• • •
I tore down the hall, barely taking the time to register the blur of faces. I made a beeline for the Training Building. I needed to fight off the fury and craving before they controlled me.
I wanted the punching bags, but I only got about three steps in the door before Scorpion was standing in front of me. “Look,” he spoke quickly, “I know I promised to leave you alone, but Simmonds still ordered us to train together.”
“Not today,” I said, trying to step around him.
He wouldn’t let me pass. “If you’re serious about getting in the field, you need some real competition,” he said. “I love Nikki, but she’s no match for you.”
I balled my fists, trying to keep my emotions in check, but when I spoke I practically growled. “Get out of my way.”
His face got more determined. “What’s your problem?” My breath hitched as he examined me. I was holding in more than I knew how to hide. “The only emotions I’ve ever seen from you are determination and anger.” He squinted his eyes and surveyed my face. “This is something else.”
I pulled away from him and crossed my arms, trying to keep myself steady. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Now he actually looked concerned. “You’re upset.”
A spark shot through my stomach. “I’m not.”
“You are.” He didn’t back down. “You’re rattled.” Disbelief tinged his voice. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I pulled my elbows in tighter, trying to disappear.
“Bullshit.” His eyes narrowed and I could tell he was getting frustrated. Then he got pensive. “You were just in Sidney’s class, right? Did he do something?”
My face tightened. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not your problem.”
“What did he do?”
I kept my mouth clamped shut.
He crossed his arms. “I’ll find out.”
“Then find out,” I snapped. “But you’re not going to hear it from me.” We both stood there, staring each other down, and my hands started to twitch. “Are we done?” I asked.
“Right.” He stepped aside. “Sure.”
I fought by myself for the rest of the session, and by the end, I found the Gerex craving manageable. But I still wasn’t looking forward to showing my face in the academy the next day.
Chapter Fifteen
BUTTON PUSHERS
The fire was bigger than any I’d ever seen. And I was responsible for it. KATO’s orders were specific. Lock all the kids and workers in their rooms and start a fire. Leave a trail of gasoline through the orphanage so it spreads quickly. I had done what they asked, but I couldn’t handle it. I ran back inside, unlocking all the doors. I didn’t know if they’d make it out, but I had to give them a fighting chance. They were kids. Some were even my age. When all the doors were unlocked, I ran for the roof. The fire was contained to the front of the building, so I could escape down the back. There was an awning above the back door. If I landed on it, it would break my fall.
I made it to the extraction point, feeling certain I’d covered my tracks. No one would ever know what I did. But I was wrong. They knew. I don’t know how they found out, but when I got back to KATO, Chin Ho strapped me to a table and put a compression cuff around me. He filled it with air, letting it press tighter and tighter around my arm. He didn’t stop until I screamed.
I felt the pressure on my arm when I woke up. I pulled my knees to my chest and rubbed my eyes. That wasn’t what happened. It wasn’t real. It was both what I wanted to happen and what I was afraid would have happened. I was fifteen, and while I had harbored thoughts of going against KATO since I was twelve, I had never truly considered taking action until the orphanage. I wanted to give those kids a chance to get out, but in the end I had been too weak and too afraid.
In a lot of ways, I still was. And that was what scared me. I was away from them for now, but if it came down to it, I was terrified that they still had power over me.
• • •
I was, of course, the center of attention when I got to Lee’s class the next day. I kept my head down and avoided eye contact as I found my seat, but I could still feel the disgusted and horrified looks I was getting. I kept to myself until Gwen and Olivia turned around. As always, Gwen did most of the talking.
“I couldn’t believe what Agent Harper did to you,” she said. “He couldn’t have made it any more obvious.”
I blinked. This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. “What do you mean?”
“Everyone knows where you’re from. And no matter what happened at your last agency, you must have done something to win Simmonds over.” She rolled her eyes. “Leave it to Harper to try and turn us against you.”
“You’re saying it didn’t work?” I asked.
Gwen shrugged. “We’re the kids on campus. We’re used to being told something without all the details. The agents don’t like it because it makes them feel like kids again, but we trust Simmonds.”
“As far as we’re concerned, you haven’t done anything bad since you’ve come here,” Olivia said, speaking to me for what felt like the first time. She seemed hesitant about it, but she kept going anyway. “Plus, no one likes Agent Harper. He’s not that much older than us but he acts like he owns us. It’s also not a good thing to be a teacher at his age. He should be in the field, which means he must have done something bad to get assigned to the base for a whole year.” I could see why Gwen said Olivia had a good strategic mind. It had never occurred to me that Harper didn’t ask to be teaching.
“And I may not be a grifter yet,” Gwen said, “but there’s a reason I want to specialize in it. I get people, and I can read them well. Agent Harper’s problem has as much to do with Travis Elton as it does you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Elton and Harper have been enemies since they were in school,” she said. “Even then, Elton was the better agent, and Harper was older. He graduated with Cody Mathers.”
