The Assassin In 5F

by Nana Malone

  It had been some time since I'd been there. The last time was for a job. Mostly surveillance at a party, so I hadn't really fully enjoyed it before. But now we strolled into the bar in the far corner of the lobby to meet Rhodes. “You two look well for a pair of deceased agents.”

  Marcus growled at him. “Not funny.”

  Rhodes winced. “Sorry, you lost your friend,” he said while looking at me with concern in his eyes.

  “He wasn't a friend. He was—”

  Marcus sighed. “It's complicated.”

  “How did they know you were there?”

  I shook my head. “I don't know.”

  Marcus and Rhodes exchanged glances. “Maybe the clothes Addie packed for you were tracked.”

  “The dresses were mine. Addie just brought them for me, Marcus.”

  “Well, you were being tracked somehow,” Rhodes said.

  “You also have a sat phone, Lyra, and again, Addie gave that to you.” He glanced away as if he hated suggesting that possibility to me.

  I reached into the crossbody bag I had and slid the sat phone across the table to Rhodes. “Check it.”

  “I will. But there she is. You can ask her yourself.”

  Addie didn't look like Addie. She had on a dark wig, and the hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She even had little tendrils flowing down on her face. Not just in a bullshit way with bangs to hide the lines. This one looked real. She had cat-eye glasses on as well. And her outfit was very librarian chic.

  “Someone has been shopping.”

  She grinned at me then. “Well, you said to come incognito, so I've been all over LA, trying to shake the initial tail that I had. When I did, I had to change clothes in a boutique. The wig was my own. I had it in the car.”

  Marcus frowned. “Funny you should mention a tail, because someone has been tracking our girl Lyra here.”

  Addie's brow lifted. “And you think it's me?”

  “Who else? We switched to two different safe houses. And twice now, she almost died in front of me. I'm not taking any more chances. That’s why Rhodes is going to take you in there,” he pointed at the restrooms down the hall, “and he’s going to scan you for trackers.”

  Addie shook her head. “If you think for one minute—”

  Rhodes grinned at her. “Now, I've got a soft touch, and we're in a very public place, so you’ll be safe with me. What with all the people swarming around, not to mention the cameras everywhere, even the dumbest douche wouldn’t do anything criminal in this place. So let's go ahead and do this all nice and civilized, yeah?”

  She glowered at me then. “You really think I would do this to you, Lyra?”

  “Of course not, Addie, but if you were me—”

  “Yes, I’d be suspicious too. But I also know that you love me, so I’m doing this for your sake.”

  My lips twitched. She got it, all right. She was just putting on a show for Marcus and Rhodes, who stood and gestured toward the restroom gallantly as he asked, “Shall we?”

  She growled at Rhodes, and he grinned at her.

  I could see it, there was a spark there. But I didn't want to look at it too closely. She sauntered toward the restroom, and he followed her. I knew for a fact the bathroom at the end of the hall was unisex, and I hoped that the search for a tracker didn't get too intimate.

  “Oh boy, Addie is going to eat him alive.”

  I turned to Marcus then. “So I'm not the only one seeing sparks between them?”

  He shook his head. “No, you're not the only one seeing that. The two of them are like a combustion engine, waiting to blow up. I'm not sure that's a good thing.”

  “I have to agree.”

  “All right, so if it's not Addie, then how are you being tracked? There has to be another way.”

  “I mean, Addie brought weapons, but they wouldn't have been from the Firm's armory. We have to sign all those in and out. We all have our own private stash. So unless one of my weapons was—” I frowned.

  “What is it?”

  I shook my head. “I'm not sure. But I mean, it had to be my weapons or shoes. I wasn't wearing any of the clothes that Addie brought me.”

  “Okay, a weapon, or something. Earrings, a necklace, a watch?”

  “I don't keep any of those on me.”

  Addie and Rhodes returned, and Addie plopped into the seat next to me. “See, my darling? I'm clean. Your friend Rhodes here was very thorough.”

  I winced. “Ads.”

