“Like get a room.” Miranda snorted.
Great. Well done, Renee. She was now reduced to being gossiped
about by teenagers. “Worthington there too?”
Jessie nodded. “Yeah, she’s way cooler.”
Miranda turned to me as we headed down the corridor. “She’s nice
for a teacher.” She smiled. “She isn’t you though.”
I fought to find a smile. Seeing Renee wasn’t part of the plan. I
didn’t want to see Renee. This morning she’d stood shocked at me and Jäger.
Every time we were in the same room lately it descended into a fight. I was
starting to wonder if we’d ever have a respectful conversation again, let alone
work together.
The girls held open the classroom door. The look on their faces
showed that they expected me to fix this.
They needed me.
No pressure then.
“Jed, let’s head back to you. Which monarch was killed during the
civil war?” Owens.
I scowled.
I’d fix it alright.
I stormed into the classroom. Jed stood at the front, the sweat on
his forehead glinted in the sunlight from the window. Kevin stood next to him,
a smug look on his face and a glint in his eyes.
“No?” Owens raised her eyebrows at him. He shook his head. Renee
leaned against the wall at the back. She spotted me. I glared at her. How could
she just stand and watch?
“King Charles the first,” Kevin chimed, sounding every bit the
arrogant little ass he was.
Why wasn’t he with Jones or Sawyer?
“You’re not doing great, Jed,” Owens said, putting another mark on
the board.
Miroslav and my group sat stony faced. They knew what it meant. I
realized it for the first time. They knew a lot more than I’d given them credit
for.
“What happens when a dumb fool doesn’t listen to reason?” I strode
over to stand next to Jed.
My group, joined by the girls, broke out into smiles as if I was
saving the day. Kevin shot away to cower in the corner.
Owens tapped the board. “Marks are conclusive.”
“Really?” I turned to Kevin. “Get your scrawny butt back here or
I’ll drag it over.” I turned to the class. “New quiz master.”
Owens scowled. I locked eyes with hers, daring her to challenge
me. I flexed my biceps. She sunk back.
“Jed, what two things can help increase circulatory volume and
blood pressure?”
Jed looked at Miroslav and smiled. “Salt and fluids.”
Owens slapped a mark next to his name. He had to find eight marks
to draw with Kevin.
“Kevin, what did Jed eat for breakfast this morning?”
Kevin frowned. “How am I supposed to know that?”
“Wrong. Jed?”
He grinned. “Toast.”
“Correct.” The group whooped and cheered for him. I glared at
Owens.
“You can’t do that.” She scowled deeper and glanced at Renee who
was impassive, unreadable.
“It’s history. It counts.” I walked to Owens, snatched the pen off
her, and put another mark next to Jed’s name.
“Jed, what exercise improves the fitness of the heart?”
“Aerobic.”
Another mark. “Why for a bonus point?”
“It strengthens the left ventricle and the stronger the heart the
more efficient it is in distributing blood to the body.” He seemed shocked at
himself. We’d all learned a lot taking care of Miroslav. We’d all repeated the
physiology of the heart like it was a mantra.
I stuck another mark on the board.
Half way there.
“Kevin, am I right or left handed?”
Kevin scowled. “That’s cheating!” He shot a dark look at Owens.
“Wrong, Jed?”
Jed chuckled. “Ambidextrous, but you prefer writing with your
right.”
I stuck another tick on the board. I felt touched he paid that
much attention to me. I would have gone with right.
“Kevin, what four letter sport begins with a tee?”
Kevin shoved his hands in his pockets. “There is no sport that—”
“Wrong.” I looked at Jed.
“Golf.” He smiled a big beaming smile. “You start off with a tee.”
I marked another score. I thought I caught a twinkle of amusement
in Renee’s eyes too.
“Kevin, who was the top scorer in our class game of
three-pointers.” I turned to Owens. “To make it fair, it’s a competition we’ve
been running all year. Best three-point thrower gets a bar of chocolate.”
Kevin folded his arms. “Jed.”
“Nope.”
Jed grinned when I looked at him. “Jessie. She throws a mean
basket.”
