A Snake Within the CIA (September 1983)

Much to her relief, Frank did as she requested and remained in bed. She went and fetched him some water and then informed her parents that he was awake. Her parents checked on him and decided he was going to be alright, but it was going to take some time for him to heal. Isabella made him something to eat, that was approved by her parents, and remained with him for the rest of the day. That night she slept in her old room, but kept the door open in case Frank needed anything.

The following morning she still had not heard back from Lauren. She had given her her parent's phone number and had expected her to call but she hadn't. Isabella was starting to become increasingly more worried and knew that she needed to try and get in touch with her. Then, a thought occurred to her. Perhaps Lauren feared that her parent's phone had been wiretapped and so she didn't want to call. Isabella needed to get to a payphone. She put on some clothes that disguised herself and took her mother's car and drove out a ways to find a payphone. She had taken a bunch of change with her and she deposited some money and then dialed the number. She waited as the phone rang...and rang...and rang. Isabella knew that this was not typical of Lauren. She held her breath as she waited and hoped she would pick up.

Lauren had never made it to DC. In fact, she never made it out of the parking garage. As soon as she moved to get into her car she was hit by something hard in the back of the head. When she woke up she was somewhere else and tied to a chair. Lauren had been a CIA agent for over 12 years and she was tough as nails. She was tortured for information she didn’t have, the whereabouts of Isabella Corsetti. So it was now a waiting game. The plan was to wait for isabella to call her and then trace the call and send a kill team to take her out. Lauren’s job was to lure her to their location and then kill or capture her, preferably capture her so they could learn what she really knew.

Lauren finally answered.

“Hello? Oh Isabella, I thought I told you to lay low, I think you’ve fucked me over enough,” She said but her voice did not sound as she remembered. Her inflections were off. That and what she said spoke volumes. Lauren and Isabella had already gained a certain kind of rapport. And this was fairly obvious. Someone was going to try to track the phone call and Lauren his hurt in some way.

“We’re going to get help but the situation needs to be handled delicately,” She said and that was very much unlike her as well. She was telling her that if she comes she will need to be prepared.

Isabella knew immediately that something was wrong...very wrong. Lauren's voice sounded...off...as if she was being made to say what she was saying. Isabella was no idiot. She knew that Lauren must have been captured and was being used to lure her in. However, she also knew that they must have tortured Lauren and they probably weren't intending to let her out of this alive. She needed to find her and help her and end this once and for all.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked carefully. She knew she needed to get off the call fast before it could be traced but she needed to know where Lauren was.

“Well, actually there is. I need that disk I had you hold onto. You know the one with all the information on Victor, Alan and Thomas? And any copies you’ve made as well, bring everything,” she said.

“The address is 814 Prescott, the gate code is 4513,” She said. What all that likely meant that it was Victor Teagan holding her with other agents willing to help him and that Isabella would need backup. The ‘Any copies’ comment definitely meant that alone she was not likely going to survive. She could call Renee and Alonzo to help her, but it would put them in danger. However there was alot at stake here. If she brought down Victor she would have cleansed their field office of all of the bad eggs.

Isabella listened carefully to what Lauren told her. She wrote down the address and gate code. She knew what Lauren meant. She would need to call Renee and Alonzo to help her. They were all going to be in danger, but they needed to get Victor and she needed to help Lauren.

"I understand. I will be there shortly," she said and then hung up. She then called both Renee and Alonzo and told them to meet her a few blocks away from the address. She asked Alonzo to bring some weapons. She then hung up and headed towards the meetup spot. She knew if she went back and talked to Frank that he would try to stop her from doing this. However, she knew it needed to be done.

Renee and Alonzo stepped out of the black sedan as they saw Isabella stop. It was dark with no overcast and her headlights bathed them in light. They were dressed in black with body armor and they approached her when she got out of the car. Renee hugged her and Alonzo handed her the body armor.

“Victor must be using off sight talent Isabella, our office’s agents came into work today...most of them anyway. How much trouble are we in?” She asked concernedly as they stepped around to the back of the car. Alonzo opened the trunk and revealed an arsenal of weaponry.

Isabella hadn't seen nor spoken to Renee or Alonzo since she and Frank had been at her parent's house. It was comforting to see that they were alright. She returned Renee's hug and then took the body armor from Alonzo. They would be able to see the bruises she still had from a few days before. She put it on as she began to explain the situation in more detail to them.

"As far as I can tell, Lauren is being held captive. Victor is using her to lure me in. We need to take out Victor. This is going to be a dangerous operation and I won't make either of you do this if you don't want to."

Renee drew out a sub machine gun then slapped the bolt receiver with her hand to charge it forward. “Good people are being hurt because of this corruption among our ranks. If getting Victor means putting an end to it then Im with you Isabella,” she said.

Alonzo took up a shotgun and began loading it with shells. There were orher weapons as well. An assault rifle, machine pistols, pistols, sub-machine guns and shotguns. He helped get the women stocked with a pistol and several magazines of ammunition.

Isabella was glad to know she wasn't going to be going in alone, although she would have if she had had to. She would protect Renee and Alonzo to the best of her abilities, but she needed to get Victor. She couldn't let what he was doing continue.

