I awoke with a start. The space around me was dark, and the floor beneath me felt hard. I tried to sit up, but was immediately thrown back to my initial position after hitting my head on a felt surface not two feet above my head. I’m in the trunk of my car. I immediately began to feel around for the chest, my only success being that I was able to find a half-dead fly and a spare pair of huge goggles in one corner of the tiny enclosing. I would deal with Gibbs later. That manic would pay for putting me in this despicable situation, and for stealing Sweeney’s chest, the contents of which were invaluable. Gibbs is unprepared to open it.
As I reached up to feel the many bruises on my neck, I became attuned to the fact that the vehicle did not seem to be moving. The trunk was still locked no doubt, and a swift kick upward confirmed my suspicions. I would have to do a lot better than that if I wanted to get out of this. Gathering all of my remaining strength, I chose to ram the place where I thought the lock would be with my head. I did not do this with my feet, as you may have expected. I don’t feel it necessary to explain why.
The locked snapped and the trunk popped open, revealing a calm, cloudless night. A quick survey of my surroundings told me that I was parked near the east wing of the Sweeney Estate. Intricate and beautiful landscaping dotted the perfectly cut lawn. The east driveway was lined with trees sculpted to look like various celebrities and historical figures, and a beautiful Pee Wee Herman shrub quickly caught my wandering eye. A seven-story Animaniacs fountain shot cold water high into the night sky not ten yards away from me. The Sweeney family loved children’s programming. I’d missed the east wing.
I grabbed Gibbs’ spare goggles out of my trunk, for an experienced assassin knows to always utilize what is given to him, even if he is unsure of its purpose at the time. Creeping around to the back of the estate, I knelt down under the expansive kitchen window. Inside, Sweeney was seated at a table with Gibbs, the closed chest between them. Gibbs was gesturing at it excitedly, clearly worked up about something. Sweeney seemed distant and sullen. I was going to have to approach this situation stealthily.
I smashed the kitchen window with a huge rock and started screaming in every language that I knew. Gibbs grabbed the chest and ran toward a door with Sweeney following suit. I will not leave here without the chest, I thought to myself, thinking of O’Brian and the benefactor that he had mentioned.
With almost inhuman speed and strength, Gibbs threw open the estate’s massive front door, just as a private helicopter touched down on the front lawn, disrupting the peaceful night air. As Gibbs and the boy ran toward the vessel’s opening door, I knew I had to act quickly. The pair was out of my reach, and were probably about to take the chest to some remote location, like Antarctica or Iowa.
I needed something to distract them, anything to disrupt the unfortunate chain of events that was currently unfolding before me. I saw Gibbs turn to look back at me, and I knew that I had one remaining resource, one more possible course of action to take. I took his spare pair of goggles from my pocket, and put them on my face.
The world seemed to stop spinning right then and there. I could feel every droplet of water from the Animaniacs fountain. I could here every rotation of the helicopter’s blade. Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks, looking right at me. Connor was already boarding the private helicopter, yelling something inaudible to Gibbs over the roar of its engine.
What I saw through those goggles would change my life forever.
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