  “Oh, relax. He just ran over me with one little thingy. I'm clean. I'm not being tracked. The question is, how are you being tracked, Lyra? The clothes I brought you are brand new from the store. Including the La Perla.”

  I flushed thinking about the panties that she'd picked out for me. “Thanks for that, Ads.”

  Rhodes winked at me. “Well, congratulations Marcus.”

  Marcus just smirked. He was some help.

  “All right then, think. If there's a way that I'm being tracked, we'll have to figure it out. Because twice now, we've almost died. And after what Tyler said, I can't let it go. I have to pull the thread.”

  She frowned. “Since when are we listening to Tyler?”

  Marcus, Rhodes, and I exchanged glances. Then I filled Addie in on what had happened. Slowly I watched as she processed the information. “You're fucking kidding me.”

  I shook my head. “I'm not. That's why we're here and not somewhere more secure. We're also meeting here because there are no less than four exits, and it's probably better if neither one of you knows our room number.”

  She sighed. “Fucking hell. Goddamn Tyler. Why did he have to turn out to be a hero?”

  “I think hero is a bit of an overstatement. But he did come to save my ass, so I'm grateful.”

  “Wait a minute,” Addie said. “So this whole time… Roz made him break up with you?”

  I swallowed that pain again. I'd spent the last two years of my life hating Tyler. Absolutely loathing him. I had cried on Roz’s shoulder. I could still remember how she’d told me that it was for the best. She had lied to my face. She'd hurt me, and then she'd lied about it.

  Marcus slid a hand over my knee and squeezed gently, and I forced myself to drive my attention back to the conversation. “Yeah.”

  “But Roz loves you. Actually loves you. She's like your mother.”

  “Let's operate under the idea that there's no such thing as love at The Firm. Then what would you say?”

  Addie blinked. “Well, okay, a little insulted, but yeah, I'll go with it. So then all these years she's been manipulating you? And what's this about your dad?”

  “Yeah, that's what I need you to help me with. See if you can figure out what the hell Tyler was talking about, because none of that makes sense.”

  Rhodes nodded. “I'll have a look on our side, too. I have the clearance.” He focused on Marcus. “But honestly, bro, it's time to loop Michael and Maggie in on the truth.”

  He sighed at that. “Yeah fine. You're probably right. But they're not going to just accept it at face value. That means you’ll have to come in, Lyra. Would you do that?”

  “I can't believe any of this is happening.”

  “Look, Tyler has thrown us some kind of tip. So we just have to figure out what the fuck is going on exactly. Whatever it is, it isn't what we expected. But if he's right, then you saw something you weren't supposed to see. Which means we have to figure out what it was and how to use it to save your life.”

  * * *

  Lyra

  “You want to do what?”

  “I'm going to talk to her.” I said, my voice sounding hollow to my own ears.

  Addie just sat with her elbows on her knees and her hands covering her face. “That's not a good idea, Lyra.”

  “What else am I supposed to do? I can still feel Tyler’s blood sticking between my fingers.”

  Marcus rubbed his hands up and down my back, trying to soothe me. I knew what he was doing, and I welcomed it, but right then
I wanted to feel the rage. I wanted to feel the fire.

  Rhodes was busy decrypting the flash drive that Tyler had slipped to me. He was quiet, but every time I spoke, I could see him visibly wincing. Probably too much emotion for him. Finally, he sat back. “I'm not saying that you should or you shouldn't confront Roz, but I am saying I have information for you.”

  I stood immediately, and Marcus took my hand. “Let's have a look.”

  Rhodes slid his computer where everyone could see it, and even Addie strained to look, though I could tell she was despondent. Addie was all about The Firm, even more so than me. She'd come in young. So young they’d recruited her from juvie, despite that sweet face.

