Covert

Chapter Two- Agent Declan

Sipping on a daiquiri while observing the woman from the flight that he was instructed to follow had accounted for one of the rather relaxing days of his job. Watching her struggle with her luggage upon the cobbled road that eventually broke one of the wheels upon her suitcase had allowed him a slight ounce of entertainment before he saw her move out of view. Having read up on her as if she was the target she had come here to secure information from, he learned minor details about the beautiful woman who ventured her way through the hot afternoon of the Spanish terrain. The man, present with latin roots of his own, disguised his gaze behind a set of dark shades while he attempted to look at those selling handcrafted items and those made from business in small blocks. He managed to remain on her trail, even as she weaved in and out of a straight path-something taught from her own training. The man continued to follow her, watching her adorn the colorful patterns of clothing she wasn’t familiar with, and struggle to find the address in which she had been instructed to remain. When having gone down a particular road, the man understood that her overall destination had been that of the Mas Sola Hotel, the only road leading in and out of the one story selection of unimpressive slumber that she would be forced to endure. Being a native, the man made his way into the building, taking occupancy up in the lobby itself before making note of the way the staff was truly uninterested in their jobs-giving him the chance to snoop at will. His gaze moved over unimportant office items, until finally falling to the ledger that made its way before his eyes. Questioning why an American organization would have interest overseas, the man began to scan for occupants of the hotel that would pique the interest of said persons. It was then that he saw the name and room number for why she had been present. Hearing the sound of a woman struggling to pick up her luggage via its broken wheel, he took a seat in a chair in the lobby, appearing as if he was waiting for someone or something-doing anything to blend in. 

As she removed the large sunhat and sunglasses from her face, he was able to make note of her physical appearance and her rare beauty. It was a beauty that came from clear French descent, complete with petite details of her facial structure, and that of a voluptuous frame and large bosoms that squeezed tight beneath a 1940s style dress. For a moment, their gazes locked and he gave her a kind smile, allowing her to feel safe in his presence. He lingered in this area before listening to the man give her an assigned room-learning where she had been before disappearing before she turned to leave-as to not make himself suspicious later on. 

When leaning up against the building of the hotel’s main office, the man observed Autumn as she made her way into her room and finally closing the door. Having known the location in which she would be intrigued to venture into, he made his way to the room first, struggling to find a way in that wouldn’t lead to suspicion. Seeing a maid’s cart make its way from one of the rooms, he turned on his charm and began complementing the young woman who ended up giving out her phone number on the back of a customer client card, while believing he had locked himself out of his room. He gave her a final wink and made his way into the room-knocking just before entering. Upon crossing the threshold, he made his way around the room, finding everything around him to have been trashed-as if set of spring breakers had begun partying early-as it six months early. Paying just a slight amount of attention onto this, the man pulled his attention to a briefcase that had been set beneath the bed, finding it to have been locked with a combination. Without any information on the man who was taking up occupancy in this room, he was left to try and guess. Fortunately for him, as a joke, he placed in “1,2,3,4,5,6,” and it popped open, making him scoff beneath his breath. 

However, before he could pay much attention to the contents of the briefcase, the sound of a keycard being used to open the room could be heard on his end. Immediately, he rushed into the bathroom-hiding behind the bathroom door while seeing Autumn make her way inside. He watched from a small crack in the door to how she observed the room exactly as he had, until scanning her as she made note of a business card within the briefcase he had unintentionally opened for her. As she began to make steps closer and closer to the bathroom, he looked around for something to disguise himself as he had a strict mission to make note of her whereabouts, but to do so without bringing harm to her. Because of this, he wrapped his face in a towel that he tied on the base of his scalp, before then slowly making his way from behind the door. His steps moved silently towards her as she held the card in her hand, coming up directly behind her, and wrapping his fingers around her mouth. Due to the arrogant way of his persona, he decided to have a little fun in teasing her by telling her “goodbye, sweetheart’ in Spanish, and forcing her into the closet. It took him seconds before finding a broom left over by a maid who had seemingly given up on her duties, and used the handle to lock her inside. Knowing he was on borrowed time before Justin, the owner of the room would make his way inside, he quickly picked up the business card she took interest in, and placed the suitcase back beneath the bed, before then moving outside. 

Pulling a cigarette from his back pocket, the man then brought his phone to view, texting to his boss that “Americana has arrived. 12:42 A. Airlines, room 105, seeking info on Justin Stallard.” Within seconds, a text was received on his cellular device; “Confirmed Agent Declan.” The message then erased from his phone’s memory after getting a reply, allowing him to continue to observe her while acting as if he had been a resident in the complex-at least for the time being. He continued this charade for about an hour before catching a glimpse of a man whom Declan had wronged in the past-a fugitive who had gotten off after making a plea deal-a man who wanted Declan dead. Upon recognizing the ruggedly handsome secret agent, whose occupation was clearly unknown to this man, he cracked his knuckles, before Declan made himself scarce from his present location. It wasn’t that he was afraid of this man or unable to incapacitate him-he couldn’t do so without drawing attention to himself. 

Because of this, he made his way back in the front office, calling for help, and speaking of how a large man had tried to kidnap his daughter-hoping it would be enough of a story to make the man call for help. But as the larger man made his way to the office, he looked to Declan as if he was dead meat, and the man behind the counter simply locked himself away in an office that was only kept safe by a single chain lock from his side. Declan spoke of how ‘nobody could be trusted’ beneath his breath before then moving towards the stairs that ascended from the lobby. Running his way to the very top of the roof, he knew the large man would not be able to follow him if he moved quickly and quietly-allowing him the chance to escape. However, as he made his way to the roof, the door had been locked from the outside-commenting beneath his breath once more about how not even devices and mechanisms could be trusted, he could hear the man approaching below. The stairwell that led to the outside world had been just large enough for him to fit through, but left him in a dangerous situation as he would be unable to escape. 

“Dec! Buddy! Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you!” The man spoke in an American accent while locking his sights on the secret investigator. Declan was a man dedicated to his craft, so much so, that he actually enjoyed getting into scraps like this-especially when nobody else was around. In a rather comical exit, Declan waited for the man to make his way to the middle of the steps before using a parkour stunt and ending up using the man’s shoulders to escape. The man who was incredibly built had become stuff in the stairwell, allowing him the chance to run-but without a viable place to stay, he was left with one option; hide. Without any options that wouldn’t result in anyone being in fear of him having invaded their hotel room, he knew of a room in which he could hide-even if it meant he would have to do so against her will. He watched as Autumn had made her way from him having confined her and into her own room, wearing a sweatshirt around her waist-but at the last minute, she removed it, and entered her hotel room. Hearing the large man begin to break free from nearby, Declan knew he was running out of time and so he made his way to the room he knew to be hers, knocking politely on the door. He knew he was safe for the fact that she wouldn’t have been able to identify him-but that being said, anybody could call authorities on a man entering the room with a gun-so he moved his hands stealthily-holding his weapon beneath his arm before she opened the door. To make things come full circle, he spoke the same words to her that he had done when locking her up, instead of saying goodbye, he said hello, before then calling her sweetheart in spanish. This was done to skip out on introductions and for him to explain to her that he was here to bring fear into her. With his unloaded gun, Declan focused his attention on Autumn, seeing the wheels turn in her head, before sitting on the edge of her bed-thinking of what to do with her now.