by Sara Schoen
He sighed, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed. “You’re right. I’m just saying it’s unlikely is all. We can’t freak out about this or we alert the mole that we’re onto them. We should stay level-headed, which let’s be honest, is a struggle for you. But if you get yourself wound up over it being one person, then we could miss out. Just stay focused for now.”
“You’d say it’s unlikely about anyone we brought up. We don’t want it to be anyone we know!” Camo commented, flicking her hand dismissively. “Will it be any easier to believe who it is when we find them?” She lifted her eyebrow, challenging him to say yes. We all knew it wouldn’t be easier, but we’d have to come to terms with it either way. That’s the problem with this. Everyone here was family, we didn’t want to see who had betrayed us. “We’ll have to start figuring out who it is. They know us at the very least, that’s a big list. Anyone is possible, Sandstorm, even those you thought were your friends before you left.”
“You’re too worried about Fire Fox. You can’t let that impede your judgement if you’re going to begin interrogating everyone we’ve ever met.” His voice was tight and harsh, as if to scold me like our parents had done when we misbehaved. He even had the same ‘I’m disappointed in you’ tone our father had. “We’re going to find Fire Fox and the other missing agents along with our mission to gather more information on Mark and the Cardoza Cartel.”
My eyes turned to slits, not from anger, but curiosity. “When did that become part of the plan?”
“When we needed two teams to even hope to solve this,” Renegade chimed. His voice remained calm and steady. He did this all the time to keep me calm when he sensed my growing agitation. Too bad it didn’t seem to be working this time. “Spit Fire is leaving with Sandstorm and I today to head back to the compound.”
“Which leaves us here,” Camo stated, a hesitation clear in her words. “With everyone who could be the mole...”
“Exactly. You’re both charismatic and have the trust of more people in this building than a loner, and two undercover agents who no one has seen for years.” Renegade glanced at Sandstorm, who nodded in agreement. I hadn’t thought about it like that before. Renegade had been undercover from the start of his recruitment as had Sandstorm. They wouldn’t know anyone so no one would be willing to talk to them. While Spit Fire had been here for years, she had a cold exterior that many agents found to be a turn off. ”Well, one of you does.” He glanced at Camo momentarily. “Keep Night Stripe in check, okay?”
Camo smiled playfully at me. “I’ll do my best, but I can’t make any promises. I’ll probably join her if she needs me.”
Sandstorm shook his head, signaling the end of his part in the discussion, but I wasn’t done. “You’re telling me not to go after someone who was seen attacking Fire Fox, but you’re leaving me here to look for the mole? How does that make sense?”
Sandstorm’s featured deadpanned. “You’ll be less trouble here looking for a mole then going on a wild goose chase for answers. With your track record, who knows? Maybe you’ll run off again when you get a lead and not tell anyone where you’re going, but the enemy. You seem to make friends with them pretty easily.” His intense gaze leveled on Camo and me. I fought the urge to tell him I went off on my own not only to avenge his death, but our family’s death. It wasn’t worth it. “Look at it this way, you’ll be able to watch over him better.”
At that moment the door opened, revealing Sharp Shooter and Demon. Demon glanced at us, eyebrow lifted and head tilted to the side slightly. He must have sensed the tension in the room and wondered what he missed. “Who will you be watching over?” Demon questioned as he took the seat next to Camo.
“Mark Avery,” Sharp Shooter replied, walking past us toward his seat. I followed Sharp Shooter motions as he took his usual seat at the head of the table. His eyes gave nothing away, emotionless. His features were blank, and his posture relaxed. Nothing gave away his feelings on Demon, but I noted how he lied to him so easily.
Demon must be on his list of people we shouldn’t trust if he wasn’t telling Demon the truth. I hadn’t said anything before as to not draw unwarranted attention to Seeker if he wasn’t the mole. But if Sharp Shooter is lying to Demon, he still suspected people on our tiny team. Another reason, we were left here and he wasn’t going back to the compound with Spit Fire’s team. No one wants a mole with them on such a small mission. I shuddered at the thought and quickly pushed it away before I gave away my thoughts by accident.
