Agent Z

It took her some time to regain consciousness and clear the haze of dizziness from her mind. A quick flexing of her hands and feet told her that while her hands were solidly tied behind her back, there was room for some foot manoeuvring.

A cursory look around revealed that the dirty, abandoned warehouse had the usual exit points, but nothing much that could be turned into a weapon (the chair was bolted to the floor too!). ‘Well, good thing I’m well used to this!’ Z thought to herself as she wriggled her feet free from the boots. Weapon extracted, she was ready.

Footsteps, through the left back door. Her shallow breathing ought to have given away that she was feigning unconsciousness, yet her captor either didn’t know nor ignored it.
Slowly, with a groan or two, Z resurfaced. “Who are you? Where am I?”, she let her voice tremble as her eyes darted about nervously.

The man- well a boy really, had a nerdy look about him and blatant fear behind his eyes. “What do you know about The Artec? Why were you at the second floor?” He rushed through the questions, trying to look intimidating. Amateur re-defined.

It was easy to let a few drops roll down her cheeks. “I’m bad with directions and got lost. I couldn’t even find my phone… Oh God!” A muffled sniffle later, she continued, “Please believe me. I don’t know anything. Help me, please!”

But before he could say anything, a burly man stomped in. Brutish demeanour, cold eyes, guttural voice, authoritative. The leader, judging by the slashed star tattooed on his neck . “Pretty face, supple skin.. a beautiful girl like you will fetch a pretty penny.” A sharp breathe, more tears and pleas in a floaty voice- he remained impassive.

He came near, tracing a yellowed nail down her nose. “Just tell us who sent you, you’ll be free.”
As if, she scoffed internally as she nodded, biting her lip in hesitation . Waiting for an information slip can be tiring, she thought as she finally freed her hands. “We know you have the yellow box and you accessed the original Artec ledgers.”
Everything fell into place- the leak, the murder guised as suicide and more importantly, the traitor. Only they knew about the ledger’s location. Remote seduction and enough power to control too many diverse elements together- like a hacker and a henchman, human trafficking and selling government secrets.

The leader took a step closer, squeezing her cheeks, “I can kill-”
In the blink of an eye, she had stabbed the sharp, broken heel of her boot into his neck and rolled off barefoot. A roundhouse kick knocked the nerd out cold and left her free to access their phones.

“It’s Mrs Villiers, sir.”
A heavy silence, broken by “Are you sure, Z?”
Not doubt, but a confirmation for having enough evidence to convict his boss’s boss.

“Yes! And sir?” I could’ve been neater, Z grimaced as she left bloody footprints striding towards the exit. “Please send the pups for clean-up!”

---

Written for MLMM’s Wordle #242

Dizzy

Define

Shallow

Behind

Tremble

Supple

Cheek

Float

Lip Biting

Believe

Remote Seduction

Guttural

Other prompts: #3TC- Neat;

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