****************
Enver quickly turned, hiding his face. He wanted to pull up his hood, but he knew it would be suspicious. He didn’t look back. He didn’t want them to notice.
But he was sure he had seen that face before. That man…Niko…he was part of the gang. That probably meant he was following the agents. He couldn’t let them get on that plane. That meant he’d have to distract them…and that would probably end up with them following him.
****************
“I thought you said we weren’t supposed to get tied up in Laura’s mission,” Rebecca said, trying not to sound like she was accusing the Administrator.
“They weren’t supposed to meet up,” Adm. Taylor said. “It just happened.”
“I can’t believe you sent them that close,” Rebecca said, plopping back down into the chair.
“They’re coming back now. I heard the agents are at an airport in—”
“Wait, Laura ditched the agents?”
“I have records that a miniplane piloted by a single person connected to the twin jet the others were flying at the time. Laura is the only one we know that was with them that can do that sort of thing, so it must have been her.”
“Who did she leave to fly the plane?”
“We’re not sure, but there were four persons accounted for on the plane. There were only three agents in need of rescue.”
“So one of them is not an HIA agent,” Rebecca understood. “Are all four persons at the airport?”
“Only three are boarding a flight. They are on their way to Phoenix,” the chief answered.
“So I’m guessing the one that didn’t leave is not an agent.”
“That would be my guess,” Adm. Taylor responded.
“Well, where do you want me? Tracking down the twin jet with the others in it, or at the airport, seeing the agents home?”
The Administrator paused before making his decision.
****************
Enver reached the car, turned it into an airplane, and started to taxi over towards the gang members. Niko turned around to see a mini airplane heading right for them, and ran for it. The others saw the plane too late and were trapped underneath it. Enver kept taxiing. Niko kept running away from the port, but Enver was catching up to him. The plane was at Niko's heels when he turned sharply and started to run back towards his fellow members. Enver looked at the run-off and was glad to see that the airplane that the agents were in was starting to take off. Now he just needed to stop Niko from sneaking on the plane. It was very easy, seeing as the plane that he was targeting was about 50 meters away, and that the same plane had already gone halfway through the runway. There was no way that Niko would make it. Enver flew off, encircling the area to make sure that the plane flew off safely, and when he was sure it had, he flew back to where his family was hidden.
****************
"Tell me who those people were!" Xarissa screamed at Laura. Laura had received so many blows that her face had become purple and swollen.
Suddenly, Caitlin got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't bear watching anymore and ran up to Xarissa to stop her, making Xarissa turn around to face her. "Xarissa, stop and think what you're doing!" Caitlin shouted.
When Xarissa had realized what she was doing, she turned around slowly, afraid to see what she had done. Laura was sobbing by now.
"Laura?" Xarissa asked painfully. Laura looked at Xarissa in the eye. Xarissa couldn't stand it. She fell to her knees, sobbing, screaming, and tearing her hair out of her scalp. Caitlin again tried to stop her, but Xarissa was in a trance that was too painful to describe. Caitlin was finally able to make Xarissa come to her senses. She untied Laura, who was so weak that she couldn't even stand. Sarah turned the plane to autopilot and took out the first aid kit. Xarissa was in too much pain to help. She crawled to a corner, curled herself up, and began to sob again. Laura was in too much pain to even cry. Xarissa had done a lot more than just slap her. Sarah and Caitlin were trying their best to help with the bruises, but couldn't do much. Sarah returned to piloting and Caitlin carried Laura over to Xarissa so that she could comfort both of them at the same time.
****************
"Let me check the twin jet." Adm. Taylor said. He turned on the camera that saw the entire jet. He saw Laura and Xarissa curled up on the floor, Sarah was piloting, and Caitlin was obviously trying to talk to Xarissa. This confused him. He rewinded the camera for a bit, then stopped, and pressed play. He had unfortunately reached the part where Xarissa had begun punching Laura, and was watching with terror at what had happened. He stopped playing the tape and returned to Rebecca.
"The jet with the three agents won't reach Arizona for quite a while. The jet with the four agents will need...assistance. Lots of it. I'm going to contact them to tell them that they will need to perform the emergency landing sequence when they arrive. When they do, you need to be down there with two stretchers. Don't ask them questions. They will need a day to recover." Adm. Taylor told Rebecca sternly.
"Understood, Adm."
"Dismissed, Agent."
*****************
They were finally back in America. Sarah sat still and rigid in the pilot seat, unable to move. She was so horrified that she kept looking forward, not looking back. It wasn’t until a hand touched her shoulder that she came to her senses. She flinched at the touch, then curled up into a ball on her chair, her head in her hands. “Leave me alone,” she said. “I’ll be there in a minute.” The hand slid off her shoulder, and she heard footsteps get further and further away.
****************