Scorpion nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I get it. We knock out the buyers so they think they’ve been double-crossed, take out the seller so he doesn’t know his weapons are being stolen, and take the weapons so he thinks the Iranians stole them. It keeps the sale from happening, and no one knows we were involved.” He smiled. “I like it.”
“Good,” Simmonds said, “because it’s very important that this mission succeeds. Our agents were able to confirm that this purchase is being made on behalf of KATO.” There was the connection I was waiting for.
Scorpion glanced at me, but didn’t speak. I inhaled slowly, doing my best to ignore him. “They’re gearing up for something.”
Simmonds nodded once. “It would appear so.”
And it made sense. Whatever they were planning, they were working hard to make as few waves as possible. Paying a third party to make their arms buy wouldn’t draw nearly the attention buying direct would.
“What should I tell KATO my mission is?” I asked.
“Say that you’re being sent to retrieve scientific intel,” Simmonds said to me. “We’ll have details for you when you return.”
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“What team are we?” Scorpion asked.
“Team two,” Simmonds said. “You’ve got the seller.”
Scorpion raised his eyebrows. “You sure you don’t want me with the weapons?”
Simmonds shook his head. “As much as we value your arms expertise, your combat specialty is more important here. The seller is the most likely to expose us.”
“How far do you want us to go with him?” I asked.
They both looked at me sharply. I shifted under their critical glares. They understood what I was asking.
“Nothing drastic,” Simmonds said. “We avoid that unless there is no other option.”
I relaxed into my seat and nodded. “So knock them out, get any weapons around, and get out.”
“Exactly,” he said, nodding.
“We can go over everything on the plane,” Scorpion said.
Simmonds looked relieved. “Excellent. You each are due in medical for your pre-mission physicals. Your plane takes off when you’re done.”
We got up to leave.
“Oh, and Jocelyn,” Simmonds said. I turned around. “Your new code name is Raven.”
“What?” I asked.
Simmonds tilted his head knowingly. “It’s about time that we retire the old one, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “That sounds good.”
• • •
Scorpion and I sat in the back row of the plane. Each of the other teams on this assignment was comprised of five agents. It didn’t take a genius to work out why we were the only team of two. As much as Scorpion was the only person who could be trusted not to kill me, he was probably also the only person who could handle me if I did end up turning on everyone.
Nikki, Rachel, and Cody were on the first team. They all gathered back near us, while the other two members of their team stayed cautiously toward the front of the plane.
“Looks like this noodle keeps drawing the short straw,” Cody said, ruffling Scorpion’s hair. Scorpion laughed, but it seemed forced. “What did you do to piss Simmonds off?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Scorpion said. Nikki had taken the seat in front of me, and Rachel was next to her.
“Let’s just hope you don’t end up with any broken bones,” Rachel said, looking pointedly at me.
Nikki flashed me an apologetic look, but I shook my head. She wasn’t responsible for the rest of them.
Cody leered at me. “If anything happens—”
“All of you need to go,” Scorpion said, cutting off Cody completely.
Cody looked astonished. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?”
“We have to work together on this,” he said, meeting their eyes for half a moment. “And we never have before. We need time to prep.”
Rachel and Cody stood, seeming put out, but Nikki gave me an upbeat smile. She leaned closer. “Good luck,” she said. “Just in case I don’t get to see you later.”
I nodded and thanked her as she followed the others to the front rows.
Scorpion spread out the mission file on the bench in between us.
“Okay,” he said. He got straight to work, not giving his friends another thought. “The only way this is going to work is if we trust each other. So we need to call a truce.”
My forehead tightened. “A truce?” I didn’t think that was something people like us did.
“Yeah.” He looked me right in the eye. “Because if we don’t, we won’t be able to pull this off.”
“You’ve been after me from the start,” I said. “How do I know I can trust you?”
He held my gaze for a moment, like he was debating something. Then said, “Because Simmonds has been very good to me. He’s asking me to do this for him, and don’t want to let him down.”
I bit my lip, considering. “So, I trust you and you trust me?”
He nodded. “That’s how it works.”
I took a breath, giving myself a chance to weigh my options. I didn’t see any better way. And I desperately wanted this to work. KATO couldn’t get those weapons. “Okay.”
“Good.” He leaned his back against the wall of the plane. “Now, let’s go through this, and make sure we’re on the same page.”
“Sure,” I said, shifting slightly.
He leaned forward again over the documents, getting down to business. I felt our dynamic shift and then I really understood how a truce worked. “Not only do we have to take the seller down, but we have to make sure we take out him and anyone with him before they alert the people guarding the weapons that there’s an attack. We have to be quick and clean.”
I nodded. “I’ll go after the seller. I’m quick enough to get to him.”
He flicked me a cautious glance. “Are you sure?”
I arched an eyebrow. “You know how good I am.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean you should handle the seller the first time out.”
“I can get the job done.” I felt myself getting defensive, and Scorpion must have seen it too.
