My Mark Has Escaped (Story 1)

Having been employed by the secret services for ten years, I knew exactly what to do first; study my target's routine. So far, I knew that they jogged in the local park once a week, usually at 16:00, but they were not there today; they somehow knew I was tracking them. However, I was not surprised; after all, they were a part of an enemy organisation who only allows the best to join.
It helped to get into their frame of mind, so I ran around the track a few times. Sadly, it failed to help me figure out where they were heading. I would have to act quickly, or else they would hurry to leave town, and both my and their time would have been wasted.
Amazingly, I got a break; I found a single cigarette butt. It was of the expensive, exotic kind, which was precisely the kind that my target was known to smoke. Before I picked it up, I hesitated.
What if this was a decoy? Or even worse, a trap? It was rare to find explosives in things that small, but it was not unheard of. I picked up my phone, and called the lab. They were delighted to hear my news, but also doubted how real it was.
With the chances of finding any more evidence lower than the IQ of ant, I decided that I would return home, wait for the cigarette to be validated as real, and have a cup o' tea.

To be continued........