The Lethal Agent (The Extraction Files Book 2) (12 page)

FRIEDRICHSTRASSE, BERLIN, EUROPE

SEPTEMBER 6, 2232

Mable hurried down the corridor, though she knew she didn’t have to. Dr. Ludwig had never seen her face; she would never know how she managed to arrive unconscious on the floor.

Even so, Mable worked to slow her breathing and her steps as she backtracked out of the Center for German Pharmaceutical Research.

The glass elevator descended to the ground and released her into the oversized lobby. She loped across it and emerged into the exterior gardens that surrounded the complex. The equipment bag lay against her hip, and though there was no discernible difference in weight, it felt heavier somehow. Now there was a bug in it.

She’d seen a living bug. There was no doubt left. Not so much as a shred. The bugs were real. They were inside people. They were manipulating them.

Everything Arrenstein had told her about them was true.

It made her stomach turn, the idea of them.

And Alex had seen them. Maybe he’d been here, in this city, doing what she was doing.

After performing her first successful extraction, Mable almost skipped down the sidewalk. Where last time she had given failure a new definition, this time, she’d executed a textbook case.

Mable turned the corner and saw Theo waiting for her on the far end of the block. The body suit accentuated his frame, his broad shoulders, his athletic build. Those geneticists certainly knew what they were doing.

When he saw her, a bright smile filled his face, a smile like none other she’d seen on him. He’d played his part. They’d done it together. Mable couldn’t help but break into an easy jog and run straight for him.

Theo’s arms wrapped around her and scooped her off the sidewalk as soon as she was near enough. It was a good, solid embrace, with Rowen’s strength and Hadley’s warmth. She melted against him.

“I can’t believe you did that.” He squeezed her tight.

“Me neither,” she admitted. When he set her down, she showed him the quivering that refused to leave her hands. “It was kind of a rush.”

Theo’s hand moved to cover his chest. “I was so nervous. Seriously, I almost made you come back.”

“Made me?” She cocked a sarcastic eyebrow toward him.

He put both hands on her shoulders and bent down so their eyes were even. “Yes.
Made
you.”

“Well it’s a good thing you’re not in charge then. I got it.” Mable pulled the jar from the bag and set it in his hand. “See?”

“I saw the whole thing.” He pushed it back to her.

Mable tucked the jar back into the bag and replied, “Come on. Let’s get out of here. There’s a shuttle back to New York at 1230.”

Theo hesitated. “Can’t we stay a while? How often do we get to visit Germany?”

“No, we really need to get back. I’m in trouble as it is.” She wouldn’t put herself in a bad position with Arrenstein again.

“I’ll take the heat. Come on, you deserve it. You did great.” He stared at her with those deep grey eyes.

Mable tapped her foot on the pavement. Oh, what the hell. “I’m pretty hungry. Want to grab a bite?”

“I saw a restaurant a few blocks back. Some kind of authentic German place,” he told her.

“Sounds perfect.” Authentic German food? She could only hope it would be as good as the Root.

Mable started down the sidewalk with Theo at her side. He pulled the strap of the equipment bag off her shoulder and slid it over his head. “You really were great. I’m sure it was rough, especially after last time.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll put the vid into the files so future generations of agents can see how
not
to do it.”

“There won’t be any more. We’ll figure this out. I feel good about it.” He wrapped his hands around the strap of the bag.

She wouldn’t tell him, but she felt good about it, too. Working together, they were making more progress than any team in years, and they’d only gotten started.

CPI-AO-301, NEW YORK

SEPTEMBER 6, 2232

“You can do it.”

“What if it infects me again? Arrenstein can’t extract it. I’ll get caught again. I’ll have a bug—”

“Not going to happen. I’ll extract it myself if it comes to that, but it won’t. Just look in her throat. Can you see it?”

“Oh god, I saw it.”

“That’s good. That’s where it’s supposed to be. It’s an Echo for sure. Just get your clamps.”

Silas closed the vid feed after the fourth or fifth viewing. He knew he shouldn’t be worried. Nothing could be worse than her last extraction attempt.

