Unfaithful

Chapter 6: An Untimely Death

The black hood he wore hid most of the man’s face, for only his mouth was visible. He leaned back casually in the leather chair as he surveyed his office disdainfully. With a wry and almost sarcastic smile on his lips, he sat up again and extinguished his cigarette. There was a knock at the door.

“Enter,” said the man.

The door slid smoothly to one side and a dark figure stepped into the room. The man at the desk smiled.

“Ah, 19,” he greeted. “Welcome.”

“You called, sir?” asked the melodious voice of the man that had just entered.

“Indeed I did, 19.”

The dark figure sat down in a seat before the man at the desk. He shifted nervously in his chair.

“Well... have you decided?” asked 19.

“Yes... almost,” was the vague reply.

“Sir, what is your decision, then?” asked 19.

But the hooded man did not answer. He was thinking intently.

“I have narrowed it down to a few possibilities,” said the man slowly. “I have narrowed it down to family members only.”

“But sir!” gasped 19. “His family members will never comply to your plans!”

“You will have to trust me on this matter,” replied the man, smiling.

“Why not a close friend or something?”

“Oh?” said the man, amused. “And who would you suggest, 19?”

“Well, I don’t know,” replied 19 nervously. “Perhaps Luke? Or Dr. Edwards?”

“Luke is out of the question,” said the man simply. “You weren’t there during the days of the Fellowship. You don’t have a measure of where Luke’s loyalties lie. He wouldn’t do such a thing. I have thought about him but I see hardly a chance of Luke doing this for me.”

“And Dr. Edwards?”

“He’s a little too hard to reach,” said the hooded man. “He works for our ‘target’ and he may spill the secret out. We need someone who is close to the ‘target’ enough to know about him but not too close so that the ‘target’ would be able to study this person too intensely.”

“But you said a family member,” said 19, confused. “Wouldn’t a family member be too close to the ‘target’? I doubt his wife would do something like that...”

“I am not thinking about Samantha,” interrupted the man abruptly. He smiled again. “I was more pointing towards one of the his sons.”

“Eric or AJ?” 19 raised an eyebrow. “Sir, surely there must be others available---“

“I’m very well aware of that,” said the hooded man sharply. “But one of his sons would be perfect. They know their father well enough to be oriented in his habits. But they are also far enough to be free from their father’s grasp at times. Who else would be better to use as a puppet than Eric or AJ?”

19 was silent. Then--- “Shit,” he muttered.

The hooded man leaned forward. “You doubt my judgment?” the man said dangerously, twirling his thumbs.

“No, sir,” replied 19, almost hesitantly. “I am simply curious at the layout of your plan, that’s all.”

There was complete silence for a moment.

“Tell me, 19,” the man finally said in an amused voice, “are you up for this job?”

19 sat up a little straighter in his seat. “Certainly, sir.”

“Good,” replied the man, smiling once more. “Then tell me, between Eric and AJ, who have I chosen?”

“Perhaps AJ... He is quieter,” said 19. “He’s shyer than his twin and probably won’t be as resistant.”

But the man waved a dismissive hand. “No, 19. You don’t know AJ the way I know him. He can be downright stubborn during the worst of times. When his mind is made up, don’t even try to persuade him to another decision. No... AJ is positive about where his loyalties lie. He would not do anything against his father. AJ would not believe in any story we cook up...”

“So you’re saying... Eric?” said 19 incredulously.

“Precisely,” replied the man. He smiled his thin smile again. “Eric is emotional, and he acts quickly. All we need is a story to make him believe and then he is ours. Of course, 19, I would need you to keep a leash on him in case something goes wrong. But do not fear, I have it all planned out.”

19 settled his eyes on the hooded man. “What would you like me to do for you right now?”

The man looked out the window, at the bustling street beneath him and the chatters of the people. He turned back to 19.

“I need you to track him down for me,” said the man. “He is in New York right now. But don’t disturb him yet... I have to take care of some other business first. But once Eric is back in LA or Chicago or wherever he decides to go--- I need you to go to him immediately.”

19 nodded and stood up. “Yes sir,” he said.

Then he hesitated. “About your other business sir, who- who did you hire?”

19 couldn’t see the man’s face clearly but he could almost sense that the hooded man had raised an eyebrow.

“There is no need to hire anyone,” replied the man at last. He made an impatient noice. “There is no need to hire an assassin... I will take care of it myself. I trust this task to no one else.”

19 looked at him doubtfully but did not speak.

“You’re dismissed, 19,” said the man, waving a dismissive hand at him.

19 inclined his head slightly in respect before walking out of the room.

After 19 left, the hooded man turned back to the CIA files of Eric Parker he had on his desk. He briefly scanned through the top of the first file. It was rather uninteresting.Name: Eric Surname: Parker

Date of Birth: July 31, 2023

Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois

Citizenship: American

Race/Division: Caucasian

Education: UCLA

It went on to list several plain facts about Eric Parker, including his parents, his residence, and other information. The man flipped to another page of the CIA files. Here, it got interesting…FOR CLASSIFIED EYES ONLY Name: Elladan

Surname: ???

Aliases: Eric Parker, Eric Frost

Agent Code: 113

Date of Birth: Third Age 130

Place of Birth: Imladris/Rivendell, Europe

Citizenship: Imladris/Rivendell

Race/Division: Elves/Sindarin

Education: ???