Jessie looked very pleased with herself. I didn’t blame her. I’d
seen a few talented players in my time but for someone so tiny, she could play
basketball like a WNBA star.
Mark number seven for Jed.
“Jed, who won the last men’s soccer world cup.”
“Germany!” He punched the air to go with it.
“Kevin, who was the captain of Germany in the final?”
He looked at Owens. She shook her head and glared out of the
window.
“No?” I asked.
Kevin shook his head.
“Jed?”
“Philip Lahm. He’s also the captain of Bayern Munich.”
I put another mark on the board. Nine points for Jed, eight for
Kevin.
“I could keep going to fail you.” I turned to Owens. “But I don’t
believe in making people feel inadequate just so I feel better.”
I squeezed Jed’s shoulder. He looked concerned for Kevin in spite
of the kid’s issues.
“You
both
pass. Now get gone and have dinner.”
Jed high-fived me before heading over to the team hug from the
group. Miranda planted a kiss on his lips for good measure and I smiled as they
jostled out of the door.
Kevin shot a glare at them and slunk away alone.
“You can explain to Jäger why you interrupted my class,” Owens
snapped.
I smiled. “I’m meeting him after curfew, would you like me to do
it then?”
Didn’t that take the wind out of her sails. “Excuse me?” She
glanced at Renee who looked ready to impale someone. “What about Roberta, about
Serena?”
Owens was weird. That was my conclusion. I didn’t get her. She had
more issues than I could understand. “Why would I care what she thinks?”
Renee flinched.
“So you flaunt it in front of her face?” Owens put her hands on
her hips and glared up at me.
Lost and confused was putting it mildly.
“She ain’t who she said she was.” My mouth was talking for me
again and I was wondering just where it came from. “Turned out she was pretty
good at faking a lot of things.”
Owens frowned, she was trying to read my expression but I guess
she saw the hurt there. It wouldn’t have been hard, I felt like I was glowing
with it.
It knocked her off her course so I pressed the advantage. “Don’t
fail my kids or I’ll come looking for you.”
Owens ran her hand through her hair, then did something I wasn’t
expecting. She dropped her gaze like Frei did around Jäger. “Loud and clear.”
I blinked a few times. The watch on her wrist. A Rolex. The same
Rolex. “Good.”
Stunned, I strode out, and slammed the door behind me.
I needed to find Frei. I needed to figure out a way that we could
remove Renee from the line of fire.
Fake, lying and as hurt as I’d been by her, I’d lived through the
pain Yannick had inflicted on her. There was no way I was letting anyone hurt
her again. I’d promised her that. Just because she was mean, didn’t mean I had
to be. It was my job after all.
I loved her.
Like my mother, like my father, like all the folks who were so
fallible and human. I loved them. I didn’t always like them a whole lot but
loving them meant I’d keep them safe.
I WALKED INTO the villa and frowned at the array of weird gadgets
on the table.
“You need to eat, shower, and be ready for Jäger. He doesn’t like
people being late.” She had some kind of ordinance map on the table. “You want
him in a good mood.”
“Do I?” I was hoping she’d give me a way to wriggle out of it, not
offer her blessing.
“Yes.”
“Help.” I waved my arms in the air. “I need your help, not tips on
wooing him.”
She tapped the stool beside her and I trundled over to it. “He’s
got a proposition. It may not be what you think.” She pointed with a pen to
something on her map. “I’ll be ready to get you out if you need me.”
“How?”
She smiled. “Trust me. I’ll get you out if you need me to.”
I stared at the stuff on the table. “What is all this?”
“This,” she said, picking up one piece, “is how I’m going to be
able to remotely access Jäger’s computer.”
That was lost on me.
“You are going to plant the device for me.”
Oh great. “And how do I do that?”
She turned it over. “You attach it under the desk. It will stick
on. That’s it.”
I eyed it. I weren’t sure how that could work. “Ain’t he gonna see
me?”
She nodded. “Unless he’s distracted.”
“Oh no.” I wagged my finger. “There is no way I can pull that—”
“You don’t have to do anything more.” Frei took my hands in hers.