She loaded herself up with as many weapons and ammunition as she could that wouldn't slow her down. She wanted to be ready for anything. After they were ready to go she looked at them both.

"There is no plan here. We go in and find Victor and kill him. We stick together and watch each other's backs. Got it?"

They both agreed but they also knew that they would be killing other agents today. But they all liked Lauren and had their own reasons for wanting her out of there safe and alive. She pulled up onto a side street, one street over from the safe house. Alonzo handed Isabella a silencer for her to screw onthe end of her pistol. “We should go on foot from here,” he said. As they filed out of the car. They all had long coats on to hide their weapons.

Along the houses that led to the safe house they moved tactically, trying to stay out of the lights. No one was up at this hour and as they approached the house. There was a hedge just inside a wooden privacy fence. There were several cameras but Isabella lnew that they had terrible night vision. There were a few guards outside the house. One near the front gate, one near the front door, one that patrolled front to back and one at the back door.

As they pulled up and got out of the car Isabella took a deep breath. She took the silencer from Alonzo and screwed it onto the end of her pistol. They walked carefully, avoiding any street lights. When they reached the house she looked around at the situation. She could see three guards, but she knew there would be a fourth as well. She could also see that there was a hedge just inside the wooden privacy fence. That could provide some useful cover. They needed to take out the guard at the gate first. She gave a nod to Renee and Alonzo and they crept up towards the gate. She waited a moment and readied her pistol with the silencer. She then quickly stepped out in front of the gate and shot the guard once in the chest. She gave Renee and Alonzo a nod to let them know it was clear and then she typed in the gate code Lauren had given her. It worked and the gate opened. By that time the guard at the front door had spotted them, but Renee took him out before he could even lift up his radio. They then hid in the area between the hedge and the privacy fence and waited for the roaming guard to appear. When he did Alonzo took him out with a shot to the leg and then to the chest. There was just one guard left outside...the guard at the back door.

As they waited for their moment they heard the squelch of his radio. “Jamie, Ben, Greg and Paul didn’t check in, can you go see if their all in a gaggle somewhere, I can’t see em from here,” The voice said. “Yeah, im on it,” The man said then huffed as he lifted up his submachine gun and began to walk toward the front. Renee shifted so she was against the house and Alonzo went down to a knee to take aim at him with his silenced pistol.

“Chirpppp,” Renee said and the man paused and began to turn around. Alonzo shot him right in the head and he dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground. Alonzo rushed up and grabbed the man’s radio. “Hey, we’re having radio issues out here, we’re trying to fix it,” He said as he squelched the radio multiple times as he spoke. He decided to keep the radio and he took the man’s weapon and ammunition and slung his shotgun. He gestured to the women to head toward the back.

The house was laid out like any other house. It had a living area, a mudroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and even a game room. The lights were on inside and Alonzo could see several men from the window from the side of the house he was at. He decided to remain where he was and shoot at anyone who moved toward the back.

As the women entered they noticed they were in like a laundry mudroom. No one was in there but as they quietly made for the door they heard two men talking quietly in the kitchen. “So you gunna marry her or what? Maybe she’ll make an honest man out of you,” One of them said. “I’m not certain I’m ready for that yet. Whats next, a house and kids? How’s that workin out for ya?” The other asked. “Its not as bad as you think, Jeanne is going to be 2 in a month, you’re whole life changes the moment you hold her,” He said. Renee looked at Isabella. Her face had a pained look on it but then she nodded and her resolve had returned. “They made their choices,” She whispered when Isabella looked at her. Alonzo was watching another room from outside, he thought it was a gameroom that led to the kitchen. Two men were there playing pool.

Just before they opened the door to the Kitchen a squeaky floor tile made a noise. The two men stopped talking and their hands went to their weapons. The result was a furious exchange of gunfire. Both Isabella and Renee were hit but their weapons were not silenced and the house suddenly came alive as if someone kicked an ant hill. Alonzo opened fire on the two in the game room.

Both Renee and Isabella had body armor on. If they hadn’t they both would likely have died. The two they fired on had none but even having the armor the bullets that struck their armor hurt a great deal. Renee had doubled over and tried to stem the blood flow that came from her left shoulder. Isabella’s chest and stomach stung but she had little time as two more men rushed down the stairs. Isabella flung herself to the floor, her weapon angled up at them and opened fire. Bullets in quick succession struck them and as they convulsed as they were hit their fingers drew down on their triggers. Their weapons fired and bullets rained down into the floor, into the wall and into the ceiling above them as they fell. Alonzo jumped through the window as glass crashed down all over the floor. The two men he shot didn’t move a muscle, not even to breathe.

As Isabella righted herself she heard Lauren’s voice. “Isabella, he’s up here!” But then it suddenly went silent and no one else came down the stairs to greet them.

Isabella knew she needed to get to Lauren quickly. However, she knew that Victor would be in the room and that she would need to be careful. She wanted to get Lauren out of this alive.

