Vortex

  Kendrick threw me a weary glance, but all I could do was shrug.

  “I was listening in on your test,” he said. Of course he was. “And I’d like to hear your response to Agent Freeman’s final question.”

  He was looking right at Kendrick, who had begun biting her lip nervously. She really needed to work on concealing her feelings.

  “Honestly,” she said, “I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t pick Agent Meyer … it might be an issue of trust.”

  “You don’t trust him?”

  “I don’t think he trusts me,” Kendrick said with a sigh.

  No surprise there. I didn’t trust any of them, but wasn’t that the point?

  Marshall rocked back on his heels and kept us waiting for a full ten seconds. “Both of you will complete an assignment for me as soon as possible. You are to give each other a task to perform that the other person cannot question or ignore.”

  “What kind of task?” I asked.

  “Something that will challenge the other … something that hits on a personal weakness.”

  “But … isn’t that a method of dissolving trust? Preying on a teammate’s weakness and using it against them?” Kendrick asked.

  “Not if the intent is to make them stronger,” Marshall answered, and with that, he waved us out of the room.

  And somehow I knew I’d be leaping off tall buildings or something just as horrible. The only weakness Kendrick had on me was the height thing, and it was very fresh in her mind.

  Both Kendrick and I were shocked to discover that the room we had just spent over an hour in was in headquarters behind a hidden door right outside the dining room.

  “Can you believe those torture chambers have been sitting right next to where we eat and sleep and we never knew?” she said.

  “And it’s only going to get worse.” I hesitated for a second and then decided not to bring up the obvious tension-inducing issue of me not trusting her and Marshall’s most recent assignment. “Hey, what happened in there? You were so—”

  “Out of control?” Kendrick said bitterly. “Totally freaked out?”

  “Well, yeah, but then you just … recovered … like it was nothing … If my arms were getting some serious heat, I can’t imagine—” I stopped in the hallway and lifted her wrists, flipping them over to examine the insides. “Why … how…?”

  I dropped her arms. “There’s no burns on you. Not a single mark.”

  “I know.” Something danced in her eyes … the excitement of a secret discovery?

  “Did you figure out how to turn off your chair or something?” I scratched the back of my head as we walked toward the dining room, where the scent of tomato sauce and freshly baked bread wafted into the hall.

  “Think about it, Jackson. Everyone walked out of there just fine, and I wasn’t the only one struggling in the beginning.”

  I remembered the yells of pain from some of the other agents. I looked down at my own arms. “It didn’t really burn us?”

  She held a finger to her lips, but nodded. “All those cuffs did was send a signal to our brains, making us think that we were being burnt or shocked. That’s why we had to physically see our own heart rates, so we’d anticipate the consequences.”

  “Mind over matter,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I know, right? I’m sure some of the others will figure it out eventually, if they haven’t already.”

  A few minutes later we were in the dining room with plates of pasta and, as the unfortunate result of being the last ones to arrive, we were forced to share a table with Stewart and Mason. “Hey,” Mason said with his mouth full of lasagna, “we’ve got two days of freedom coming to us. You guys got anything planned?”

  I had almost forgotten about the forty-eight hours of leave we all received every three months, assuming no major universal threats required our presence.

  “Haven’t thought about it yet,” Kendrick said, “but I have a feeling it’ll involve crepes.”

  “What about you, Jackson?” Mason asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know … probably just stick around here and get some studying done for the upcoming exams.”

  “And I was sure you’d be headed to a wild party,” Stewart said, then she turned her eyes on Kendrick. “You know, this one time … I came into Agent Meyer’s apartment to do the routine nightly surveillance while he was out of town. Junior here was passed out in the hallway, couldn’t even make it to his bed … and the governor’s daughter was out cold on the couch, totally trashed. Can you imagine the scandal we would have had to cover up if it leaked to the public? I had to drag Junior’s ass into the shower because he smelled like a beer keg had been dumped over his head.”