“Just plant the device and then press this twice.” She handed me another weird
looking thing that resembled one of them USB drives Renee used.
“You know I don’t do good with technology.”
“It will work. Try it.”
I pressed the little thing. A light flashed on Frei’s cell.
“Oh dear, looks like there’s a report of a fire in the gym. Better
go and get Samson.” She flashed a smile.
“Won’t he know?”
She shook her head. “Smoke canister.”
“No, I mean won’t he know I am hustling him?”
Jäger would see through it, I was sure. I couldn
’t pull it off. No
way.
“You can feign sorrow at having to leave and you’ll be way too
busy to find time for him.”
I folded my arms. “Like he’ll believe that.”
“He will because it will be the truth.” She tapped the devices.
“Shower, change, move.”
I got off the stool, not sure why I inspired such confidence. “I
ain’t got the first clue how to act.”
“Like the incredible agent you are.”
I stared at her. “Huh?”
“The last time you had to work alone, you saved a town from a
killer, kept the local law enforcement safe, got your commander out, rescued
victims from an avalanche, and gave a young boy a shot at a happy home life.”
That sounded impressive and not quite what
happened. “But—
”
“In Oppidum you rode that bike up the mountain to lead us to Sam.
You took him on and kept your father alive until support arrived. You are one
of the finest agents I’ve ever met.” She nodded. “You’ve been watching the best
undercover agent in Renee. You’re implementing my training. You got this,
Lorelei.”
I did? I did. I could do this. I nodded. Yeah, I could do this.
Chapter 37
WITH THE DEVICE Frei wanted me to plant in the pocket of my jeans,
I tucked in my shirt as I trudged out of my villa.
I’d never wanted to just sit in the quadrant before but right now
I was finding the stonework on the path pretty fascinating. Frei believed in me
and I didn’t want to let her down.
“Samson, wait.” Renee.
I turned to see her hurrying over like she was on a mission and
tensed.
“Great,” I muttered under my breath. Another argument would really
help my nerves. “Can I help you, Worthington?”
She nodded. “Let me walk with you for a minute . . . please.”
What could I say, no?
She took in my outfit and offered a tight, awkward smile. “You
look nice.”
I sighed. It was the only shirt I owned. She’d bought me the
outfit back when I thought she cared.
“He has a proposition for me.” It sounded wrong coming from my
mouth. “Don’t ask.”
“Oh.” She looked as happy about it as I did. “So that . . . so
what I saw was real.”
“You didn’t think anybody would rate me either, huh?” I felt like
I was talking to a stranger. It felt so hard, so uncomfortable.
“Jäger is handsome.” She blew out a breath.
“Yeah, sure . . . a real looker.” I eyed her, wondering why she
was asking dumb questions. She’d seen me talking to him. “So?”
Renee glanced around us. “Why do you think she’s the Unsub?”
Ah, so it was about Owens. Should have figured. I sucked in the
disappointment that she might have been making sure I was okay or even saying
hello.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. She didn’t care, how much clearer did I
need that spelled out to me?
“Rolex. She’s after the POIs.”
“Her watch?” Renee pursed her lips. “Anyone could have a watch
like it, it could get stolen. There’s too many reasons why—”
“You ain’t gonna listen to me anyway.” I let out a long sigh as we
headed up the steps to the building. “That would involve you caring ’bout me.”
Renee’s brow dipped but I held up my hand. I couldn’t cope with
her moods anymore. “Don’t bother.”
I headed inside and let the door shut between me and her. I knew
she stood staring at me but I guess my patience when I was hurt was a whole lot
thinner.
RENEE WATCHED THE door shut in her face with an aching thud in her
heart. She couldn’t understand why Aeron would still have it in her mind that
she didn’t care. What did she want that would confirm it?
She watched Aeron disappear down the corridor, the glass showing
only her reflection. She had messed up, she’d said stupid things but she’d sent
Franny to tell her she needed help and got some strange volley of abuse for it.
Unless.
Renee stared up at the sky. Unless Franny got the message mixed
up. She was a child. How was she supposed to know the importance of getting it
right?
