Genesis

Leslie Richards | Hong Rui Choo

Nothing stood in her way now. Ada dropped the shotgun on the bed and went to get cleaned up. She stepped over the body of her partner — ex-partner — and made her way to the three quarters bath off the bedroom.

She’d been working for weeks to uncover this information. Trying to find a way to expose Brandon and this whole outfit for what it was. Of course it would have been a lot easier if she’d actually had Brandon available to explain his part — but the part of him that made that possible was now spread over the bed sheets and back wall of her bedroom.

As she walked into the bathroom she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over the sink. Her brown hair — normally smooth and pulled back was now spilled around her shoulders in ragged mess. There was blood on her face and splattered over the front of the dress she had chosen for the night. Seduction was her tool of choice to get Brandon to her house. To get Brandon to talk. It’s why they were in her bedroom. Why he would never know about being anywhere else again. She had liked him — not romantically but as a friend. They had been partners for more than two years but about six months ago Ada began to notice that something wasn’t right. Not with him. Not with the whole organization. She had joined to make a difference. Not everything was on the level — she knew that from the beginning — sometimes people got hurt. But she had begun to learn that it was more than sometimes. And not just for specific reasons. It was the reason. She was part of the front. She was one of the people paired with another agent who knew what was going on but was responsible for keeping up appearances. As long as it was common knowledge that the outfit was a little corrupt — and no one ever denied that — people rarely looked to see just how deep the rabbit hole went.

She stripped out of her dress and tossed it into the shower stall. She removed the rest of her clothing and grabbed a washcloth from the towel rack and ran it under some hot water from the sink. She proceeded to wash the blood and other matter and fluids from her face and body until she was clean. She didn’t feel clean but the mirror told her she’d succeeded. Ada left the bathroom, once again stepping over Brandon and made her way to the dresser. She got dressed, grabbed her shotgun and made her way out of the house and into the night. Brandon was only the beginning.