BIA Ch. 118

“Isaiah.”

Morgan rose from his desk chair.

“Welcome. Sorry for calling you so late.”

“It’s alright. I was planning to stop by tomorrow on my way anyway.”

Morgan nodded and approached. He patted Isaiah’s shoulder as if telling him to sit first, then sat down himself on the visitor sofa opposite him.

“The reason I asked you to come today is…”

Morgan hesitated, which was rare for him. He even wiped his mouth area once with his hand. This was a gesture he showed when he was truly troubled.

“Actually, Chester requested a replacement.”

Indeed, it was a matter worthy of such hesitation.

“Really?”

It was surprising, but he didn’t feel particularly unpleasant or betrayed. If anything, he felt relieved. However, there was a point of concern. For Chester to request a replacement two days before D-day meant he must have sensed something.

“When did you hear from him?”

“Last night. Do you have any idea why?”

Isaiah shook his head. Morgan let out a breath, a soft ‘hmm,’ and loosened his tie slightly. Then, leaning back comfortably against the sofa backrest, he spoke.

“He called yesterday evening. I received the call during dinner, so it must have been around six. He asked if you do drugs.”

Hearing that reminded him. Yesterday, he had briefly mentioned his past drug aftereffects to Chester in passing. Chester had looked startled then but said nothing; it seemed he called Morgan as soon as he got home.

“There are clients like that sometimes. People who insist they can never entrust a job to a junkie. So, I made sure to tell him clearly. That it was from a very young age and even then, it was a form of abuse. That after his adoptive parents were arrested for child abuse, he was moved to a facility and received rehabilitation training, and that as far as I know, he hasn’t touched any kind of drug since. I told him all that.”

“And then?”

“He asked which facility you went to.”

Ah. Isaiah murmured inwardly. John Bosco. Right, then Chester would have no choice but to know. The fact that he and Bran had stayed in the same orphanage during the same period. Moreover, considering Isaiah had kept it a secret from him until now, Chester would have gone absolutely ballistic.

“We wrapped up the conversation roughly then, but he called again around ten o’clock saying he wanted to replace the sniper. When I asked why, he said there was no problem with you, that it was due to their internal circumstances. If he puts it that way, well, we can’t exactly ask him to reconsider anymore.”

No wonder. Isaiah couldn’t hide the smile escaping him. He had thought Chester’s behavior today was particularly unpleasant. So that’s what it was, trying desperately to get laid one last time before they parted ways. He even asked all sorts of questions about the trip to Virginia, yet didn’t assign anyone to follow and just wished him a safe trip; Isaiah had thought the shock of almost getting shot while trying to kiss must have been immense.

But it wasn’t that; it was because he knew the real reason Morgan had summoned me.

For Chester, it was quite the adorable acting skill. No, thinking about how pathetically he acted in the car on the way to the airport at the end, maybe not entirely.

“Chester said so too. That you handled the first three cases very well. It would have been great if you could finish the last one well too, but for him to pull this at the last minute citing his circumstances, I’m quite baffled myself.”

“Well, we did fight a lot while working together.”

Isaiah said, leaning back against the sofa.

“Chester didn’t like my way of working.”

“As long as the person kills well, why be so picky.”

Morgan clicked his tongue, tsk.

“So, which other sniper did you decide to send?”

“Kestrel.”

As expected, Isaiah thought. Considering the fee Chester paid, Kestrel was indeed the only alternative. He was the sniper with the second-highest mission success rate after himself.

“Kestrel probably won’t need a spotter.”

Isaiah straightened up from leaning against the sofa and said.

“The environment isn’t bad. It’s a building 800 yards away. The angle is a bit steep since it’s the 22nd floor, but the visibility is decent. Even though it’s evening, they keep the churchyard lit, so night vision goggles won’t be necessary.”

“Tell Kestrel yourself. He should be packing his bags at his place now. Hand over that feature phone too.”

Kestrel was staying in an apartment one block away from here. Isaiah knew the location well, as he often stopped by when visiting the headquarters.

“Alright.”

As Isaiah came out of the director’s office, Mickey shot up from his seat.

“Let’s go.”

“Uh, before that, can I use the restroom?”

