Authors: Sara Schoen
“Renegade, it’s nice to officially meet you. I’m Fire Fox, and I’ll be working with you while you’re at CIRA.” He handed me a roll of gauze and bandages before pointing to my wound. “You’ll want to tape that up for the time being. You may end up getting stitches but we can stop the bleeding at least. We have a lot to cover before they start sending people to the hospital. We have to see who’s in the roughest shape, and who can wait a little longer so we don’t flood a hospital and start raising more questions. I know you’ve been out of the agency for a while and since then it’s changed immensely. It’s going to take a while,” he warned as we weaved in and out of the throng of agents outside. I was searching for one person in particular while listening to Fire Fox and using bandages he had given me to tend to my wound. “Once we get back to the agency, I become your mentor. You’ll spend days you aren’t on missions with me, training and honing your skills.” I was about to tell him that I didn’t want one, but he once again read my thoughts and silenced me. “Everyone has a mentor, so deal with it. You got lucky with me.” He paused, turning to see my questioning gaze.
“How so?”
“I requested to be your mentor because I know your background and history. I’m not going to train you unless you want me to, but if you want to train with someone, I’m more than capable of being a worthy opponent. Mostly, I just want to be there in case you have any questions.”
I had a lot of questions, but most of them began and ended with whatever Sara had to tell me.
As if he could read my mind, Fire Fox spoke up again. “Give her some space after this mission.” I considered ignoring him until he continued. “Her parents died in a car crash, with her behind the wheel,” he said, describing what she’d told me in the hospital. Her story hadn’t been a complete lie after all. “She will need to come to terms with who you are before she tells you her full story,” he said, explaining a dark night in her past that ended with one survivor—Sara. “She’d been driving, and the rain wouldn’t let up. The police stated the car hydroplaned and she lost control. The deaths were ruled accidental, but the real story is that they had been targeted. A car had come at them head on and Sara tried to avoid it, but she’d lost control, and lost her family.” Fire Fox glanced at me, I assume to make sure I was listening. “You want answers, but getting them from someone who’s hurting will only make it worse for the both of you.”
She hadn’t lied to me about her story. They had told her
not
to use her real life experience but she chose to in order to make it believable. It worked, but it shocked me that she’d been so honest with Danielle and me. It was risky to say the least, as Fire Fox pointed out.
“She’s always risky, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Fire Fox said. “I got lucky when it came to her, and she was able to find someone to care for her over the years. They are the only reason she’s still alive. If James Ricker hadn’t been going home at that time, I would have lost all of them at once.” Fire Fox looked through the crowd nervously, as if fearful of who would be listening in.
“How do you know the details if she hasn’t talked to you about it?” I asked curiously.
“Demon told me. He was also the one who found out who caused the accident,” he said as we walked past Camden. They were shuffling him out of the way. Fire Fox scoffed as Camden tried to pull free to talk to me. I looked away, hoping someone would kill him in prison.
Fire Fox continued as we walked through the crowd. “He kept an eye on her for me, and told me everything about her. I know her as if she is my own daughter now.”
“How much does she talk about the accident?”
“Not much anymore. She just tells people that it was an accident, and tries to move on. Her discussions have become focused on the Rickers now. They are all she talks about now, about their love and acceptance, their support through everything, and the family that became hers. I know it hurt her to leave them behind, but she’s happier here. She’ll live instead of just survive.”
Before I could ask him if Sara ever figured out who caused the accident, to confirm what I had learned from Camden’s research, a few agents pulled Fire Fox aside. They wanted to discuss how to call in the authorities before they arrived on their own and found the large amount of missing or assumed dead people CIRA had hidden away over the years, and started asking questions. I waited nearby, thinking. Sara’s story sounded very familiar, too familiar, and while Fire Fox hadn’t said Ash Crest caused her accident as well, I had a feeling I knew who killed him. If I was right, Sara killed Ash Crest. He had left another survivor, one member of that family alive, and he lived to regret it when it came to her.
I just wish I had been the one to end him.
“I’d be prepared,” Fire Fox warned as he grabbed my shoulder and led me toward a group of agents. “She hasn’t been briefed yet on who you are, and taking the news from your undercover alias isn’t going to go well,” he said with laugh. “Don’t worry, though, she’s injured, and while she could put up a fight, it wouldn’t last long. She has a wound that goes right through her left shoulder, but I’m sure by now they’ve given her something to ease the pain. She’s feisty, though. She’ll be sure to try to give you another knife wound.”
I gave him a confused expression before I saw Sara and Danielle behind a few of the other agents, as if protecting them in case another cartel member planned to attack them. They didn’t have to worry anymore. Anyone Miguel had ordered here for backup was either dead or gone. No one else would be looking for them except me, but they didn’t know whose side I was on, yet.
“If I were you, I’d just rip it off like a Band-Aid. She’ll get over it soon enough,” Fire Fox stated as he patted me on the shoulder.
I turned to look at him in shock as he walked away, leaving me alone to explain my cover and secrets not only to Sara, but to my sister as well. I felt a faint smile on my face as I realized the real reason Fire Fox had become my mentor. He not only wanted to make sure I had someone to go to, but he wanted to be sure I didn’t harm his niece. I had to admit, my father would have pulled a similar move with Danielle. Protective, yet caring.
As I approached, I kept my eyes on Sara, who was leaning against a car nearby to conceal her pain. She continued to glance around for any signs of danger. With Fire Fox’s warning in the back of my mind, I tried to make a slow, calm approach. It failed. Sara caught sight of me and I immediately tensed, ready to fight. She pulled a knife from a sheath and prepared to attack, even though she wasn’t in shape for another fight. She cringed as she stood, and her hand went to her side as if to ease the pain. Judging from the blood that had seeped through her shirt, she had a bad injury, most likely from the gunshot that took her down or a close encounter with a blade. It had to hurt to move around, but the determination in her eyes told me she’d fight through it if needed.