“All right,” he said after a moment. “He’s all yours.”
“Thank you.” I turned back down to the file. “What are our extraction conditions?”
Scorpion pulled the file closer. “The IDA has a car waiting for us on the ground. The keys will be inside. We have to park it near the warehouse before we go in. When we’re done we go to a safe house a few miles away. Each team has one staggered around the area.”
I nodded. An operation as high profile as this would make getting everyone out of the country right away difficult. We’d be extracted in shifts—probably in the same order we executed our portion of the mission.
Scorpion leaned back in his seat. “We should get some sleep while we can. Once we’re on the ground we have to move.”
“Sure,” I said. He closed his eyes and relaxed into his seat. But there was something I needed him to know before he got too comfortable. “I didn’t like it.”
His eyes fluttered open. “What?”
“What I did for KATO.” I don’t know if was the truce or the weight of the mission, but in that moment it seemed important to tell him. “I didn’t like it.”
A weird expression crossed his face, but I couldn’t read him. I couldn’t explain why I said anything. It simply felt like the thing to do. I turned away from him before he could ask any questions. I didn’t sleep. There was no way I could let my guard down enough in a plane full of agents who hated me. But it wasn’t long before Scorpion dozed off. Once I was sure he was asleep, I sat up again and pulled the file back in front of me. I went over every detail, memorized every face, every name—everything that
could possibly help me put a dent in KATO’s plans. Scorpion didn’t wake up until the plane started its descent.
“Did you sleep enough?” he asked.
I hesitated, then nodded. “Sure.”
He didn’t believe me, but we both knew he couldn’t prove it. And he didn’t know me nearly well enough to know for sure.
• • •
We landed in a small field about five miles from our location. The sun was just starting to rise. Our teams split up into cars. Since Scorpion and I were only a two-person team, we had a sedan, while the other team had an SUV. Scorpion led the way to the car, and it wasn’t until we were inside that I realized how tense I was. All of this was so far out of my element.
“We have to stick together here,” Scorpion said once we were on our own again. “No matter what happens.”
“Okay,” I said. “I got it.” But I didn’t. It felt—pathetic somehow that I had no idea how to work with another person.
We drove to the warehouse and parked a mile away. We were on the outskirts of town, and there were miles of open land behind us. It was dry and desertlike. We moved silently toward the warehouse, and settled behind a lone bush to wait for our signal. Once the first team had the buyers taken out, we would be on.
Our earbuds crackled. “Team Alpha is a go.”
Scorpion and I looked at each other. He nodded once and we crept closer to the building, stopping under a window. I felt the rush of adrenaline that always came with the pre-mission jitters. In some ways, I was more relaxed like this. Even now with the IDA, I still felt free.
Scorpion rocked up onto his toes, taking in the situation before he dropped back down. “We’ve got a problem. You know how we were expecting the seller and three or four guards?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Well, we’ve got about twice that many.”
I popped up to take a look myself. It took only a few seconds for me to get a good idea of the room. The ceilings were high, but there were so many boxes it would be hard for anyone to get away. There were seven guards, plus the seller. I recognized everyone from the file. According to our intel, they almost never brought the whole security team, which was why this was unexpected. From what I could tell, most of the guards had guns, but not all of them. I had no doubt they could land a few punches, but they weren’t overly trained. I could take them out. They were spread out around the room, waiting for the buyers to show up. The only way we were going to get this done was with a little surprise. Scorpion tugged me back down. “We need a new plan.”
Our earbuds crackled again. “Team Alpha has confirmation. Beta clear to move in.”
There was no way I was letting KATO get those weapons. I pressed my comm. “Team Beta is a go.”
Scorpion’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“The mission is the same. We don’t need a new plan, we just need to be faster.” I jumped off the ground and charged the warehouse.
“Raven, stand down!” Scorpion hissed. But I didn’t listen. We didn’t have time. The mission had to come first.
I kicked down the door and shot the two guys closest to me, who had both pulled their guns. I was careful not to kill them. Scorpion was right behind me. We split up the remaining five guards. I took on the three closest to the seller, while Scorpion handled the other two. The seller was a balding man in a suit and the first thing he did was pull out a phone. I landed a kick to his head, forcing him to stagger and drop the phone before he could make a call. Then I crushed it with my foot.
I turned my attention back to the three guards. I jumped and scissor-kicked the guns out of the hands of the two closest to me, then pulled one of the disarmed guards toward me, shielding me from the third. I shoved him at the last guard, who swayed. I took the opportunity to disarm him, but he did the same to me. The guard I threw down was just starting to get up. I kicked the heel of my boot into the base of his neck—which knocked him out—and focused on the last guard. I swallowed hard, trying to catch my breath, but I was struggling. Despite this, I knew I’d find a way to win. After everything I’d been through, I wasn’t about to give KATO the upper hand.