“So he’s three years older,” I said.
“Exactly.” Gwen nodded eagerly. “And everyone knows the history between you and Elton. My theory is that Harper thinks he can be the one to finally put you in your place.”
“He’s trying to do what Scorpion never could,” I said, piecing things together.
“Right,” Gwen said, then she gave a one-shouldered shrug. “But like I said, it’s just a theory.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And it’s a good one.” It would explain why Harper went out of his way to lower my credibility when I was finally starting to look good.
“All you need to remember is that a lot of us are on your side,” Olivia said as the bell rang. “Especially if we had to pick between you and Agent Harper.”
I gave them a small smile. “That’s good to know.”
“Okay, everyone,” Lee said as Sam walked in. “Sam! Good to see you today.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “You too, Agent Lee.” She shook her head as he walked to his seat and was about to move on when he pulled out his laptop.
“Sam.” She paused until he looked up at her. “Are you kidding me?”
“What?” He was a picture of innocence. “I’m taking notes.”
Lee laughed. “Yeah, sure. You are taking notes.” She came over, and continued laughing as she closed the top of the computer and carried it to the front with her. Then she moved on like nothing had happened.
Next to me Sam shook his head and pulled out his phone. “Damn, she’s good.” He glanced up at me. “So, KATO girl, how are you doing after yesterday?”
I smirked. For some reason I didn’t mind the phrase coming from him. “I’m fine,” I said. Which was more or less true since I’d talked to Gwen and Olivia. Plus, I had worked through the worst of my craving, and I was almost back to myself.
“Harper’s a
n asshole,” Sam said. Everything about him was casual, but there was a furious flare in his eyes that I didn’t miss. “And I’m going to get him.”
I shook my head. “I can handle him.”
“Oh, trust me,” Sam said, “I know. But if you handle things your way, you’ll end up in some serious trouble. If I handle things my way, he’ll never know what hit him.”
I glanced up at Lee, who didn’t seem to notice we were talking. “What do you have in mind?”
Sam simply shook his head. “That’s going to be my surprise.” He smiled deviously and turned back to his phone. “Oh, and by the way, Elton cornered me this morning.” He flicked his eyes back up to me. “He asked about what happened yesterday.”
My jaw tensed. “Did you tell him?”
Sam shrugged. “Yeah. I didn’t see why not.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying not to be annoyed. I knew he’d find out; I was somehow hoping it would take some time. “What makes him so special that he gets information so easily?” I asked.
Sam shot me a slightly disbelieving look. “He’s Travis Elton.” He said Scorpion’s name with reverence, and I rolled my eyes. “No one holds more academy records or has moved up through the agency faster.” Then the awe faded from Sam’s eyes. “At least, that’s why most people give him what he wants. I just didn’t think it was a big deal.”
I smiled lightly at that. “Well, thanks for letting me know.”
He put his attention back on his phone, and left me to figure out how to handle Scorpion.
• • •
I wanted nothing more than to steer clear of the afternoon training session now that Scorpion knew about Agent Harper’s class. But I couldn’t. I’d missed the morning one to meet with Simmonds and get the status of intel I’d decoded. We were within two days of the appointed time, and my anxiety level was rising. Simmonds didn’t tell me much other than that he was working on it. KATO was too close to something and it was making me crazy not to know the details of whatever Simmonds had planned. But he’d promised me I’d be a part of it when the time came. I needed to be sharp and I couldn’t afford to lose a whole day of training.
Scorpion was leaning against the wall when I got to the training room, waiting for me. “I was looking for you this morning,” he said.
I turned to face him and shrugged. “I wasn’t really feeling it.”
He nodded. “I got the story about yesterday.”
I sighed. “Did you say you wanted to work out today, or should I go find a punching bag?”
He considered me for a moment, then nodded. “All right,” he said, gesturing toward the mats. “Let’s go.” He led me through the maze of training students and agents, coming to a stop at the corner I usually worked out in.
“What?” I asked. “No private room?”
He shook his head. “No. I figured after last time, we’d be better off in here.”
I nodded slowly. I couldn’t be certain, but it seemed like this was for my sake. And I was unsure how I felt about that.
I didn’t give myself the chance to think about it. I needed the distraction. I made the first move this time. Charging him. He stepped back, narrowly avoiding my fist.
“You know,” he said, “when I saw you so upset yesterday, I wasn’t expecting it to be about your mission history.”
I pulled my arm back and landed a hard punch to his stomach. He groaned and doubled over. I bit back a smile. “If I wanted to talk to you about it, I would have told you what happened.”
He forced himself straight. “I’m just saying, I wasn’t expecting that.”
I wanted to blow him off, but my curiosity was piqued. “And what were you expecting?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Something about your family—or anything else.” He bounced on the balls of his feet, backing away from me defensively.
My face locked as I punched harder, trying to make him back off without speaking. His arms blocked most of my assault, but I knew I had to be making my point.
