Siron walked out of her office and caught our attention. She pointed to the collaboration room, her lips pressed into a scowl. Something told me she knew how close I’d come to blowing the mission, again. I ducked my head down and hastily walked with the others toward the room.
The unease in the room spiked as Siron stood at the head of the table and we took our seats. A terrible feeling of foreboding hit me hard. I needed to speak up and fast.
“I’ll be reporting on the mission, Director.”
Siron scoffed. “Markay already reported.” Her eyes narrowed. “Your carelessness cost us the mission. If you had managed to find something, your mistakes could have been overlooked, but that isn’t what happened, is it?”
Fire crept up my neck at her persistent stare, the heat spreading over my face. “But I did find things. Sécurité Un doesn’t have the drive. It was only a pickpocket that took it. I can identify—”
Siron planted her hands on her hips and shook her head, stopping me. “You have no idea who those men were, or if they even worked for the company.”
“Didn’t you say one wore the company’s uniform?” Ace asked.
“Yes. One was in uniform.” I nodded my head so fast, Siron turned to a blur.
“And can you tell me with total certainty that this man in the uniform wasn’t an employee of some other company that wanted the drive?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. Halluis’s head jerked toward me.
“You were impulsive and careless in your conclusions. And we are left to pick up the pieces. Poor Dufor. He didn’t have a chance, did he?”
I still had an ace up my sleeve. I held the paper up and said, “I have this.” Siron peered down at the paper like it was a bug she’d smashed. It had been stupid to bring it to her attention. No one knew what the doodle even meant.
“You have a piece of paper with some indecipherable doodles and you think it holds all the answers?” She snatched it from my hand and crushed it before throwing it into the nearest trashcan. The quiet sound of paper hitting paper filled the room. No one moved.
“You are sloppy, impulsive, and careless.”
“But, Director.” Ace spoke up, a vein popping in his forehead. “The pickpocket could turn out to be the lead we need.”
Siron sneered. Her eyes were dilated, her posture stiff, unyielding. “Seriously, Hadden, did you hear what Renauld said? You’ve poisoned your entire team, making them chase a fantasy. Creating an atmosphere on your team where unprofessional and ridiculous ideas are entertained is a poison like none other. You couldn’t make a good decision if it hit you over the head. Such sloppiness is unacceptable in an agent for Division. You only think of yourself and not the consequences others have to face because of your poor decisions.”
My heartbeat raced, and my stomach knotted, and a slight twitch developed just under my eye. It was like I could feel my whole team shrinking, feeling very, very small.
“Yes. I can’t seem to find the words needed to express my complete and total shock that Christy was in the middle of a mission and quite nearly blew it.” The sarcasm in her voice was readily apparent. She let her eyes pause on each of the team members in turn. My nails dug into my palms. She wasn’t done yet.
“I want there to be no mistaking the fact that there will not be another chance at getting into Dufor’s office.” Her eyes then landed on me. “As for you, Christy. I have contacted your supervising officer, Jeremy McGinnis, and he will be overseeing your formal discipline once he arrives.” Her lip curled, and her eyes narrowed. “I understand that in the United States you are considered somewhat of a star. Perhaps that has led to your impertinent and dangerous actions tonight. However, I will not allow you to waste any more Division resources on this absurd plan. You’ll never find that boy. Ever.”
She huffed, her eyes rounded orbs of fire. “Leave your weapon, phone, and any other Division devices you might have on you here. You are officially confined to your apartment until Jeremy comes for you.”
I growled in complete frustration as I stood up, my mind feeling like a ton of bricks pressed on it. Then exhaustion took over and I set my hands on the table, leaning hard on them. “That boy couldn’t have been involved with the company. If he had, they wouldn’t have sent anyone to Dufor’s office to look for the drive. They would have known where it was. Face it. Without me, you don’t have a chance at getting that drive back and if you would take a step back, you’d realize that.” Heat filled my chest. A large part of me wanted to take back what I’d just said and fall to my knees to ask for forgiveness, but another part of me rejoiced in being able to speak my piece. Besides, I was too tired to deal with this.
Hal lifted his head and said, “We really couldn’t have done—”
One sharp look from Siron cut him off, and the other three who had been nodding froze.
To my utter joy, Ace spoke up despite her death stare. “She did get us info we needed. We now know who the targets are. I never would have thought to pull that pad out of the desk, and the residue—”
I reached into my catsuit and pulled out the baggies of material and set them on the table.
“Enough!” she snapped, and her eyes flashed. “She’s out until Jeremy arrives and takes her in hand. We save lives, we do not take them. I will not have another Dufor on my hands.”
The proud feeling I’d had at my team’s words vanished as shame and regret washed over me and my face
