She found Claire

As she turned a corner, a door opened on her right, and she spun to face whoever was coming out. She took a fighting stance as not to leave anything to chance. Walking out of the door was the maid/agent who had helped her earlier. “Quickly,” she motioned, “Come inside.”Amanda followed her inside as the door was shut and locked behind her. The maid extended her hand “Claire. Glad you made it to the second floor.” Amanda took Claire’s hand, “Amanda. The journey hasn’t been without its detours and roadblocks.” Claire raised an eyebrow, “Melville?” “Yup,” Amanda replied “Let’s just say we got acquainted.”

Motioning for Amanda to sit on the bed, Claire stated, “I figured you’d be able to hook that one. There was no way he would pass up an opportunity like you.” Amanda chuckled, “Oh, to be clear, he didn’t pass it up. In fact if I hadn’t come to a quick decision, he would have ‘had’ the ENTIRE ‘opportunity’. I was in the middle of seducing him, and all was going as planned and then I realized my purse with my taser was behind a locked door in another room. I thought I was totally fucked, and almost was. Melville got the eyeful he wanted, and pretty much free run of me.”

“But how then…I mean…he didn’t, you know, reach a ‘final victory’?” Amanda waved her hands, “No, no no…but he came very close. He had me pinned down, legs spread, and was about to take me when I was able to incapacitate him.” Amanda could see Claire’s face becoming flushed with colour as she heard of Amanda’s predicament. Amanda assumed that she had no first-hand experience with this side of the intelligence agency, which was surprising, as she was attractive, and like Amanda could use that to her advantage; perhaps this was her first mission. She did look to be in her mid-twenties.

“Melville is strong,” Claire stated, “How did you stop him?” Amanda smiled as she recounted her ingenuity, “Let’s just say he will have a major hangover…like the size of the whole bottle.” Claire laughed a bit, and said, “Serves him right. I know he can come off as suave and genuine, but in the last few months, and I have seen the REAL Melville; the one who will follow Kellner’s orders to the letter. Ever that young idiot Delholme still has some morals, but Melville is dangerous. He can detach himself emotionally from a situation, and run on autopilot. It seems like he can just slip into a trance-like state, and negate his humanity. There are some shady things going on in this house, and we have to find them.” Amanda nodded, and produced Melville’s cell phone. “Oh my GOD,” Claire exclaimed, “is that Melville’s cell phone? Wow, you ARE good! I have been a maid here for months, and have never noticed him to leave it anywhere or let it out of his sight. You really did a number on him!” “Yup,” Amanda replied, “but the question is, can we access it?”

Claire causally brushed off the question, “I’m a tech specialist. This will be no problem for me, but you are probably wondering why I wasn’t running this mission solo with my technical qualifications?” The thought had just occurred to Amanda. She was far more experienced than Claire, but Claire had already infiltrated the mansion, and had the computer qualifications to get into the databases.

“Honestly,” Claire continued, “I maybe could have done this on my own, but I don’t know art. Couldn’t tell a Picasso from a Walt Disney, and more than that, I don’t have the field experience. I asked for help on this mission.” Amanda nodded, “that takes guts to ask for help, and in reality, it should improve our odds of success.” Claire nodded in agreement, and took out a small bag from behind her chair. She began to fingerprint the screen of the phone, searching for the most often passcode options or thumbprint scan. “Once I find the commonly used passcode numbers, I should be able to find out the frequency of their use by gauging frequency of pressure on those spots of the screen. Oh, by the way, I stowed your gear under the bed. Since I am the one who cleans around this area of the house, I thought it safe.” Amanda eagerly reached under the bed and grabbed two duffle bags. She was relieved to see them, as they would contain everything she needed to proceed with this mission in earnest.

Opening up the first bag, found a collection of equipment such as coiled steel wire, phone taps, network slicers, knockout gas, a palm-sized camera, lock picks, and a variety of other things for sleuthing and undetected entry to places wanting to be concealed. “I’ve got the code numbers,” Claire said, “I just have to figure out the correct sequence.” Amanda brought the other bag up onto the bed and unzipped it. She sighed thankfully as she saw that it contained a change of clothes, and not just any clothes, but her agent gear. “Oh thank God,” Amanda said, “I mean I love these heels, but I have been in them all night!” She HAD been in them all night…in fact, the heels were the only things that had remained on her for the entire evening. She reached in the bag and pulled out her new footwear, a pair of knee-high black high-heeled boots. Even though they were still heels, these boots were designed for comfort, ease of movement, and agility. They were not just for show…they were highly functional.

She set the boots aside and then pulled out a one-piece black leather body suit. While these things could be a little cliché in the spy trade, there was no debating their functionality. They acted as a second skin in allowing precise movement, reflex actions, and fighting ease. Also, there was no chance of frivolous materials getting in the way or caught on things. Aside from the body suit, there was an outer shell that was to be worn over top; a form of body armour. It was light enough that is barely added any bulk, or distorted one’s body shape, but provided extra protection and support. She would definitely need this in case she ran into Melville again. It was essentially another entire body suit. Thankfully, this armour suit was made with breathable materials allowing for the flow of cool air. The designers didn’t want people overheating and passing out in the middle of use.

The rest of the bag included protective gloves, a pair of sleek infrared/night vision glasses, a utility belt, two jump drives, and multiple computer interface bypass drives. Oh, and finally under all of that, a spare set of bra and panties. They were her favourite non-lace set. The black bra was little more than two material triangle joined together by a tightly–wound black string, while the panties were of a similar design; providing coverage, but little more than black string on the sides. The set was more bikini than underwear, but who cares, she was comfortable in them. Made more for functionality and purpose, they still captured the shape of her body and held it rather then tried to conceal or compact it. Claire was still working on the phone code, but looked up just as Amanda held up the bra and panties, admiring them. “I’m just going to change…if that’s alright”, Amanda asked Claire. “Oh, um, of course,” Claire answered, and she moved her glance back to the phone.