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The Company
Time: Friday, March 16, 2012 (dawn).
Place: Ski chalet in B.C.
Last Event: Leaving the guns and bodies, but burning the building.
With Zhang at the wheel of the team's lead vehicle, Vinnie chauffeuring the VIPs in the middle, and Paul driving the rearmost car, the Agents set out for Vancouver. Hamid, Klas, and Lev, riding with Zhang, keep an eye out for danger ahead. Likewise, Paul's passengers – Anabel, Jili, Qoqa, and Wen – stay alert for pursuers. Everybody who has binoculars uses them.
It's Wen who first becomes aware that the assassins at the chalet had backup: Each time the mountainous geography affords her a glimpse of the highway behind, she catches sight of a boxy step van, like a FedEx truck with a black paint job, drawing a little closer. Given the early hour, the isolated location, and the dangers of driving at such speeds on a snowy mountain road, she is certain that this pursuer is hostile. She and Anabel telephone Zhang and Vinnie, respectively, to share the bad news.
Realizing that the situation is liable to develop into a dangerous car chase on slippery roads, the Agents decide to prioritize getting Arnaud and "Bruce" to safety. Thus, Zhang pulls into the deserted oncoming lane and decelerates until he's driving parallel to Paul, effectively blocking the narrow highway. This puts Vinnie in the lead and positions two carloads of trouble between the van and the VIPs. As soon as Vinnie has a clear path, he hits the accelerator, rocketing off at speeds that Paul and Zhang – and hopefully the sinister pursuers – wouldn't dare try to match on a slick, twisting course.
Without guns (ditched to avoid incrimination), the Agents are forced to consider less-conventional means of self-defense. In Paul's car, Anabel, Jili, Qoqa, and Wen take stock of what they have: Anabel's usual assortment of cosmetics and personal-care products, plus Qoqa's ever-present cleaning supplies, medical gear, and vodka. Wen gets to work filling an empty vodka bottle with the stickiest, most opaque liquids available to her, while Qoqa concocts a hasty "Molotov cocktail" from a full 1.14-litre bottle of 100-proof vodka and anything that might make it burn hotter.
It isn't long before the black van is at uncomfortably close range, looming large behind the Agents. Paul and Zhang hold their course, driving alongside one another at relatively low speeds while Vinnie tears off ahead. Wen rolls down a window and sits in it, "goo bomb" in hand, while Jili and Qoqa anchor her lower body. As she lines up the van's windshield, its occupants reveal their strategy for clearing the road: the passenger-side door slides open and a man leans out on some kind of strap or harness, pointing a PzF 3 antitank weapon! Wen shouts a warning to Paul, while Klas makes a similar observation and alerts Zhang.
The man with the PzF 3 fires but misses badly, thanks to both the twisting road and his target's evasive weaving. As soon as the shooter ducks back inside the van, Paul slows to close the gap and hopefully get inside the launcher's 20-metre arming distance. This brings Wen into bottle-tossing range, and she immediately lobs her "goo bomb" at the van's windshield. She scores a direct hit! The bottle shatters, covering the windshield with a gunky mixture of shampoo, nail polish, hair gel, and a dozen other things that stick, streak, and obscure. The enemy driver hits the wipers almost at once, but there's no question as to the effectiveness of the Agents' unexpected move – the van slows, and swerves perceptibly.
Seeing this, Wen shouts for Qoqa to light the Molotov and hand it out to her. Qoqa obliges and – anticipating Wen's next move – tells Paul to come parallel to the van. Paul slows further, dropping back alongside the van and giving Wen a clear view through the open passenger door, where she can see the man with the PzF 3 hastily reloading. As soon as she has a clear shot, she takes it. The bottle arcs into the enemy vehicle, smashes on the floor, and showers the forward cabin with burning booze. Ethanol might not burn hot, but becoming a human flambé is nevertheless distracting; the van slows even more, and swerves badly.
Paul and Zhang decide that with their rivals coping with flames and obscuring goo, it's time to get cracking. Both of them hit the gas and pull away, leaving the van swerving in the distance. The man with the PzF 3 manages to get off a parting shot, but his platform is too wobbly for straight shooting, and he simply blows up a chunk of rock. The Agents take advantage of the situation to escape, figuring that Vinnie has an insurmountable lead by now.
The Agents arrive in Vancouver without further ado, hitting the morning rush hour and losing their cars in the traffic. It's doubtful that their enemies in the van would have much luck spotting them in this chaos. However, Vinnie recalls that Paul's attackers in Montréal almost certainly tracked him down from the logo of the rental company on his vehicle, and thus insists on dropping off the team's current vehicles at the airport, walking to another rental agency, and picking up new rides on different credit cards.
Vinnie's plan goes well. Anabel and Vinnie handle the transactions in record time, and before long, the Agents have two hulking Chevy Suburbans at their disposal. Vinnie takes the wheel of one, and chauffeurs the hotel crew – Anabel and Qoqa, plus Arnaud – along with Wen and Zhang for security. Paul drives the other, with "Bruce" and Zulfiqar in the comfy seats, and Jili, Hamid, Klas, and Lev piled in wherever there's room. Then Vinnie heads downtown, with Paul shadowing him at a safe distance. Everybody keeps an eye out for trouble, just in case.