“That wasn’t the only thing I heard yesterday,” he said, swinging his leg at my knees. I just barely got my feet up in time.
“Really?” I threw a punch that missed. “And what exactly did you hear?”
“Why you were here for a month before we met.” He swung his fist at my side, and I was too distracted to block it. “You were in some kind of therapy for something.”
I landed a punch to his jaw without thinking twice, not caring that it was off-limits. I was all too aware of the full room and of the other agents working out only a few feet away, who could potentially overhear us. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook off the punch and I was surprised to find a smile peeking out of the corners of his mouth. “I think I know exactly what I’m talking about. Or at least I’m close to knowing. I’m not too sure what you were in therapy for.”
I stopped fighting, and he did too. “Okay,” I said. “If this is the game you want to play, I think I’ll take a turn.”
He wrinkled his forehead, confused, so I plowed on.
“When Nikki and I walked in on you in the archives room, you were searching for something,” I said. “You closed out of everything before you even knew I was in the room, which means whatever you’re looking for, you’re keeping a secret from everyone. Want to tell me about that?”
His eyes narrowed. “How did you know I was searching for something?”
I smiled. “You just told me you were.”
He glared, but I kept going.
“Whatever you’re looking for must be personal or you wouldn’t have closed out of it so fast.” I tilted my head to study him. “Is it family related?”
He exhaled heavily. “Okay, fine. I’m sorry I asked.”
I nodded once. “That’s what I thought.”
He shook his head in slight disbelief. “You’re not what I expected.”
I put my fists back up. “Then change your expectations.”
He raised his eyebrows and seemed taken aback. “I’m starting to think I’m going to have to.”
Chapter Sixteen
PARTNER
I was on my way to the training facility after my classes the next day when Scorpion came up next to me. “There you are.” He seemed annoyed with me, though not nearly as much as he had in the past. He stopped walking and I did the same. “Don’t you have a pager?”
I shook my head, confused. “No.”
“We should get you a pager,” he said. “Come on, Simmonds wants to see us.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Both of us?”
He nodded once and took a step toward the Operations Building. “That’s what it sounded like.” This had to be about the Iranian warehouse. There were less than twenty-four hours until the time I had decoded, and Simmonds had promised me he was plotting something. Though I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of Scorpion being involved.
Simmonds’s office was empty when we got there. The map behind his desk caught my attention and I noticed a red dot blinking in South America.
“He’ll be here once he’s handled that,” Scorpion said, following my eyes. “The colors indicate how smoothly things are going. Simmonds gets involved when any mission reaches a red level.”
“What do the white circles mean?” I asked.
“Mission pending.”
My eyes jumped to Iran. There was both a green dot and a white circle around the coordinates I had decoded. I didn’t get the chance to analyze this too much. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red light turn green before disappearing completely.
A few seconds later, Simmonds entered his office through a door in the back corner that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Agents Steely and Elton,” Simmonds said. He was calm and collected as he sat down behind his desk. We followed his lead and sat ac
ross from him. He pulled some folders out of a drawer and handed one to each of us, not wasting any time. “Here are the details on your assignment. I’m sending the two of you on a mission as partners.”
Scorpion looked at me uneasily out the corner of his eye. “Are we sure that’s the best idea?”
Simmonds’s eyebrows arched. “You’re the only person who can be trusted with her. And she’s too valuable to keep on the base.”
“I don’t think we’re ready for this,” I said. I wasn’t ready for this. This assignment was about KATO, and it was important. I didn’t know if I could focus if I had to worry about him. “We’ve just gotten to a place where we’re not trying to kill each other.”
“Now you have to take that a step further,” Simmonds said. “The board has been convinced that you can be trusted. I need you to back that. I’m going out on a limb with you two, and I’m asking you to step up.”
Scorpion exhaled unsteadily, but nodded. Simmonds was right—his sense of duty was unreal.
“Good,” Simmonds said, “because the skills between the two of you make it possible for us to send fewer agents into the field, but ideally end up with superior results.”
I nodded too, swallowing my doubts. This was clearly the only way I was going on this mission, and I wasn’t about to risk being left behind.
“What’s the mission, sir?” Scorpion asked, recovering.
Simmonds opened the folder in front of him, and Scorpion and I did the same with ours. “You’ll be a part of a three-team operation in Iran.” He met my eyes for a moment before continuing. “We had sent agents to investigate the details of some suspected activity in a warehouse there.”
I studied the file carefully as he spoke, waiting to see how this all fit together.
“According to our agents,” he said, “a Liberian arms company is attempting to make a sale to the Iranians. The deal itself is taking place in that warehouse, with the weapons held at a second site until the money has been exchanged. Our team on the ground has eyes on the weapons, but we need to handle this delicately. We’re sending in two additional teams. One team to keep the buyers from getting to the location, and one to take out the seller, while the current team confiscates the weapons.”
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