(subplot) Special Agent Lewis Takes a Call

Agent Chantelle Kali Lewis yawned to herself as she shut down her laptop and finished another long day at the office. None of the TV shows about the FBI ever gave a clue as to how much paperwork was involved. And the endless fucking forms!

When she had been approached by the Bureau she would never have imagined it would have any dull moments. It was the danger aspect that had worried her when she had considered whether to accept the unexpected offer to train to become a special agent but she had gotten used to that quicker than than the damn filing.

There was no doubt that accepting the offer had been the right move for her. Everyone was aware just how good she was at this and, even at a relatively young age, there were many who were surprised she hadn't been relocated from the New Orleans branch to Washington DC already. Sadly Chantelle was not among them, as a woman of colour in an organisation still run by old white men she knew what to expect by now. That and the fact that her looks ensured she was constantly being deployed in honey trap operations was starting to make her feel more than a little job dissatisfaction.

She was just strapping herself into her car for the long ride back to the Red Stick when her phone buzzed. Thankfully it was the personal and not work mobile. She checked the number, as she always did, before answering. It was a Utah code, though the caller had attempted to disguise that. It was probably just a spammer. She loved fucking with them and was in the mood for some fun like now.

"Hello Miss Lewis"

"Yeah, who is this?"

Chantelle had to admit, if this was a spam caller they had done extremely well to get her name right. It had been expunged from just about every directory and she usually used a pseudonym online.

"An admirer. And a potential employer"

"I already have a job"

"That pays you a million dollars? The Bureau never came close to that when I worked there"

That had to give Chantelle pause for thought, even if this still felt bogus.

"A million per annum?"

"A million dollars per month. We anticipate this mission to take close to two years"

This was starting to sound too good to be true even for a spammer. But it was hard to hang up when those sort of numbers were being thrown around.

"It must be a suicide mission for that sort of money. Where are you sending me, Baghdad?"

"Salt Lake City. And I can assure you this will be the safest job you have ever been assigned."

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you offer me that much?" If Chantelle had any friends in Utah she would have assumed they were pranking her right now.

"We are confident you are the best person for the job. It is imperative to us that this complicated task is handled impeccably. We would require you to relocate to Salt Lake City and there is one element of the job that would require a temporary lifestyle change for you. Some would say an unwelcome one."

"What kind of lifestyle change?"

"I would prefer to discuss this further with you in person"

"Nah, this is bullshit"

"We will pay you one hundred thousand American dollars for a half hour meet, no obligations. You choose the location."

"Sure, Coffee Call on College Drive, Baton Rouge. Just put the money in my account and let me know what time"

Chantelle hung up and laughed to herself. Whoever the fuck that was must have a strange sense of humour. Maybe one of her buddies from the office had put them up to it. She was about to start her engine when her phone buzzed. it was her banking app. She saw that a deposit had just been made into her account. Surely a coincidence. Still, she eagerly logged in an worked her way past the various security checks just to make sure. When she looked at her screen she almost dropped her phone.

Balance: $102,344.56

But she managed to hold onto it as it buzzed again. This time it was a text.

I'll see you in Coffee Call in two hours