Bait and Switch

by MC Lee

  Jack’s burst of laughter had Leo looking slightly abashed. “I would have liked that to come out a little more romantically.”

  “I like it exactly the way it was,” Jack said.

  Leo shoved his shoulder, but he looked pleased. “I wanted to tell you for a long time. But I didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

  “I’ve known for a while,” Jack said softly. “It was hard to find the right time….” He glanced away. “And the words don’t come easily,” he admitted.

  “They sounded perfect to me,” Leo whispered. He reached to pull Jack back down beside him, but Jack froze when he heard the front door open.

  “Shit, I didn’t know it was so late,” he hissed. He leaned over the side of the bed and fished up his clothes.

  “What’s the hurry?” Leo asked. “Evan knows about us. He’s cool.”

  Jack dressed quickly. “I don’t want anybody to accuse us of putting our relationship ahead of the assignment.” He was halfway across the room when Leo spoke.

  “You’ll always be more important than any mission or target.”

  Jack stopped in his tracks and then turned around. He strode back to the bed and cupped Leo’s face between the palms of his hands. “It’s the same for me. You’ll always come first.”

  He felt a sudden rush of buoyancy, as though something heavy had been lifted from his heart and light was flooding him. It was the first time in his life he’d believed somebody was wholeheartedly on his side—no strings, no demands, no stipulations. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

  And one of the scariest.

  Chapter Eighteen

  EVAN RAISED an eyebrow when Jack walked out of his bedroom with Leo in tow, but he didn’t make any comment other than to say, “Do you want to handle dinner tonight, Jack?”

  Jack nodded. He was about to ask if Leo could eat with them when Evan added, “Leo, can you stay? I think we need to talk.”

  “Sure. Let me text Martin to let him know.” Leo glanced at Jack, who shrugged. He had no idea what Evan wanted to talk to them about, though he hoped it wasn’t anything personal. He’d been lectured countless times about the pitfalls of having a relationship with a fellow agent. Although everybody seemed supportive, it hadn’t stopped their endless cautions and constant advice.

  Leo followed him into the kitchen and helped him put together a quick chicken stir-fry. It wasn’t until they were seated around the dining room table that Evan spoke.

  “You were right about Ryan Anderson, Jack. I followed him after school. He met with some very serious people.”

  Jack and Leo exchanged a look. “You think they’ve got their sights set on Freya and her father?” Jack asked.

  “I know they do,” Evan confirmed. “When Anderson left, I waited until his colleagues came out. I managed to get a couple of photos and texted them through to Martin. One of the heavies turned up outside Freya’s house about fifteen minutes later.”

  “Is Martin still there?” Leo’s voice was steady, but Jack detected an edge to it.

  Evan patted his arm reassuringly. “Martin can look after himself,” he said. “He stuck around long enough to ensure the heavy wasn’t an immediate threat. He cleared out a few minutes ago. He’ll be halfway home by now.”

  The relief on Leo’s face was subtle but unmistakable.

  “Whatever Anderson and his cohorts are planning, I believe it’s going to happen soon.”

  It was difficult to say the next words, but Jack managed to choke out, “Is Martin ready to extract Dominic Moore?”

  “I think he’ll have to be,” Evan replied.

  “And the Center is no closer to figuring out who Anderson is working for?” Leo asked.

  Evan shrugged. “He’s just like Jack. Absolutely no traceable history. We’ve put one of our best teams on it. I’m hoping they’ll come up with something. But I doubt it will be soon enough for us. We have to move now.”

  “So what do you want from us?” Leo asked.

  LATER, WHEN Leo left and Jack was reporting in to Sean, he echoed the question Evan had been unwilling to answer.

  “Evan said I had to get my instructions directly from you,” Jack said.

  Sean leaned forward, his eyes locking with Jack’s. “Martin is moving things along quickly. Not everything is in place, but we no longer have the luxury of time. I want you and Leo to pay particular attention to protecting Freya over the next few days. If Anderson and his crew get wind of what we’re doing, they’ll probably make their move.”

