Crossing the Line (22 page)

“That's fine,” I said, my tone harsh.

“If you wanted I could get into it. See if I can find something—”

“Sam.” I kept the anger out of my voice. He was only trying to
help. “I need you to focus on my mom, okay? That's it.”

He studied me, debating something, then shrugged. “Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Thank you.”

“Don't mention it,” he said, pulling out his phone as Agent Lee took her place at the front of the room.

She looked at our corner and seemed startled. “Sam?”
Astonished
was actually a better word. “Samuel Lewis? Is it really you? You're early?”

Sam smirked. “Don't get too used to it, Agent Lee.”

But Lee beamed. “Sam, this is the best day of my teaching career. If it never happens again, I can be satisfied knowing that, just once, Samuel Michael Lewis was on time for my class.”

Sam smiled wider. “I'm so glad I could make you happy.”

Lee laughed lightly. “You have no idea how much.”

Agent Lee started her lesson and Sam turned back to his game.

“Why
are
you early, anyway?” I asked.

“The prep lab was booked a half hour before our class started, so I had to be out.” He hadn't even looked up from his phone.

I tried to pay attention when Lee started teaching but my thoughts stayed with Sam and my mom. If anyone could find specifics about my mom it was him. And if we could do that, then just maybe we stood a real chance of getting to Eliza in time.

I
hadn't heard anything new from Simmonds the rest of the week, and it was taking everything I had not to check in with him regularly. Travis and I kept busy trying to find information on anything that would lead us to Eliza—including details about what my mom may have done for KATO. She was the only other person we knew of who had been taken like Dr. Foster had. Learning about her work could give us some idea of how much time we had to get to Eliza before KATO did anything with Foster's research. But we weren't having any success. At least, we weren't until Sam joined Travis, Nikki, and me at lunch on Monday.

“I was hoping I'd find you guys here,” he said, making himself comfortable. He clearly had an agenda, not even bothering with hello. “I did some more digging into your mom's background.” He spoke only to me as he spread out the folder he'd brought with him. “I tried looking off campus, through some more public records.” He pulled out a tax return from twenty-three years ago. “It turns out she worked at Spencer Industries.”

He gave me this pointed look, like this was supposed to be some big revelation. “I don't know what that means,” I said.

Nikki stepped in to explain. “Spencer is one of the biggest scientific and industrial development companies in the country.”

“I tried to hack their servers,” Sam said, “but it looks like your mom's files are too old to be stored digitally.”

“They're based in Wilmington,” Nikki said, glancing from me to Travis.

I was starting to get it. “So we can go there and find out what she did for them?”

Travis nodded. “Yeah, we can.”

I stuck a fork in my chicken. “I'll go to Simmonds.”

“We'll come up with a plan and meet you in the atrium of the Operations Building,” Nikki said. There was no question that they were coming with me.

I took the file from Sam and thanked him as I hurried out of the cafeteria.

I had to wait only a few minutes when I got to Simmonds's door. Once I was inside, I spelled out everything we had on my mom and what Travis and I were trying to do with the information.

Simmonds sighed when I finished. “I don't know anything for sure,” he said. “But knowing what your mother did for us, I can guess what she did for KATO. And if I'm right, she started the entire project after she was taken.”

I met his eyes evenly. “You know I need more than that.”

“I do,” he said. “But, if it's what I think it is, you're not going to like what you learn.”

I forced my expression to stay neutral, ignoring the new weight that settled into my stomach. “I don't care.” I was too close to walk away.

“Be that as it may, I've given you the relevant information, and your other motives for this are purely personal. This isn't a mission
I can authorize.” I felt a knot twisting in my chest, but Simmonds continued before I could snap. “However, I think you're forgetting that you are not a prisoner here. You're an eighteen-year-old agent who has earned the right to leave campus if she wants to.” He gave me a pointed look.

“Right,” I said, understanding what he was getting at. “Thank you, sir.” I ducked out of his office without another word.

“Did he sign off?” Travis asked when he saw me round the corner into the atrium.

“Unofficially, but yeah,” I said. “Do we have a plan?”