  Summer 2008. I remembered it. Well, not the part after I passed out. And she was basically bringing up a very wild night like it happened every day, when that wasn’t the case at all.

  Mason laughed a little under his breath and I ran my fingers through my hair and made every attempt to keep my mouth shut.

  “How nice of you to hose the poor boy down, Jenni,” Kendrick snapped.

  I was starting to think Kendrick might be able to tolerate Stewart even less than I was. Maybe because she was the only other chick in this division right now and Kendrick had probably originally hoped that they could form some X chromosome alliance. But not Stewart. No freakin’ way.

  Stewart smiled. “It was quite a task. Not to mention the fact that I caught a glimpse of a little more of Junior’s skin than I wanted. Even the really little Agent Meyer, if you know what I mean.”

  I groaned and started to get up from my seat. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  Footsteps followed behind me out of the dining room.

  “We’ve got thirty seconds before the door closes,” Dad said in a low voice.

  My heart pounded. We had done this for the first time a week ago, and every day since, and it still freaked me out.

  CHAPTER THREE

  JUNE 8, 2009, 12:59 P.M.

  I made it through the secret exit, completely unnoticed. Dad was waiting for me in the tunnel on the other side. It was totally dark.

  “You got a flashlight?” I whispered.

  A tiny light came from beside me and lit up the dirt ground in front of us. I blew on my hands and rubbed them together as we walked. It was a very chilly fifty-one degrees here.

  “What’s the matter? Stewart getting to you again?” Dad asked.

  “Man, she’s driving me nuts. What the hell is her problem?” I kicked a rock in front of me so hard it rolled completely out of sight.

  “Sorry, I can’t play Dad and get involved. It would only make things worse,” he said. “I agree she’s given you enough shit to deserve a good ass-kicking, but you have to look at the situation from her perspective.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to play Dad.”

  “Not Dad, just experienced agent. She gave up her life as she knew it two years ago and busted her ass while you partied and did whatever the hell you wanted. Which is fine because that was her job, but when you come in here and start outscoring her, of course she’s going to be a little ticked.”

  “I hadn’t really thought of it that way. Still, it’s so junior high.” We stopped walking. “I’ll go up first,” I said, pointing at the rope that would lead us to ground level.

  I started my climb and felt the satisfaction of knowing I never would have been able to do this three months ago. It was a forty-eight-foot rope climb, with one small ledge in the middle if you absolutely had to stop for a break.

  This was the emergency exit, should the elevator fail. Then again, we had at least four agents who knew every aspect of elevator repair. The air turned warmer the closer we came to ground level. Sweat trickled down my face as I neared the top of the rope. I threw myself over the edge and onto solid ground.

  My whole body relaxed when I took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the nearby waterfall. The sun warmed my face instantly. Finally, Dad’s dark hair emer
ged from the small hole in the ground.

  “Come on, old man,” I said, reaching out a hand to help him over the edge.

  He flopped onto the ground, panting a little. “Damn, that gets harder every time.”

  We always stood next to the waterfall, which ran down the side of the mountain. Maybe in case someone had managed to slip a listening device on one of us. The rushing water would interfere. Dad stumbled behind me as I made my way through the trees to a soft patch of grass where the water sprayed just enough to keep us cool.

  After we sat down, Dad pulled out his phone, holding it out to me. “I have some pictures … if you want to see? I know you were worried about her a few weeks ago.”

  I lay back in the grass and shook my head. “I don’t want to see. Just tell me if there’s anything to worry about.”

  “Okay,” he said with a sigh. “If that’s what you want.”

  “You really think she’ll stay off the EOT radar? And Adam, too?” I asked.

  He stretched out next to me. “Yes, and if not, I’ll know immediately because of the precautions we’ve taken. This is what I do best, Jackson. The same thing I did with you and Courtney almost your entire life. Trust me.”

  “I do.”