Mickey asked in an urgent voice. Only then did Isaiah look at Mickey’s face. His face was bright red, as if he’d been holding it in for who knows how long. Isaiah thought it was from crying, but it seemed there was another reason. He considered teasing him a bit but decided against it, thinking it would be troublesome if he wet himself on the street, and took him to the restroom.

After letting Mickey into the restroom, Isaiah was smoking a cigarette in front of the sink when his pants pocket vibrated. The left pocket held the smartphone he received from Chester. It seemed Chester had probably contacted Morgan confirming that the matter was resolved.

Isaiah took the smartphone out of his pocket. He considered shoving it straight into the trash can but decided to answer the call first.

“Who is this.”

「Where are you.」

Chester asked bluntly. Isaiah took a long drag from his cigarette, then exhaled just as slowly and spoke.

“On my way to get laid to celebrate getting fired.”

Chester was silent for a moment. Then he spoke in a hoarse voice.

「You can still come back.」

If you want to. The added voice was so pleading, it felt like the word ‘please’ was implied right after.

“What bullshit are you talking after firing me.”

「I didn’t want to do it. But Manny…」

“Stop using Manny as an excuse.”

Isaiah said, annoyed.

“You’re the one making the decision anyway, why do you keep bringing up Manny?”

「Yeah, you’re right.」

Chester agreed, surprisingly.

「Manny is just worried about me. From his perspective, it’s perfectly understandable. He could judge you as a risk factor. So promise me. That you won’t betray me.」

Isaiah couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh. What kind of movie was this bastard filming all by himself? Isaiah stubbed out his cigarette on the damp sink and spoke in a deliberately cheerful tone.

“Alright. I won’t betray you. Instead, hand over the Boss position to Bran.”

He heard Chester gasp over the receiver. Isaiah switched the phone to his other hand and spoke in an even sweeter voice.

“Hm? And you just come with me to Hawaii for fun. How about it, Chester? I’ll let you do it as much as you want there.”

「Isaiah.」

Chester called Isaiah in a low voice. The end of his voice trembled slightly, as if tinged with tears.

「Bran is already finished. Once I become the boss, that bastard can’t do anything.」

Is that really true?

Isaiah barely managed to swallow the words that rose to his throat. The sound of flushing came from the private stall inside. It seemed Mickey had finished his business.

「If you don’t feel like shooting Bran because of old times, fine, I get it. You can sit this one out. Instead…」

“Chester.”

Isaiah cut Chester off.

“Go suck your dad’s dick.”

Mickey, who was opening the stall door to come out, momentarily froze. Isaiah pretended not to notice and ended the call. He turned off the smartphone’s power, threw it into the toilet in the nearest stall, and flushed.

“That… probably won’t go down.”

“I know.”

If I knew this would happen, I should have told Mickey to take a dump in here.

Regretting it belatedly, he left the restroom. Just throwing away one phone made his body feel incredibly light. It would feel even lighter once he gave the feature phone to Kestrel too.

They walked to Kestrel’s apartment. He worried Kestrel might not be home, but luckily, he was there, drinking beer alone and watching TV.

“What’s that next to you? A pet?”

Kestrel asked, looking at Mickey who entered the house with Isaiah.

“He’s FBI.”

“Don’t lie.”

Mickey quickly pulled his wallet out of his sweatpants pocket and showed it to Kestrel. It was the most agile movement Isaiah had seen from him in a while. Kestrel looked back and forth between the ID photo and the face in front of him several times, then his jaw dropped.

“No, but… why does he look like this.”

“There are circumstances.”

Isaiah sat down on the pipe bed placed in a corner of the room. Mickey, perhaps conscious of Kestrel, stood beside him with an unusually dignified posture befitting an FBI agent.

“Are your bags all packed?”

“Is there really anything to pack? Just need to grab the gun.”

Isaiah looked at the large caddy bag placed under the bed. The Mk.20 was probably inside. Although it was a sniper rifle originally made for special operations, it had a particularly good compatibility with Kestrel. It was said that if he chose the right ammunition, he rarely missed within 1000 yards.

“I’ll keep it brief.”

Isaiah said, getting straight to the point.

“Chester set a trap. I don’t know the specifics, but it seems he made a plea bargain with the FBI, offering up the sniper he hired. The moment you fire the shot from the Taten Building, the FBI and police will raid the place. Chester fired me because he sensed I had noticed.”