It didn’t explain the major freak out Aeron threw at her the other
night. How had Aeron got her wires so crossed and even if she had, why was she
so bothered about Owens? It wasn’t as if she didn’t know about Renee. It wasn’t
as if it was something she had a problem with.
Unless she did.
Renee shook her head. “Nan, if I’m not crazy and you are around, I
could do with a pep talk.”
She glanced around her. The quadrant was empty. It wasn’t like the
rest of the staff were sane. The longer she was here, the more she realized the
inmates in Serenity had less issues.
“You yelled, Blondie.”
Renee jumped and gripped her chest. So Nan
was
talking to
her. Weird, weird and freaky.
“Er . . . Shorty . . . is distraught, she thinks I don’t care.”
She sounded like a schoolchild herself. She
felt
like one. “I can’t make
sense around her. When I talk, it feels like they aren’t my words.”
Renee felt a swoosh of air against her and followed it. It felt as
though Nan had an arm around her, leading her inside the building.
“You are feelin’ the same as what Shorty had to go through. Trying
to fight through the mass of other folks feelings ain’t an easy skill.”
Nan swooshed to
Renee’s other side.
“That’s why she worries so much about letting folks in.
She don’t know if it’s her thinkin’ or theirs.”
Renee bit her lip. She passed Harrison’s office, thankful it was
empty. The building was quiet. She didn’t have a reason to be in there but she
couldn’t find the sense to turn around and walk back out. “So the insults I was
hurling at them?”
“No doubt there’s a lot of folks around you who are bitter and
mad.”
There were. Renee was convinced Owens was one of those people.
Regardless of what Aeron thought. The moment she told Renee about Owens, she’d
listened. She’d watched her. She was keeping Owens as close as she could so
she’d know when to move. There were too many places, too many ways to hide
students in the school, which Renee couldn’t get to without raising the alarm.
Her best bet at protecting the POIs was to watch the Unsub. Aeron
said it was her, Renee was following it. She was following Owens . . . by
tracker.
“Why is it worse when I try talking to her?” Renee slunk against
the wall, knowing Jäger’s office was further along around the corner. She heard
Aeron’s sneakers squeaking as she walked.
“Same reason you ain’t havin’ a lot of luck with Icy,”
Nan said. Renee felt
her beside her.
“You love ’em. That means your feelings, and the feelings of
all the folks around you, overload you like they used to Shorty.”
“In Serenity?”
Nan hummed her agreement.
In Serenity. Aeron had shut herself off. Renee had tried to follow
how Aeron had coped. She’d tried to relax, using weights, running . . . that
had made her fitter, not saner. Her attempt at reconnecting with the cello had
made her realize how rusty she was.
“How did she get through it?”
“Other than friends?”
Renee nodded. She stared up at the ceiling. Although part of her
wriggled with jealousy, she’d seen the worry in Aeron’s eyes. Concern overrode
what personal hurt she felt. Aeron needed her help. She knew that somehow but
to help, she needed to find a way to cope.
“Armor.”
Renee sighed. “I know about the passage. I’ve tried visualizing it
but I’m not good with my imagination.”
Nan breezed around as if ushering her forward. Renee moved to the
corner. Aeron stood outside the door, staring at it.
“Concentrate on her. What you see, Blondie?”
Renee focused. Something shimmered around Aeron, it shimmered like
it was baying at her to flee. Aeron glanced her way. Their eyes met.
“Pain . . . worry . . . she’s worried?” Renee held Aeron’s gaze.
She nodded with every ounce of support and confidence she could.
“You can do this,” she whispered. “I believe you can.”
Aeron’s eyes flickered with recognition. Jäger opened the door and
frowned when he noticed he wasn’t the subject of Aeron’s focus.
He narrowed his eyes, cleared his throat, and motioned to his
office. Aeron turned and shoved her shoulders back, her worries trailing behind
her like muddy snow.
“Nan, how do I shield myself?” She needed to find Owens. She
needed to know about Jäger.
“Same way you just told her you had faith in her,”
Nan said, her voice
fading.
“Love.”