He nodded.
“But why wouldn’t she have recognized you? You’re always at the office building. I don’t—"
“Agent Grobeck instructed me to interact with nobody but him. So I’m invisible when I’m not in his office. Ask yourself if you’ve ever seen me outside his office.”
Silence elapsed between them as Eve’s thoughts raced and her eyes widened with the sudden realization. Agent Yu was right to distrust Agent Grobeck. Why would he want to hide the existence of Mauricio Candela from her and everyone else at SPI? Why was he okay with me seeing Mauricio? It doesn’t make sense. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Why were you at Salazar’s office in the first place?”
He sped through a yellow light and made a left turn. “Because Agent Grobeck ordered me to observe you and report to him about your performance. He instructed me to interfere, if necessary, to retrieve the safe box.”
“But I already had it. I already had the safe box before you killed that man. You didn’t need to do anything else,” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry, but none of this is making sense.”
"It will. But, right now, we need to sneak into a hospital so that we can get that tracking chip out of you, Miss Cooper," he said.
7
They stopped at a hospital, ditched the car on a side street, and resumed invisibility. Once they found a quiet area in the joint and hip injury unit of the hospital, two floors up from the emergency unit, they ducked inside a tiny storage closet that smelled like ammonia.
"Where's the light switch?" Mauricio whispered, brushing his hand along the wall. "Hold on. I think I found it."
The light came on, illuminating a gray space stacked to the ceiling with transparent plastic tubs of latex gloves, wipes, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and other sanitation items. Visible again, Eve and Mauricio regarded one another in silence. She surveyed his black suit and his thick black hair pulled into an untidy bun at the top of his head.
He dug inside one of the tubs on the shelf and pulled out latex gloves. "Here," he said, handing a pair to her.
"I still don’t understand why you’re doing this, Agent Candela." With her arms folded across her chest, she stared at him.
"You can call me Mauricio."
"Okay. But despite everything you said in the car, you still haven’t answered the question. Why are you helping me?"
"Because of this," said Mauricio, holding up a small safe box, the same one that had been in Salazar's office.
Her eyebrows went up. "You've had it all this time? If Agent Grobeck told you to retrieve it, why didn’t you give it to him?"
"Miss Cooper, I wish we had time to talk more," he said, stuffing the box inside her backpack. "But we don't. We have to move quickly." He opened a pocketknife and reached for her arm.
"What...?"
"You first."
"First? You have a chip, too?"
He sighed. "Unfortunately. Hold out your arm."
She recoiled. “No. I’ll do it myself.”
“I can promise you it’s easier if I do it.”
She shook her head.
“Suit yourself,” he said, sighing and handing her the knife. “Let’s be quick. I guarantee you they’re already on their way here.”
"This is going to suck," she groaned, slipping on the gloves. After removing her jacket, she took the knife from him and placed the blade against her right forearm where Doctor Thomas had cut her open.
Although Doctor Thomas had applied a liquid sealant after inserting the chip, the wound was still fresh. The sight of it made Eve's stomach turn.
Sweat beads lining her forehead, she forced the blade through her skin. For a moment, she marveled at how easily it sliced through her skin. Yet all of the air seemed to leave her in the next moment, and she heard herself scream. Mauricio covered her mouth, and she squirmed.
As she forced the knife deeper, she screamed into the palm of his hand. Deeper and deeper she forced the blade until it hit a tiny pea-sized object.
Inhaling, she cut some skin to create an opening and dizzily handed the knife to Mauricio. She dug her index finger inside her arm and searched for the chip, while he kept his hand over her mouth to silence her screams.
“I told you to let me do it,” he muttered.
Soon she felt herself growing cold and wondering if she might pass out. But after a minute or so of digging, she pulled out a metal object that looked like a coin. "So small," she managed to say, staring at the chip and sinking to the floor in shock.
As Mauricio tied a bandage around her forearm, her eyes blinked and closed. "Stay with me," he pleaded.