“I thought he was dead!” No one missed the shock in his tone. Though when Sandstorm’s gaze met mine he made it clear to give nothing away. I turned toward Sharp Shooter, making sure Demon wouldn’t be able to read my expression, and waited for him to give the explanation.
“He’s in holding. For now, that’s where he will stay until we can figure out some more information.” He glanced at each of us, waiting to see if we had anything to say on the matter. When no one commented, he continued, “but he’s not why we are here. I want to know why all of my active agents are sitting in my office rather than helping move the wounded to the hospital wing here or rounding up the new trainees for their introduction.”
“Trainees?” I questioned, my tone crueler than intended. A heavy pause filled the room. The disbelief edging my words echoed through the room. “You’re kidding, right? You recruited more people...?” I didn’t take my eyes off Sharp Shooter, who remained stoic. He was unfazed by my questioning his decision, but what did he expect? Now wasn’t the time for new people. Recruits, at a time like this? What’s he thinking? We have to worry about Mark, the mole, why he collected information on only certain agents and not the rest of them, and now he wants to add trainees to the mix?
When he didn’t answer right away, I looked at everyone else in the room. Renegade seemed to be internally fighting about whether to say something or keeping quiet, Sandstorm had closed his eyes and looked at the desk in defeat, Camo had her hands balled into tight fists willing herself to not burst in anger, while Demon seemed despondent.
“It had to be done, Night Stripe,” Sharp Shooter said, bringing my attention back to him. “We’ve lost a lot of good agents. Their trainees are taking their place and we need a new set. That’s how this works.” His jade green gaze bore deep into mine as if to see if I’d be defiant. I knew we needed new recruits all the time, but I didn’t think now was the best time. We had no idea what was about to happen, who we could trust, or if they’d even survive to be agents. That wasn’t fair to them, but I kept my mouth shut against my better judgement. When he was sure I wouldn’t curse him out for the choice, he continued. “Besides, you should be thrilled. Another thief has finally been found and she’s your responsibility now. Congratulations.”
Chapter 4
“Recruits? What is he thinking by having rookies join in the middle of this mess?” I asked, setting my food in the seat across from Renegade. Usually the cafeteria was impossible to move through, difficult to hear across the table, and overstimulating, but now it felt like a funeral home. The tables were clear, the lines were empty, and the usual mind numbing noise was too quiet. There were only a handful of agents around who had been cleared to leave the hospital and walk around the building, but no one was cleared for missions yet. Technically, neither was our small team. Each of us had injuries from the compound raid, we just handled it better. Meaning we hid them and suffered in silence.
“Careful, you’re starting to sound like Raider.” Renegade smiled at his own joke as he stuffed fries into his mouth. He knew Raider hadn’t been pleased to have me join the Cardoza mission, even undercover agents heard about it and voiced their opinions. That’s how Sandstorm heard of my escapades and Renegade knew I was joining him. Word got around no matter what job it was, and CIRA agents liked gossip just as much as anyone. “If I shut my eyes, I’d think you were Raider.”
I rolled my eyes. He loved to push my buttons. I know he did it to lighten the mood, but sometimes it only pissed me off more. “I’m noth
ing like Raider. His argument was I wasn’t ready for a mission. That I didn’t belong here. I’m saying they shouldn’t have to be here. Besides, there’s a difference between me and these recruits when it comes to missions—”
“That they aren’t breaking rules, helping an enemy, and not telling their teams where they are going?” His gaze shifted to Camo, who was sitting with Spit Fire and Demon. I wondered what they were talking about with Demon there. He’s the reason I didn’t sit with them. Lying to a friend was harder to keep up than I thought and it was beginning to take a toll on me. I had almost slipped up a few times. I needed some time where I didn’t have to hide everything. I couldn’t do that with anyone except with Renegade right now.
“Helping Camo saved my life. So, give me shit all you want, but remember that I’m alive for you to annoy because she and I teamed up.”