She switched to a rifle and walked up the stairs. She kept the gun at eye level and ready to fire. She remained calm. All of her training and instinct kicked in. She got to the top of the stairs and she began systematically checking each room. When she got to the end of the hallway she spotted Lauren in the room to the left. She was tied to a chair and she could see Victor kneeling behind her. He had two pistols. One was aimed over Lauren’s left shoulder and the other one was under her right arm. She could see him looking at her over Lauren’s right shoulder. She aimed the rifle at him.

“It’s all over Victor.”

Victor was older, in his mid 50s and had fought in the Vietnam war. He was fairly lean but solid all around and he was very good with most firearms. He had come up in the CIA from an agent and he had earned his position. He had come to understand that sometimes, one only had to look the other way to allow evil to exist in this world. The CIA hamstrung itself with ‘rules and regulations’. Bah! Good men died behind regulations and procedures. Good men died and bad men got off scott free.

“You know as well as I do Isabella that sometimes we have to skirt the rules to get things done. Our troops, our soldiers, our men are going to be in Afghanistan and we have a duty to understand who their enemies will be. The taliban is real, our enemies are real and good men are going to die by the hundreds if we do nothing. Frank understood that just like Alan did and you share his bed,” He said. Victor wasn’t afraid, he spoke with confidence. “I wasn’t there when his family was killed and I certainly didn’t order it. All we wanted was him and if you thought it was reasonable to kill Alan then by that line you must think Frank just as guilty. Or do you just pick and choose who you want to prosecute based on if you’re fucking them or not?” he asked.

Isabella remained calm and focused as she eyes Victor. She kept her rifle raised and ready to fire. “You think you’re innocent in all of this? You’re the puppet master pulling everyone else’s strings and in that respect you are responsible for the deaths of Frank’s wife and son. Innocent people are being killed because of you, Alan, and Thomas. I’ve cleared out two snakes and that only leaves you now...the biggest snake of them all.”

“Well come and get me bitch! When i kill you im going to go over to your parents and kill them and then ill find Noah West and kill him and anyone else he loves just because you loved him, once! C’mon Isabella, show me what you got!” He taunted, ready to fire at her when she showed herself.

Isabella knew that this was the moment. She needed to react faster than him. She couldn’t screw this up. She waited a few more moments to throw him off and then she drew in a deep breath. She whipped out from the hallway and took aim. Time suddenly seemed to slow down. Isabella could really feel the trigger as she squeezed it. She watched as the bullet exited the gun in a small cloud of powder. It flew straight through the air. At the same time she could see Victor’s bullet. It flew towards her head. She threw herself out of the way and watched as the bullet hit the wall exactly where her head had just been. She slowly looked back over at Victor and saw blood running down between his eyes. There was a perfect hole in the center of his forehead. His face became ashen and his body slowly dropped to the floor.

Isabella stood there a moment before she dropped the rifle and walked over and untied Lauren from the chair. Her hands didn’t shake at all.

“Are you alright?”

Lauren blinked as she stood up and felt at her wrists that had been rubbed raw from her bindings. She didnt respond directly bit she moved uo to Victor’s corpse and kicked it in the face then spat on him. Renee and Alonzo came up. “I called it in,” Alonzo said. “A cleanup team is coming. Renee needs to go to the hospital, I can remain and do the investigation and wrap things up,” he said. “Get Lauren outta here,” he said.

In the car they headed to the hospital. They flashed their badges and Renee was seen immediately. They looked over Lauren as well but she only needed some ointment for her wrists. Renee had to stay over night and now Isabella and Lauren were back into the car and Isabella was driving them back to the office. In a moment of weakness Lauren began to cry but it didnt last long. She wiped the few tears that fell onto your cheeks.

“There is a good chance, with the recent lack of agents, that Ill become the deputy director, if I do or dont I plan on promoting you to Operative Supervisor,” she said. “And if you were wondering the only exceptable answer is yes when the position is offered to you.” She said.

Isabella was surprised by how calm she was feeling right then. She had always known that her calling was helping people, but now she really knew it. She knew it deep down into her bones.

When Lauren began to cry she glanced at her, but didn't say anything. She understood her tears but didn't want to embarrass her by saying anything. To be a woman in this line of work you have to be stronger than the men. Tears were a sign of weakness.

She reached the office building and pulled the car over to the curb. She looked over at Lauren as she spoke and slowly nodded in understanding. She was quiet a moment before speaking. "What about Frank?"

They got into the elevator and ascended to their floor. The halls were empty, it was very late or early depending on your point of view. “Coffee?” Lauren asked and went into the small kitchen and begsm to make a pot.

“For his past crimes...i think that will go away, but he’s murderd alot of people Isabella. Mobsters, crooks and bad people but he’s a vigilante. I can bury the present investigation but if he continues...I cant make murders just go away. Talk to him, get him to stop,” she said as the coffee began to perkalate.

Isabella suddenly felt completely exhausted. She wanted to sleep for a week. She nodded gratefully when Lauren offered some coffee. She sank down into one of the chairs and didn't know if she would ever get up again. She wanted to laugh at what Lauren said. Get Frank to stop? If she couldn't get him to stop biting his nails she wasn't going to stop him from what he was doing. However, she was willing to give it a shot. Maybe almost dying would change his mind.

"I will try. So...can I go back to my apartment now?"