"I'm good." She smiled weakly, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Once she was bandaged, he took the knife and wiped it with a towel and peroxide, spilling some on the floor as he poured it on the blade. All of this he did at rapid speed, hardly taking his eyes off Eve. Placing the blade's tip against his arm, he dug in and pressed his lips together to keep from crying out.
It didn't take him as long to find the chip. Once he removed the tiny metal object, he exhaled and examined his bloody arm. Hastily, he wrapped the chips in a cloth and dropped them in the trash bin. Blood dripped from his arm and spilled onto the floor as he looked around for the bandages. "Where did I put the box? Damn it, where's the box?"
"Mauricio," Eve mumbled, her voice low and trembling.
Surrendering the search for the box of bandages, he gathered Eve as she began slipping in and out of consciousness. She felt him cover her with her jacket and sling the backpack over his shoulders. Dimly, she heard him groaning as he stumbled from the closet with her in his arms.
The hallway was empty. He staggered toward the elevator, carrying Eve.
When the elevator opened to the emergency unit moments later, Mauricio headed to the help desk. "Help us," he called to the attendant at the desk.
The young attendant's gaze drifted from Mauricio's bleeding arm to the semi-conscious woman he was holding. "Sir, I'm going to need you to step back—"
"My girlfriend...we were stabbed," Mauricio panted.
Eve opened and shut her eyes, trying to stay conscious.
"Hold on," answered the attendant, picking up the phone.
Not a minute later, three nurses arrived with a couple of gurneys.
***
Eve's eyes focused on the thin strips of white light that looked like glowing ships sailing overhead. She sat up and looked around, spotting a heavily bandaged woman with a busted lip sound asleep on the only other bed in the room. Voices buzzed outside the door.
When she clutched her bandaged left arm, throbbing pain hit her like a shot of adrenaline. She jumped up, panicked. They'll know I'm here. SPI will find me. "Fuck," she yelled in a shrill whisper, grabbing the pack and jacket from the chair next to the bed. Making her way toward the door, she stopped and listened to the voices in the hallway.
Within five minutes, the voices grew distant, replaced by footsteps pattering against the linoleum floors. She cracked the door ajar and peeked out. A doctor and two nurses were walking down the hallway, away from her room. She watched until they turned to enter another room.
Eve tiptoed into the hallway. She proceeded to check the name tag on every door, searching for Mauricio's name as she made her way down the hallway. She opened a few doors and glanced inside, but Mauricio was nowhere to be found. Cursing under her breath, she wished she could remember everything that had happened before she lost consciousness.
As a nurse came near her, she averted her gaze and turned from him, hoping not to draw attention.
"Miss?" called the nurse. "You're not supposed to be here. Are you here to see a patient?"
After clearing her throat, Eve turned to the nurse. "My...um...my boyfriend, Mauricio.”
"Mr. Candela?"
"Yes."
"Room two thirty-two, Miss." The nurse pointed ahead and repeated the number in Spanish. "Straight down and to your right."
Nodding and thanking him profusely, she
hurried away and prayed the nurse would take no more interest in her. In room 232, she found Mauricio asleep in bed and another man lying awake in a second bed. The man's eyes followed her as she advanced toward Mauricio. Why didn't I go invisible? So stupid. She closed the curtains separating their beds.
"Agent Can—I mean, Mauricio," she whispered, leaning close to him and glancing at his bandaged arm. He didn't stir. She shook his shoulders and slapped his face. "Wake up. We need to go now."
At the second slap, his eyes opened and he squinted. Just as he was about to speak, she covered his mouth.
"We don't have time. For now, you're my boyfriend, okay?" She snatched up his blazer jacket and shoes from a chair and laid them on the bed. "Get dressed, and let's go."
He stared at her and didn't move. "Who are you?"
"Are you serious? Don't tell me you have amnesia or something?"
He drew away from her, his eyes wide.
She groaned. "Oh, for fuck's sake. It's me, Eve Cooper. The woman you rescued several hours ago?"
