The Winning Element (5 page)
My heart picked up pace.
“Then the IPNC intercepted a message that Eduardo knew where your parents were. We notified them immediately, and they hopped on a plane to Canada. There was a contact there waiting for the three of you with yet another set of new identities. ”
“I thought we were going on vacation,” I mumbled.
TL scooted forward in his chair. “Eduardo rigged that plane to go down. He had divers ready. He wanted to make sure your parents died.”
TL’s expression softened. “The IPNC responded to the crash before local and state authorities. When we pulled your dad’s body from the water, he had been shot once in the head.”
I flinched, not expecting those words.
“We couldn’t find your mother. We don’t know if Eduardo took her body, or if it floated away with the current. But the IPNC couldn’t take the chance that the authorities would discover your dad’s body and the bullet hole. Then the media would’ve known he’d been murdered, and that would’ve started a domino effect the IPNC couldn’t risk. So he was cremated, and, officially, your parents died in a plane crash, their bodies were never found, and they left one surviving daughter, Kelly.”
Kelly.
It seemed like forever since I’d heard my real name. “And Eduardo Villanueva?”
It seemed like forever since I’d heard my real name. “And Eduardo Villanueva?”
“Still being pursued by the IPNC. Every time they think they have him, he outsmarts them. He manages to slip through their fingers every time.”
I sat for a good solid minute, digesting everything. “No one ever found my mom’s body? So . . . she might still be alive?”
"GiGi,” TL sighed. “Eduardo wanted her dead. She’s dead. You need to accept that.”
But if no one ever found her body . . . bull crap, I didn’t need to accept anything. “Why didn’t you tell me all this two days ago when you first showed me that picture?”
“I wanted to see what you’d do with the information you had. Yet another one of the many tests you will go through in your training. ” He paused. “Plus, knowing your personality, I knew you’d do your own research and try to find out the answers yourself.”
Sometimes I didn’t understand TL’s reasoning. Why put me through all this? For two days I’d been down in my lab, barely eating and sleeping. All for what took him ten minutes to tell me. I closed my eyes, irritated, aggravated, and raw with the truth about my parents. My dad had been
murdered.
My mom might,
might,
still be alive.
murdered.
My mom might,
might,
still be alive.
I opened my eyes, purposefully showing him all the frustration weighing me down. “Would you have told me this two days ago if I’d asked?”
“No.”
My frustration morphed into anger, and I snapped. “I don’t understand you. I know you have a reason behind everything you do. And I’m sure in this instance it was something about me maturing or gaining independence or whatever. But these are my parents, and you had no right to keep that information from me.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I shot to my feet, pumped with adrenaline. “You said Eduardo Villanueva is still out there, still at large. Well, I want to go after him.” I jabbed my finger in TL’s direction. “And since I can’t do it alone, you’re going to have to help me.”
[2]
TL maintained a dead-pan expression as I stood defiantly in front of him, staring unblinking into his icy eyes.
Silence stretched between us.
Long seconds ticked by, and my heartbeat pulsed in my neck, my veins, my temple. In the quiet room I heard only its thumping and my raspy, quick breaths.
I didn’t resist the anger and sadness fueling me. I allowed it in. It felt
good.
good.
“I want to go after Eduardo Villanueva,” I repeated. “And I want you to help me.”
“I realize you’re upset, but make no mistake, I give the commands around here. Not you.”
His intimidating comment made my jaw tighten.
“I suggest,” he continued in a measured tone, “that you leave my office to cool down and collect your thoughts before you say something you’re going to regret.”
“How do you expect me to sit back and ignore the fact my parents’ murderer is still out there. What if it were Nalani?” I blurted out. “What if someone murdered your wife? You wouldn’t stand by and calmly accept it. You’d go after them.”
Every muscle in TL’s face hardened. Slowly, he got to his feet. No one else but David knew TL and Nalani, our pre-op agent, were married. And until this second, TL hadn’t known that I knew.
Not giving him a chance to answer, I railroaded on. “You have no hold on me. Remember, I’m the only Specialist who didn’t do anything illegal on my own. You tricked me into coming here.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I was taking things too far. But I couldn’t seem to stop myself. “I can walk out right now, and you can’t stop me.”
“So walk out then.”
Suddenly, my boiling anger faded to a concentrated focus. He’d once given me an ultimatum; now it was my turn. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, without a doubt in my mind. “You have until tomorrow morning. If you’re not prepared to help me find my parents’ murderer, then I’m leaving.”
I quickly turned and opened his door.
“Don’t drop a threat,” he said, his voice steady and stern, “unless you’re ready to go through with it.”
I turned around and looked him in the eye. “Oh, I’m ready. More ready than I’ve ever been in my life.” And I was. I’d never been more sure of anything.