  Her stepfather had been a piece of shit who abused her, and when she told her mother, she refused to believe Addie’s accusations. So Addie had to deal with the problem herself. She had nearly made him a eunuch. Unfortunately, he lived, and she got sent to juvie. But that was where she'd been found by The Firm, thanks to her penchant for getting into trouble and breaking into files. The warden at the juvenile detention center where she’d been sentenced would have sworn Addie had broken out more than once but could never prove it because she’d always come back.

  I once asked her why she’d gone back, and she said it was because she had nowhere else to go. The Firm had given her a new life. So I could see how she didn't want to rock that boat, but she was still there with me, wasn't she?

  Rhodes made a couple of quick taps and pulled up everything I needed to know on the screen. I studied the photos and documents closely, not fully understanding what I was seeing at first.

  “I don't understand?”

  “Mostly these are agent files. Histories, blind spots, et cetera.”

  I noticed a couple of files he’d highlighted, Agents Rogue and Renegade. They were firm agents for around ten years. Renegade was high-level, and Rogue was not too far behind him.

  I shook my head. “Who are these people? Why do they matter?”

  Marcus said, “Renegade became a trainer for incoming agents. He trained Rogue.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Jesus. Can we talk to him?”

  He sighed. “No, we can't speak to him. He's dead.”

  I cursed under my breath. “Fuck. He would have certainly been someone to give us some insight. What about Rogue?”

  Rhodes glanced around, and Marcus frowned at him. “Mate, what is it?”

  He sighed. “She was killed in a car accident with her husband… Renegade.”

  Icicles formed in my belly, and then those icicles had little baby tendrils that formed even smaller icicles. I shook my head. “No.”

  Rhodes continued. “Lyra, I'm sorry, but your parents were both Firm agents.”

  I shook my head. “Nope, no, I don't believe you.”

  “Believe what you want. But the files that your friend Tyler died giving to you show they weren’t who you thought they were.”

  I shook my head again. “No, no, it's not possible.”

  Addie reached for me, but I darted out of her grip. “No, I don't need soothing. This isn't right. My mother was on the PTA. She gardened. She was into fashion design. My father mowed the lawn all the time. He worked a lot, but God, he wasn't an agent. He was an engineer.”

  Marcus examined the screen. “Yes, it says that he was one of The Firm's best hackers before he became a trainer. And your mother was an outstanding field agent.”

  Bile rose up in my throat, and tears stung my eyes. Then I felt Marcus grip me around my waist, and his chin tucked into my hair. “Shhh. It's okay. Hush, love. Just process the information. Knowing this changes nothing about who they were to you. Your mother was on the PTA. Great. She gardened, absolutely. She made pretty things. She was also an agent. She could be both.”

  “But they never said anything to me.”

  Addie's voice was soft. “They probably didn't want you in this life. Because think of everything we've done in the last year alone.”

  I was going to be sick. “They were killed. So it wasn't a car accident?”

  Rhodes, who I was starting to quite dislike by now, muttered, “It was a car, but it wasn't an accident. It was a car bomb.”

  “Jesus. Did someone accept responsibility?” I asked.

  They all exchanged glances, and Addie said, “It doesn't say.”

  I turned in his arms and stared at Marcus as he said, “This changes nothing. Right now the focus is on saving your life. You can learn more about your parents and who they were after we know you’re safe. Do you understand me?”

  I nodded. He was right. I didn't have a choice. I had to focus on the task at hand, which was not dying.

  “Roz kept this from me.”

  Addie's voice had sting in it. “Fuck her bullshit. All these years, even I've seen it. She's made it seem like she was your mother figure. That you had no one else. That your life started when you joined The Firm. She manipulated you.”

  Seeing it through Addie's eyes as it peeled away a layer of what The Firm meant to her made me feel less alone. Her brow had dropped into a deep furrow. “She lied to you.”

  She had, in fact, lied to me. The woman who was my mentor. My friend. She made me into something my parents likely hadn't wanted for me. I had become that boogeyman. And it made me sick.

  “Tyler. She sent him to spy on me, but instead he tried to save my life.”

  Marcus nodded and then kissed me on the forehead. “She separated the two of you. How do you feel about that?”