But she’d been scared. It ate him up inside, but he knew it was good. Fear would make her smart, observant. With Theo’s encouraging words to quell her hesitation, she’d done well.

Silas leaned back in his chair, slinging his hands behind his head. This just might work. They were thinking about the bugs in a new way. They were working well together. They trusted each other.

It was precisely the team he’d hoped to create time and time again.

He had to give it to Nick. As much as the guy had been a pain in the ass lately, he’d made a good call on the teams.

Well, all but one.

With Mable and Theo on their way back, riding on their success, Silas decided it was time to address some other problems around here. He typed up an ecomm and sent it.

Five minutes later, a knock on his door.

“Come on in, Jane. Have a seat. How’s everything going?” He smoothed his tie and tried to pretend he knew what he would say to her.

Jane shrugged her shoulders enough to momentarily disrupt her sleek, black bob. She wore a low-cut dress that left little doubt of her intentions with one of the other recruits. Silas could only guess which one.

She slid onto the couch seat closest to the door and crossed her ankles. It was too bad she was so obtuse. Jane would make a fantastic long-term handler in a Scholar lab somewhere.

“Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to life here. It’s so different from society—”

Jane nodded.

“Is there anything I can do to help you settle in?” A good smack on the head might do.

“No, I don’t think so.” Her lips were tight, her face blank. Silas couldn’t get a read on her.

“You’re the only native New Yorker we have. Well, I guess technically Osip, too, but that’s not really the same. You have such immense background in the Scholar class. You would really be an asset if you could figure out how to work within our program.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jane bristled at mention of her true origins. Silas knew the lie about Philly kept her in good standing with other Scholars—namely Kaufman—but Silas suffered no such delusions. He knew she’d been from one of the highest ranking Scholar families this side of the Atlantic. Too bad she clung to it.

“What about Georgie? How are things going with him?”

Still nothing. “It’s fine. We’re getting along.”

It was then that Silas dropped his façade. He wouldn’t be lied to. “I have it on good authority that you two rarely speak and spend even less time working together.” She didn’t respond until he added, “I know you conspired with Theo in order to get Mable to botch her extraction.”

Jane’s mouth fell open for a moment before she caught herself. “He told you that?”

“He told Mable that as well. She forgave him, and they’ve been working well together since. Just finished their extraction in Berlin, actually.”

For the first time, Jane’s lips curled down into a frown. She was upset, wounded even.

Silas almost laughed out loud. She thought her and Theo would hold hands as they skipped into the Scholarly sunset to have their pre-approved children and combine their spectacular genetics. Theo’s departure from their relationship—whatever it had been—signaled to her the end of her lifestyle. One she clearly hadn’t fully accepted until now.

“Jane, you know you’re not a Scholar, right?” It was cruel, but someone had to say it. Silas had a soft spot for the girl, but that didn’t change the fact that she had a job to do.

“I’m not an idiot,” she seethed back.

“And you know you’ll never be a Scholar again? That you have left society?”

“Of course.”

“There’s a name for those that have left, or never were in to begin with. Are you familiar with it?”

Jane’s eyes narrowed. “They’re called Untouchables.”

Silas tried not to smile. “Well, now you’re an Untouchable. You are no longer in society, just as Osip, and Mable, and even Theo are no longer in society. Every person here is an Untouchable.”

She stared at her hands, refusing to admit the truth she’d long known.

“Georgie, too, is an Untouchable. He’s also a stand-up guy you’ve had the pleasure of being assigned to. You would do well to give him a chance.”

Jane’s eyes narrowed with what looked like rage. A moment later, she swallowed it and nodded. “Is that all?”

“No. If you don’t get to know him, if you find that you can’t do this job with Georgie, you’ll be terminated at CPI. You’ll be an Untouchable, but you won’t have the protection of this program. My guess? Sri Lanka.” Silas smiled his fox smile. “Have a good day, Ms. Gallagher.”

