It was a matter of self-preservation.
23:40 What if I fuck it up? What if they figure me out?
23:41 Don’t get caught. And don’t get too close. That’s the most important thing. They are a means to an end. That’s it. Remember our purpose. Our mission.
Toxicwrath acted as though it washismission,hispurpose. The implication that I wasn’t committed chafed, but I signed on to do just as my partner asked. His reasons made sense.
When Mason was assigned my case, Toxicwrath let me know. I had a target.
A name.
Some cursory Internet sleuthing gave me a face. I found out when he moved to town. What day he started at the Richmond field office.
I followed him to work. To the bar. To the apartment of some blond bitch he was apparently sleeping with.
And I waited. I had gotten good at that over the years.
I had to find my entrance. At just the right time.
All the while Toxicwrath fed me information about my mark. He gave me the details of his past cases. The office gossip.
I knew that Mason had a partner. Another agent assigned to my case. Some basic searching revealed that Perry Winston was a joke in the Bureau. His father, a decorated and high-ranking agent, had pulled a number of strings to get his far inferior son a job out of college. He hadn’t been with the Bureau long. Only eighteen months. Though as a junior agent with little experience, he might have been a better choice. Easier to crack. I wouldn’t have to work as hard.
When I suggested as much to Toxicwrath, he shot the idea down.
22:23 You need someone with inside knowledge. Agent Winston can barely tie his own shoes. He wouldn’t know the first thing about what’s really going on with your case.
22:24 How do you know this? Do you know these agents personally?
22:24 I know enough. Trust me, Agent Kohler is the one you want.
Mason Kohler was definitely the more difficult target. But that made it exciting. Cracking him would be the greater victory. I knew it. Toxicwrath knew it.
Though I was more than a little concerned about how much information my shadow partner had about the agents involved.
00:45 Are you an agent? Is this some form of entrapment?
I had to ask it. I was beginning to wonder if I was being set up. I was careful. I had to be.
00:45 No.
Did I believe Toxicwrath?
Yes.
Deep down I did.
And my instincts had never proven wrong. My survival had depended on it.
But…
00:45 Prove it.
There was nothing.
Then…
00:49 Check your email.
