Crossing the Line (15 page)

I
was on my way to the training facility after my classes the next day when Scorpion came up next to me. “There you are.” He seemed annoyed with me, though not nearly as much as he had in the past. He stopped walking and I did the same. “Don't you have a pager?”

I shook my head, confused. “No.”

“We should get you a pager,” he said. “Come on, Simmonds wants to see us.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Both of us?”

He nodded once and took a step toward the Operations Building. “That's what it sounded like.” This had to be about the Iranian warehouse. There were less than twenty-four hours until the time I had decoded, and Simmonds had promised me he was plotting something. Though I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of Scorpion being involved.

Simmonds's office was empty when we got there. The map behind his desk caught my attention and I noticed a red dot blinking in South America.

“He'll be here once he's handled that,” Scorpion said, following my eyes. “The colors indicate how smoothly things are going. Simmonds gets involved when any mission reaches a red level.”

“What do the white circles mean?” I asked.

“Mission pending.”

My eyes jumped to Iran. There was both a green dot and a white circle around the coordinates I had decoded. I didn't get the chance to analyze this too much. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the red light turn green before disappearing completely.

A few seconds later, Simmonds entered his office through a door in the back corner that I hadn't noticed before.

“Agents Steely and Elton,” Simmonds said. He was calm and collected as he sat down behind his desk. We followed his lead and sat across from him. He pulled some folders out of a drawer and handed one to each of us, not wasting any time. “Here are the details on your assignment. I'm sending the two of you on a mission as partners.”

Scorpion looked at me uneasily out the corner of his eye. “Are we sure that's the best idea?”

Simmonds's eyebrows arched. “You're the only person who can be trusted with her. And she's too valuable to keep on the base.”

“I don't think we're ready for this,” I said.
I
wasn't ready for this. This assignment was about KATO, and it was important. I didn't know if I could focus if I had to worry about him. “We've just gotten to a place where we're not trying to kill each other.”

“Now you have to take that a step further,” Simmonds said. “The board has been convinced that you can be trusted. I need you to back that. I'm going out on a limb with you two, and I'm asking you to step up.”

Scorpion exhaled unsteadily, but nodded. Simmonds was right—his sense of duty was unreal.

“Good,” Simmonds said, “because the skills between the two of you make it possible for us to send fewer agents into the field, but ideally end up with superior results.”

I nodded too, swallowing my doubts. This was clearly the only way I was going on this mission, and I wasn't about to risk being left behind.

“What's the mission, sir?” Scorpion asked, recovering.

Simmonds opened the folder in front of him, and Scorpion and I did the same with ours. “You'll be a part of a three-team operation in Iran.” He met my eyes for a moment before continuing. “We had sent agents to investigate the details of some suspected activity in a warehouse there.”

I studied the file carefully as he spoke, waiting to see how this all fit together.

“According to our agents,” he said, “a Liberian arms company is attempting to make a sale to the Iranians. The deal itself is taking place in that warehouse, with the weapons held at a second site until the money has been exchanged. Our team on the ground has eyes on the weapons, but we need to handle this delicately. We're sending in two additional teams. One team to keep the buyers from getting to the location, and one to take out the seller, while the current team confiscates the weapons.”

Scorpion nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I get it. We knock out the buyers so they think they've been double-crossed, take out the seller so he doesn't know his weapons are being stolen, and take the weapons so he thinks the Iranians stole them. It keeps the sale from happening, and no one knows we were involved.” He smiled.
“I like it.”

“Good,” Simmonds said, “because it's
very
important that this mission succeeds. Our agents were able to confirm that this purchase is being made on behalf of KATO.” There was the connection I was waiting for.

Scorpion glanced at me, but didn't speak. I inhaled slowly, doing my best to ignore him. “They're gearing up for something.”

Simmonds nodded once. “It would appear so.”

And it made sense. Whatever they were planning, they were working hard to make as few waves as possible. Paying a third party to make their arms buy wouldn't draw nearly the attention buying direct would.

“What should I tell KATO my mission is?” I asked.

“Say that you're being sent to retrieve scientific intel,” Simmonds said to me. “We'll have details for you when you return.”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“What team are we?” Scorpion asked.

“Team two,” Simmonds said. “You've got the seller.”

Scorpion raised his eyebrows. “You sure you don't want me with the weapons?”

Simmonds shook his head. “As much as we value your arms expertise, your combat specialty is more important here. The seller is the most likely to expose us.”

“How far do you want us to go with him?” I asked.

They both looked at me sharply. I shifted under their critical glares. They understood what I was asking.

“Nothing drastic,” Simmonds said. “We avoid that unless there is
no other option.”

I relaxed into my seat and nodded. “So knock them out, get any weapons around, and get out.”

“Exactly,” he said, nodding.

“We can go over everything on the plane,” Scorpion said.

Simmonds looked relieved. “Excellent. You each are due in medical for your pre-mission physicals. Your plane takes off when you're done.”

We got up to leave.

“Oh, and Jocelyn,” Simmonds said. I turned around. “Your new code name is Raven.”

“What?” I asked.

Simmonds tilted his head knowingly. “It's about time that we retire the old one, don't you think?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “That sounds good.”

 • • • 

Scorpion and I sat in the back row of the plane. Each of the other teams on this assignment was comprised of five agents. It didn't take a genius to work out why we were the only team of two. As much as Scorpion was the only person who could be trusted not to kill me, he was probably also the only person who could handle me if I did end up turning on everyone.

Nikki, Rachel, and Cody were on the first team. They all gathered back near us, while the other two members of their team stayed cautiously toward the front of the plane.

“Looks like this noodle keeps drawing the short straw,” Cody said, ruffling Scorpion's hair. Scorpion laughed, but it seemed forced.
“What did you do to piss Simmonds off?”

