condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
he was expecting. Backing out of the room, stared upon by many pairs of eyes,
he retraced his steps back to the road, following it around the rear of the house to
look for signs of life. He discovered however, that the road continued up the side
of the hill to a small house about three or four hundred yards farther on. He
increased his step, convinced that he had now found the place he was looking for.
It was no more than a cabin perched on a rocky outcrop. Will could see the
back of a car that had been parked behind the far end of the building and lights
were showing from a couple of windows. He paused for a moment to catch his
breath and reaching inside his pocket he rearranged the pistol which had been
dislodged during the climb. It was heavy and it's shifting weight on the way up the
hill had constantly reminded him to be careful. He felt a reluctance to go further,
but it was no time to be getting second thoughts.
A gust of wind sprang up, the noise making him jump, and for a moment he felt
scared, but it had the effect of getting him on the move again towards the house.
The path to the front porch rose sharply, and raising his hand to knock on the door
he could hear the faint sound of music coming from inside. He purposely knocked
hard several times, to leave in no doubt to anyone inside that there was someone
at the door. But no one came.
It was impossible not to have been heard. Will looked around feeling very
uneasy, but before he had time to make up his mind what to do next, a sharp
rustling sound came from the far corner of the building, in the vicinity of the car.
For a fleeting moment he was frightened to look, and he instinctively gripped the
butt of the pistol inside his pocket. "Who's there, is that you Dan?"
A voice he recognized answered. "Who wants to know?"
"It's Will Brenner, I've come up to have a word with you." Will waited, but
there was no response. He must have a gun, it was part of his trade to be armed.
What a damned fool I've been - I should have waited until I had seen him moving
about in the house! He was standing in the full light of the porch and feeling very
vulnerable.
Dan's figure moved out of the shadows into the light. He had obviously put his
gun away and Will breathed a sigh of relief. Dan looked past Will to the road
below. "Are you alone?"
"Yes, I wasn't sure of the way so I parked my car next to the store and
walked up."
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