HUNKERED BEHIND THE piled dead bodies, Seeley took out three more agents, trying to give the girls as much time as possible to get away. He knew there was no way he was following them. There had never been a chance they would all make it out alive. He’d known that from the start. All that mattered was that Zoe and Lucy survived.
They could start over, go somewhere new, be different people. Zoe would take care of them.
He’d made his peace. Had McCoy? he wondered as he glanced down at the young man’s still body. He’d given his life for something he believed in. Was there a more dignified way to die? Seeley thought he’d be better for having known McCoy. He wished he’d had the chance to tell him that.
The hall filled with a dozen agents, and Seeley ran out of ammunition. He tossed his weapons to the side and slowly stood, hands raised, expecting to be shot on sight. But he wasn’t. He was taken into custody as a group scurried into the small ventilation shaft after the girls.
They led him out of the secure level, back up onto the main prison floor, and tossed him into a cell. He could only imagine what was coming next, but he was sure it would be painful and drawn out. He sat in the room, which was void except for the standard stone bench, for a span of time he couldn’t measure. It gave him time to contemplate all that had happened.
He hoped the girls had gotten away. He hoped McCoy’s sacrifice had been for something. He wondered if assisting had given him any goodness. He knew he’d never see the light of day again, but maybe he’d earned something back. Something he’d given away long ago. Cami would never know the truth, but if she did, would she be proud?
The door creaked open, and four uniformed agents armed to the teeth entered, Director Hammon accompanying them. Seeley didn’t stand as they filled the room, and a moment of silence held them all as each waited to see what the other might do first.
Hammon tucked his hands into the front pockets of his suit pants and sighed. “I didn’t see this coming, Tom. I don’t surprise easy.”
Seeley held Hammon’s gaze and said nothing.
“We shouldn’t be sitting here,” Hammon said. “So why are we?”
Again Seeley kept his mouth shut.
Again Hammon sighed. Another beat of silence surrounded the space.
“We know where the data chip is that Olivia hid. Number Nine gave up the location hours before you tried to break her out. You were too late.”
“What did you do to her?” Seeley said, recalling the way Lucy had responded to her number but not her name.
“I fixed her,” Hammon said.
“You destroyed her.”
“I returned her to the state she was created for. I removed the false identity given to her by Olivia. You should be congratulating me.”
“Did you come here just to share the good news?”
“Unfortunately, no. Honestly, I would like nothing more than to put a bullet between your eyes, but I still need you.”
Seeley gave the director a curious stare.
“Number Nine escaped.”
Seeley didn’t even try to hide his pleasure.
“I need you to bring her back,” Hammon said.
“Why? You have the information you need. Burn it and this will all be over.”
“You’re an incredible agent, Tom, but ignorant when it comes to the politics behind the curtain. Nothing that could turn a profit is ever over. Number Nine’s journey with Miss Johnson has piqued interest with the powers that be, and now a powerful asset they paid for is loose. Not to mention a walking catalogue of all the things that happened here. Number Nine must be recovered.”
“And Zoe?” Seeley asked.
“I suspect she’s the reason you are sitting in this room, no?” Hammon questioned.
Seeley didn’t respond.
“Love is an unfortunate characteristic of humanity that can’t be erased, even from the darkest of souls. That’s something my father used to say. And it is the greatest complication I’ve encountered in our line of work.”
Love was a strong word, Seeley thought. He did care for Zoe; he had risked his career and life to help her and Lucy escape. But to be accused of loving her? Would he have risked so much for less than love? The idea dug into his brain and planted a small seed.
“I doubt she’ll still be alive when you find Number Nine, but if she is, she will need to be disposed of. She is a very loose end.”
“What does that mean?”
“Number Nine is not the same girl she was when you left.”
Seeley thought about the way Lucy had nearly plunged a knife through Zoe’s chest and the implications of that. He’d watched Lucy lead Zoe away. She’d followed his orders to get Zoe out to safety. Whose orders was she following now?