"Excuse me. But Eve Cooper is not a redheaded white woman." A look of incredulity mixed with fear clouded his face. "What's going on? Is this a trick by SPI?"
"Just call me Eve, all right? And...wait...what? I'm not a redhead..." She stopped when she saw her reflection in the wall mirror.
Her mouth dropped open. What kind of crazy shit is this? Staring in awe, she ran her hands over the pale white face and sandy red hair that hung to her shoulders.
But when she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, she turned to him. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, Mauricio. But we don't have time to figure it out. We have to go now." As she spoke, she heard a voice that didn't sound like her own. It was higher-pitched and somewhat shrill. How had she not noticed it before?
He gawked at her.
"Did you hear me? We have to go," she said in as loud of a whisper as she could manage.
He glanced at the clock and looked at the redheaded woman again. The frenzied look on her face seemed to settle his doubts. He put on the black blazer jacket, stepped into his shoes, and stood. "Let's go."
He took her hand, and they became invisible. They darted to the nearest elevator, passing the nurses Eve had seen outside her room earlier.
Once they exited the building, they slowed but kept a brisk pace and remained invisible.
"How did you change your appearance?" Mauricio asked as they turned onto East Huron Street and headed west.
"I have no idea."
"So you woke up as a white girl?"
"I guess. Look, right now we have to figure out what to do, where to go. There's no telling what'll happen if I come back looking like this. What was the rest of your plan?"
"I didn't actually have one."
She sighed. "We have to figure something out."
"Do you have any money?"
"I need to get to my apartment to get my purse and credit card," she said, tugging at him.
He didn't budge. "I mean cash. If you use your credit or debit card, they'll track you."
"Shit."
"Okay, how about we stop at an ATM and I can withdraw my savings? It's only a couple of thousand, but it'll help."
"That won't last us long. Will it?" Eve replied.
They stood there at the corner of East Huron Street and Michigan Avenue, thinking. Eve surveyed the crowded street. There was something peaceful about standing on the sideline and watching all the people move about with their lives. A man walking a basset hound and talking on his phone strolled by and stopped at the crosswalk.
Staring at Eve and Mauricio, the hound's tongue dangled from his mouth, and he pulled his owner toward them to get a closer sniff. She smiled at the dog.
The man stopped, turning to see what had grabbed his dog's attention.
"Nice basset hound, there. How old is he?" asked Eve.
The dog's ears perked up, and the man stepped back in alarm as his eyes searched left and right. As the dog pulled forward and sniffed Eve, she petted it on the head. With a rough yank on the dog's leash, the man hastened away, looking over his shoulder a few times.
"Why did you do that?" asked Mauricio. "You spooked the hell out of that guy."
"It's not like I meant to—I forgot we were invisible. Anyway, I always wanted a dog, a hound like that one. When I was a kid, we took in a stray basset hound for a week. My dad was out of town visiting his side of the family, so my mom let me keep the dog since she'd always wanted one too. When my dad got back, the first thing he did was yell about how there would be no dogs in his house. That same day, he dropped it off at the pound, and I never saw it again."
"I'm sorry. That's awful."
"Yeah, well. Life sucks," she replied and paused. "Look, there's an ATM over there. Let's withdraw all your money and then hop the first bus out of town."
"All right."
"But, first, I have to make a phone call."
"To who?"
"Agent Yu," said Eve. "I think she may be interested in Salazar's safe box. She suspects Agent Grobeck had something to do with my assignment going wrong. I bet that’s piqued her interest about what’s in the safe box.”
"You can't think of turning it over to her or SPI. I didn't take it just for you to hand it over to them."
"Of course, I'm not going to hand it over to them. But they don't know that."
"I see."
"And after this call, you're going to tell me why you have it."
He sighed. "Fine."
***
Eve stared at the river as night began to fall. She whipped out the phone SPI had given her, checked the time—4:15—waited a few minutes, and then dialed Agent Yu.