He shrugged before taking a bite out of his burger. He remained silent for a few moments, but continued once he could. “You’re lucky. That’s why you’re still alive, but luck may not be good enough for your recruit. You have to think of how to train her in case we need her. God forbid that we send her into a situation where she could be killed, but she needs to be trained in case that’s what’s needed of her. You need to train her and teach her what you know. We can’t have another agent go rogue during a mission.” He smiled and winked playfully at me so I knew it was a joke.
He had told me before that he would have done the same thing; chase down the man that killed our families. Now we knew Ash hadn’t been the real reason. He had completed the kills, but he wasn’t who ordered them. Back to square one. He’s right though, at a time like this, if she went rogue then she’d be terminated—one way or another. Until we found out who the mole was, these recruits had to stay at CIRA. They were safer here. Or are they? I asked myself before refocusing on the conversation at hand. CIRA is safe. They’ll be safe here.
“Need her?” The edge in my voice surprised even me. “We don’t need her. We need to find out who is leaking information to cartels and why. We need to stop them. We don’t need a hundred new recruits. We need to stay focused and solve this issue before we bring in new people.”
“You don’t think having upwards of a hundred agents die and double that number wounded and unable to work in the field isn’t enough reason to get a few more recruits?” He looked at me expectantly, but I didn’t answer. “We need active agents, and right now it’s limited to roughly the five of us and we aren’t in the best shape either. We’re just the least injured.” Once again, I didn’t reply, I knew he was right. We did need to replace the agents we lost and we were ‘the least injured’, which didn’t say much. That’s the nice way of saying it. I still dealt with pain from the gunshot wound. I shouldn’t be active, but someone has to be. Why shouldn’t it be me? ”Besides, you know it takes a long time to find someone to take an agents spot. We need someone who’s willing to leave everything behind to be here. It takes time. Time that we don’t necessarily have. So, I can see why Sharp Shooter brought a few recruits in, but I also know you’re worried about being replaced...”
His hazel eyes searched my expression for a hint at my emotions. I kept my features unreadable. I didn’t want to talk about being replaced. I didn’t even want to think about it. I tried to remember Sharp Shooter wouldn’t replace me. That this recruit was my backup in case something happened, but I also knew they needed a thief in case I died like Hess. They needed someone around to train another thief if the unthinkable happened. I lit a mental matched and burned those thoughts away. It’s best not to dwell on it. ”How are you feeling by the way?”
Renegade lifted an eyebrow, noting the topic change, but didn’t fight it. “My leg still hurts, but I’m doing a lot better now that we’ve had this time to rest. It could be worse.” He shrugged again. Renegade had been injured during the compound raid for his part in the initial slaughter. He didn’t say much about it because he didn’t want anyone to worry about him, but I know he’s hurting. I had seen him limping when we found each other after the fight, but adrenaline kept him going. We had to keep moving; agents needed our help. We lost a lot of good agents, but managed to save more than I thought possible. We worked through the pain for their benefit and it paid off. “How are you?” he asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I’m fine.” I glanced down at my food and picked off small pieces of cheese to eat.
“Just fine?” Disbelief lined his words. “You took a bullet near the end of the fight and had a few knife wounds that needed stitches if I remember correctly. You were covered in blood, both yours and others.” He tapped the empty space on the table in front of me to get my attention. I slowly looked up and met his gaze. It wasn’t authoritative, but more pleading. “You should have stayed back.”
I shrugged, plucking a few fries off his tray. “I’m more affective in hand-to-hand combat. I need to get in the middle of it so I can help. I get one surprise attack and then I have to fight. You know that.” He nodded, taking another bite of his burger. “It was a wide-open area, I didn’t have room to hide and attack. The trees blocked throws and shots, the open area revealed me; they planned for that. They expected a fight and were prepared for it at least in some respects.”
“I thought that’s why you had that whip. You could do distance fighting or something.” He chuckled to himself. “That’s your most useful weapon. Did you leave it at home?” He laughed louder, gathering the attention of Spit Fire’s table.
