Trapped

Trapped!

It was a life of sorts and more stable than those she had shared with two previous husbands.

The present day was lived in a 'box'. One bound by a routine that had been established for over eleven years. A life of sharing weekends with a partner whose main interest in life was sport, interspersed by food and work. He was short and very large and a very self opinionated man. Culturally, something of a desert and lacking in any knowledge, to speak of, of the finer things in life.

It was within this 'box', bound by his fairly narrow interests, that she lived and believed she had a 'life'.

Most of her life, both before this man and during, was behind her now. Of her two previous husbands, one was still alive,the other had passed on. Most of her time had been wrapped up in those men and their singular lack of success in life. Now she was with someone much more successful but still she felt trapped, in her heart of hearts. Trapped, in so far as she knew she would never experience much of what life had to offer, the freedom to go anywhere at anytime and to be herself rather than being boxed in by where she found herself.

The loss of her second husband, just after her divorce from him, had left her free to have a series of affairs. She was quite a sexual woman and had her needs, naturally. In among those she met was a man she spent nigh on two years seeing. He was quite different to the others she had met, in that he was highly educated, successful and kind. He had experienced a death in his family and his youngest child needed his support, so he wasn't able to spend as much time as he would like with her.

They were fairly well settled together, but she couldn't let past men in her life alone. So behind his back she carried on an affair or two, eventually culminating in her seeking and finding another. The man who has now trapped her in a mundane life. A case of while the cat's away....

Her impulsiveness and shallow character led her to where she is now. Trapped.

The 'contra' to being in the box, in the trap, was to have courage and commitment but she had neither. The man she found, or rather he found her, was very different from all the other men she had met. Feelings of inferiority clouded her judgement, feelings that made her feel a little inadequate, but he never thought so. He committed, she didn't because of all these things.

He moved on and she was left behind in the 'box'. He lived a life of luxury, travel and found a new family and went to live in another country. She is living in 'another country' in many ways. She could have had it all, but she made mistakes and paid for those mistakes by being left behind. She knew she had, but had burnt her bridges by destroying his trust in her.

His life was so very different.....

The Watcher

The Watcher

She was clever, to a point. Hidden in the shadow of a doorway and dressed in black pants and top, she wasn't that easy to spot from a cursory glance along the sidewalk. But she was nervous, glancing backward as well as peering forward. She had been watching from her position for over twenty minutes. Not the sign of a pro.

Down the street was the guy she was watching. He was on the opposite side in the full sun talking with a man and a woman. Like him, the other man was dressed in a lightweight suit. The woman was more casually dressed in a summer dress that finished above the knee. they hadn't spotted the woman in black watching.

But some else had, and they were approaching her from behind via a side alley. At that moment the woman down the street turned to get into a car along with both men. the doorway lady seemed uncertain what to do. Maybe turn around and fast track it back to her car. In that case she was going to walk right into the arms of the guy approaching from behind.

All this unfolded in front of me, Carter - the watcher - watching the watched.

I was positioned  prone on the roof of an unoccupied low rise office building and had a unencumbered view of all the parties involved. The woman turned and I knew she would walk right into the guy waiting in the alley a few yards behind her. I raised my weapon and took aim at him, just in front of his feet. Then I switched on the laser sight and hoped the alley was dark enough for him to see it.

Looking down the telescopic sight, I could see it was, so I walked it just in front of him and then slowly up his body. I could see he was watching it with a transfixed kinda fascination. Then reality struck and he turned and ran back down the alley from which he had come. The woman, meantime, had just reached the alley as I turned the sight off. She continued along the sidewalk until she reached her car.

I packed my gear swiftly and made my way down to ground level and my vehicle. There was no great hurry because I had attached trackers to both her car and the one just leaving down the street. I let both head off and then I pulled out onto the street and followed some way behind.

I had been handed this assignment just one week ago, leaving behind a refresher at Quantico...........