"You know what you're doing is foolish, Miss Cooper," answered Agent Yu, skipping right over pleasantries.
"Yes. I'm sure it is."
"You sound different..."
Eve didn't respond.
"Look, you can fix this. I'm here at Hotel Vertigo as planned for your assignment. It's not too late for you to show up and fix this. Agent Grobeck doesn't know about your little escapade yet."
Eve smiled. "You're at Hotel Vertigo right now?"
"Yes, where your driver was taking us until you decided to take a detour."
"You're in the lobby, aren't you?"
"Yes. Are you here?"
Eve laughed. She could hear Agent Yu shifting around and moving, probably looking for her. "It's funny. I only guessed you'd be at the hotel, that an overly dedicated agent like you would insist on carrying out the mission no matter what. I mean, the smartest thing would've been for you to report to Agent Grobeck what had happened so that maybe you'd have some hope of finding me. But you have too much pride to fail, to have to ask your boss for help. And, honestly, who would want to ask that asshole for help anyway?"
"Are you going to do this the easy way or the hard way, Miss Cooper? It's up to you."
"You see that tiny red dot on your chest?" she asked, hoping that Mauricio was in position with his gun aimed at Agent Yu just the way he'd aimed it at Salazar.
Agent Yu's sharp intake of air followed by silence confirmed Mauricio was in position.
Eve exhaled and smiled. "Try to run or move a muscle, and the bullet will go in before you can blink."
"How do I know that's not a laser pen you have pointed at me?" Agent Yu asked.
"You don't know. But if you're feeling brave, go ahead and doubt me."
After seconds of silence, Agent Yu chuckled. "You're either stupider than I realized or smarter than I gave you credit for."
"You could say I'm very observant and a fast learner."
"What do you think you're going to achieve by—"
"I have the safe box with the flash drive in it," Eve interjected.
Agent Yu fell silent again.
"I'll destroy the drive before I ever turn it over to you people. But, then again, who knows. I may be inclined to turn it over to you depending on what you can do for me."
At this point, Age
nt Yu laughed. "I can appreciate that you've watched a lot of movies. But you're way out of your depth, honey."
"You're probably right. I mean, you know more about this shit than I do, and I bet you guys got a million ways to track me. But I don't have anything left, thanks to you assholes, so the way I see it, I have nothing to lose." She paused. "The others, are you torturing them too?"
"Torture is a harsh word. We prefer 'enhanced training'. And, no, it’s reserved for difficult trainees."
"Where are the rest of the trainees right now?"
"They've all been sent on short-term field assignments as of yesterday. They're spread across the country and out-of-pocket at the moment."
"I need their phone numbers. Now."
“You don’t already have that information?” asked Agent Yu.
“I’m a millennial. We don’t memorize phone numbers. And I don’t have my personal cell phone anymore. Thanks to you all.”
Agent Yu snickered. "What does it matter to you where they are anyway?"
"They need to know what you people are doing."
"They do know."
"The facts. Not the lies you fed us during training," said Eve. "You're going to give me their contact information, phone numbers and locations."
"I don't have it, Miss Cooper. It's classified information."
"Bullshit."
"Actually, it’s not. After your resignation, Agent Grobeck decided to step in and take control of the training. The trainees report to him now. So, as far as their whereabouts, all I know is the cities they're in. Anything else about their specific assignments, he doesn't disclose to me. And I don't have access to their tracking chips. All that's above my pay grade now."
"So you got demoted. I don’t care. Get access."
Agent Yu was quiet again.
"Let me clarify. If you refuse, that little dot on your chest will get painful for you. So, are you going to help me find them or not?"
Agent Yu breathed in. "Fine. I'll help you."
"Good choice. I'll call again soon, and you'll have information for me about the others. Understand?"
"Yes."
"If you get anyone else involved or in any way try to wiggle out of this arrangement, you'll get a bullet when you least expect it. Understand?"
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