no one’s around, he walks down the hallway and up the stairs until he reaches another hallway. There’s a man leaning out a window with his back to James, smoking a cigarette while talking on the phone about his girlfriend.

James closes in on him, pulls the gun from the guys’ belt in a swift motion and smacks him over the face with it so he falls unconscious on the floor by his feet.

There’s another flights of stairs that James crosses until he reaches yet another hallway. There are voices coming from a room next to him, and a man on the other end of the hallway with his back to him, typing away on his phone.

James presses his gun against the back of his head. “One word and I’ll blow your brains out,” he whispers. “Now tell me where you took my other partner.”

“Never.” The guy snarls so James takes the gun out of his belt and shoots him in the leg.

It takes about three seconds for three other guys to appear in the hallway, but James’s already got that covered as he shoots two of them in the chest simultaneously, before he also takes on the other one.

“Tell me where he is, or I’ll kill all of you.” James warns, stepping on one of them.

The guy gives him a smile with bloody teeth. “You’re going to be too late anyway. Dominique probably already pushed him off the roof.” The guy spits on James’s feet. “He should’ve known better than to kill three of our men.”

“I should do the same.” James says, but chooses to shoot them all in the leg before taking the stairs that lead to the roof two at the time.

He blows the keyhole off the door before he kicks it in and looks around the rooftop, until his eyes fall on a shirtless Louis and Sauvageon. The latter is holding him by the neck right on the ledge of the building. One push, and that’s it for Louis.

“Let him go.” James asks, stepping closer.

“One more step and it’s going to be the last time you see your precious partner.”

James tentatively presses his fingers against the triggers, knowing he can make the shot. The only thing holding him back is the fact that Louis might fall once Sauvageon lets go of him. Plus, he needs the guy for information.

“I’m going to say it one more time, nicely. Let him go.”

Louis’ hands tighten around Sauvageon’s wrists. “I would listen to him.” He says, shooting him a smirk.

“I hate cocky idiots.” Sauvageon spits and pushes Louis off the building.

James yells and shoots him in the leg, before yelling into his watch for Nick to send two helicopters straight away. He turns around and runs a hand through his hair, wondering whether he should go and look over the ledge.

“f*****g hell.” He mutters to himself and pushes a gun into his belt, before unloading the other one and dropping it to the ground.

He feels heartbroken, and he has no idea why he even feels this way. He should be professional.

“Oh come on, don’t be so sad about it.”

James swirls around to see Louis walking over to him with a smirk to his face. He stops to kick a heavily breathing Sauvageon in the ribs, before continuing on his path towards James.

“You f*****g idiot.” James breathes and takes the remaining steps between them, just to pull him into a hug without even thinking about it.

Louis tenses against the touch, but soon enough reciprocates the action by wrapping his arms around James’s waist.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” James whispers after a few seconds, when he pulls back and rests his forehead against Louis’.

Terror flashes through Louis’ eyes, but James continues nonetheless.

“Louis Troy Austin. Whose family died during that home invasion in 2006.”

Louis looks more relieved for some reason, and then nods.

Someone coughing interrupts them, so they pull apart. Zayn’s leaning against the doorframe with a gun hanging off his middle finger and a knowing smile plastered on his face. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“No.” Louis says and steps back, walking over to Sauvageon. “We were just going to take this one into custody.”

Sauvageon spits at him but Louis shuts him up with a fist to the cheek.

“There you go. One more time and you’re going to have nothing to spit with.”

Zayn shoots James a questioning look, which is definitely more than just about what happened to Sauvageon.

“Later.” James mouths and looks off in the distance, where he can already see a couple of helicopters approaching them.