Just Work

As Ryder saw the lights of a car pull up outside, he quickly got up off the couch. “Katie,” he called down the hall, “Thirteen’s home.” After Aerith had called, he’d told Katie what was going on, just to keep her in the loop. Whether it was going to be a long night or not, she had a right to know what was happening – let alone informing her of the Elite situation. 

He opened the door as Thirteen came inside, and it only took one look at her face to confirm what Aerith had said. It made him so angry that someone could scare her like this – intentionally  or not. It just brought back everything he hated about theAgency. “Hey,” he greeted softly. “Come here.” He put his arms around her and hugged her close. “You okay?” 


Eli put his hand on top of Scarlet’s on his chest and gave it a squeeze as he returned her kiss. He could barely remember what it had been like before she’d come into his life. And it was hard to imagine life without her again, either. 

Her question brought a strangely unsettled look to his eyes. “Yeah…yeah, things are okay. I just…” He left his sentence hanging as his gaze went back to the television and he set his feet up on the coffee table. “There’s stuff that…” Another pause gave room for his jaw muscles to tighten without him even realizing that it signaled he was trying not to say something. 

He settled in closer. “It’s just work-related,” he concluded. “Now…what did you do with the popcorn?”


“If you’re not after Thirteen, there’s only one other reason you’d be here.” Carson drove across town, one hand on the wheel, the other on the cocked shotgun in his lap, aimed at Garret in the passenger seat. “But of all the names I went through to find who was in charge of ruining my marriage and killing my family, I never thought of yours.”

One of Garret’s eyebrows arced, but he remained still. “I’m too important for a petty job like that, but this has nothing to do with that young woman either. I came to make a deal, just like I said.”

Carson scoffed. “I don’t make deals with snakes.”

“Some snakes kill the innocent. Some kill rats.”

Carson stopped at red light. “Talk.”

“If you’re gonna get justice, you’re gonna have to find who Medridge has in charge of your case – and you’re gonna need help to do that.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“Freedom.”

Carson’s fingers tightened around his shotgun as the light turned green and he drove on. “You better come up with something better than that.”

Garret remained expressionless. “You want help? You’re gonna have to believe me.”

It couldn’t be that simple. “Freedom from the Agency? Why?”

“My reasons are my own. The bottom line is I want out.”

It seemed more likely that this was an elaborate trap. “I don’t believe you.”

“The best I can do is get you access to records that will have me listed as missing by now. They probably think I’ve been abducted by a rival – possibly even the Elite. I was low risk when it came to my allegiance, so they won’t believe yet that I ran.”

“As if you couldn’t set that up just for me to see.” But Carson really did wonder if there was any truth here. “How did you jump radar?”

Garret pulled up one sleeve as much as he could in his cuffs – it was just far enough to show a recent wound near his wrist. “Ditching my tracker was my first move, then I used an unknown alias. But it won’t be long before somebody suspects I came to the United States, whether by my own free will or by force.”

Carson signed. “If you’re telling the truth – and that’s a big ‘if’ – why here? The Agency has feelers all over this territory, and I’m a marked man. If you were looking for safety, you made a stupid choice, and as much as I hate to admit it, you’re just not that stupid.”

“I don’t just need safety.” Garret eyed the dark streets as they drove, and he swallowed hard. Being vulnerable like this was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

Carson turned down another street. “Well? Don’t leave me in suspense. I can’t imagine what you, of all people, would need from anyone.”

Garret wished he were in more control, but he wasn’t, and that was a fact. “They’ve had me addicted to a new trial drug for the past six months. If I try to get off it myself, I could be in big trouble. If I go to a hospital, they’ll find me. The Elite’s my only safe option, and…my withdrawal symptoms are already starting. I took my last dose yesterday.”

“So even Medridge’s right hand man gets to be a lab rat, ay?” Carson slowed the car and turned into the Elite parking lot, spotting Reese’s car already there. “Don’t puke in my car.”