“Not only do we have a plan, but we have everything we need to pull it off,” Nikki said. According to Sam's file, we'd need to meet with a Dr. Rollins, who was my mom's supervisor at the time. We would pretend to be scientists interested in her work. It would give us the in we needed and a reason to ask specific questions about my mom. Travis and Nikki had already changed and Nikki had a shirt and blazer for me to throw on.

“I'm driving,” Travis said, leading the way out. When we reached the parking lot behind the Operations Building, we found a surprise waiting for us. Sam was sitting in the backseat of Travis's locked car.

“What are you doing here?” I asked once Travis had gotten the door open.

“How did you even get in there?” Travis asked. His voice was laced with amazed indignation. “Did you hack my car?”

Sam smiled and twirled his phone in his hand. “Absolutely not, Agent Elton. I would never do something like that.”

Nikki snorted and Travis's jaw tensed in agitation. I didn't try to hide my laugh.

“You're not coming with us,” he said to Sam.

Sam turned to face him fully. “After all the work I put into this, do you think I'm going to stay here while you guys get the big reveal?”

Nikki gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “You
do
have classes.”

“So does she,” he said, pointing at me.

“She's already an agent,” Travis said, crossing his arms. “She can get away with it.”

“Just let him come,” I said. “It's not like he'd pay attention in class anyway.”

“And I can help you,” Sam said. “I can get you in the building.”

Travis arched his eyebrows. “We can get ourselves in.”

“Anything you do without me is going to come with questions.” He looked at each of us. “I can get you on Dr. Rollins's schedule and the building's security guest list.”

I glanced at Nikki and Travis. “It
would
make things easier.”

Travis eyed Sam, considering. “Fine,” he said after a moment. “But if you get in trouble, none of us were involved.”

“Of course not,” Sam said, sinking back into his seat. He turned his attention back to his phone as the rest of us piled in. Nikki took the backseat, leaving the passenger seat for me.

“So,” Sam said as Travis pulled out of the parking lot. “What kind of music do you have here?” I glanced back and saw him on his phone, scrolling through what I assumed was Travis's music collection.

Travis's eyes jumped to Sam in the mirror. “Stay away from my music.”

The speakers filled with light rock music, and Travis's glare to the backseat intensified. Sam just sat there with the same cocky smile, his
eyes twinkling. I couldn't help but laugh.

 • • • 

Despite the fun Sam had on the way over, he was all business when we pulled up to Spencer Industries. He had access to their system in less than a minute. “Do you have aliases you want to use?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Travis said, handing over three ID cards.

I leaned closer. “Where did you get these?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I had them made while you were talking to Simmonds.”

“Without him signing off?”

He shook his head once. “Don't ask.”

I glanced at Nikki, who rolled her eyes. “You don't want to know.”

“You guys are good to go,” Sam said, passing the IDs around. “Keep your phones on you. You have my number if you need me for anything.”

“Oh, do we?” I couldn't keep the amusement out of my voice. He hadn't touched any of our devices.

Sam only smirked and sent us on our way.

Getting into the building was as easy as Sam said it would be. Once we were in, it wasn't any harder to get to the chemical engineering floor, which Dr. Rollins was apparently in charge of. My heart started to pound as I thought of all the chemical weapons my mom could have developed for KATO. The damage that could have been done. I pushed the thoughts away and focused on what we had to do.

Before long, we were standing outside Dr. Rollins's door.

“Nikki, you take notes,” Travis said. “Get everything down so we can sort through it later.” She nodded and pulled out a notebook. “Joss, you and I will ask the questions. We need to do everything
we can to steer the conversation toward the specifics of your mom's research.”

I took a deep breath. I'd been on research assignments like this before. Assignments on which I had to get information out of someone as casually as I could. But I never had this fluttering feeling in my stomach.

Travis knocked on the door. It opened quickly. Dr. Rollins was a gray-haired man who was probably close to retiring. He was flustered at first, since he had no memory of setting an appointment with us. But he was quick to recover and invite us inside, offering to do anything he could to help. He was patient, and seemed genuinely interested in helping us.

“So, you're looking to get in touch with Lexi Steely?” he asked.

“Yes,” Travis said. “We came across some research she did while she was here and wanted to follow up. We're having a hard time tracking her down, though.”

“I'm afraid I can't be too much help with that.” He rubbed his jaw, thoughtfully. “Lexi was a very talented scientist. She'd look at a problem, see how everyone else was attacking it, and find a different approach. But unfortunately I haven't heard from her since she left.”