“So send a team after her. By your own admission she is following orders,” Seeley said. But he could see the doubt playing in Hammon’s eyes. They weren’t sure they could control her. Because even after all they’d done, she’d still helped Zoe escape. Again Seeley couldn’t hide his pleasure.
“We’ve lost too many good men already, and Number Nine trusts you. Zoe believes you’re a good guy. You can infiltrate them with ease, without risking countless more bodies.”
“Why would I help you?” Seeley asked.
“You wouldn’t by choice,” Hammon said. He turned to one of the agents standing by and held out his hand. The agent placed a thin tablet in his palm.
Hammon turned the tablet around so Seeley could see the images. His heart sank into his gut, and fury matched with fear rose up like a wave through his chest. A black-and-white video feed of Cami and his mother danced before him. They were at the grocery store, filling the cart with items, laughing as Cami grabbed an armful of something sweet and tossed it in the cart. His mother shook her head and returned the items to the shelf.
“This is a live surveillance stream that I had set up on Cami this morning. A team assigned to follow her and your mother so I have eyes on them at all times. At their home, at her school, when she’s with her friends.”
Seeley couldn’t tear his eyes away from the video. The intent was clear without Hammon needing to explain more, but he continued for the cruelty of it.
“Accidents happen to unassuming people all the time. Your daughter is bright, I hear, gets good grades, has good friends. I’d hate to see something terrible happen to her.”
Seeley snapped. He launched himself across the room at Hammon, who anticipated his reaction and stepped back. Seeley came face-to-face with several raised rifle ends aimed directly at him. He halted, hate dripping from his expression as he bored into Hammon with an unbreakable stare.
“If you lay a hand on her . . .” Seeley growled.
“I won’t, as long as you return the property of this government and eliminate Zoe Johnson,” Hammon said.
Seeley stood, chest heaving, anger running through his veins like blood. Hammon took a step forward, but Seeley knew better than to move. He still had weapons packed with bullets aimed at his head.
“Make no mistake, Tom,” Hammon started, “you will never see your daughter again. After returning Number Nine, you will spend the rest of your life in a top-security prison for your treason against the state and the murder of eight agents. Your daughter will live, graduate high school, go to college, get a good job, have a full life. But if you fail, or if you try anything other than executing your orders precisely, she will die. And you will live the rest of your life knowing you were the one that pulled the trigger.”
Seeley balled his hands into fists to stop the vibration under his flesh.
Hammon took another step so that he was only inches from Seeley’s face. “Are we clear, Agent?”
Seeley glanced back toward the sweet image of his little girl helping her grandmother load groceries into the trunk of their car and knew there was only one path forward. He looked back up at Hammon. “Yes, sir.”
Hammon snapped the tablet shut. “Good.” He turned to leave, talking over his shoulder. “You have twenty-four hours, not a second more.”
Two of the four agents escorted Seeley from his cell. His mind stumbled over the misery of his situation, anger still pulsing with each beat of his heart.
They led him up to the main floor, where he was instructed to clean up. They gave him money, a weapon, and keys to a vehicle. Surrounded by armed guards at each turn, he avoided the eyes that followed him as he moved throughout the building and shut out their whispers of disapproval. He was a rogue agent now, and there was no coming back from this fall.
The agents led Seeley outside, the cold winter air and bright sunlight a shock after being held in a dark cage. Twenty-four hours. Where was he supposed to start?
“Any idea which way Lucy and Zoe were headed?” Seeley asked those walking him to the vehicle.
Without looking at him, one answered, “A Jeep registered to Dave McCoy was last spotted crossing state lines into Tennessee.”
Tennessee, Seeley thought as he opened the driver’s door and climbed inside. An idea dropped into his mind, and a theory started to take form. If he was wrong, he’d waste an entire day’s travel. So he couldn’t be wrong. He fired the car to life and pulled away from the Xerox campus.
He wished they’d just shot him dead.