  Dad glanced sideways at me and I could tell he was debating asking me something or bringing up a sticky topic, but it only lasted a second before he spoke up. “Dr. Melvin’s worried about you. He said you did a little too well today … regulating your heart rate … That was pretty impressive for anyone, let alone someone with only three months’ training. Especially after—”

  “After I almost killed Agent Freeman,” I said right away.

  “I wasn’t going to bring that up, actually. Just the fact that you performed beyond expectations today, and Dr. Melvin also showed me the results of your emotional readiness test from last week. Second-highest mark in the entire training group…?”

  “Who was first?” I asked, then both of us said the answer together: “Stewart.”

  “So what?” I said with a shrug. “Shouldn’t be anything to worry about if I scored well.”

  “It is if you figured out how to lie your way through it.” Dad lifted an eyebrow, X-raying my face the way Chief Marshall always did. “Denial is only the first stage of grieving. If that’s where you are right now, then it’s gonna be a problem when you get assigned to real missions.”

  What came after denial?

  “Stages of grieving apply to death. It’s not like she’s dead,” I said, a little more defensive than I should have sounded. I took a deep breath to calm myself. “Besides, Dad … me and Holly … it was like the honeymoon phase for us. A week or two more and we would have been at each other’s throats. I had a bad habit of screwing up and she had very high expectations, rightfully so.”

  He looked at me for a long moment and his face spread into a grin. “Damn … you really did lie your way through that test. As your superior officer, I’m very impressed. But as your father, I’m worried about you.”

  “Don’t be,” I said firmly. “We all have to learn how to deal with bad stuff and keep going, right?”

  It was hard for me to complain to Dad about Holly when I knew she was okay, while he had lost the woman he loved forever. If it weren’t for that, I might have opened up to him a little more than I had. Especially considering the fact that we’d spent more time together in the last three months than we had in the last three years combined.

  Dad laughed under his breath. “I would have loved to have seen you confessing love to a girl. I honestly didn’t think that day would ever come. It’s never been a priority for you, to be with someone. Not that there’s anything wrong with being independent. I wanted that for you … and for Courtney.”

  “Well, you probably won’t ever see me confessing love to anyone again.” I had a feeling this statement was true, but I didn’t know if it was because I’d never get over Holly or because I would, and still choose to be alone, like Dad had.

  “I wish Eileen could see you, like this. She just had so many ideas and…” He stopped and turned his eyes up toward the sky again. “Anyway … she’d be proud of you. That much I know.”

  “God, this is depressing,” I muttered after a long and eerie silence fell between us. Both of us started laughing, slicing through the tension. “Sorry, I had to say it.”

  “Point taken,” Dad said. “Did you and Kendrick have a hard time with the test today? The first part, I mean … the rest I know was difficult for most of you.”

  “Nothing we couldn’t handle.” I sat up and stretched my arms before lying back again. “How come I’ve never heard anything about Kendrick? There’s not much in her file.”

  “She’s got a different background than the others. She’s a med student, you know. That’s why she hasn’t been with you guys until recently. She had classes.”

  “How can she be a med student if she’s only twenty-one?”

  “Agent Kendrick is very smart and extremely creative … especially in the areas of medical research and genetics. Chief Marshall and Kendrick both agreed that traditional agent training was the best place for her to start.” He averted his eyes from me and scratched his head. “She’ll do fine in the field. Not as well as Stewart, but good enough. Dr. Melvin’s already got her working on research for some of his upcoming experiments.”

  “Not clones, I hope.”

  Dad threw me a sharp look. “You know he’s not interested in those types of projects.”

  “Yeah, yeah, so I’ve heard … like, a thousand times.” I rested my arms behind my head and studied the clouds slowly moving over us. “Marshall gave me and Kendrick an assignment. He thinks we need to trust each other more.”

  “I heard about that.” Dad stod up, nodding toward the hole in the ground we had emerged from.

