Kat couldn’t prevent a sigh from slipping past her lips when Eric mentioned finding the last code wasn’t going to be easy. “Naturally…” No, of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. Why should she expect it to be easy? She just wanted to have a little bit of hope because of how close they were to solving this. It was not easy, but it wasn’t impossible. Maybe Eric was wrong and the code really was right here all along.  Part of her wanted to be hopeful of that as well. Anything that would make things go a bit smoother for them. Just anything, she didn’t care what.<br/><br/>Her attention turned to Eric and Ryan once Eric managed to point out and line up some of the smudges. She felt excitement begin to build, filling her with adrenaline. Was this it? Would they finally figure out what the hell was going on, and what these areas were so important? More importantly, they had been there, why the hell were they not able to find anything then? Perhaps this was information that they were trying to get rid of? Yes… she was sure it was something like that. It just had to be.<br/><br/>Well, Ryan seemed to think that these areas were important.<br/><br/>“Actually, as a matter of fact, I’m certain that area used to be an old military base,” he said. “When this city was first under construction, the military was in charge of it. It’s been abandoned for quite some time. Once the city was able to take care of itself, the military jumped ship.” He seemed pretty sure of himself, something that was expected considering the fact he knew this place, which only caused Kat to feel a little more restless, eager to get more done. If it wasn’t for their differences, and her wanting to remain as professional as possible, she probably would have hugged the both of them.<br/><br/>Kat started to look through some more information, keeping what Ryan said in the back of her mind. “That would be the perfect place to keep secrets.”<br/><br/>Ryan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, “Were they keeping secrets there, or were they trying to erase them? I don’t know about you, but something tells me the latter makes more sense.”<br/><br/>“I… I’m not so sure. We still don’t have a lot to go on.”<br/><br/>“Oh? And here I thought you were a professional at your job. Use your head a little,” Ryan sighed as he sifted through more information about Adam’s territory. Kat watched him, not saying another word. Well, the truth was she did have something she wanted to say to him, it was written all over her face, but she decided to keep her mouth shut as it would only get her into trouble. He was right, and this was a key point of interest. As far as she was concerned nothing else existed on this map.<br/><br/>Eventually, Ryan stopped what he was doing, looking pleased with something he discovered. “You see, dear Kat, it’s easy.”<br/><br/>Kat leaned forward a bit, taking everything in. “Weapons?” She questioned, to nobody in particular. Sure enough, there was a part of a file that looked like an order for weapons. It wasn’t clear what it all meant but it did give her a bad feeling. The numbers were pretty large.<br/><br/>-------------------------------<br/><br/>Slipping away been a lot easier than Tony had anticipated. He hasn’t worked with that woman long, but he knew she was smart. He half expected her to be on his trail and had already caught up by now. Every now and then, he would glance over his shoulder, keeping a look out for movements out of the corner of his eyes. If she wasn’t there, he knew she would be very soon; she was great at finding things. She was a ghost. He knew he wouldn’t be safe no matter where he went.<br/><br/>Tony slipped inside of a building far from where he had been with the woman. Following the instructions given to him, he found his way to the basement. There was a heavy door there. He knocked twice, and waited for someone to answer.<br/><br/>“Yes?” A dull voice said finally.<br/><br/>“It’s Tony.”<br/><br/>Silence, and then, “The boss says you’re late.”<br/><br/>“I know,” Tony sighed, “I would’ve gotten here earlier if I was able. I had to take a detour…”<br/><br/>“That’s no excuse, slacker. The boss’s words, mind you, not mine. I could care less.”<br/><br/>“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” Tony groaned in a tone that was not very appreciated. He was growing impatient. If the woman caught him before he was finished, he was done for. He looked over his shoulder again, once again half expecting to see her there poised with her knife. He swallowed hard, looking back to the man guarding the door, “Could I just go speak to him?”<br/><br/>At first, there was no answer, and Tony wondered if the man had gone off. But then suddenly the door swung open, allowing him entrance. “You have ten minutes.” The man’s voice echoed throughout the dark room.<br/><br/>Tony took a cautious step forward. The door closed behind him once he was through, leaving him in an almost pitch dark room. There was only one window and not much light got through. As one would expect in a basement, there was a faint, musty odor in the air. The dust made his nose itch. In front of him, he could see a man sitting behind a desk. The boss. Suitable with the atmosphere, he could sense that something was wrong. He couldn’t really describe it, but he knew it to be true and something told him he didn’t want to figure it out either.<br/><br/>This wasn’t going to take long. All he needed to do was report his findings, and then he’d be on his way doing whatever it was they wanted him to do next. He was ever their loyal man. Perhaps they would be able to keep that woman off his back.<br/><br/>“Tony,” the man began, leaning forward slightly, “I don’t appreciate your lateness one bit. I expect everyone I give orders to not to sit around with their thumb up their ass.”<br/><br/>“I said I was sorry…” As much as Tony wanted to hide his annoyance, he could not. It would more than likely bite him in the ass later on, but he didn’t care. “I wasn’t sitting around with my thumb up my ass. I wasn’t trusted, so they gave me a baby sitter.”<br/><br/>“Have you brought what I wanted?” The man inquired, holding out his hand, as if Tony hadn’t said anything.<br/><br/>“I have.” Tony nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small device used to store information, something like a USB. He took a few steps forward and gently dropped it into the man’s hand. Like a good boy, he then stepped back and placed his hands behind his back as if standing at attention.<br/><br/>The man looked at the device, smiling, “Oh, Tony… You are truly a loyal dog.” The man chuckled and stood from his chair, and something heavy dropped into Tony’s stomach. The next thing he knew, he was looking straight at a gun. “It was nice knowing you.” The man said, and pulled the trigger. Tony was shot twice.<br/><br/>The door guard watched Tony drop to the floor, lying in a pool of blood, then looked to his boss, and then back to Tony again. Tony was dead before he even hit the ground. He had expected something like this would happen, but it was still sad. Tony was a very nice pawn. They should have kept him around a bit longer. But, he knew why things had turned out the way they did in the end.<br/><br/>“Clean up the mess,” said the man behind the desk.<br/><br/>“He’s been compromised?” Replied the door guard.<br/><br/>“Unfortunately, he has. What a shame.” The man walked out from behind the desk, to stand next to the door guard. “Actually, put his body out in the open.”<br/><br/>“What?”<br/><br/>“Just do it. I have to deliver this…”<br/><br/>“Yes sir.”