She stepped in front of Danielle, her jaw set tight to prevent an outcry of pain, and slid Danielle protectively behind her, waiting for me to make my move. I glanced at the other agents, but they hadn’t seen Sara’s defensive posture and were focused on something else in the distance. I knew this wasn’t going to go well as I stepped forward, offering her my hand.
“Night Stripe,” I said, hoping to relax her a little bit. Instead, she pushed Danielle farther back. “It’s good to properly meet you.”
I watched her body slowly ease, but she remained focused on me, waiting to see what I would do. She didn’t notice the other agents were unaffected by my presence.
“Isn’t it good enough that I know your name?”
“No, it’s not,” she said.
The other agents turned to watch what they thought would be a fight, but Demon had other ideas. I don’t think the other agents would have stopped her from attacking me.
“Night Stripe, calm down. He’s on our side, and you’re in no condition to fight no matter what you say to convince me otherwise. We have to get you back so we can have the doctors look at those wounds,” Demon said, coming up behind me and handing me a wet towel. “I need you to clean yourself up. I can’t have you looking like Marco when the police get here and start investigating more thoroughly.” He glanced at Sara, who appeared as if she couldn’t come to terms with me being on her side. He stepped forward and whispered something in her ear, seeming to ease her mind before he turned and left us alone.
I lifted the towel and rubbed my hair. I thought it would be useless to get the dye out until I noticed black smears covering the towel. It took a while, but most of the color came out. I’m sure my hair still looked a little darker than normal, but at least it wasn’t jet black anymore. I didn’t even want to know what Demon had soaked the towel in to get the dye to come out. I wouldn’t have been able to get the dye out no matter how many times I showered and washed it.
“I knew it!” Danielle cried as I pulled the towel from my head. I removed the colored contacts, and threw them aside as she continued to gloat. “I thought it was you! You were too similar, especially with how you spoke around me. You were never really nice,” she mused, allowing a glare to take over her features.
“But you still spent years searching for me. So that must mean you missed me even just a little bit,” I pointed out as I wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you for never stopping.” I held the hug until she pulled away. There were tears in her eyes, which she tried not to let me see as she turned away and walked past a familiar new friend.
“Camo,” I said in greeting.
She nodded to me, but it was clear her attention had been directed elsewhere. She glanced at Sara with a pleased smirk on her face, and one look at Sara’s deadpan expression told me she knew exactly what Camo was going to say.
“So where should I start, Night Stripe?”
“How about at the end?” Sara suggested hopefully, looking around as if trying to find another agent to talk to so she could escape the impending conversation.
“I would prefer beginning with
I told you so
. I knew it would happen from the moment you brought that file back to the agency,” she said with a smile. Sara groaned and let her head fall in defeat, realizing Camo wouldn’t let it rest. “I saw what you two did,” she said, pointing between Sara and me. “If only you knew who he was! You never would have come up with that plan to use him as your entry. Luckily, you didn’t, so you couldn’t fight it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sara growled. Her sudden anger had me curious, but clearly she didn’t want to talk about it. I couldn’t figure out why Camo would be so interested in me, or why Sara seemed displeased about it.
“About which part?” Camo tempted, her smirk taking over her features. “About the kiss?”
Sara didn’t respond.
“About how you didn’t realize Jackson stole Marco’s identity and used it as a cover?”
Once again, Sara remained silent.
“Or about the files which you—” Camo fell silent when Sara slapped her hand over her mouth. If looks could kill, the glare Sara shot at Camo would have killed her instantly.
“We don’t talk about that,
Tessa
.” Sara spat the name like an insult, but it sounded so familiar to me.
I looked over to Camo, who attempted to avoid my gaze by looking down at her feet. She scratched at her arm awkwardly as I scrutinized every detail about her I could. Tessa had been the girl I attempted to warn to leave with her father. Tessa was meant to take over her father’s job and work with him, but both were found dead after the raid, or so I had thought.
“Tessa?” I asked, looking her over. She wasn’t the same girl. She couldn’t be. The Tessa I knew had fair skin, with blonde hair and green eyes, but the girl before me now was dark tan with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her face looked different as well. “You’re not Tessa.”
Camo sighed, glancing sideways at Sara, as if to say their talk wasn’t over. “I’m Tessa from the Sandtown compound. I worked with my father in trades, and had been, at one point, excited to take over for him.”
“What changed?”
“Everything,” she said simply. “They killed my father, and let me believe he’d died by accident. When Night Stripe broke in, they were going to use her as a cover to murder me. Jax meant to shoot me that night and then tell everyone she did it. So when she offered me a way out, and a safe place to be, I took it and never looked back.”
I listened, allowing the dots to suddenly connect in my mind. Tessa had tracked down Sara as it said in the report, but when Jax announced his plan they must have teamed up for survival. Sara gave Tessa another life, and Tessa got Sara out alive, with the information Sara wanted.
“Do you know what happened to Ash Crest by any chance?” I asked. “It didn’t happen long after the raid.”
Both girls fell silent. Tessa looked at Sara, but Sara stared at me, unwilling to answer the question. Her blue eyes were cold, but understanding. She had to be the one who killed Ash. Why else would she clam up at the mention of his name? She wanted to tell me, Demon said she proudly told everyone what she had done, but at the same time she wanted to carry the burden. She didn’t want to put me, another victim, through what she had done. I decided I would try again, when we were alone. Maybe then she’d be more open about it.