Eagle

Part 2

Chapter 4

August 19th, 2012

0935 hours

 

“Dammit! How could this happen!?”

 

Major Kent Turnbull was a balding man in his fifties. He furiously chewed on a Cuban cigar while he prowled back and forth through his Pentagon office. Dammit! This wasn’t supposed to happen! They weren’t supposed to hear about Project Eagle! He stared into the interview room where there was a person, tied to a chair with a black bag over their head. He shook his head.

 

“Sir!” A wily young lieutenant entered the room, somewhat out of breath. “We managed to keep the feed from broadcasting.”

 

“You better have; otherwise, you’d be out of a job.”

 

The lieutenant swallowed hard and mumbled out a “Yessir”. Major Turnbull scared the crap out of him. He knew the phrase “out of a job” in this business was synonymous with “erased from the face of the earth”.

 

Turnbull kept a close eye on the interview room. There has to be a leak, but from whom? We’ve sealed off the department. Everyone is searched upon leaving; they are subjected to random polygraph tests. What went wrong? Who went wrong? He was done waiting. He grabbed the door to the interview room and slammed it open, leaving a crack in the concrete wall. Despite his age, he was in no way out of shape. A vigorous workout regimen kept him looking as menacing as ever. That’s why he’d been able to claw his way up from private to major in less than three years. That, and a healthy dose of charisma, blackmail, and when it was necessary, breaking a few necks.

The prisoner’s breathing was heavy through the bag. They were obviously nervous. Turnbull chuckled to himself. They very well should be. Turnbull furiously kicked the front of the chair, knocking it onto the hard concrete with a resounding thud. The prisoner started to whimper. Turnbull ripped off the black bag and stared down into the face of his captive.

 

“Chantal Williams, you’ve caused me a great deal of grief.”

 

Chantal was breathing hard, absolutely scared out of her mind. She didn’t know what to do.

 

“Please, just let me go!”

 

Turnbull laughed out loud.

 

“What makes you think I’d do that? You damn near blew my operation’s cover. I doubt you’ll be leaving here any time soon. If ever.”

 

Tears formed in Chantal’s eyes. This wasn’t what she’d signed up for. She wanted to be a news anchor for the chance to get that one breaking news story. To be that one public figure that everyone looked to for advice. She closed her eyes and looked away.

 

“You can pretend that this is a nightmare all you want, but I’ll be right here, every second, every day, for the rest of your miserable life.”

 

Chantal couldn’t hold back any more. The tears started streaming down her face. There was nothing she could do but sob. Sob, and hope that this nightmare would end soon.