Garret rolled his eyes. At the moment, the splitting headache was just beginning. But that was only the first stage. Far worse symptoms would follow. “I’m fine. For now.”

“So if you’ve got intel, how about we take the next few hours before you’re too far gone, and make a list of all I want to know…then I’ll consider helping you?”

A thin smile appeared on Garret’s lips. “I have to hold on to a few cards, Aussie. I may be desperate, but I still know how to play the game…”


…Reese looked through the window at Garret, who sat alone in the interrogation room. “Well?”

Carson stood beside him, and shook his head. “It was…weird. I don’t trust him one bit, but he was totally calm. I thought he’d get agitated or I’d have to yank information out of him, but he just talked like he was having a chat over coffee.”

“That usually indicates truth.”

“I know. That’s what bothers me.”

Reese shrugged. “You say he’s Medridge’s right-hand man?”

“Yeah. I dunno what his story is, but he’s been in the top ranks for years. By the time I got out, he’d already been settled in his position for a while.”

“He doesn’t look any older than you.”

“Eh. Not much. He’s just that good.”

“Well…let’s see what he has to say to me. Don’t go anywhere...”

…Garret flexed his wrists in the handcuffs, despising the way the felt. His ankles had also been shackled as an extra precaution due to Carson’s suggestion. He’d never felt more like a prisoner, which was incredibly unsettling. As Reese entered the room though, he looked up, but offered no emotion.

Reese folded his arms and stared down at their prisoner. “So what are you doing here, really?”

“I told Carson my intentions. There’s nothing more to say.”

Reese cocked his head. This guy…there seemed to be no cracks. No signs of weakness. No emotion at all. Carson had been right. “How can you expect us to believe that Medridge’s right-hand man wants out of the Agency? I’m sure you think we’re a bunch of idiots, but seriously…you think we’re that ignorant?”

Garret leaned back in his chair with boredom. “Your short-sightedness surprises me. How many officers do you have here that have come from the Agency? Five? Six? One of them your own niece. Yet you find it so hard to believe that one more wants out?”

“But you’re not just one more. You’re too high in the ranks to believe you’re willing to defect. There’s too much luxury in your position. What reason would you have for coming here, other than to destroy us from the inside out?”

Garret hadn’t known what he’d find here. He hadn’t known how he’d be treated or what he might have to do to gain anyone’s trust. He was in a foreign world here without anything to go on but the history of others who had found new lives here. Being at the mercy of the Elite was one of the few things that produced a feeling of fear. But his eyes remained hallow. His heart rate steady. No one would guess he feared the future if he could not convince them to trust him. “Let me prove my loyalty no longer lies with the Agency. Let me help find who’s in charge of Carson’s case. When that’s done, then tell me I haven’t changed sides.”

“Turning in a couple of your own is a small cost for bringing down the Elite.”

Quite suddenly, Garret was hit with a wave of nausea, and a bead of sweat trickled down his face. “Look…” He paused and took a deep breath. “I told Carson I’m coming down off drugs, and I wasn’t kidding. I can be an asset to the Elite, but you gotta help me get through this first. I can’t help til my head is clear.”

Reese hated to admit it, but Garret was looking more pale by the second. Whether he was lying about his intentions or not, it was obvious that he really was getting sick. Reese wanted to throw him in a cell, or better yet, call the police and have Garret taken to prison where he could rot for his involvement with the Agency. But something stopped him. It might prove to be his downfall, but his gut hadn’t been wrong yet. He moved back towards the intercom. “Hal, come get the prisoner and take him to the holding cell.”

Garret’s skin crawled. Was he going to end up behind bars? He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

Reese continued to speak. “And when you’re through, call Rick and get him down here. He’s gonna have a new patient for a few days.”

Despite another wave of nausea, Garret felt a small bit of relief. Maybe, just maybe this whole thing really would turn out alright in the end.