  “What happens to her after her father is extracted?” Jack asked.

  Sean frowned, and for a minute Jack didn’t think he would answer the question. But then he shrugged. “Freya’s mother lives in Atlanta. They’re estranged, but I’m confident things will get back on track once Dominic disappears. Keep her calm. Martin needs a clear field in order to do his job. It will go badly for everybody if Freya gets in the way.”

  Jack felt sick to his stomach. In the next day or two, one way or another, Freya Moore’s world was about to come tumbling down.

  JACK WASN’T surprised to see Leo beside Freya as they walked into school the next day. Martin had suggested he pick her up from home and drive her in. If she’d been surprised by his sudden appearance on her doorstep, she didn’t show it.

  They all had first period history together—along with Ryan Anderson. Anderson’s gaze kept darting toward Freya. He looked pale and tense and was so twitchy he made Jack feel uncharacteristically edgy.

  At the end of the lesson, Leo flung an arm around Freya’s shoulder and escorted her out. They had art class together, leaving Jack to cover Anderson’s geography class. Jack had planned to hang back in order to keep watch, but Anderson slid into an empty seat beside him.

  “How much does your team know about Freya Moore?”

  Jack recoiled at the bluntness of the question, but he regained his composure quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Because we know a whole hell of a lot,” Anderson murmured, as though Jack hadn’t spoken.

  Jack turned his head and leveled a warning look at Anderson. “I don’t know who you think I am—”

  “You’re nobody, Jack, just like me. No. Let me rephrase that. You’re whoever your handlers order you to be.”

  Jack sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Anderson,” he said steadily.

  Anderson leaned closer and studied Jack’s face. He kept his expression totally neutral, but Anderson just shook his head. “Not the right answer. Or the right reaction. If you really didn’t know, you’d look a lot more confused. You’re doing a good job of hiding your thoughts, but a normal high school kid would be freaking right about now. I know what you are. You know what I am. But do you know the first thing about Freya Moore?”

  Before Jack could answer, the teacher walked into the classroom and called for quiet. Jack kept his seat for close to ten minutes, tensing every time Anderson moved, before raising his hand.

  “Could I get a hall pass, sir?” he asked.

  He felt Anderson shift in his seat.

  “When are you kids going to learn that this isn’t kindergarten?” Mr. Fong griped. Jack held his breath, but Fong waved him to the front of the class and handed him the pass.

  Jack kept his eyes forward when he walked out of the classroom, feeling Anderson’s gaze on his back. As soon as he reached the bathroom he sent a text to Leo, and two minutes later, Leo walked into the bathroom, a frown on his face.

  “I can’t be here, Jack,” he said testily. “We need eyes on Freya at all times.”

  “Something’s up,” Jack said. “Anderson is acting really weirdly. He admitted he was an operative. He said he knew I was too—”

  “He actually said that?”

  “That’s not the half of it,” Jack said. “He’s making weird comments about Freya. Asking how much I know about her. What the fuck do you think he means?”

  Leo’s frow
n deepened. “Sounds like he’s trying to spook you.”

  “Well, it’s working,” Jack said. “What the hell is he playing at?”

  Leo shook his head. “We haven’t really got time to think about that right now. I need to get back to Freya. And you need to stick to Anderson like glue.”

  Jack nodded. “Okay. I don’t think I see you again until lunch. I have calculus with Freya next period.”

  “I’m with Anderson in economics. I’ll walk Freya to her next class. Text me if you see anything weird. And Jack, stay alert.”

  He disappeared before Jack could return the warning. Jack hurried back to his classroom, aware of Anderson’s eyes following him as he approached the desk.

  “How was Leo?” Anderson murmured.

  Jack ignored him, although he couldn’t deny the shiver of dread that tore through him. He had no idea what Mr. Fong was teaching. He couldn’t even have said what subject he was supposed to be studying, so completely did he tune the teacher out. When the class finally came to an end, Jack jumped up.

  Anderson reached out and grabbed his arm, and Jack scowled at him until he let go.

