As they filed into the room, a deep ache spread through my chest. I forced myself to look at them. Rosabella looked sick, a green tinge to her face and sweat beading on her forehead. Her normally bright blue eyes looked dull. Even her curly, brown hair hung limp, like she’d torn at it over and over in frustration and anxiety. Ace and Halluis were quiet and subdued, which was odd for Ace. I didn’t think anything could get him down. Despite the ashen color that marred both their faces, they pulled out smiles for me. Ace tugged me into a quick side hug, a piece of his boyish, caring self bleeding through the stress. The new tattoo on his forearm caught my eye. The bright green color of the snake wrapping around the brown dagger was hard to miss. An angry, thin line of red surrounding the art was the only indication he’d received it recently. His earthy, sweet smell comforted me, but only for a minute. Anger welled up inside me. Anger at the boy who’d taken the drive and anger at the people who’d dared to kill Dufor. As I pulled back, Ace handed me a sucker from his pocket. He was the candy man after all.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before Siron showed up. I had to apologize. “Look guys, I’m sorry. It was all my fault, and I’ll make sure Siron understands that.”
All eyes darted toward me. Ace’s were soft and kind. Halluis’s nervous and worried, mirroring his all black attire.
“I cleared the train. At least I thought I did.” My frantic search through the train car played once again in my mind. “I didn’t see a threat. And I knew Agent Heiner and Agent Kawalski would have Dufor the second he arrived at the next stop. I thought he was safe. Obviously, I was wrong. I missed someone.” I brushed at the tear that streamed down my face. How had I missed someone? Rosabella moved toward me.
“Oh, Christy, it could’ve happened to any of us.” She clasped my upper arms, her soft hands cold, mirroring her cool blue manicure.
“No. No. It wouldn’t have. I let my guard down. I was sloppy. And Rosabella, this was your op and so perfectly planned.” Why was she being nice to me?
“It’s not like you ignored protocol, Christy,” Halluis said as he raised one dark eyebrow. “You had a difficult decision to make. You believed Dufor was safe. You double-checked. Only then did you go after the drive.” His hand rubbed over his pencil thin mustache. It was hard for him to be kind after such a terrible blunder.
Ace said, “I know it can be tough out there, Christy, that’s why I try to stay inside at all costs.” He pushed his sleeves all the way up until they sat just above his elbows.
Rosabella interrupted, “But I think you should be prepared for Siron. She is hard as nails.” She rubbed her hands down her tight fitting skirt.
I nodded, refusing to let another tear fall. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, guys, but this…this was big.”
“Come on, Rosabella,” Ace said. “Siron was an agent once. She knows what it can be like.” I wondered if Rosabella had botched a mission and that was why she stayed inside, too.
“But has she ever gotten someone killed?” I said. “Whatever happens to me, whatever punishment she gives me, I totally deserve it.”
Ace straightened as Siron—the director of Division 57’s Paris chapter—entered the room and shut the door behind her. Her tall, lean frame set us in a flurry of motion to sit, though she remained standing, rigid. Her stony look gave nothing away. As always, she wore a perfectly tailored suit coat that leant her a look of importance. Her two inch heels barely poked out of the bottom of her dress pants.
Panic filled me, my heart racing like that of a scared rabbit. I forced my eyes to hers.
“I need a full accounting of what happened, Agent Hadden.” There was no sympathy in her voice, only command. Rosabella had been right. It was surprising that at Siron’s age—she had to be at least fifty—she only had a hint of crow’s feet around her dark eyes.
I told her everything and took full and total responsibility.
One of her perfectly shaped eyebrows started to twitch when I admitted that I’d been unable to retrieve the drive after leaving Dufor. At my last word, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose.
“You have been nothing but a disappointment, Agent Hadden,” she said, her voice quiet and her gaze piercing. “When I received your file, I thought, this is too good to be true. Accelerated through training school, phenomenal test scores, astounding affinity for memorization and learning, fluent in seven languages, with comprehension skills in another ten! And so young—not even out of your teens.” Her full lips curled in disdain. “So disappointing. I should have known that your talents on paper wouldn’t translate to excellence in the field.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out—memories of everything that had gone wrong on my missions flashed through my mind. It was true that none of them had ever gone perfectly.
Siron’s mouth twitched, and I suspected she was suppressing a smirk. She seemed almost pleased to have this chance to deride me in front my team. I didn’t dare look at any of them for fear I’d see agreement on their faces.
“Your handler—Agent McGinnis, I believe—spoke particularly highly of you. He said you were exceptionally skilled at improvisation. So, let’s hear it. What is your brilliant plan to redeem yourself and salvage what is left of this mission?”
I could tell by her tone and the scornful look in her
