“…brought in Christy. She shouldn’t beinvolved in this,” Jeremy was saying. He wasn’t shouting, but Icould hear the heat in his voice. I pushed the front door shut asquietly as possible and crept nearer to the kitchen, making nosound.
Halluis answered, and there was venom in hisclipped tone. “Agent Hadden has the requisite skills and trainingneeded for this mission. That is why I requested her. Your concernover her involvement is unprofessional.”
“Unprofessional? This whole mission isunprofessional—nothing is being done according to protocol. There’sno cross-talk between us and other agencies—why haven’t we beenable to get any of the intel from local law enforcement, or fromthe FBI? Why haven’t we been given any of the extra resources we’veasked for—every time I ask for help from Division, my request isdenied. Why is there no official Division record of this missioneven existing? Something isn’t right, and you know it.”
“Do you even hear yourself? Cross-talk withother agencies? Official records? We are a black opsorganization—we live by secrets. Obviously, there’s something weare not privileged to know, and that is the nature of our business.We do as we are told. That’s it.”
“And that’s enough for you?”
“You are young, Agent McGinnis. In myopinion, too young to be running an op like this one. But no oneasked my opinion, and I am not going to stand around whining aboutit. I do what I am told. I suggest you do the same.”
There was a momentary silence, and Ibelatedly realized that the argument was over. Halluis stormed outof the kitchen, took one glance at me, and stomped up the stairs.The argument echoed through my thoughts—Jeremy thought I shouldn’thave been brought in? He was concerned I wasn’t good enough for themission? I thought he knew me well enough to trust me by now. Eventhough we had never before worked as closely as we were now, he hadseen me in action. That thought sent a wave of icy cold anxietythrough me. Was that the problem? Jeremy had seen what Icould do—and it wasn’t enough.
I didn’t want to face him—how could I lookhim in the eye, knowing he didn’t want me on this mission? Iquickly backtracked, retreating to the entryway to take off my bagand coat before Jeremy emerged from the kitchen, hoping to make itseem like I had only just come in.
It didn’t matter anyway, because Jeremynever came out. I approached the kitchen gingerly, wondering if Ishould bring up what I’d heard or pretend to be entirely ignorantof the argument. But when I entered the kitchen, Jeremy wasgone.
“I think he left,” said a voice from behindme.
I whirled around to find Ace standingawkwardly in the doorway. His hands were shoved deep into hispockets, his short-sleeve T-shirt emphasizing the tattoos up anddown his arms. He smiled uncomfortably.
“You heard that, too, then?” I swallowed,hard. I didn’t want Ace to know just how much Jeremy’s words hadaffected me. I decided to focus on the second half of the argument.“Jeremy thinks there’s something strange about the mission. Whatshould we do?”
He shrugged. “I don’t get involved. All thisstuff goes over my head, really. I’m just the analyst, glorifiedtech support, remember? They put me out in the field because it’seasier than having me answer questions over the phone, but I’m notone of you guys. I just hand out the gadgets and keep my mouthshut.”
“But don’t you think we should talk aboutthis?”
He shook his head. “Come on, I’ve got somenew toys for you.” He turned around and headed up the stairs.
I stood in the kitchen for a moment, tryingto process what had just happened. I scowled, then followed Ace upthe stairs, shoving the disturbing argument from my mind. I’d haveto figure this out later. I had to focus on the one thing I had anycontrol over right now—my own mission.
***
“Just stick this little dot somewhere on oneof the girls’ upper body.” Ace handed me a piece of stiff paperthat had a little clear dot on it. “The closer to the mouth you getit, the clearer it will be.” He lifted up another stiff piece ofpaper, but this one was blue instead of white. “You can stick thisanywhere on whichever girl you want. It’s the tracker. I didn’thave time to get more than one of each made.”
“I’ll be shadowing you tonight,” Halluissaid. He acted completely nonchalant, as if he had not caught meeavesdropping on his argument with Jeremy moments before. He heldup a little metal device and said, “If the kids are going after acar, I’ll put this little baby on there, and it’ll lead us to theirstorage facility or chop shop. Done and done. And Jeremy will be inthe shadows, waiting for the girls or someone to make a move oncars. I’ll stick to you and the girls, and he’ll watch out forS-Dub, the boss, or even the boys.”
“Sounds like a plan. Do you have an earpiecefor me?”
Ace handed me a tiny com to stick into myear. “There’s only one problem.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“You won’t be able to talk to me or Halluisonce the listening device is active on the girls. I couldn’t figureout how to stop the terrible feedback from having both active atthe same time. Only know that Halluis will be somewhere in theshadows following you. You can’t have better backup thanHalluis.”
I smiled, but the fact that Jeremy thought Ineeded a shadow at all pricked at me. When he’d first suggestedHalluis shadow me, I’d thought he was being overprotective. I’deven found it a little charming, if irritating. But now, realizingthat he’d assigned Halluis to follow me because he was concerned Icouldn’t do my job—I had to fight back the blush of shame thatthreatened to creep over my face.
Well, whatever Jeremy thought, I’d have toprove him wrong. And I couldn’t let his doubt affect me, or therest of my team.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll do my best not toneed any backup.”
Chapter 7
At 6:15, I sat on a bench about a block awayfrom the entrance