I wasn't used to hearing about my parents like this. A sick, sad feeling settled in my stomach. I inhaled sharply. This was a mission, just like anything else, and it was time I started acting like it.

“Can you tell us anything about the work Lexi did while she was here?” I asked.

His brow furrowed, pensive. “She started working here about twenty-five years ago. She wasn't here long—I think it might have been only a year—but the work she did was incredibly impressive.
She started with a few smaller projects, but it wasn't long before she was assigned to the bigger development teams. She set herself apart quite easily.”

“What type of chemical engineering was her specialty?” I asked.

“She coordinated across a couple different labs, but her strength was definitely in pharmaceutical development,” he said. My stomach plummeted.

“Drug development?” Nikki asked, looking up from her notebook. “Really?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Dr. Rollins said with a nod. “She was on the verge of a major breakthrough on a cancer treatment drug when she left. In fact, I assumed that was why you were here. We used her work as a basis for most of our advancements in that area for several years after.”

He kept talking, but I had stopped listening. I was too busy fighting the urge the throw up. If drug development was my mom's strength, I had no doubt what KATO had used her for.

Travis met my eyes, and I knew he had put the pieces together too. He wrapped up the meeting as quickly as he could after that, thanking Dr. Rollins profusely for his time. I followed Nikki down the hallway, and Travis fell into step next to me, keeping a cautious eye in my direction. Despite the way everything was turning inside of me, I knew, this time, no one could tell by looking at me. This was a secret I desperately wanted to keep.

Sam peppered us with questions the whole ride back, while Nikki and Travis took turns answering or deflecting, depending on the
question. But I barely noticed. Everything around me was a muted haze. It was all I could do to keep myself together.

 • • • 

Our group dispersed when we got back to campus. Sam hurried to make up for lost time in the agent prep labs, and Nikki ran off to the training session. It took me a minute to even consider the fact that I had to get out of the car. I reached for the door, but Travis grabbed my other arm.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

He shifted in his seat, angling himself so he was facing me better. “I'm not just talking about how you're feeling. I'm talking about your—cravings.”

Cravings for a drug that my
mom
created. I looked away, balling my fists to keep my hands from shaking.

“Jocelyn.” I turned back to him. His expression was intensely puzzled and concerned.

I shook my head. “Don't be nice to me.”

“What?” His forehead creased. “Why not?”

I looked him dead in the eyes. “Because if you're nice to me, I might lose it.”

His face softened. “Maybe you need to.”

I drew a tight, shaky breath. “
Please.
Don't be nice to me.”

He was quiet for a long moment, then said, “Okay.”

Neither of us moved. And after a minute, I couldn't take the silence. “I'm just so—
angry
,” I said. “For years the thought of my parents was what got me through KATO. Knowing that they worked for the IDA meant that if I could just get out, then there might be someplace safe to go. I thought they saved me.” I raked my hand across my scalp. “But my mom—she did this. She was supposed to—she wasn't supposed to put something like that in me. And I hate her for it.”

I stared out the windshield at the brick wall ahead of us. He didn't say anything until he was sure I was finished. When he did, his voice was soft. Almost as if he were afraid he might scare me away. “You have to be realistic, though. She probably had no idea it would be used on you. And from what you've said, I bet they'd threatened to kill you if she didn't develop it. Exactly like they did to Dr. Foster.” I finally looked at him. “Not only that, but that drug was the only way KATO could control you. What would they have done to you if they couldn't?”

I swallowed hard. “They would have killed me.”

Travis nodded “She saved you. It may not have been pretty or ideal, but you're alive. Now you have a chance to do something about it.”

I took deep breath, letting his words sink in, then I found myself nodding. “Okay.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I felt myself relax a fraction. I didn't know whether I believed what he was saying or whether I just wanted to.

Both of our pagers chirped before either of us could say anything else.

“Simmonds wants to see us,” Travis said, glancing at his.

I looked to my own pager. This had to be about the files. I couldn't think of anything else that would need our attention. A short surge of anticipation forced everything else to the background. “All right.”
I pushed my door open with a renewed sense of purpose. “Let's see what he's got for us.”