CAFÉ MITTE, BERLIN, EUROPE

SEPTEMBER 6, 2232

Mable slid into the booth and tugged her crimson hair free from its bun. She dragged a hand through the tight waves to loosen them out again. She looked more like herself already.

Theo joined her on the opposing bench, positioning the bag between himself and the wall. It felt strange to be in the restaurant, in Scholar uniform, pretending to have the life he gave up. Though now that he had—now that he was on the other side—he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d ever gotten along before.

He couldn’t go back now. Even if he had the chance, he couldn’t. He knew too much.

Now, he knew Mable.

Or at least he was starting to. Somehow, he guessed, he’d only seen the tip of that mountain.

The diner was classic in style—red-leather booths and ancient wood tables. It looked to have been there for centuries. A mid-twenties waiter offered them both confused glares before he decided to take their orders, but Theo didn’t manage a single word. “We’ll both have a tall hefeweizen, the sauerbraten and eintopf,” Mable said, and then the man was gone.

“Uh, what did you get us?” Theo asked. He was less than amused.

“Beer, meat, and stew. If it’s anything like the Root, it’ll be amazing,” she said with a smile, one that lit up her whole face.

Theo couldn’t argue with that. “Sounds good. You really miss it, don’t you?”

Mable shrugged. “Not the place so much.”

“You wouldn’t go back if you could?”

“No. I wouldn’t.” She pulled the royal-blue napkin off the table and began folding in the corners. “There’s nothing left there for me.”

“You think Dr. Arrenstein really sent her back to school?” Theo didn’t have full confidence in the guy. He wouldn’t put it past Dr. Arrenstein to pull something.

Mable finished with in the corners and started some other folds before she said, “Yeah, I think he did. He wouldn’t lie to me. Not about that, anyway.”

The waiter dropped off two huge glasses of thick, opaque beer. Theo sipped it and cringed at the bittersweet citrus flavor.

Theo sighed. “If I ask you about your weird relationship with Dr. Arrenstein, are you going to lock up on me again?”

Without looking up, she half-smiled. Her hands continued to manipulate the napkin. “No, you can ask.”

Theo stared in shock. “Uh, what’s up with your weird relationship with Dr. Arrenstein?”

“He killed my brother.” She said it as if it was easy, as if it didn’t bother her, but he knew better. Her refusal to look him in the eye wasn’t an accident.

“I could see how that would make you hate him.” Theo wasn’t sure he didn’t hate him as well.

Mable had just finished folding her napkin into some sort of flower when the waiter reappeared with two plates piled high with steaming hot meat and a bowl of thick vegetable soup. As Mable predicted, it smelled amazing.

“I don’t hate him.” She blew the steam off her spoonful of soup and put it in her mouth. Her eyes closed as she savored the heat and flavor.

Theo watched her, mesmerized.

It wasn’t the answer he had expected at all. He figured they were former lovers or bitter rivals, but not this. And, as always, Mable took it in stride.

Theo stabbed at his slab of beef and managed to pull away a bite-sized portion. It was painfully hot but juicy and savory in a way that rivaled Knox’s creations.

As he and Mable ate in silence, Theo realized that she’d never been honest with him, not really. Save for those rare moments when emotion consumed her, she’d been false. The Mable he knew was little more than a shell—a brick wall of defense built around the real Mable. Hadley had broken down that wall, maybe even Rowen.

The Mable at the booth with him wasn’t the real one. She was the rock-hard exterior. The real Mable cried when her friends were hurt, or squealed when she completed an extraction. Theo had only glimpsed her, occasional peeks in the hospital or the lab.

“Good?” she asked, though his face couldn’t have shown anything else.

“Delicious,” he replied. He meant it. The food was delicious, but he was distracted. Theo wanted to see the real Mable again. Not the one who pushed him away, or the one who tried to use her looks to keep him at arm’s length. Somewhere in there was the girl with the tattoos and piercings, the one who loved Hadley and Rowen, the one who thought about the bugs in a way no one else could.

More than anything, he wanted to see the true Mable.