  I reluctantly got to my feet too, knowing we would have to head back soon. “Do you have any idea what would challenge Kendrick?”

  Dad laughed under his breath. “Surgery, stitching someone up, setting a broken bone, performing an autopsy.”

  “Is she, like, flunking out of med school or something?” I asked. “Can’t Dr. Melvin tutor her?”

  “Tutoring wouldn’t help. She knows what to do.” Dad shrugged and tightened the knot that kept the rope secure to a giant rock. “There have been a few situations where trainees were in need of medical attention and she froze up. Basically panicked. She’s textbook-perfect, just has trouble with the application part of her skills.”

  Okay, so, this was a good challenge for her. At least it wasn’t a life-or-death task. More of a phobia.

  I started climbing down first and Dad followed. We had nearly made it back through the secret entrance when I heard a voice coming from the other side of the door. Dad froze, listening carefully. The wall slid open and Chief Marshall stood in front of us, arms crossed, the bright lights shining behind him.

  “I’d like a word with you, Agent Meyer,” Marshall said to Dad.

  Dad stepped through the opening and I followed. That was when I noticed Stewart standing right behind Marshall.

  That snitch. But how did she know?

  “This is my fault,” I said immediately. “I snuck off and my dad came to find me.”

  “Interesting,” Marshall said, looking down his nose at me. “That isn’t the version I heard.”

  I glanced at Stewart, who looked at Dad, and the tiniest flicker of worry crossed her expression. Her eyes got wider for a split second, the whites of her eyes a contrast to her caramel-colored skin.

  “Obviously there was reason for concern,” Marshall said. “Breaking rules costs lives. Your father should know that better than anyone. You can add an extra twenty miles to your PT requirements for this week and next.”

  “Fine,” I said before stepping around Marshall and heading down the hall.

  Unfortunately, Stewart had to be a complete bitch and follow me. “I knew you couldn’t keep yourself confined. Your dad’s probably giving you the det
ails of every test. Cheating asshole.”

  My hands balled up into tight fists, but I took in a deep breath and shook them out. “Okay, believe whatever you want. I broke the rules, you caught me. The end.”

  “This is not the end.” She jumped in front of me, blocking the way to my room. A huge grin spread across her face. “What the hell are you doing that’s so important, anyway? You’re trying to get out, aren’t you? The CIA’s not as glamorous as it seems?”

  I shoved her to the side and dove into my room before she could say another word. Then I grabbed a handful of pencils from my desk and launched them across the room.

  “What the hell?”

  I jumped and banged my head against the shelf next to me. Kendrick was stretched out across my bed, her cell phone pressed to her ear and one arm over her face, probably blocking the flying pencils from jabbing her in the eye.

  “Sorry, the maid’s in my room,” she said.

  “The maid” was code for the two lowest-ranked agents following daily competitions, who had to clean everyone’s room as a punishment.

  I sat down at my desk, resting my head in my hands, trying to take deep breaths. “No, everything’s fine,” Kendrick said into the phone. “Just a little flying-pencil incident.”

  I listened in to find out who she was talking to. From what I’d seen, most of the other agents didn’t really call anyone, not to chat.

  “Hey … let me call you back, all right?”

  After she hung up the phone, I spun around in my chair to face her. I preferred that she hear about what had happened with Dad from me instead of Stewart.

  “How come you never call anyone?” she asked, still stretched out on my bed.

  “Just don’t need to, I guess.”

  “Stewart seems to think you had quite the social life. You must have friends to keep up with, back in New York.”

  “What’s the point? Not like I have time to hang out or I can tell them anything about what I’ve been doing all these months.”

  “Still … you’ve got to maintain some grasp on reality. We’ll be spending a lot of time blending in with the real world soon.” She sighed and shook her head. “Okay, what’s the deal with the pencils? Are you practicing for a darts competition or really pissed at someone? Hopefully not me?”