Andwhen we left,Iheard the reactions of everyone around me as they talked about how awesome the maincharacter was.Ihadn’t known that being an intelligence operative was a career until then, andIdecided at that moment thatIwanted it.Iwanted to be impressive just like her.Iwanted people tooohandahhover my skills.
Iwas first made aware ofEvelynLancasterwhenIstarted my training at theFarm.Inone of my classes, they told us about how, as an intelligence operative for theCIA, she single-handedly extracted vital intel from a compromised safe house when everyone else thought it was lost.Irealized that she was the kind of operative thatIhad been picturing myself being sinceIwas a kid.
Thatevening,Ilooked up everythingIcould about the woman.Thelegend.Shequickly became my idol.Throughoutmy career, every time my clearance level increased,Ichecked her file to see what moreIcould learn about her.Sheis the kind of operative thatIaspire to be.
AndIhate thatLedgercan call her “Mom.”Doeshe even understand how lucky he is?WhenIwas a kid, every night,Iwould lay in my crappy bed in whatever foster homeIcurrently lived in and dream of a different life.AndIalways dreamedIhad a mom who worked for theCIAand would teach me everythingIneeded to know to follow in her footsteps.
Ledgerhad that handed to him.
DirectorLancasterleads us through the doorway into a hall where we pass through a scanner thatIknow checks for weapons, listening devices, trackers, chemical agents, and a host of other dangerous things.Atthe end of the hall, everything opens up into a large room not that dissimilar from our department at theCIA.Huh.Soit really isn’t just a billionaire’s lair.Thereare… twenty-nine people at desks or walking from one desk to another, so about the same size as theGlobalIntelligenceDivision.
Whatsurprises me the most, though, is how unhappy or uneasy all of the operatives, officers, and analysts appear at our being present in their space.Likewe are intruders.Ilock eyes withLedger, who is standing in the opposite corner of the large space from where we are, his stance wide, his arms crossed.Ledgerlooks the least happy of all of them.
Asmile spreads across my face.I’dconsidered the fact that our meeting taking place at his agency was a win forLedger, but it’s clear from the expression on his face thatIwas wrong.Thisis a win in my column.
Imay never get this particular “win” again, soItake in every detail asDirectorLancasterleads us past several glass-front conference rooms at the back of the space andLedgerheads toward us.Justbefore we reach the last conference room,Inotice a whiteboard on the wall closer to whereLedgerstood when we first walked in.It’ssplit in half vertically, with tally marks on each side.Atthe top of one side, it readsLedgerand the other side readsZOEin theCIA.
He’skeeping a tally of which one of us wins missions.That’sadorable, actually.Itshows how much he cares about our rivalry.AndIhave no doubtIwasn’t meant to see it.DirectorLancasteropens the door to the conference room, butItake a step past it to meetLedgerhead-on.Eventhough that tally board shows me as up by one point currently, his stride and posture still show confidence.Ilike confidence in a man.Itlets me know thatIdon’t have to dial things back.
AndIlove that smirk on his lips.Hisnarrowed eyes are betraying his irritation at my presence in his domain, though.ButIkind of like that, too.Iam grinning, and my own body language must show thatIlike seeing this exclusive peek into theCSAoffices.
“Enjoyingyourself?”Ledgerasks, motioning vaguely to the room as if he’s asking about me enjoying simply being on his turf.
Hecrosses his arms, but my smile widens. “Oh, immensely.Irather enjoy seeing you squirm whenIbest you on a mission.It’snot oftenIget the distinct pleasure of watching you squirm simply at my presence in your top-secret lair.”
Hescoffs. “Please,Steele.Youwish you could get under my skin that easily.”
Ishrug. “Idon’t know.Itlooks likeIdo a pretty good job.”Icut my gaze ever so quickly to the tally board toward the front of the space before my eyes are back on his.It’sa slight motion, butIknow he’s a good enough spy to pick up on whatI’mreferring to even without turning to look at it.
Iam rewarded by a small flex in his jaw.Justenough to show me that he’s a bit irritated thatInoticed the chart, and it makes me smile.SoIadd, “Andit’s not just about a battle, is it?It’sabout who wins the war.Andlet’s be honest— we both know who that’s going to be.”
Ledgerleans forward just a bit, his gray-blue eyes boring into mine with an intensity thatIhaveto admit is rather attractive.Realsparks may never fly between us, but there is a heat here thatIalways enjoy. “It’snot over until it’s over.Andtrust me: it’s far from over.”
IfIwas the type of woman who fell in love,Ledgerwould check all the boxes.He’sinsanely attractive, from that sandy blonde hair that’s just the perfect amount of unruly, to those big strong shoulders, to those legsI’msure are rather sculpted that can easily run or scale the side of a building.Heis an impressive intelligence operative, too, which makes him the best kind of attractive.
ButsinceI’mnot, and since something between us could never happen, we can only be one of two things— rivals or enemies.Sometimes, he’s fun competition.Othertimes, he gets under my skin and we are definitely enemies.
“You’rea worthy adversary,Ledger, andIhope that we get to keep battling it out in the field for years to come.Thismission, though?Thisbattle?Ithink you’re going to have to put another tally mark in my column.Isuspect that we’re having this meeting here because when the analysts went through the case thatIrecovered, they only found info relating to my mission.Ourdirectors decided to let this meeting happen here to soften the blow of us taking its contents.”
“Idon’t know how you generally do things in theCIA, but at theCSA, we aren’t in the business of ‘softening the blow.’Themeeting is here because the contents of that case belongright here.”Hiseyes burn into me for a moment before he adds, “Andwhy were you even on that mission?Philadelphiaisn’t exactly foreign soil.”
“Exceptyou know that in a lot of cases, my division can operate onU.S. soil, too.”
Heshifts his weight from one foot to the other.Themotion is slight, almost imperceptible. “Oh,”Isay, dragging out the word. “That’spart of why you compete against me— you feel likeI’mencroaching on your territory.That’spart of our rivalry, isn’t it?”
Ican’t believeIhaven’t picked up on that before.TheCSA’spurpose is to cover the gap between what theCIA’sand theFBI’sresponsibilities are, but my division of theCIAhas a lot of gray area that overlaps theCSA’sresponsibilities.Whichis whyLedgerandIhave found ourselves on so many of the same missions.
ThewayLedgermoves his arms in front of his torso to adjust his watch tells me that the blowIjust aimed at him landed.
“ZoeandLedger, would you care to join us?”
Myface heats at the sound ofEvelynLancaster’svoice.Iassumed she had gone into the room, not stayed directly behind me, listening to our bantering.It’sthe kind of mistakeInever make.Itmust just beLedger’spresence that threw me off.Iquickly turn to face her and give a respectful nod. “Ofcourse.”
CHAPTER 5
THE ART OF TRUST
ZOE