  “If you want to know more about Freya, meet me in the gym at lunch,” Anderson said. He paused significantly before adding, “And make sure Leo comes with you.”

  “HE’S TRYING to isolate Freya,” Leo breathed. “It’s on.”

  Jack glanced around surreptitiously, but Freya was busy chatting to one of the members of the choir. Jack had hurried to his English lit class and met up with Freya and Leo. He was a little tense that Anderson wasn’t being watched at the moment, but he had to warn Leo that things were starting to move.

  “I’m going to duck out of economics as soon as I’m sure Anderson is in the class,” Leo murmured. “Don’t let Freya out of your sight. I’ll text as soon as I know anything.”

  “Be careful,” Jack warned.

  Leo’s face creased with unexpected humor. “Quit stealing my best lines!”

  Jack made sure to sit beside Freya, even though he had to practically elbow one of her friends out of the way to do so. Freya looked pleased, and Jack winced, hating that he had to continue to send her the wrong signals.

  Halfway through the lesson, his phone vibrated against his thigh. Although it was strictly against school rules, Jack eased his phone out of his pocket and glanced down at Leo’s message. It simply read Be ready for a handoff.

  “You’ll end up in detention if Davis catches you,” Freya whispered. He turned his head, and she nodded discreetly to his phone. He slipped it back into his pocket and mouthed his thanks.

  The lesson seemed interminable, and yet Jack jumped when the bell sounded to indicate it was over. He remained seated, knowing Leo was hurrying toward the classroom to take over surveillance of Freya while Jack switched out to cover Anderson again. He’d been frantically trying to figure out what Anderson’s cryptic comments meant, and why he would choose to blow his own cover in such an obvious way. But it was an exercise in frustration.

  When Leo finally strolled into the classroom, looking admirably cool and collected, Jack stood up. Leo clapped him on the back and smiled.

  He waved on his way out of the classroom and hurried to his final class before lunch. Anderson gave him a significant look, but Jack slid into a chair beside one of the other students, keeping Anderson in his peripheral view but not engaging.

  He couldn’t avoid Anderson at the end of the lesson, though. He appeared suddenly at Jack’s desk, looming over him.

  “See you at the gym in five,” he said quietly.

  Jack watched him go and then sprinted out into the hallway. Leo was leaning up against a wall, looking nonchalant, and it wasn’t until Jack realized that he was standing outside the girls’ washroom waiting for Freya that he heaved a sigh of relief. He stopped in front of Leo and gave him a questioning look.

  “Put it in the lunchroom,” Leo murmured. He reached out and slipped the tracking device they had recently found into Jack’s hand. “I’m taking Freya out for lunch. She doesn’t know it yet, but we’re ditching this afternoon. Keep Anderson occupied as long as you can, and send me a text as soon as you finish with him.”

  “Affirmative,” Jack said softly.

  “You’re clear on where we’ll meet later?”

  “I’ve got it,” Jack said.

  “Okay,” Leo said. “Let’s do this!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  WHEN JACK walked into the gym, Anderson was sitting in the lower level bleachers, his head bent over his cell phone. He glanced up a fraction of a second before Jack crossed the floor, and Jack thought it a safe bet he had been following the tracking devices planted on himself and Leo.

  “Where’s Leo?” Anderson asked.

  “He’s grabbing lunch. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  “We can wait,” Anderson said.

  Jack shook his head firmly. “No fucking way. I’m not spending a minute more with you than is absolutely necessary. Say what you have to say and then get the hell out of my sight.”

  Anderson frowned down at his phone one more time, and then he shrugged. Jack had hidden Leo’s tracker underneath one of the tables in the lunchroom, wrinkling his nose and trying not to overthink it when he pulled a wad of chewed gum off the underside of the table and stuck the device in place. He had taken a small gamble, but he’d attended enough schools to know their poorly kept secrets, and he’d never been in a lunchroom yet that didn’t have week-old gum stuck to the bottom of the tables or chairs.

  “What the hell is this about?” Jack demanded. “Who are you and what do you want with me?”