I walked out, clicked his door closed, and, with measured steps, made my way down the long hallway to my bedroom. The usual scene greeted me when I walked in.
Mystic sat cross-legged on the floor studying some sort of Tarot cards.
On her bed, Bruiser and Parrot faced each other, engaged in a rip-roaring game of thumb wrestling.
Chomping her gum, Beaker lay stretched out on the carpet, scribbling in her chemistry notebook. I wondered, not for the first time, what mad-scientist formulas she had in there.
Cat, the newest addition to our team, and Wirenut reclined across Cat’s bed, sharing a set of earphones and a bag of cashews.
I experienced a quick pang of loss. Come tomorrow morning, I might never see any of them again.
I’d put it all—my whole new life—on the line.
Bruiser glanced up and grinned. “Yo! Where you been? I’ve barely seen you in the past two days.”
Giving her a small smile I really didn’t feel, I shuffled over to my bed and sat down. My tennis shoe bumped my suitcase underneath. The same dinged-up blue suitcase that had carted my belongings around the last ten years of my life.
I’d been so excited finally to unpack it, so thrilled to settle permanently into a place I could call home.
In a few hours I might be repacking the same suitcase I swore I’d never use again.
My gaze fell on the lollipop bouquet David had given me when I returned from my mission with Wirenut. With a sigh, I chose a coffee-flavored one and slipped it in my mouth.
Wirenut took his earphone out. “What’s going on? You don’t look right.”
With that question, everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on me.
I took a second to meet each of their curious gazes.
Calm, peaceful Mystic—the clairvoyant. With his thick neck, huge body, and short blond hair, he always made me think of a football player, not an in-touch-with-the-universe kind of guy.
Red-haired, freckled Bruiser. One hundred pounds of hyperactivity. Always sporting an innocent dimpled grin and tight, customized T-shirt. Today her shirt read, HEY! YOU GOT A PROBLEM? No one would ever guess she was one of the world’s best fighters.
Shy Parrot, with his dark, Native American features and sweet heart. For a guy so quiet, it amazed me he spoke sixteen languages.
Our electronics specialist, Wirenut. His trim goatee and bicep tattoo made him look like bad news. His silly humor said he was anything but.
Beside him lay his girlfriend, the beautiful, Mediterranean Katarina. Recently code-named Cat—our cat burglar.
And Beaker, the Goth chemist, always with different-colored hair—black-and-white-striped this week. She wore a perpetual smirk and never seemed to be in a good mood. And she
always
chewed gum ferociously, like if she didn’t, she’d explode or something.
always
chewed gum ferociously, like if she didn’t, she’d explode or something.
“Well?” prompted Wirenut.
Screw keeping everything a secret. I was tired of secrets. I took the lollipop out of my mouth, took a deep breath, and told them everything. About my parents. About Eduardo Villanueva. And that I’d given TL an ultimatum—help me go after my parents’ killer or I’d leave the Specialists.
No one uttered a sound when I finished. Mystic, Parrot, and Beaker just stared at me while the others exchanged silent glances.
From their shell-shocked expressions, no one could really believe what I’d just told them.
More time went by, and still no one said anything. Only the faint sound of Wirenut and Cat’s iPod filtered through the air.
Finally, Bruiser cleared her throat. “What can we do to make sure you stay?” Her soft tone, so unlike her, made tears press against my eyes.
“Nothing.” I swallowed. “TL knows where I stand.”
bzzzbzzzbzzz.
My cell went off. I reached over to my dresser, picked it up, and checked the display: ***. It was TL’s stat code.
Wide awake, I quickly swung my legs over the side of my bed and tiptoed into the bathroom. Since it was five in the morning, Cat, Bruiser, and Beaker still slept.
I washed my face, swished mouthwash around in my mouth, and then tiptoed back across the girls’ room. I tugged on jeans and a T-shirt and quietly made my way out.
The long, dark hallway seemed to stretch to eternity as I strode down it toward TL’s room. My stomach flip-flopped in anticipation.
Coming to a stop at his door, I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep, fortifying breaths.
This was it. In a couple of minutes, I’d find out if I was staying or leaving. I’d gone over our conversation an endless number of times last night. I felt no regrets for giving TL an ultimatum.
I’d had to do it.
I hoped he understood and didn’t make me leave. I loved my new life and wanted more than anything to stay.
Opening my eyes, I tapped on TL’s door.
“Enter.”
I turned the knob and stepped inside. David sat in one of the metal chairs in front of the desk. What was he doing here?
He didn’t look at me as I took the seat beside him. I sensed he was upset about something. He was probably mad I hadn’t told him about the ultimatum. I would have, but I hadn’t seen him since my conversation with TL.
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