“Wewouldn’t dream of it,”DirectorReynoldssays. “We’vegot two rooms reserved for you tomorrow.”
Zoenods. “Whichof us is in charge?Because—”
“—Itbetter be me,” both of us say at the same time.
“Neitherof you are in charge,”DirectorLancastersays. “You’repartners.Equals.”
Inarrow my eyes. “Yes, but when we disagree, who gets to make the final decision?”Becausewewilldisagree.Oftenand vehemently.
“You’llhave to figure out how to work together to come to a final decision.”
Zoerolls her eyes and leans back in her chair, arms crossed. “That’simpossible.”
DirectorReynoldsraises an eyebrow in challenge. “Impossible?Ididn’t know that word was in your vocabulary.”
Apparently, we are done discussing details because mymom opens the door and welcomesEmersonandKennethback in. “Youboth likely have a lot to do to prepare in a short amount of time, so we’ll let you get to it.Wewill send you both a secure file with all the details by the time you board your flight.Emerson, will you please show ourCIAguests out?AndletCharlieandKellaknow thatIneed five minutes.”
Emersonnods, andIwatch— mostlyZoe— as the four of them leave, shutting the door behind them.
Thenit’s just the director and me, with all of her focus on me. “Whydon’t you want to do this mission?”
“Idowant to do this mission.”
“Okay, correction: why don’t you want to do it withZoe?Beyondthe trust factor.”
“Becauseshe thinks her way is the right way— theonlyway— even if things in the field change.Becausethings always go bad when we work together.Becauseshe tries to do everything in the most boring way possible.Becauseshe would sell her firstborn to complete a mission.Becauseshe forgets that sabotage should never be used on someone who’s on the same side as you.Doyou want me to go on?BecauseIcould go on.”
Shestudies me for a long moment. “You’vehad a lot of experience working with very difficult people, and you always manage to work with them to accomplish your objectives.Imean, you convinced a street artist inBerlinto use their graffiti to send coded messages to one of our operatives when communications went down.Andyou talked a very skeptical cat lady inBogotainto attaching cameras to her cats’collars so you could use her feline network as a surveillance system.”
“It’sdifferent withZoe.She’san intelligence operative, soIcan’t exactly promise her exclusive spray paint from a rare collection or guarantee the safety of her beloved pets with state-of-the-art tracking devices to get her on my side.”
Shetakes off her lanyard with herCSAcredentials and places it on the table, signaling that she’s switching from being my director to being my mom. “Ledger.You’rethe kid who always looked out for the boy on the playground at recess who had no one to play with.Youwere the kid with a great group of friends who planned fun activities, and would still always invite others outside that group of friends to join in so they could make new friends, too.Thekid who always accepted people exactly as they were.”
“It’snot the same,Mom.ZoeandIjust can’t work together.”
“Butyou’ve never actually worked together— onlyagainsteach other.Sure, you both fight for the same cause— making the world a better place.Butyou’ve done it from opposing sides, working as competitors.”
No, there was one time that we worked together.Orat leastIthoughtwe were working together.Itwasn’t a joint mission like this one.Itwas just a matter of the case she was working on and the caseIwas working on overlapping unexpectedly.It’sembarrassing how easilyZoewas able to betray me without me even seeing it coming.Embarrassingenough thatIhaven’t told a soul about it.I’mfor sure not going to tell my mom/director about it.
Shesighs, puts her lanyard back over her head, and straightens it as she stands up. “Well,Ididn’t want to do this, butI’mgoing to have to combine my knowledge of being your mom and my knowledge of being your boss.”Shetakes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Idon’t think you can pull off a successful mission withZoe.”
Icross my arms and meet her eyes, shaking my head slightly.She’snot saying she’s about to switch me out for another operative, and she’s not saying she’s going to go back toDirectorSullivanand say she’s changed her mind.No,Iknow exactly what she’s doing— she’s using reverse psychology on me— and it’s not going to work.I’mnot going to suddenly want to pull off a successful mission withZoejust because my mom/director saidIcan’t.
Imean,Icouldpull off a successful mission withZoeifIwantedto.ButIdon’t want to.Idon’t want to work with her at all.Butwe are both some of the best at what we do, and we can prove it.Ican prove it.Imay not want to work withZoe, butIcan work with her and pull off a mission.Evena mission that is really four missions, like this one is.Ican work with someone impossible to work with, andIcan still be successful.I’llprove it.
Thedirector has a hand on the doorknob, about to open it, but then glances back at me.She’strying to hide a smile that tells me she knows the journey my mind just went on, and that her reverse psychology did, in fact, work, even thoughIknew she was doing it.Igrind my teeth.
Sheopens the door, and says, “Charlie?Kella?Youcan join us now.”Then, to me, she says, “We’vegot some news to share aboutyour handler.”
Oh?
CharlieandKellacome in, but they leave the door open.Foras different as my sister and my handler are, they are alike in some ways.Forone thing, their hair is about the same length— almost touching their shoulders.Charlie’sis light brown, wavy, and a tiny bit chaotic.
Kella’sis dark brown— almost black— and is sleek and straight as can be.Butunderneath all the dark hair on top is a vibrant teal fading into purple.Ifyou see her from the back, her hair looks professional and a little boring.Ifyou see her from the front, the teal and purple practically frame her face.It’skind of like a mullet, but instead of the party being in the back, it’s hiding underneath.
Theyare alike in their enthusiasm level when they are excited.Andright now, they are very excited.Fromthe moment they walk into the room,Ican’t help but feel the same, and all frustration about my latest assignment falls away.
Thedirector says toKella, “Doyou want to tell him the news or have me do it?”
