Operation Countdown

Behind the Killer

Outskirts of Langley, Virginia
0800 Zulu

        Standing inside his doorway Gardner looked around his house. Everything was as he left it; there were no signs of disturbance anywhere within the house. Walking over to the kitchen he threw his keys on the dining room table. Walking over to a cupboard he removed a glass and bottle of Captain Morgan, after filling up the glass he started for upstairs to the bedroom. Removing his backpack and his weapon, he walking into the bathroom he placed his glass on the counter and he started to get undress and started the shower. After a quick thirty minute shower he felt refreshed and rejuvenated. With the paint off his face he looked at himself in the mirror. Gardner was thirty-two years old, six feet tall and vastly fit for a man his age. He always kept his hair in a military cut high and tight, it was an old habit he kept from his days as an Army Ranger. Gardner came into his line of work when he served as special liaison to the CIA while he was with the Rangers. He grabbed his backpack off his bed and tossed it into a closet, then picking up his weapon he reloaded the magazine and did a quick wipe down of it. Sliding his XD 40 into a hidden pocket lined with lead and placing two magazines inside a similar pocket on the other side of his favorite leather jacket. Gardner then grabbed a small prepacked gym duffel bag and folded the jacket and placed it inside. Every time he returned from a mission he always put fresh clothes inside the duffel just in case he ever got called to go somewhere at a moment’s notice. Gardner went back to the bathroom and picked up his glass and his duffel and walked back down stairs. Gardner finished off his glass then washed out his glass and returned it to its rightful place. Walking out to the garage he opened the rear door of his red Chevy Impala and tossed his bag in the back, then climbing into the front he opened the garage door and headed out to the airport.
        During the drive to the airport he used the phone that his boss had given him to call his girlfriend. His girlfriend, Susie McKenzie, was a beautiful young Secret Service agent who was the head of the presidential detail at the white house. They met while Gardner was in a meeting with the president, who was congratulating him on his recent successful mission. Without knowing that the president had company she walked right in and overheard a good deal that no one should ever hear. From that day on she became an accidental secret holder of the existence of FIRE.
        "Hello?" asked a very sweet soft voice over the phone.
        "Hey Baby," said Gardener in his deep calm voice.
        "HEY!" exclaimed Susie at the sound of his voice. "Where are you calling me from, I don't recognized the number."
        "I am calling from a FIRE satellite phone... Listen, I have to go out of town for a while so I am going to have to cancel our plans for this weekend, I am sorry about that honey."
        "I know sweetheart, the president pulled me to the side and informed me. He couldn't give me the details but he did tell me you'll have to go. I understand, I mean I wish you didn't have to go but that is your job, and you are very good at your job. I will be here when you come back OK?"
        "OK, I love you, and I will talk to you as soon as I can bye."
        "I love you too, bye"
        As Gardner hung up the phone he smiled at himself. He was so lucky to have an understanding women like that in his life, for it was refreshing to have Susie compared to his ex-wife. Continuing onward to the airport Gardner reached into his bag and reached for his Russian passport, and staring at himself in the rear-view mirror he practiced his Russian accent and his facial expressions.