![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
safaiagemwritingCase Closed
Arthur Cohen and Daniel Eames
Nathan was on the next flight out of Japan and spent the majority of the flight staring out the window watching the scenery pass by. He did not need to look hard for an excuse to arrest the next people on his list because they were already wanted criminals. Arthur Cohen and Daniel Eames were both wanted on several counts of fraud, robbery and two counts of possible murder. They were the only ones that he could arrest on sight. That would have been comforting if they were not impossible to track. All of the information he had on them was scattered, a sighting here, a rumor there, and he had found nothing go on recently.
Nathan sighed when he landed in Vienna and checked his phone. There were three missed calls, all from headquarters, and all three he ignored. Now was not the time to lecture him about expense reports and how he was still empty handed. Instead Nathan checked into the Austrian IDCA office and poured every resource he had into finding Arthur and Eames. They were well known in the dreamcrime world; their names had been mentioned several times by people IDCA had arrested in the past, and what they did know was that Arthur often took point and Eames was a forger. That means they’re both very good at covering their tracks, he thought as he looked over the information. His phone rang for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes Nathan picked it up and was surprised to see Rogers’ number on the screen.
“If you called to gloat I’m not in the mood,” Nathan said.
“Why would I call to gloat? You’re too busy being a fucking idiot,” Rogers replied harshly. “Director James has been ranting about you for the last two days. I also know that you’re looking into that point man and forger.”
“Did the Austrian government tattle on me?” Nathan asked.
“No, me watching you is what gave you away.” Rogers took a deep breath and slowly released it. “These two are dangerous, Nathan, and I don’t think you should go after them alone. Let someone come help you, anyone, because they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you.”
“I can handle myself. It’s not like I have any leads anyway.” Nathan paused and thought about it for a moment. “You wouldn’t call to tell me to bring back up if you didn’t have some sort of angle. What do you know?”
“They were spotted in London two days ago,” Rogers replied after a long silence. “That doesn’t mean that they’re still there but I thought that it might help you get started. Just promise that you’ll call for backup if you need it. I don’t want to bury you.”
“You’ve said that before; you won’t. Stop worrying so much and thank you for the lead.” Nathan hung up before he heard a word of Rogers’ response and booked the next flight to London. He was getting somewhere, he was sure of it, because he could only be wrong so many times before he got it right. These two were the key and he did not have to waste time looking for evidence. “All I have to do is find you.” Nathan looked at the picture of the two men, both inconspicuous, and wondered how many times an IDCA agent had passed them by without a second glance.
London was a dreary city but that did not stop Nathan from running around like a mad man. He tracked one of the aliases that Rogers had sent him around the city. It seemed like whenever he got to the location where they were supposed to be they were already gone. It was almost like they were playing with him, like they knew he was following them, and they wanted to see if he could keep up. After he raced across town to a small grocery store a building stood out. Nathan jogged across the street and looked at the names on the mailbox. They matched one of Arthur’s aliases and this almost seemed too easy. He threw the door open and took the stairs two at a time to the door.
Nathan pulled his gun out and kicked the door open, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. No one came running out and there was no sound anywhere. Nathan made his way through the apartment and found plenty of evidence that someone lived there. Judging by the double toothbrushes he guessed that Arthur had someone else in his life that they did not know about which complicated things. Someone who would notice he’s gone, he thought. There was a cup of tea on the counter and when he touched the mug it was still a little warm. They were just here. Son of a bitch, Nathan thought.
Frantic for some sort of clue Nathan tore the apartment apart. It was spotless; there was nothing to indicate where they were going, but when he opened a desk drawer, buried beneath some papers, there was a train schedule. Nathan looked over the schedule and saw that there was a train leaving the station in exactly ten minutes. He did not bother to lock the door as he left and told the cab driver to move as fast as he could through the traffic. The driver took one look at his badge and did as he was told. As they weaved in and out of traffic, people honking and screaming obscenities, he counted down the minutes. If they managed to get away they would be in Paris before he had a chance to catch up with them.
Nathan threw money at the driver and pushed his way through the station. The train was supposed to leave any second but if he could get someone to stop it he might have a chance. He ran through the legions of people and got to the platform but it was empty. He looked at the clock and saw that his watch was behind and he was a few minutes late. Nathan clenched his fists tightly, tight enough that he could feel the nails biting into his palms, and it took a few minutes before he was calm enough to unclench them. The chase was on and he was not going to lose.
After almost two weeks of going from airport, to ferry, to train stations, Nathan was not so sure about winning the race. No matter how fast he moved, no matter how many times he tried, Arthur and Eames were always just one step ahead of him. In the middle of Rome he had chased them through several streets after spotting them blending in with a crowd of tourists but they lost him. It was enough to make Nathan want to put his fist through a wall. There was nothing he could do about them. He had no idea how they kept managing to be a step ahead of him and the calls from the higher ups were getting more and more frantic. They screamed at his voice mail about the last minute, very expensive flights, the train rides, the hotels where he stayed exactly one night.