The list was quite long, detailing much information on someone by the name of Elladan. There was a timeline of his life, including many facts concerning the elves.

The hooded man smiled. “I’ll have many things in store for you... Eric Parker,” whispered the man. “You are going to help me carry my plans.”

A paper from the files slipped to the marble floor as the hooded man tried to gather them up. On this page of the Eric Parker files was the picture of a different man… with a profile underneath the photograph:

Name: Ethan

Surname: Parker

Date of Birth: May 12, 1997

Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois

Citizenship: American

Race/Division: Caucasian

Education: Harvard Medical School, PhD

Relationship to Subject: Father

“Ah... Dr. Parker,” said the man, bemused, “What would you think of your son now?”

Beneath his hood, a private smile played on the man’s lips.

It’s perfect, he told himself, and it’s the perfect choice. Eric would do this… he would not be insistently loyal to his father. And then I would get my revenge… That’s right, Elrond, you are going to get what you deserve, and your son is going to help me with that.

All I need, to get Eric, is a story for him to believe…

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Haldir yawned.

“How much longer, Legolas?”

“An hour,” replied the former Mirkwood elf.

“Damn, I hate flying,” grumbled Haldir. “And you could have chosen a supersonic plane, but no, you had to get tickets for one of these old planes!”

“It’s only a few hours in the air, Haldir,” said Legolas, raising an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know you better, I would say you have a fear of flying.”

“I do not,” Haldir denied immediately.

Legolas simply smiled secretly to himself.

“Washington to Chicago is not a long flight,” said Legolas.

“Yeah, for you it isn’t,” grumbled Haldir.

“Turn the TV on or something,” suggested Legolas, pointing to the television screens the plane had installed for every single passenger.

Haldir put on a pair of headphones and took Legolas’s advice by turning on the TV. First class seats definitely had its advantages...

“Let’s see what’s on the news,” said Haldir.

The sports broadcaster was talking away, “The New Jersey Nets are currently in a five game losing streak…”

Suddenly, his face disappeared in midst of a sentence.

The camera turned to CNN reporter, Gloria Arbor as she appeared on the screen. “We bring breaking news to you… This just came in…”

“CIA director, Bill Reinhardt was murdered earlier this afternoon. His body was found in the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The cause of death was said to be poisoning. Experts and CIA staff are almost certain that Reinhardt was poisoned by a fellow staff member who is in close connection with him. The officials are currently studying the list of suspects…For the time being,  executive director, Liam Davenport will replace Reinhardt as director of the CIA. That is all news we currently have on the murder of Director Bill Reinhardt, there will be more updates during the primetime news. Tune in then…”

“Shit,” Haldir summed it up in one word.

Legolas was too shocked to say anything.

Bill Reinhardt dead? How could this happen? Reinhardt had been in contact with Legolas just yesterday. Who would have close enough access to Reinhardt to poison him… and so quickly too? There was certainly trouble stirring inside the CIA…

“He was your boss, wasn’t he?” asked Haldir, his fair features drawn into a frown.

“Yeah, that’s right,” replied Legolas slowly. “But how…?”

“And why?” asked Haldir

Legolas couldn’t answer any of his or Haldir’s questions. How could Bill Reinhardt be dead? Who killed him and for what reasons? These questions plagued the mind of Legolas. While the man, Reinhardt, could be irksome at times, Legolas also knew of Reinhardt’s understanding side… Who would kill Reinhardt? Why?

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In Chicago, Elrond Peredhil understood it no better than Legolas. Something was wrong, very wrong. And Elrond knew it. But what was wrong? He just couldn’t put a grasp on it. He stared disbelievingly at the TV screen. This was all wrong. Elrond had only had this feeling a few times during his lifetime… the fading of the powers of the Valar, the ruining of Valinor, the unbalances of power, and all those other times in history when terrible things were about to happen... This dreaded feeling in Elrond was rising.

He hadn’t forgotten Galadriel’s words… “The director of CIA is plotting something--- to harm you.”

But was there a glitch in the prophecy? Did something go wrong in the course of fate? This wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? If Reinhardt is dead, then whom is the prophecy pointing to?

There are so many questions.

What to do? Elrond asked himself.

There was nothing really… nothing but to simply wait… wait and see.

Tomorrow morning, he would contact his sons, and request for their return to Chicago immediately. He would not tell his sons about the prophecy, as Galadriel warned him, but he had a feeling that Elladan and Elrohir would be needed at home.

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Author’s Note: What happened? Did something truly go wrong in the course of fate? Well, you’re going to have to wait and find out… Who is the ‘hooded man’? Who is 19? What is in store of Elladan? Hmm… just wait. You’ll know soon! By the way, who wants to guess right now, considering that I have made it clear that Elladan is the chosen twin by the bad guys to betray his father… WILL ELLADAN BETRAY ELROND? When you review, give me an answer… hopefully with an explanation… though I can accept a simple yes or no answer too. I already have my mind made up on this matter--- let’s see if you guys can amuse me, or *gasp*, even change my mind on the matter!

Thanks to Kelly, my beta-reader.

PLEASE REVIEW!

References to the Lord of the Rings (i.e. characters, places, events, etc.) are Copyrighted © Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. Original characters, plots, and events are Copyrighted © 2003 Alexis Delaflote, all rights reserved.