The back of my neck heated up in embarrassment. I playfully tossed some of my food at his face. “I learned my lesson, okay? I now have a gun, so there isn’t any more whip.” A blush swept over my cheeks. I can’t believe that at one point I thought whip was a weapon. I’m not Indiana Jones. I needed a real weapon and after everyone gave me shit for it. I caved and got a gun with a silencer on it and one without. I still had to be close, but it gave me a little extra distance. ”But if I give away my position then that’s it. I might as well kill as many people as I can from what I’m good at.”
“Sneak attacks are your strength, going head on isn’t smart for anyone on this team. We could have lost you if you weren’t careful.” He leaned over the table slightly to put his hand over mine.
“And I could have lost you, but you still went head first into the fight.” He nodded, but didn’t reply. “It’s a hazard. We’re just lucky we made it through.” He squeezed my hand gently, easing me as memories flooded back to me. Walking into that room, I had no idea what was waiting for me...
“There you guys are. Did you leave me outside to finish off the last few cartel members by myself on purpose? It must be my birthday and I forgot. Not that it matters, I gave myself the gift of getting rid of them. I ran into one of the men I left behind in Georgia, he wasn’t as excited to see me as I was to see him again, but oh well he’s gone now.” I laughed at my own joke, even if it wasn’t a great one. Someone had to.
I went straight toward Renegade, relieved to see him alive and well. I noticed the blood on his leg and how he wasn’t putting weight on it, but he was alive and that’s what mattered. Camo ran up to hug me, wiping her hands on my shirt before I pushed her away with a laugh. I smiled at Spit Fire, moving to hug her, but before I could my eyes landed on a sandy hair color. I looked him over, even with his back to me, I knew it was him.
My hands went to my mouth, but I couldn’t stop the cry from escaping my lips. Confusion, depression, pain, excitement, and elation fought for dominance, but couldn’t win. The emotions crashed over, over powering me and forcing me to my knees. Renegade fell to his knees beside me, but I didn’t hear anything he said. The blood was rushing in my ears and my mind was swimming with questions. I tried to explain, but all that came out was a mangled mess of words and tears.
“Spit Fire!” As soon as I heard his voice, it gave me the confirmation I needed. Grant’s alive...How is this possible? Renegade nudged me and lightly grabbed my chin so I’d look at him. I saw his lips move, but couldn
’t make out his question. All I could do was cry both from happiness and extreme distress. I put my face back into my hands to hide my tears, but he tapped me again. This time directing me to look towards Grant.
When my gaze met his, I saw the anger fade away and a light return to them. A soft smile broke out across his face as he slowly approached me. Renegade tensed next to me, but I put my hand on his shoulder to tell him to relax. He seemed to understand because he pulled away as Grant kneeled in front of me and lightly took my face in his hands. His green eyes sparkled with amazement and disbelief.
“I can’t believe it.” He took in a sharp breath to control his emotions. “You’re alive.” He cried softly, before recovering quickly. He always had to be strong. He never showed emotions because he thought they were a weakness. “I can’t believe it. You’re alive! You’re actually here, crying and breathing. I can’t believe it. They told me you died. I was told I lost everyone in the crash, my sisters and parents were gone and I was alone. How are you alive? How long have you been here? What happened to you, Sara?”
I lunged to hug him. He stroked my hair and talked to me as I cried. “I thought I lost you, Grant.” I cried harder, making my next sentences difficult to understand. I didn’t even hear his reply before a different emotion took over; pure anger. How could he be alive and never told me? ”I went to your funeral! I watched your casket be put to rest right next to our parents! I was adopted by the man who saved us. I suffered in silence and alone because I couldn’t begin to explain to anyone what it felt like to lose a whole family and be forced to continue without them. Where were you? Where the hell have you been?”
He brushed off my irrational anger with ease and explained his cover story and how he heard of a rookie who had gotten in over her head; me. He said he was impressed with my strength and what I could accomplish. Though our moment was shattered in an instant. An ear-splitting scream sent us all rushing out of the building and into the field. I stopped when I noticed the Bodies of dead, dying, and injured agents littering the ground. Blood soaked into the scenery and the black smoke from the explosions covered the sun. Helicopters could be heard overhead, along with a few larger planes coming to help.