.

A Rule Against Love

By Chuck Semenuk

Agency Director Mike Graber looked up from his paperwork as agent Jeff Walker entered the office.

“Jeff, is there any word regarding agent Quatro?”

“Not so much as a whisper, Mike. He’s gone off the radar. Just when we think we have a lead on him, it goes dead. He’s a ghost.”

“That’s not like Andy Quatro. He’s always been a good agent, one of the best.”

“I’ve noticed changes in his behavior recently, Mike. Ever since we re-assigned his partner agent Diez, he’s been secretive about his activities.”

Mike sat back in his chair. “I don’t understand why. He can function fine without her. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into his training. He’s very good at his job, one of our best assassins. He normally shows no emotion and has nerves of steel.”

“Well, even though Doctor Rommel thought he’d purged all memory of her, I think he’s still looking for her.”

“I don’t know. We’ve got to get him to come in,” said Mike. “Keep me updated. If he’s going rogue on us, we can’t have an out-of-control agent running around loose. He can cause us a lot of problems.”

######

Andy Quatro sat looking out the window of his seedy hotel room. He could hear the garbled voices of the couple in the next room through the thin dirty walls. He anxiously searched the faces of passers-by, hoping for a glimpse of his partner’s beautiful face.

Alexis Diez had been his partner since she started with the agency. They worked on many assignments together and he would trust her with his life. It was frowned upon by the agency but he was starting to fall in love with her. One day out of the blue, Director Graber told him that she had been re-assigned. He would not tell Andy why or where. Andy utilized every resource he had to find her but she had vanished.

Andy’s head began to throb again. He never had that problem before. Ever since that bastard Doctor Rommel at the agency messed with his mind, the headaches started and they seemed to be getting worse.

“Rommel knows where she is,” thought Andy. “I don’t trust him. I can’t trust anyone at the agency. Especially Director Graber.”

The throbbing in his head finally subsiding, Andy strapped on his shoulder holster and fastened his backup weapon to his ankle. He had to get to Doctor Rommel but trying to see him at the agency would be an unnecessary risk. Reaching the street, he hailed a taxi.

“I’ll get Doctor Rommel to talk,” thought Andy. He smiled grimly. “If there’s one thing the agency taught me, it’s how to make someone talk.”

He had the taxi driver drop him off a couple of blocks from Doctor Rommel’s apartment and proceeded on foot. His instincts were sharp as he sensed that something was wrong. He laughed to himself as he noticed movement in a car parked near the Doctor’s apartment. Apparently the agency was trying to second guess him. In the darkness, he recognized the features of a fellow agent. In a doorway across the street, he detected another agent.

“I guess my thoughts about Doctor Rommel were right. They don’t want me to get to him.”

He was sure that there was probably another agent or two in one of the darkened windows across the street. A delivery truck began making a turn into an alley next to the building. Using the truck as a shield, he quickly slipped into the alley alongside of it. Satisfied that there were no agency “eyes,” he found an unlocked maintenance door at the rear of the apartment building. Staying in the darkened stairwell, Andy made his way up to Doctor Rommel’s apartment. Reaching the back door which lead to the apartment’s kitchen, he quietly tried the door. It was not locked and it was apparent that the security chain had not been fastened.

“This is too easy,” thought Andy. “They’re setting me up.”

He thought for a moment, and then decided to go in anyway, locking the door behind him and fastening the security chain. Moving quietly through the kitchen to the living room door, he could see the back of Doctor Rommel’s head as he sat in his large easy chair watching TV. He drew his gun and walked around the chair. He was startled as Agent Jeff Walker looked up at him and smiled.

“Hi, Andy. It’s about time you got here. We thought you’d try to get to Rommel.”

“Where is he?”

“Nowhere that you can get to him. This place will be crawling with agents in a minute or two.”

Andy pointed the gun at Jeff’s head. “Looks as if I don’t have anything to lose; I should just blow you away and take my chances shooting it out with your friends.”

“It doesn’t have to end like this, Andy. Let me take you in. We can fix this. Director Graber doesn’t want to lose you. You’re too valuable to the agency.”

Andy laughed. “Sure. I let you take me in and I’ll just disappear like agent Diez did.”

“She’s fine, Andy. As a matter of fact, Director Graber is considering teaming the two of you up again.”

“Are you sure?”

Jeff pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Andy. “Here’s a phone number where you can contact her. She can confirm what I just told you.”

Andy stared at the piece of paper. “I’d like to believe this but I have trouble trusting the agency and its people.”

“Before you do something we’ll all regret, why don’t you get out of here and talk to her first?”

Suddenly, the kitchen door slammed against the security chain as agents in the hall tried to enter.

Jeff motioned toward a window. “Quick, take the fire escape to the roof.”

Andy bolted for the window and climbed to the roof. Once on the roof, he jumped a narrow gap to an adjacent building and went quickly down a fire escape. Andy took a number of round-about routes back to his hotel. Satisfied that he hadn’t been followed, he went up to his room and locked the door.

Andy looked at the piece of paper that Jeff had given him and thought about the recent events. Was the director really going to assign Alexis as his partner again? Why did Jeff let him escape through the window? With agents all around, he wondered why there was no one covering the fire escape and roof. How could he trust anyone?

######

Andy got little rest all night. The next morning, he decided to call the phone number that Jeff had given him.

“Hello.” Alexis’ familiar voice answered.

Andy was so happy to hear her again. “Alexis, this is Andy.”

“Andy, I’m so glad you called. I’ve been worried about you.”

“I’ve been worried about you too. They wouldn’t tell me where you were. Is it true? Are we going to be partners again?”

Alexis sounded excited. “Yes. I’m just starting a new assignment and you’re a big part of it. If we can meet, I’ll bring you up to speed.”

Andy was elated at the prospect of getting back together with Alexis again.

“Where do you want to meet?”

“Are you familiar with the abandoned machine shop on Canal Street in the flats? Meet me there in about two hours.”

“Sounds good. See you in two hours,” said Andy.

######

Standing behind a bush a few yards from the old machine shop, Andy looked intently at the building and its surroundings. Once satisfied that he wasn’t being led into a trap, he walked around the building until he found an unlocked door and went inside.

Alexis greeted him with a smile. “Hello Andy. I’m so happy to see you again.”

“I’ve been going crazy since they split us up. We spent so much time together; I guess you’ve probably figured out that I was falling in love with you.”

“Andy, you know that we’re not supposed to be having feelings like that,” said Alexis.

“I know but things kind of got out of control. It is what it is. I can’t help it.”

Alexis smiled and put her arms around him. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to do what we have to do.”

She felt so good in his arms. They kissed tenderly. Andy never noticed Alexis pull a long pointed object from the seam of her jacket. Without a word, she placed the point at the back of his skull and plunged it in. Andy looked at her, not believing what was happening and collapsed to the floor. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

Alexis took her cell phone from her pocket and auto-dialed a number.

“Director, this is android A-10. I’ve completed my assignment. A-4 has been terminated.”

“Good job, A-10. A clean-up crew will be there in a few minutes to take care of the remains. They’ll bring you back here for reprogramming and a new assignment.”

Alexis placed the phone back in her pocket. She bent over and touched Andy’s face gently.

“I’m so sorry, Andy. They have a rule against love.”

A lone tear rolled down her cheek.