  “Honestly, I don't know. I spent a lot of energy hating him because I thought he'd lied to me. But he was trying to protect me all along, and I trusted the wrong person.” She’d separated us on purpose because we were too close.

  Marcus's hands on my hips tightened. “It's okay, Lyra. It happens. Whatever the play is, we'll do that. I don't want you to get hurt.”

  I lifted my head and met his gaze. “I don't have a choice. She's not going to give me any answers. She orchestrated this, sent people to kill me. Sent Tyler to kill me. So yeah, we're going to take her down.”

  Addie just nodded. “Right. We're going to need weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. Good thing I know a guy.”

  I glanced over at her and gave her a nod of thanks. She only shrugged. “She lied to both of us, Lyra. But you had a shot, a real chance of not being in this mess. And she ruined it, on purpose, so she could control you. And that's just fucked. I never had a chance, but you know I hate liars and manipulators. So let's go blow some shit up.”

  I blinked away watery tears as I smiled at her. “I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  This was dangerous. There was no way I wanted any of these three involved, but I knew I needed help. Besides, there was no way any of them, even Rhodes, was going to let me do this on my own.

  Chapter 13

  Lyra

  “You don't have to do this,” I said as the men were loading themselves up with weapons.

  Addie raised her arms and let the bulletproof vest slide over her body. It looked like very thin chain mail. Or like a sparkly top she was going to wear at a club. But then she put Kevlar over it. “Look, where you go, I go. I thought that would be apparent by now.”

  “Yeah, but where I go feels crazy.”

  “Maybe, but just because it's crazy doesn't mean it's wrong.”

  “Roz lied to me,” I said again.

  Addie nodded. “Yeah, she did.”

  “And what's this bullshit about my parents? Jesus, Addie, she lied to me about them too.”

  “I know, love.”

  I shook my head. “This was less about Tyler and more about who I was when my parents died, what I needed, how hurt I'd been. She was the one to orchestrate it all, and all this time, she just lied to my face.”

  “Yeah, she did. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Because right now, we're putting on this tech gear which means we’re anticipating getting shot at by the woman who lied to you, the woman who possibly sent pe
ople to kill you. For that alone, I'd prefer to just walk in there and shoot her. You, on the other hand, want to have a conversation. It’s your call, so you just tell me how you want this to go, and that's how it will go.”

  “What did I do to deserve you?”

  “You mean a generally awesome bestie, who's going to make sure that Roz pays for everything she’s done?”

  “Yeah. I must have been excellent in another life. Besides, all her bullshit about doing the right thing, and she's got people at Victus on her payroll.”

  Addie nodded. “I can deal with a lot. But not someone who works with terrorists. I mean, that's just a line.”

  I laughed at that. “I love you, Addie.”

  “What is all this love nonsense? Don't go getting mushy on me.”

  “Right, yeah. Never mushy.”

  “We're about to go kick ass. While this soft, gooey Lyra is very cute, and I'm sure Mr. Hot and Handsome over there likes her very much, I need badass Lyra right now. You know, the one who accidentally,” she said using air quotes, “kills human traffickers. Where is she? Because that's who we need.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I killed one guy.”

  “Ah, to be fair, you have killed more than one guy.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  She laughed. “And let's face it, you would kill him again.”

  “Right, because he needed killing.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What do I want out of this whole situation? Answers. Turns out I don't know who she is, or who the hell I am, or why she's been in my life this whole time. And that bullshit she pulled with Tyler? I want to know why.”

  “Okay, now that I know the objective, I can shoot her to hell.”

  I blinked in surprise. “What?”

  “Lyra, you don't owe her anything. She doesn't deserve your time. You haven't done anything wrong. And I know that's what is eating at you. Where did you go wrong? Why didn't you see this? But this isn't on you. This is on her.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I hear you.”

  “I know you hear me, but listen, okay? We're going to go in there, find out what's going on, find out who she sent to kill you and why, and put a stop to it. And then I'm going to put a bullet in her head.”