Somehow they were in Antwerp in Belgium, and Nathan all but collapsed onto a bench. In the last three days he had had something like ten hours of sleep total and he just could not make himself go any further. He felt winded, like everything was too much to handle, and despite being so close Nathan contemplated giving up. There was a chance that he would get chewed out for having almost nothing save a few credit card numbers. If I’m going to be in Belgium I might as well get some of the local specialties, Nathan thought as he stood and made his way over to a small cafe. Waffles really did sound quite fantastic after such a long day, but when the girl tried to swipe his card she looked a little confused.
“Declined, have cash?” she asked in broken English. Nathan just stared at her for a moment and smiled sheepishly as he dug out his wallet. He handed her his debit card which was also declined. Now she looked a little impatient and Nathan had a feeling she was going to snatch that waffle away from him. Luckily he had just enough cash to pay for the waffle and sat outside on a bench on the street. He had mobile banking but a lump formed in his throat as he looked at his empty bank account. Every cent had been withdrawn, all of his savings, and when he checked his credit cards they were all maxed out. Frantically he called headquarters.
“Sir, my expense card isn’t working anymore. What happened?” Nathan asked when he got patched through to Director James.
“Burman, you’ve racked up almost $10,000 in expenses and you have nothing to show for it. We’ve also received several calls from people saying that you were harassing them, stalking and breaking and entering. Care to explain yourself?” Director James asked.
“They were suspects, specifically named by a former architect. I was doing what I had to do to get evidence against them,” Nathan replied and he knew the director would take his side because--
“And you found no evidence. In fact you have absolutely nothing to show for the expenses you’ve racked up. I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist you take a leave of absence,” Director James replied.
“Sir, you can’t do that, all of my bank accounts have been--”
“Then call your bank. Take some time off, Burman, and get your head on straight.” The next thing he heard was a click and dial tone. For the first time since grade school Nathan was sure he was going to have a panic attack. He had no money, no job, no way of getting back home and he had not picked out a hotel yet so nowhere to sleep. Nathan buried his hands in his face and tried to calm his breathing. He was so out of it he did not notice that someone had moved up and sat down next to him.
“You look like you’re having a really terrible day,” a voice said.
“You have no idea,” Nathan replied.
“Oh I think I do,” the man said. Nathan sat up to tell the man that he really did not have any idea what he was talking about when he realized the person sitting next to him, as if he did not have a care in the world, was Arthur. “Agent Burman, it’s nice to finally see you in person.” Nathan inched his hand toward his gun but Arthur shook his head. “You’re not licensed to carry that anymore so I wouldn’t recommend pulling a gun on me. Not to mention that you wouldn’t get your finger on the trigger before we shoot you.” Arthur gestured with his head and Nathan looked over to see Eames across the square, leaning against a lamp pole, and he gave a little two fingered salute. Seeing him in person Nathan realized that it was the same man from Mombasa.
“How long have you two been following me?” he asked bewildered.
“Since Paris, though I guess we’ve been leading you along since London,” Arthur said smiling. “You didn’t really think it would be that easy to find us, did you? I would have died a long time ago if that was the case.”
“Did you drain my bank accounts?” Nathan asked because if there was anyone that would do that it would be these two.
“Agent Burman, all I want you to do is to close your investigation. You’re not going to find any evidence of anything related to the inception. I’m not denying that it happened, because it did, but you won’t find anything to prove it. If you close your investigation I’ll return all of your assets and you can at least get back to the States and maybe even get your job back if those harassment accusations are taken care of.” Arthur stood, stretched and handed Nathan a single 100 Euro note. “The choice is yours, Agent Burman, but I’ll give you a day to think it over. You could try and catch us or you could have your life, more or less, back.” Arthur walked across the square toward Eames and the two of them spoke briefly until they all but vanished into the crowds. Nathan stared at the money in his hand, his mind racing, and walked off to find a hotel to stay at, waffle in hand.
Nathan was sure that someone had died in the hotel room he was staying in but it was all he could afford with the money Arthur had given him. It did not make sense for Arthur to drain his bank accounts, max out his credit cards and then give him cash so he did not have to sleep on a park bench. Nathan rubbed his temples and tried to clear his head. Arthur had given him an ultimatum. To anyone else the decision would have been easy but the idea that someone, somewhere, had an idea that was not theirs made him sick. Could he really let these people get away with that? There was not much he could do without IDCA backing him up and he could do even less with no money at all.
“God damn it,” Nathan muttered running his hands roughly through his hair. This should not have been a hard decision to make.
A loud knock on the door made Nathan jump. He said he was going give me a day, he thought as he unlocked the door. The man standing in front of him was not Arthur but that did not mean Nathan did not recognize him. He had seen this man in Mombasa, in Tokyo and nearly every city he’d been to, he just had not realized it until now. He had been followed by someone else besides Arthur and Eames. Nathan was about to ask who they were, what they wanted, when he was hit on the forehead hard enough that he was unconscious before he hit the floor.
back forward