"Girl! Judging by how well ripped you are, you must he a soldier of sorts?" The African American man said with his deep voice, it actually made Arno shrivel.
Genevieve was clearly fearless "Navy seal sniper... The name is Genevieve" She smiled making the big man laugh.
"It's a pleasure, the names Bison" He said reaching over the steel table and shook her hand "This here is Helga, excuse her, she's not shy, or rude, she's just quiet" He said pointing at the legionare, then looked at Arno "And you boy?"
Arno kind of enjoyed this man's accent, he always wanted to go have a beer with an African American, they always have a funny story to tell from the 'hood' so to speak "Arno sir"
Bison frowned "That's an odd accent, where you from?"
"South Africa sir"
"South Africa!? Me and you are practically brothers!? What unit are you from!?" He said friendly and shook his hand.
"I uh..."
"He's a mall cop" Genevieve said making Arno shrivel again.
"A mall cop!? As in security!?"
"Uh, yes" Arno suddenly felt lower than snail shit on the seafloor, even Helga now watched him with confused eyes.
"How in the? I don't get this? Suddenly this rescue mission doesn't sound too bad if they recruited a security guard?" Bison said folding his arms.
"It's a walk in the park, and it pays well, that's all good, what else can we ask for accept the fact that we may get to shoot something?" Genevieve said holding her hands up.
"Yeah, no shit, did you hear the name of the big boss here?" Bison asked.
"Rebecca?"
"Rebecca St Claire..." He said batting his eyebrows.
"Wow, hefty, she must be a babe carrying that name?" Genevieve said.
"I hear she's a looker, guess well have to see"
Arno watched the two talk, he suddenly felt like an ornament in the room, his status out the door. The woman named Helga also minded her own business, Arno could see she didn't want to be here. Then his attention turned to Blake, who was now standing with a heap of files clasped to her chest, she saw him look at her and smiled.
Then the lift behind them pinged again and another woman stepped in, ash grey, or was it a salt and pepper? Arno knew it was something like that, but this was her hair color, her long fringe almost in her dark blue eyes, her dress code like Blake's, neat, yet sexy office wear. The way she crossed the floor to them spelled confidence and finesse, Arno felt a pressure from her, she meant business.
"Good day all, my name is Rebecca, it's nice to finally meet all of you" She said walking around them and standing next to Blake "I hope your trips here was a comfortable one?"
Arno sometimes spoke before he thought "I got smashed on all the alcohol in your plane so thanks" He chuckled but no one laughed with him so he swallowed it.
Rebecca smiled "I'm glad, I hear the South Africans like to drink a lot"
And lower, down and down, his reputation sank.
"Blake sent me a text telling me you all called mister Arno a mall cop?"
Arno flinched 'Fok here it comes!'
"Yeah!? What's with that? You get three soldiers and a mall cop? This doesn't sound like an urgent rescue?" Genevieve asked.
"I agree with her mam, let them go, I'll stick around here helping you beautiful ladies out with things" Arno said but subconsciously slapped himself again.
Rebecca gave her normal confident smile "Compliments are always welcome" She said and held her hand to Blake "Bison"
Blake took the files away from her chest and dug in it, then took out one and handed it to her.
"You all are questioning why you are here, let me get one thing clear, I choose my staff meticulously, I don't just watch a résumé and choose according to that..." She opened the file "Bison Kraig Fury..." She looked at the man.
"That's me mam"
'Big man, big Marine, even his name fitted both that' Arno thought.
"To make things a little easier, I will now reveal your pasts to everyone, and you will understand why I chose you..."
Arno swallowed 'Yah, mall kop, here it fokkin comes'
"Bison, US Marine for six years since the age of nineteen, killed a man with one punch in a bar one night, serves two years in jail and suspended from the Marines... After you served time you came out and became a search and rescue officer" She looked up "A valid reason why you should be team leader"
Bison smiled and nodded.
Rebecca held Bison's file to Blake "Helga next"
'Ooh this should be good' Arno thought.
"Helga Le Fleur..." She looked at the quiet woman "Obviously not your real name, or, your new name? The French foreign legion gives you a new identity once you join them right?" Rebecca asked and Helga nodded.
"Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen you were a rebel, stealing and robbing, crime was your life, all so you can keep up your methanthedamine addiction..."
'This badass beauty was a meth addict!? Geez-like-it!' Arno thought.
"Your parents were fed up with your nonsense and literary dropped you off in front of the legion and they took you in, you spend ten years there as an espionage specialist..." Rebecca giggled "I must admit, you were the only one I had to buy to get... Three years in Iraq, three in Afghanistan, the rest in the Amazon jungle protecting secret American missile silo's, and there you learned how to become an expert tracker, which is why you are here" Rebecca closed the file and held it to Blake "Genevieve next"
Arno glanced at her, Genevieve wasn't smiling now.
"Genevieve Scarlett, Nine years a Navy seal, saw action in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia... But in Somalia you got wind of the diamonds in Angola right...?" Rebecca asked looking up from the file "You went AWOL and went diamond digging where you got caught and jailed"
"Holy shit!? You were a diamond thief!? Fucksakes!" Arno yelled laughing "The little get rich quick maneuver hey!?"
"Shut the fuck up mallcop!"
"I think she's pissed because it was the South African special forces that caught her" Rebecca said smiling.
Arno looked at her flicking his finger "Yoh! Didn't see that commin hey navy seal!? Hahaa! The ghost squad strikes again! You'll never see them coming!" He said laughing, this actually had Bison laughing as well.
"Shut up mall cop! Or I'll kick your ass!"
Rebecca cleared her throat and the uprise stopped "Sorry miss" Arno said.
Rebecca smiled at Genevieve "A loose cannon, not afraid of gunfights, likes your big fifty cal sniper rifle, according to the Seals one of the best female snipers they ever had, you should never have left them miss Scarlett"
"Pff!" Genevieve blew and turned away.
Rebecca held Genevieve's file to Blake, then Blake gave her Arno's file, along with a thin blue one Arno could swear he saw somewhere.
"This will be boring" Genevieve said.
"Yes yes, the so called mall cop. Arno De Sousa, aged seventeen your parents got shot in a robbery, so at eighteen already you tried the army, but they denied you, tried the Navy, they denied you... You even tried the special forces, but according to them you need to have spent five years in the military to apply..."
Rebecca looked at him "You had motive, even trying the police, but they denied you aswell. Then somehow it looks like you got accepted into the fire department, but before joining you started working for mister Brits at the company Tactical Intervention, where you worked one year as a control room operator, you did your psira grades, got your license for handgun, shotgun, carbine and bolt action rifle...
Age twenty you joined mister Brits' Tactical unit, and received training further..." She glanced up at the lot, they watched her intentively "Kidnap and extortion, first aid levels one to three, fire fighting, house penetration, hijack car approach, tactical shooting, tactical movement, advanced contact training... Which was given to you by a navy seal..." Rebecca glanced up and Arno looked at Genevieve, then back at Rebecca.
"Close protection officers training, advance driving, and finally helicopter deployed tactical insertion"
Rebecca closed the green file and handed it back to Blake "So, he's got a lot of training right? But he's five years behind the three of you, so just to be clear, he's not here because of the training"
Rebecca held the blue file up "Recognise this Arno?"
"I think, that's what mister Brits called his officers diary, everything that happens to his officers no matter how big or small is recorded in there, I never saw mine"