Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I got the impression that they were talking about more than Abel’s Army’s interest in me.
“Sir, do you think Abel’s Army sent a spy to Livingston to make sure Ryan proved worthy of their attention and that they noticed me?” I asked.
“We can’t be sure. But it’s certainly worrying that someone at the funeral who saw reason to hide his eyes kept watching you. I think we need to be extra careful. You won’t leave headquarters without permission ever again, understood?”
Ever again sounded a bit extreme but I didn’t want to start an argument. I nodded.
“Now leave. I want to have a word with Alec alone,” Major said.
I hesitated a moment before I released Alec’s hand and stood. I didn’t like the thought of them talking without me. Alec smiled reassuringly. I trudged toward the door and with a last glance at Alec and Major facing each other with stony expressions, I closed the door but stood with my palm against the cool wood for an instant. There was no denying it: Major was against my relationship with Alec.
Slowly I walked to my room, through the ocher corridor, my legs too heavy to lift. The smell of detergent rose from the floor. Voices came from the common room at the end of the hall.
When I opened the white door to our room, Holly was lying on her bed, reading a textbook about forensic theory. She peeked over the edge and dropped it before she rushed toward me and hugged me. I rested my forehead against her shoulder—where her skin was still smudged red from dying her pixie-cut styled hair fiery red.
“I’m sorry I had to tell Alec about the funeral. He seemed so worried and it just slipped out,” she mumbled.
How could I be mad at her for that? Without Alec, the funeral would have been too much for me. So many emotions had flooded me—emotions for Ronald and Linda Chambers, for Devon, my pretend twin while I’d been playing Madison. Emotions I shouldn’t have developed in the first place. Major had trained us from day one that we shouldn’t get emotionally involved during a mission and I’d failed in that regard. But no one would ever master the art of shutting off their emotions as well as Major did.
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t have kept it a secret anyway. Major gave me a lecture in his office. He’s furious.”
“He’ll get over it. How was the funeral?” she whispered.
I shrugged. I’d always thought it was a strange question. Most funerals probably didn’t turn out to be fun. “It was okay. It was really hard to see Linda and Ronald though. I feel like I really know them and have come to care for them, and they don’t even know me.”
I didn’t mention the guy who’d been watching me. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily. Everyone at FEA headquarters had been in constant uproar since FEA agents had started disappearing a few weeks ago—probably kidnapped by Abel’s Army.
She stroked my hair and I closed my eyes, letting the scent of her vanilla shampoo envelop me. Somehow it reminded me of Linda. I didn’t even remember a single instance when my own mother had held me like that. I hadn’t talked to her in three years and my last letter had been returned unopened and with an “address unknown” stamp written across it.
“You have me, and the FEA, and Martha, and Alec—well, once he gets his head out of his ass,” she said.
Alec. Holly didn’t know about him and me yet. That we were official. I pulled back and forced a smile. “Something good came from the funeral. Alec told me he wants us to be together.”
Holly grinned. “That’s awesome! I knew he’d come to his senses at some point. I would have kicked his ass if he’d regretted your pool adventure.”
“Have you seen Kate today?” I asked. I wasn’t looking forward to my first encounter with her, but I couldn’t avoid her forever.
“No, but she’s probably pissed. You know how she clung to Alec. Now she’ll have to look for a new guy she can boss around and mold to her wishes.”
I didn’t think she’d give up on Alec so easily. Even if love wasn’t part of their relationship, Kate was possessive and probably hated the idea of having lost him to me, of all people. It wouldn’t be long before she would confront me.
Date night. My favorite night of the week—that and my evenings spent doing “girly stuff” with Holly (her words). Sometimes it was still hard for me to grasp that Alec and I had been dating for a couple of weeks, that it had been that long since I’d returned from my first mission. The time felt like a blur.
Though Alec and I didn’t go to the movies or out to a fancy restaurant (or even leave headquarters) for our dates, they were a big part of the reason why everything between us started to feel real. Holly had tried to talk me into dressing up. She’d even laid out an array of four outfits for me to choose from. Maybe she took this a bit too seriously. I’d explained to her in carefully chosen words that it would have felt wrong to get dolled up. Alec had seen me at my worst: crying and sobbing over my mother, beaten up and covered in blood. It would have felt as if I was putting on a mask if I’d dressed up for movie night. It was bad enough that I had to be someone else for my job, I didn’t want that in front of Alec. This evening was about Alec and me as we really were.