by Nana Malone
“A little violent, don't you think?”
“Fine, I will call the police and send her to jail. Are you happy?”
Marcus came back then. “No one's putting a bullet in anyone's head today. When I send her to a black site and let her get tortured for a while, then I’ll put a bullet in her head.”
Rhodes strolled up then. “None of you are very imaginative. There are a million and one ways to torture people. As a matter of fact, you could—”
Marcus shook his head. “Nope, you can't. No one wants to hear it.”
“What? Now you're squeamish?” Rhodes asked.
“Yeah. No one wants to hear that.”
Addie grinned. “Well, I kind of want to hear it.”
I rolled my eyes. “No one's putting a bullet in anyone's head. No one's torturing anyone either. I want answers. That’s all. And then we're going to have her arrested.” I straightened my shoulders as I strapped in the extra clips for my gun. “Besides, I want her torture to last. And her sitting in prison with the very same people she helped to put there over the years seems like a special kind of torture to me.”
“So what are we doing, exactly, then?” Addie asked.
Marcus took over, outlining the plan. “Well, you want quick and easy. Walk-in, take out any opposition, capture and retrieve. We're not shooting anyone.”
I grinned at Marcus. “Not yet.”
He laughed. “That's it. That’s all there is. And then we return to the safe house. We'll only have a couple of hours before Firm agents will be all over us. This isn't exactly a sanctioned op, so we just have the four of us. The key is to stay together. No cowboy bullshit.” Marcus glanced at Rhodes when he said that.
His friend shook his head. “Mate, don't say that in front of the women. We can't have them thinking I’m unreliable.”
Marcus just rolled his eyes. “You're reliable. You'll get the job done. You just might nearly get everyone killed in the process.”
He shrugged. “What's life without a little spice?”
Addie just laughed. “Oh my God, that's a party I can get behind.”
Marcus took my face in his hands. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can run. I’ll protect you. Get a new cover ID, the works. Please choose that option.”
I shook my head. “No. I'm not choosing that option. I'm fighting for my life here. I want answers, and this is the only way to get them.”
He nodded. “Okay, let's go. I'll follow your lead.”
* * *
Lyra
Maybe, just maybe, there was a small part of me that thought this would be easy.
Just stroll up to Roz’s house and walk in like nothing was amiss. But this was Roz, and nothing about her would ever be easy. I wore an unassuming black shirt, black pants and black jacket. The color black generally did nothing for me, but it blended into the background, and when you were a spy, that was what you wanted. And unlike the rest of my team, I was walking in through the front fucking door.
I had been there enough times to know the security perimeters fairly well. After all, for most holidays, hadn't this always been the home that I'd been pulled into? Since my parents were gone, Roz had taken over, hadn't she?
My brain still couldn't accept that it was all a lie, that none of it was real. That she had singlehandedly sought to destroy my life, even before I knew her.
All I wanted was some fucking answers. And she’d better have them for me.
Or what? Are you going to kill her? Is that really you, Lyra?
It wasn't me. But honestly, at that point I didn't even know what I was capable of. I had so much anger stored up I didn't know what to do with it all.
I had to see this through. I could still feel the warm stickiness of Tyler's blood on my hands, could still hear his parting words. Roz did this. And there was just no way I could forget that. No way I could accept it.
I swallowed hard and rang the doorbell.
When she opened the door, she smiled at me. “Is there a reason you've been standing there for the last five minutes?”
“Oh, you know, I was… daydreaming.”
“Well, come on in. I have to say I’m surprised to see you. Aren't you supposed to be on vacation? I figured I wouldn't hear from you for at least a couple more days. I’d thought you'd be on the beach somewhere soaking up some sun.”
I stuck out my arms. “I think I've got enough sun, don't you?”
She laughed. “Oh, Lyra, you're so funny. Come on in. Make yourself comfortable.”
I could smell onions and garlic wafting from the kitchen. “Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner.”
She laughed. “Lyra, when have you ever interrupted me? You saved me from a night of briefing recruits. Come on and join me.”
Roz’s house was all chrome and glass on the interior. It was the kind of decor from Hollywood movies. But instead of being cold, it was warm and inviting because of the pops of color she used everywhere and the vivid paintings on the walls. I recognized several Xander Chase photos.
I followed her inside and said, “Thanks.”
“Are you sure I can't make you a plate?”
“Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want to take up too much of your time. I just want to talk to you for a bit.”
I glanced around to be sure she was alone. This should be easy. Still, my stomach flipped and flopped. My body was telling me I did not want to do this thing.
She sighed as she jogged the rest of the way to the stove. She turned down the burner that was lit and stirred the contents before pulling up her wooden spoon to swipe her index finger over it and sample a taste. “Sure you don’t want to try this sauce? I can tell you how I tortured an Italian mobster for it.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“The sauce. It was his mama's secret family recipe.”
I shook my head. “There's no way you tortured someone for a sauce recipe.”
“Oh, I did. It was a parting gift.”
“What?”