A quick glance behind told me Scorpion was busy with his two guards, so I was on my own. I sparred with the guard closest to me. I got a punch to his head, and he went at my side. I kept moving fast and throwing punches. I was right about to take him down when he pulled a knife at the last minute. I wasn’t prepared. He slashed wildly and the blade caught the curve of my neck. It stung and I knew he’d cut fairly deep. I just hoped it didn’t tear any muscle. I refused to let myself feel the pain. I grabbed the hand holding the knife and twisted it behind the guy’s back, snapping his arm in half. He struggled as I lowered him to the ground. I kicked behind his knees, pressing him down. Then, once he was hurt enough, I took the knife out of his hand and knocked him out.
Scorpion was finishing off his men, and I turned back to the seller, who was still on the ground. I pointed the knife at him and he froze. I looked him in the eye, reveling in the fact that I didn’t have to kill him. I leaned closer, then raised the knife, using the hilt to knock him unconscious. Once I was sure everyone was down I leaned over and put my hands on my knees, panting, breathing so hard it hurt. I could feel the blood from my neck spreading through my shirt. But in that moment, none of that mattered. I won. Mission accomplished. I had done my part to keep weapons out of KATO’s hands, and it was my first mission for the IDA that wasn’t considered a test.
I felt my heart rate slowing down and I gave Scorpion a small smile, but he didn’t return it. He just stared at me, his stance stiff and face tight. If I was reading him right, there was an anger behind his eyes that I didn’t understand.
He pushed his comm. “Beta team confirmed. Gamma team clear.”
He still didn’t take his eyes off me. I straightened up and opened my mouth to ask what was wrong, but he didn’t give me the chance.
“We need to move.” His voice had a strained edge and he turned without waiting for a reaction, leaving me to follow him out.
Chapter Seventeen
AFTERMATH
Scorpion strutted across the desert, making sure to stay a yard in front of me. When we got in the car he reached into the backseat, grabbed a white towel, and threw it at my shoulder. It was so harsh that the impact made my gash ache even more. I pressed the towel into the curve of my neck, trying not to cringe.
Scorpion’s mood didn’t change the whole ride, and he didn’t even glance in my direction. His grip on the steering wheel kept tightening and shifting, and the drive—which was probably only a few minutes—felt as if it were at least an hour. I jumped out of the car when Scorpion stopped in front of the safe house. The adrenaline rush was wearing off and I was starting to feel the craving trigger kicking in. I was prepared for it. I breathed hard through my nose and pushed it aside. I was determined not to let it get to me this time. The number of other things I had to distract myself with would help.
The safe house was compact and blended in perfectly with the surrounding structures. Inside, there was a couch, a table, a small kitchen, and a door that probably led to a bedroom. The whole place was a little run-down, but it was still nicer than any of the houses KATO had put me up in. Scorpion was right behind me with the bag from the backseat of the car over his shoulder. He dropped it on the floor the second we crossed the threshold and slammed the door so hard I jumped.
I looked up at his face, and the fury I had seen festering just below the surface now couldn’t be more apparent. When he spoke, it was with enough hostility to scare a lion. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again!”
“What are you talking about?” I had no idea he was angry because of something I did.
“What do you think I’m talking about? You charged into that warehouse without thinking twice. I told you we needed a new plan, and you just decided we didn’t. You put both of our
lives in danger.” His arms flailed in big, pointed gestures. “How could you be so reckless? We talked about being on the same page, and looking out for each other. And you did everything but that!”
“‘Reckless’?” I yelled back, pressing the towel harder into my neck. “I did what I needed to do to pull off the mission. You wanted to stand around and talk about it. What was I supposed to do? We had a job!”
“You never attempt to execute a mission at the expense of an agent,” he fired back. “You could have gotten us both killed, and you nearly did kill yourself!”
“This isn’t about me. It’s about the mission.”
If he wasn’t angry enough, I had just sent him over the edge. The vein in his neck throbbed and his face started to turn red. “Of course it’s about you.” His voice got louder. “You can’t help the agency if you’re dead! Agent safety always matters!”
“Well, KATO never worked that way!” He opened his mouth, but then what I said hit him and seemed to quiet him. My voice dropped. “That’s not—I don’t know any other way. And this was too important.” I could feel my hands starting to shake, craving the Gerex. I swallowed hard, refusing to give in. The impulse softened.
Scorpion clamped his jaw shut. He was still furious, but he seemed to be trying to control it. “Nearly every other agency puts its agents first. Nothing is more important than that.”
I looked at the ground, completely at a loss.
Scorpion let out a long, exasperated sigh, and I looked up. “All right,” he said, forcing himself calm. “Let me see your neck. If you need stitches, which I’m guessing you do, you won’t be able to wait until we get back to base.”
He stepped forward, and I backed away. “It’s okay,” I said.
His muscles tightened. “I’m trying to show you how to be a partner. Would you just work with me?”
Crossing the Line Page 15