[fieldbox="Agent 4, maroon"]
Location: Boston, Massachusetts. Time: 6:37am
As the plane touched down on the tarmac at Logan International, Agent 4, sitting in coach next to a rather large businessman with a body odour problem, unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up, opening the overhead locker to retrieve his briefcase.
"Sir," a concerned male flight attendant called from a few rows back.
"Sir, please take your seat. The captain hasn't turned off the seatbelt sign." The agent stared hard at the man, but reclaimed his seat impatiently, neglecting to refasten the restraint. The man sitting next to him stared at him for a moment but was ignored, as Agent 4 popped open the case and pulled out the manila folder that his handler had given him two days prior.
He had spent the last two days hauled up in his apartment, obsessively researching everything he could about his next target, Jean Song, and his sister Marionette. Most of what he found out about the man came from the deep web, where the arms dealer goes by the handle
Le Guépard - The Cheetah. Intercepting some of his recent communications, it appeared that the deal was happening on the 28th on his private
yacht which was currently moored at Boston Marina. He was expecting delivery from someone with the handle
El Futbolista - Spanish for The Footballer. He hadn't managed to find out much about the business partner, not that it mattered much anyway since the two would not be meeting as planned.
In truth, Agent 4 had spent most of the past two days researching Marionette. A politician residing in Nice in Southern France, she seemed above board and didn't appear to have anything to do with Jean's business dealings. Her profile was very public, and indeed nothing about Marionette appeared in the deep web, as far as he could tell. The fact that she had just given her acceptance speech to the French parliament in Paris overnight meant it was unlikely that Agent 4 would encounter her on this mission, and he had the most unusual feeling about that cold, hard fact. He struggled to place the emotion - disappointment perhaps? Certainly he recognised in her a certain grace and beauty, and the way she delivered that speech was fascinating to him. So bold, but elegant at the same time, how she promised she would bring about prosperity for the people that had elected her. He had listened to her speech four times on the short flight from Baltimore - he was ...
inspired? ... by it.
The Boeing had finally come to a stop, and Agent 4 stood once more and pushed past the passengers three rows in front of him to get to the door first. He tapped his foot impatiently while he waited for the attendant to open the door.
"Finally!" he said under his breath as the door opened to Logan Airport, and he pushed past the attendant without waiting for him to make way for the passengers to exit.
The GBC agent walked at a brisk pace through the airport and out the front doors. He picked up his pace as he took Hotel Drive and Harborside Drive to the Hyatt and entered the lobby fifteen minutes after exiting the plane. As he approached the front desk he noticed a couple being checked out by one of the staff, but another presently waved him over and smiled. Agent 4 did not smile back, but walked up and asked for a room in his low, raspy voice.
"I'd like a view of the harbor if that's possible."
"Of course, Sir," said the clerk, typing away on her computer.
"The only harbor view room I have available is a deluxe suite, room 2416, Sir." Her accent was French and he glanced at her name tag which read
Antoinette.
"That will be fine, thank you Antoinette," he said, handing over a Platinum American Express Card. Antoinette presented him with a configured card for his room and pointed him to the elevator. As he entered the lift, he once again opened the file on Jean and read while he waited for it to open again. He walked without looking up from the file to room 2416, and opened the door. Setting the briefcase down on the desk, he opened it and put the folder back neatly, pulled out his hand-held scope and used it to look out the window, searching the yachts below for his target's boat.
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