She laughed. “Oh relax, Lyra, it's just a joke.” But something about the way she said it and the flatness of her eyes told me that it was no joke. At the same time, a cold sensation of warning slid up my neck, telling me it was not safe there.
Listen to your gut. Not safe. Get out.
But I knew Marcus, Rhodes, and Addie were already breaking in. There was no backing out now. She grabbed two wine glasses and handed them to me. Then she reached into the wine fridge and pulled out a bottle of red. “We’ll let the sauce sit for a few minutes and have a glass of wine, and then we’ll eat.”
“Roz, I didn't come for dinner.”
“I know, I know. But you're here, so you might as well eat, right?”
“You sound like an over-protective mother.”
“And in so many ways I am, aren't I?”
I let her pour the glasses, even though I didn't trust them. She might seem like that mentor-mother type that I had been clinging to since I was nineteen, but this woman had me followed and nearly killed. She should never ever be underestimated.
“Can we talk now? Like talk, talk? I have something important to ask you.”
“Yes, Lyra, we can talk. But honestly, wouldn't you rather just have a nice night and enjoy a glass of wine first?”
I shook my head.
“Fine, be that way, but I’m going to have a glass.”
I ignored her attempt to deviate from the inevitable. “This is about Tyler.”
“Look, I know you're here to complain about something he's done, right? Why don't you just fuck him again and have it done with? At least then I can stop worrying about the two of you. Fucking just has a way of getting out all the cobwebs, doesn't it? So Lyra, love, what is it you have to say about Tyler this time?”
“He told me something interesting.”
“Yes, get on with it, darling, before you make me feel bad about drinking by myself.”
“Tyler said that you separated us.”
Her glass slowed on the
way to her lips. “Wow.” She blinked at me. “I never thought he'd tell you.”
All I could do was stare at her. Because even though I knew the truth, even though I'd seen the bug she'd planted on me and understood that Tyler was right, that he had told me the truth as he lay dying in my arms, I still couldn't believe that she had done this to me.
“Yes, I did separate you.” She took a sip of her wine. “It was really for the best. You were getting too attached. He was getting distracted. While Control wants you to date, they don't want you to form actual emotional attachments. That would be dangerous. You were young and naive and didn't know any better.”
“Wow, so it's true then.”
“Of course, it's true darling. You are my best creation. I wasn't going to let him endanger that.”
“Your creation?”
She sighed. “You know what your problem is, Lyra? You're always so literal. Sometimes training you is just exhausting. Yes, you're my creation. I created you. Before I recruited you, what were you? Sad and lonely and desperate, missing your mommy and daddy.” She rolled her eyes.
I'd never seen it before then. The malice under her every word, her every action. This woman whom I had loved almost as much as my own mother, she'd never been benevolent. She had never loved me. All of this was some sick game of what, control?
“So, you created me, did you?”
“Yes, my darling. Everything you are is a result of my training. My tutelage. Even now as you’re sitting in front of me questioning my decisions about Tyler, there's a part of you that sees things my way. A part of you that understands I was making you the best agent you could be. Consider how broken up you were after the time you had together then imagine how devastated you would have been if we'd lost him in the field. So yes, I had to separate you. Tyler worked for me, after all. And he was an ambitious young man. So he dropped you when I asked him to. Quickly.”
“I cried to you, Roz.”
“Yes, you did. And I allowed it, didn't I?”
I ran my fingers under the edges of the coffee table. “Was it all a lie?”
She tsked. “Lyra, don't get your panties in a twist. I do care about you. All that matters to me is your success. Tyler stood in the way of that, so I eliminated the situation. It's not like I eliminated him, but perhaps I misled you. It was really for the best of the team and for you. And afterward, you grew and matured. I turned you into a great agent, capable of making the best calculated decisions in any given situation, even to a fault.”
“You turned me into your tool. To do exactly as you wanted.”
“Of course, you're my tool. After all, I was the one who trained you. Besides, where would you be without me, without The Firm?”
“You know what, that's an excellent question. I am grateful. I really am. And I really would like to return the favor. But with the recent turn of events, the circumstances, consequences, whatever you may call it, all leads me to question everything I’ve been told. For what it’s worth, Roz, I consider you my family, so I really am trying to be fair and give you the benefit of the doubt here. But I need you to enlighten me about certain things. In fact, one very particular thing that I’ve been meaning to ask you since the day I found out about it. What the hell are the Renegade files?”
That was the only time I saw her mask slip. “My, my, my. Tyler is looking for a sanction, isn't he?”
“Don't bother. He's dead.”
Her brows lifted. “Is he? Pity, he was a good agent. Loyal. Obedient.”
I felt the sting of guilt that he was gone because of me. “That's just it. Didn't you tell him to kill me?”
Her eyes went wide. “Why on earth would I tell him to kill you?”
“Because he knew that you killed my parents.”
Roz shook her head. “Not true. Tyler didn't know what happened to your parents.”
“Oh, he knew. He has been collecting evidence.”