  “What I want is to stop you making the biggest mistake of your life,” Anderson said.

  “I don’t know what—”

  “Cut the shit, Jack,” Anderson interrupted. “I know exactly what you are and who you work for. And I’ve done my research. I know everything about your pal Leo McCormack too.”

  Jack’s mouth closed with a snap. Anderson had pretty much admitted that he was the one who had investigated Leo, the one whose suspicious interest had triggered Jack’s arrival at Bayfield Heights.

  “What do you know about Leo?” Jack said grudgingly.

  “Here’s how I see it. The Center was given Dominic Moore’s name as a likely recruit. Your team arranged for him to be offered a job at Informa Tech, the Center’s fake company. Leo was sent to distract Freya while preparations were made to extract Dominic.”

  Jack had been trained by the best, but he knew some part of the shock he was feeling registered on his face. Anderson smirked. “Pretty close, right?”

  “If we’re playing that game,” Jack said. “Your team was pissed off when Leo turned up. You had plans for Dominic Moore or his daughter. You knew why Leo was here and knew he’d undermine your chances of putting your plan into action.”

  Anderson shook his head. “Not even close.”

  “Bullshit,” Jack snapped. “You screwed up by using the school’s computers to check on Leo’s history. That brought a bigger backup team into the mix and fucked up your plans.”

  “Negative,” Anderson said. “You’re right. I knew Leo was up to something, but you have to ask yourself why I would use a networked system to check up on him. I know Leo installed keyloggers on the school’s computers. Why would I purposefully draw attention to my research? Why would I risk the Center sending more operatives to back up Leo?”

  “Because you’re not particularly good at your job,” Jack suggested. He was surprised when Anderson smiled.

  “Oh, but I am,” he said. “I’ve achieved all of my outcomes.”

  “You don’t have Freya in your crosshairs.”

  “I don’t need to,” Anderson said. “Leo has barely let her out of his sight. And I know exactly where he is right now.”

  Jack had a moment of satisfaction when Anderson glanced at his phone. He had no doubt the tracker hadn’t moved out of the cafeteria. Anderson might think he knew where Leo was located;
fortunately, he was mistaken. Jack needed to spin this out a little longer to give Leo time to get Freya clear.

  “So, what are your outcomes?” he asked.

  Anderson inclined his head. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Why are you here?”

  There was no hesitation in Jack’s response. “To support Leo.”

  “He couldn’t handle the assignment—”

  “He had it covered,” Jack interrupted sharply. He pulled in a steadying breath when Anderson sent a smug look his way. “We realized he’d been made,” Jack continued, his tone more controlled. “We knew his cover had been compromised.”

  “But instead of pulling Leo out and protecting its agents, the Center sent in backup. It couldn’t stand to lose a single target—”

  “The Center wanted to figure out who was behind the threat to its mission.”

  “And how has that worked out for you?” Anderson said sarcastically.

  “Well, we definitely know who screwed things up,” Jack said, his eyes locking with Anderson’s. “Whose sloppy work tipped the Center off, who gave himself away by avoiding a camera so blatantly, who has absolutely no traceable history—”

  “You still think that was all a mistake.” It wasn’t a question, and Anderson shook his head incredulously.

  Jack opened his mouth and then closed it again with a snap. Anderson didn’t sound chastened. He didn’t even sound particularly worried.

  “Where’s Leo?” Anderson asked.

  “What does your tracker tell you?” Jack countered.

  Anderson’s smile grew wider. “I know he’s not in the cafeteria. I’m guessing you guys found the tracking devices I planted. Let’s see, you hid Leo’s tracker in the cafeteria to give him time to spirit Freya away. So where is he now?”

  Jack threw up a hand. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  The smile dropped off Anderson’s face to be replaced with a much colder expression. He suddenly looked a good deal older than the sixteen-year-old he was playing, leaving Jack to wonder whether he was a teenager at all. Jack glanced at his watch. Leo had a twenty-minute head start. Even though Anderson had figured out he was no longer where the tracker indicated, he’d never be able to follow Leo now.