Agent in the Dark

Still curious Maria asked again, "Who was she?"

"She was my sister." Temple said speaking up for the first time.

Maria gasped and stopped with her questions not sure if she wanted to know any more answers.

They'd made no attempt at stealth, as they'd sat right down in front of the house with the chopper. I'd already scouted around to verify if there were any snipers to worry about. There weren't. Perhaps my execution wasn't what they had in mind after all. How intriguing.

The door was open so I sauntered inside and immediately I didn't like what I saw. Chantry hadn't just brought any run-of-the-mill stiffs with him. He'd brought my self-righteous brother, a girl that was nothing but eye candy meant to distract me, and worst of all Lori's brother.

I sat down opposite of Chantry and I met his calculated smile with one of my own. He didn't intimidate me. He never had. Cocking my head to the side slightly I asked, "I don't recall inviting you to my island."

"No, I don't believe you did. May I stay?"

Oh he was a cagey one he was, but two could play at that game.

"No."

"Oh, well I'll leave then, but an old man like me is going to take at least five minutes to get going."

"Did I say that I'd let you leave?"

"I don't believe you did, may I?" Chantry responded in kind.

Sighing, tired of the game, I slouched back into the chair, "What do you want Chantry?"

"I thought perhaps we could arrange a little holiday from your quaint little island for you."

After five years of surviving the harsh elements on this little island they wanted to give me a vacation? Yeah right!

"Chantry do you seriously think that I'm still on this island, because I don't have the ability to leave it of my own free will?"

"Of course not! A resourceful man like you could easily build a seaworthy vessel and sail out of here with confidence. It's the very fact that you haven't that gives me confidence that some part of you may be ready for the challenges of society again."

The chessboard and its pieces went flying and I was leaning across the table with a knife buried in the table in front of Chantry. The blade itself was slid between the crease of two of Chantry's fingers resting on the table. My actions had been so fast that only my brother had the impulse to start to step forward. Chantry never so much as blinked, my face was but inches from his older more fragile one.