“Don't worry about it,” Scorpion said. Nikki had taken the seat in front of me, and Rachel was next to her.

“Let's just hope you don't end up with any broken bones,” Rachel said, looking pointedly at me.

Nikki flashed me an apologetic look, but I shook my head. She wasn't responsible for the rest of them.

Cody leered at me. “If
anything
happens—”

“All of you need to go,” Scorpion said, cutting off Cody completely.

Cody looked astonished. “Dude, what's wrong with you?”

“We have to work
together
on this,” he said, meeting their eyes for half a moment. “And we never have before. We need time to prep.”

Rachel and Cody stood, seeming put out, but Nikki gave me an upbeat smile. She leaned closer. “Good luck,” she said. “Just in case I don't get to see you later.”

I nodded and thanked her as she followed the others to the front rows.

Scorpion spread out the mission file on the bench in between us.

“Okay,” he said. He got straight to work, not giving his friends another thought. “The only way this is going to work is if we trust each other. So we need to call a truce.”

My forehead tightened. “A truce?” I didn't think that was something people like us did.

“Yeah.” He looked me right in the eye. “Because if we don't, we won't be able to pull this off.”

“You've been after me from the start,” I said. “How do I know I can trust
you
?”

He held my gaze for a moment, like he was debating something. Then said, “Because Simmonds has been very good to me. He's asking me to do this for him, and don't want to let him down.”

I bit my lip, considering. “So, I trust you and you trust me?”

He nodded. “That's how it works.”

I took a breath, giving myself a chance to weigh my options. I didn't see any better way. And I desperately wanted this to work. KATO couldn't get those weapons. “Okay.”

“Good.” He leaned his back against the wall of the plane. “Now, let's go through this, and make sure we're on the same page.”

“Sure,” I said, shifting slightly.

He leaned forward again over the documents, getting down to business. I felt our dynamic shift and then I really understood how a truce worked. “Not only do we have to take the seller down, but we have to make sure we take out him and anyone with him before they alert the people guarding the weapons that there's an attack. We have to be quick and clean.”

I nodded. “I'll go after the seller. I'm quick enough to get to him.”

He flicked me a cautious glance. “Are you sure?”

I arched an eyebrow. “You know how good I am.”

“Yeah,” he said, “but that doesn't mean you should handle the seller the first time out.”

“I can get the job done.” I felt myself getting defensive, and Scorpion must have seen it too.

“All right,” he said after a moment. “He's all yours.”

“Thank you.” I turned back down to the file. “What are our extraction conditions?”

Scorpion pulled the file closer. “The IDA has a car waiting for us
on the ground. The keys will be inside. We have to park it near the warehouse before we go in. When we're done we go to a safe house a few miles away. Each team has one staggered around the area.”

I nodded. An operation as high profile as this would make getting everyone out of the country right away difficult. We'd be extracted in shifts—probably in the same order we executed our portion of the mission.

Scorpion leaned back in his seat. “We should get some sleep while we can. Once we're on the ground we have to move.”

“Sure,” I said. He closed his eyes and relaxed into his seat. But there was something I needed him to know before he got too comfortable. “I didn't like it.”

His eyes fluttered open. “What?”

“What I did for KATO.” I don't know if was the truce or the weight of the mission, but in that moment it seemed important to tell him. “I didn't like it.”

A weird expression crossed his face, but I couldn't read him. I couldn't explain why I said anything. It simply felt like the thing to do. I turned away from him before he could ask any questions. I didn't sleep. There was no way I could let my guard down enough in a plane full of agents who hated me. But it wasn't long before Scorpion dozed off. Once I was sure he was asleep, I sat up again and pulled the file back in front of me. I went over every detail, memorized every face, every name—everything that could possibly help me put a dent in KATO's plans. Scorpion didn't wake up until the plane started its descent.

“Did you sleep enough?” he asked.

I hesitated, then nodded. “Sure.”

He didn't believe me, but we both knew he couldn't prove it. And he didn't know me nearly well enough to know for sure.

 • • • 

We landed in a small field about five miles from our location. The sun was just starting to rise. Our teams split up into cars. Since Scorpion and I were only a two-person team, we had a sedan, while the other team had an SUV. Scorpion led the way to the car, and it wasn't until we were inside that I realized how tense I was. All of this was so far out of my element.

“We have to stick together here,” Scorpion said once we were on our own again. “No matter what happens.”

“Okay,” I said. “I got it.” But I didn't. It felt—pathetic somehow that I had no idea how to work with another person.

We drove to the warehouse and parked a mile away. We were on the outskirts of town, and there were miles of open land behind us. It was dry and desertlike. We moved silently toward the warehouse, and settled behind a lone bush to wait for our signal. Once the first team had the buyers taken out, we would be on.

Our earbuds crackled. “Team Alpha is a go.”

Scorpion and I looked at each other. He nodded once and we crept closer to the building, stopping under a window. I felt the rush of adrenaline that always came with the pre-mission jitters. In some ways, I was more relaxed like this. Even now with the IDA, I still felt free.

Scorpion rocked up onto his toes, taking in the situation before he dropped back down. “We've got a problem. You know how we were expecting the seller and three or four guards?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Well, we've got about twice that many.”

I popped up to take a look myself. It took only a few seconds for me to get a good idea of the room. The ceilings were high, but there were so many boxes it would be hard for anyone to get away. There were seven guards, plus the seller. I recognized everyone from the file. According to our intel, they almost never brought the whole security team, which was why this was unexpected. From what I could tell, most of the guards had guns, but not all of them. I had no doubt they could land a few punches, but they weren't overly trained. I could take them out. They were spread out around the room, waiting for the buyers to show up. The only way we were going to get this done was with a little surprise. Scorpion tugged me back down. “We need a new plan.”