“Honey, this is way above your head. I hardly know anything about your father. If Tyler's gone, it means that you saw him on your little vacation. And if he's polluted your mind with lies about me, about The Firm, consider the messenger. Haven't you been happy with me for the last five years? Haven't you grown? Haven't I given you a career, a purpose?”
“Tell me about my parents, Roz.”
“I don't have anything to say. They died. The past is the past. You need to let it go.”
“The past is not the past. You made it the past.”
“Ah, listen to little Lyra Wilkinson. But that's not your real name, is it? Adamson? Was that the original?”
“Did you kill them?” I asked her directly.
“You're asking the wrong questions, Lyra. You always have. So, how long do I have before your little friends attempt to bust in here?”
My eyes went wide. How did she know? “I don't have any friends.”
“Please. Where you go, Addie goes. And considering every time one of my men tries to eliminate you, they run into that new man of yours… What is his name? Marcus Black? Although, my dear, I must say I don't actually think he designs video games. You never were very bright.”
I scowled at her. “Why would you say that to me?”
“You're just a bit naive.”
“No. I came alone. I thought I could talk to you. After all, we were practically family.”
Then the lights went out, and the whole house went dark.
It was only pure instinct that made me jump up and dive behind the couch before the first bullet hit the very spot where I'd been sitting.
Snipers.
Probably a long-range scope.
“Roz, this isn't the friendly conversation I’d hoped for.”
“My darling Lyra, what you're going to discover over the next few minutes that you're still alive is how very, very difficult it is to kill me.”
Chapter 14
Lyra
Roz had been ready.
She'd been waiting for me. She knew I would come. But how?
I tapped my comm piece, and it seemed that my team was already engaging. Just because I hadn't been able to see her people didn't mean Roz had been alone. I laid some cover fire in the living room before inching to the edge of the couch and peeking my head around.
“Roz? Where are you? I just want to talk.”
From somewhere near the bedroom, she called, “Talk? You came to my house with guns and backup. That doesn't look like someone who wants to talk, my darling.”
In my comm piece, Rhodes’s voice was clear. “Took out the sniper.”
That made my job easier, and I didn't have to skulk around the house.
But clearly, she had cameras and night vision. I reached inside my jacket and pulled out my own night vision goggles. It made things easier. I wouldn't be able to see a bullet coming for me, but it was better than nothing. So there was that.
“Roz, we need to talk about my parents. About Tyler. About the assassins trying to kill me.”
“Your parents were unfortunate, but losing them made you become stronger. As for Tyler, he was an important life experience you needed.” Her voice was coming from the intercom now. Was she in the fucking panic room?
I inched forward. “You thought I needed to have my heart broken?”
“Well, we really wouldn't have had to move on with that exercise if you hadn’t fallen for him. Honestly, I didn't know you two would hit it off so well. For the love of God, Lyra, he was a Valentine op at the time. You were bound to get your heart broken at some point.”
“So what, you thought you'd expedite it?”
I cleared the house room by room. Slowly, because of the dark and the fact that I didn't know what other surprises she had in store for me. In my ear, Marcus's voice was calm. “I’ve taken out two by the security gate.”
“You're losing your team, Roz. Just come out, and we can talk. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to do this at all. Why did you send people after me?”
“Because you, you that I would have pr
otected before anybody, you had to go and see those fucking files.”
I frowned. “What files?”
There was a long, pregnant pause. And then she laughed. “You still don’t know, do you?”
“Don’t know what? Is it possible this has all been a horrible misunderstanding?”
With a bemused chuckle, she responded with, “Well, maybe.”
“So why don't you explain what files you’re talking about, and then we'll discuss if I'd misunderstood you or not?”
“My darling girl, you really can't trust anybody.”
“But you said I could trust you. You said you would protect me from anything, didn't you?”
“God, you're so naive.”
My heart started to beat faster. I knew her house well. I’d been there dozens of times over the years. I took my first steps into her bedroom and oriented myself. I knew that the panic room was down the hall to the left. The bathroom was straight ahead. And then she had a massive walk-in closet on the right. I’d gotten ready for dates in her room before.
“Roz, we don't have to do this. Just come out and talk to me.”
She puffed out a harsh breath. “When are you going to see that none of this was supposed to happen this way if you had just fucking followed directions.”
“Roz, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want you to tell me the truth,” I said, slowly walking forward.
“I want to believe you, but you're at my house with guns. None of this is what it looks like. I've only ever wanted what's best for you, Lyra.”
“Great. That's what I want too. We just need to talk.”
“Oh yeah? Then why do you have a silencer on your gun?”
“To be fair, a sniper tried to take me out in your living room.”
And then I felt it. Stinging, searing heat grazing my shoulder.
Fuck.
“I didn't want to hurt you, Lyra. But you’ve really left me no choice, honestly.”
“You fucking shot me.”
Her chuckle was harsh. “It's a flesh wound. You'll survive.”
“Roz, why would you do this?”
“This isn't about you, Lyra. It's never been about you. Why did you have to see those files?”