It was a cold night in Paris and I had a big mission tomorrow. My name is Alex Smith and I am part of a secret project in the CIA called Sandstorm. There are four of us who survived the training. We are the best of the best in the CIA. My mission tomorrow is to assassinate the ambassador of Russia and make it look like an act of terrorism. I finished setting the alarms around the apartment and was ready to get a little sleep. Just before closing my eyes, I got a text message giving me the details of the mission and a picture of the ambassador.
The morning was cloudy and rainy, which is normal for early April. I got up ate my granola while watching the news. There were two kids that were kidnaped in Nice and an apartment fire near the Eiffel Tower. I turned off the television and grabbed my gun on my way out the door. The ambassador was to leave the Russian embassy at 9 am. The day before I scouted out my spots and found the best one to be in the apartments across the street from the embassy, so I rented out room 307. I set up my gun on the table and waited for the ambassador to come out. I was using a sniper that a member of Al-Qaeda would use so people would think it was an act of terrorism. I found it odd that at 8:50 am there was no activity in the building. At 9:05 am there was still no sign of the ambassador. I found this puzzling. Suddenly I heard police sirens arriving at the apartment building I was in. I could hear shouting as they started coming up the stairs so I packed up my stuff and left. I rushed down the stairs and out the back into an alleyway. As I was walking away, I saw a CIA agent talking to the police and seemed frustrated. That was when I knew everything was going to be different. I was being hunted.
I walked by a market to buy a prepaid phone, found a hotel and lifted a key off of one of the guests. That way I had a safe place to stay for a couple hours. As soon as I got to my room I used my phone to text the other three agents that were part of Sandstorm. Usually they respond in the first five minutes. After ten minutes I thought something was up. I went to the nearest internet cafe and logged onto a computer. On the front page, there was a story about three CIA agents who were caught in acts of terrorism. When I saw the pictures, I noticed that they were the other members of Sandstorm. The article also mentioned how one agent, who was going to kill the Russian ambassador, got away. I knew the best way to hide was to go to a new country, but I knew my passport was being tracked, so my plan was to hop from train to train. I rushed immediately to the nearest train station to get on a cargo train. That way I could travel safely all the way to my destination, Milan.
I made my way to Milan and met up with an old friend, Jackson, who I could trust. Jackson was a former CIA agent who worked for 20 years before retiring. He also happened to be my training officer in the CIA. He left just before I was put into operation Sandstorm.“Here you go Alex,” as he handed me a briefcase, “there are 500,000 Euros in here. This should last you long enough until you start making your own money.”
“Thank you Jackson. I wish it didn’t come to this.” I knew the best way to escape the CIA was not to stick out in public and keep to myself. So the best place I could think of going would be Naples. Naples is filled with people which led me to believe that I could blend into society fairly well there.
“Where are you going Alex?”
“I would tell you but I want to be as secretive as I can be. You understand right?”
“Of course. If you ever need anything, I will be here.” And so I was off to live my new life. A life in which I would be very lonely. I got on a bus that would take me all the way to Naples, and hoped I wouldn’t hear from the agency again.
The bus ride was long and tiring. Most of the time I looked out the window to look at the scenery. There were many vineyards that we passed that were flooded with tourists who were out wine tasting. The country was riddled with small towns that seemed like nice places to visit for a couple days. I was debating if Naples was the best place to go, rather than these small towns, but I already made my choice so there was no going back. Every once in a while we would pass by major cities that seemed like a good place to hide, but I wasn’t allowed off the bus, so I ignored them. When we got to Naples, I purchased an apartment for 100,000 Euros and bought plenty of security items, such as cameras and sensors. It was a small studio apartment with just the bare furniture. It was bland with its white walls and looked as normal as anything I’ve ever encountered. I just hoped my life would be the same way.