The drive in from the airport is slow and annoying, but thankfully uneventful. Vinnie eventually stops a few blocks from the hotel, where he, Anabel, Arnaud, and Qoqa get out. Anabel and Arnaud stop for coffee and then stroll back to the hotel, the plan being to give Arnaud's minders (and anybody else watching) the impression that they went out for breakfast after spending the night together. Qoqa and Vinnie tail them at a safe distance. Zhang takes the wheel of the SUV and circles the area, with Paul following as closely as possible.
There's nothing exciting going on at the hotel, however. Arnaud tells Anabel that he and "Bruce" had sufficient time to discuss what they came to discuss – and, more important, to exchange what they had planned to exchange. He offers no more details than that. He also thanks Anabel for the group's assistance, and adds that he enjoyed working with her. Anabel gives Arnaud one of the team's "safe" e-mail addresses and then takes her leave. Qoqa and Vinnie keep an eye on all of this, but see nothing fishy.
With that, everybody returns to the SUVs, where Anabel calls Chaturvedi, gives him a status report, and asks about the next step in the assignment. Chaturvedi seems angry when he learns of the attack on the meeting. However, he's happy to hear that the summit took place nonetheless and that neither VIPs nor Agents were harmed. He also mentions that he rented the chalet through cutouts, so there's little risk of it being traced to the Company, though he's concerned that the bribes necessary to cover the destruction of a multimillion-dollar ski lodge will tax the team's operating budget.
Chaturvedi goes on to explain that "Bruce" has a flight out of Vancouver at 18:00, and that the squad is to watch "Bruce" until that time and make sure that he gets on his plane safely. As for the Agents, they have a flight out at 19:00. Their destination is the Yucatán Peninsula, for a little downtime. All they have to do is get there, and the flights are already booked under their current IDs. Anabel thanks Chaturvedi, ends her call, and briefs the others on the plan.
With an entire day to kill and the hard-to-please "Bruce" in tow, the collective decision is to visit a luxury shopping area and give their wealthy charge an occasion to make use of his sizeable bankroll. This will also let the team buy new clothing better-suited to Mexico's climate this time of year. This works out well, although it does give Qoqa the opportunity to purchase another round of ugly cowboy hats for everyone. The Agents keep a close eye on "Bruce" throughout, but there are no surprises. At least, there are no surprises of the dangerous, violent kind . . .
However, Vinnie is somewhat surprised when "Bruce" pulls him aside to thank him sincerely for the group's protection and for dealing with the traitor Adnan. He's genuinely stunned when "Bruce" goes on to promise to make arrangements with his Company contacts to cover the expenses resulting from burning down the chalet. Whether or not the Syrian is pleasant, he's certainly a man of his word, and clearly intends to follow through. And everybody is a little taken aback when "Bruce" makes them all – even the women – a standing offer to work as his bodyguards.
Eventually, it's time to get to the airport. The Agents drop off the SUVs and go to claim their tickets. There are no suspicious pauses or strange looks, so it seems as if the authorities aren't looking for them yet. Certainly, Chaturvedi's false IDs appear to be holding up. "Bruce" and Zulfiqar likewise have no problems, and soon everybody is past security, strolling through the international departures area.
As the group approaches the gate from which "Bruce" will depart, though, Anabel gets a bad feeling about two large men seated there. They're watching "Bruce" while doing their best not to show it . . . but Anabel has an eye for such things. As soon as she spots them, she does her subtle best to warn the others. The Agents walk on past, toward the shops, as casually as possible. Fortunately, "Bruce" and Zulfiqar aren't clueless, and play along with this.
Out of sight around a corner, the Agents confer about what to do. Anabel feels that the simplest move would be to grab the men's papers from them, because with security being what it is these days, they won't be getting on a plane without a passport and a boarding pass. With that, she disappears to the ladies' room for a few minutes. When she returns, she looks disheveled and decidedly trashier, with her bra absent and blouse only barely buttoned. She then instructs Hamid to get his camera out, crank up his flash, and follow her lead. Hamid is, of course, only too happy to photograph Anabel.
Anabel proceeds to stagger across the concourse, acting drunk and striking poses, while Hamid races around taking her picture. This draws a fair bit of attention, both because it's annoying and because Anabel's wardrobe is in imminent danger of a titillating malfunction. When Anabel gets near the two men she saw, she topples over onto them, giggling, and lets her blouse fall open completely. At the same moment, Hamid blazes away with his flash, dazzling anybody looking in his general direction. As Anabel stands with the reluctant help of her two marks, she grabs the papers from their inside pockets, which she then deftly conceals as she hastily fixes her clothing.
Before the men have a chance to do much more than grumble a bit, Anabel suddenly acts as if she's going to be sick and hastily staggers toward the nearest ladies' room. Hamid apologizes for Anabel's spill and then starts photographing her retreating derriere. It doesn't seem as if the big guys noticed anything, though – they simply sit down again and resume watching the gate area.
In the washroom, Anabel ducks into a stall and fakes vomiting. This is a cover for her real activity, which consists of tearing the men's papers into confetti and flushing everything down the toilet. Once she's done, she uses the cosmetics in her bag to alter her appearance to pale and sick. Qoqa, covering Anabel the whole time, finds both the barfing act and ensuing makeup job surprisingly convincing, in her professional medical opinion. It's doubtful that casual onlookers will catch on that it's all a ruse.
Now all that's left is to deal with the menacing-looking men after they try to follow "Bruce" onto his flight, find their papers missing, and decide to deal with the only person who had a good opportunity to steal them . . .