Chapter Twenty-Two

Helena stared at the monitors, yawning. The green hue of the night vision made Laura and Myers ghostly white. Watching them gave her a sense of power, but at the same time, it made prolonging her retribution harder. Suddenly, she realized they were moving away from where they were chained. Well, that didn’t take long. “Hey, it looks like they’re free.”

Alicia leaned over her right shoulder and smiled. “Perfect. Now the fun begins. I’ll go get Harding.”

“Why can’t we just shoot her and be done with it?” Annoyed, Helena turned away from the monitors in the rolling chair.

“Because this isn’t just about your revenge, or mine. It’s bigger than that, and you know it.” She spun back and walked toward Helena. “This is about that woman being the bane of not only our existence but a nuisance and a traitor to the S.I.U. Besides, Harding is not even the top dog anymore. I’m not even sure if he’s sanctioned to kill her.” Alicia patted Helena’s arm and walked back to the door. “Which means, we surely aren’t.”

Helena peered back at the monitor with disgust. Maybe an accident could occur, and Laura would just die. All this torture, as fun as it might be, was getting old. Helena had waited several years to make this day come true, and it could only have one ending—the funeral of Laura Black. Get on with it already.

Myers and Laura appeared to be scanning the room. Likely looking for weapons and a way out. Little did they know this ruse was just part of the plan. They think they are all smart, so why don’t they know that? “Good luck, guys. You’re going to need it,” Helena mocked.

Harding walked in and nudged her out of the way to get a better view of the monitor. “Have they found the exit yet?”

“No. They just got free from their bindings.”

He sat in the chair closest to the keyboard and hit a few buttons to change the camera setting. The two of them stood looking right into the new camera angle. Laura whispered something to Myers. He nodded and then boosted her up on his shoulders. She reached forward, her hand covering the lens, and then the feed turned to static.

“Well, we had to know that would happen,” Helena snickered.

“Of course.” Harding punched a few more keys, and another view came onto the monitor. “There.”

“Out of curiosity,” Helena leaned against the counter, “When are we going to kill them?”

Harding clicked a few more buttons, turning on a few more cameras, and responded dryly, “Never.”

Fire burned in her chest and cheeks. She stood with crossed arms. “What do you mean never?”

“Never. This is about conditioning them back into good soldiers. Laura was the best to ever serve at S.I.U., and Myers has proven his worth time and time again. So, the plan is to turn them back into loyal agents. I thought you understood that?” Harding turned to stare her in the eye, his tone filled with a strong warning. “No one will be killing them. You will not be killing them.”

It took every ounce of control for Helena to not scream and punch this guy in the face, to not reach for her gun and shoot this man where he sat. Anger blurred her vision, but using all she had learned here, she worked to control her breathing and any sign of physical emotion. The worst thing she could do was play her hand too early. Letting Harding know how she really felt would only end in her death. It was now evident Laura was his prize, and Helena was merely a puppet to bring her to him. One inclination that she planned to defy him, and Harding would settle it with a bullet to her brain. No hesitation. She had seen it before when someone disobeyed him. No, she would play along—for now. “Of course. What do we do next?”

“Keep watching them. This entire place was rigged by Gael. The man knows his torture. Gotta love him. Sleep deprivation. Hunger. Thirst. Fluctuating temperatures. Lights too bright, lights too dim, annoying sounds…you name it. In one week, they will be begging for us to end their lives. Instead, we will begin to build them back up.” Harding hit a key and a thermometer on the screen rose to 100 degrees. “We’ll start with making it extremely uncomfortable.”

Helena smiled. Though it wasn’t her preferred outcome, the continual torture of her enemy would be fun. However, the idea of Laura being her co-agent did not sit well. First chance to kill her in the field, Helena would take it. The only reason she had waited until now is because she always assumed it ended with Laura dying. That hope was now dashed. What she would give to go back to standing over Laura with that knife so long ago. It would have had a different outcome.

Alicia strutted in wearing a tight black dress and knee-high boots—hardly befitting a secret agent on duty. But then, the girl never followed protocol, not even in training. She spit, cussed, hit, and basically, gave every leader in this place a hard time. That was until they locked her in the pit for two weeks. She came out very ill, but with an entirely different attitude.

Harding drew Alicia to him and kissed her passionately on the lips.

Gross. Helena grimaced and turned away. Though he was only a few years older, it looked wrong. It felt wrong. Helena focused on the screen. Myers discovered another hidden camera, and for a moment, it seemed like he was looking at her. Helena’s heart leapt. Though she betrayed him, there were real feelings between them. But her hatred for Laura overpowered her love for Myers, and she had made her choice. Deep inside, she wondered if he would ever forgive her? Once he was broken, would he be hers again? She hoped that could happen. Her heart ached to hold him, to kiss him, to love him again.

His hand came near the lens and technical snow filled the screen.

“He found another camera.”

Harding turned from the lust in his arms and leaned to the monitor. He smelled like cigarettes and coffee. How could Alicia kiss that? Once again, gross. Harding clicked a few more keystrokes, and a bird’s eye view filled the screen. Brilliant. A camera in the ceiling. “How many of those do you have?”

“Enough.” He slapped her shoulder and turned back to Alicia. “I have to attend a meeting. Keep an eye on things, will you?”

“You bet. See you tonight.” Alicia winked.

Shaking her head, Helena turned back to the screen just in time to see Laura disappear into the ceiling. “She’s in the ducts.”

Alicia slipped into the chair next to hers. “We’ll see which ways she goes. Hot or cold?”

“Did you know all along Harding didn’t plan to kill her?”

Alicia shrugged. “I suppose. I know she’s his pet.”

“And that doesn’t bother you? I mean, you are dating the man.”

She traced the inside of her lips with her long fingernail and smiled. “We aren’t dating. That isn’t what this is.”

“Just answer the question.”

“I guess.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“Whatever happens, happens.”

Helena faced Alicia and stared at the girl she had spent the last few years getting to know. S.I.U. made them eat together, bunk together, basically do everything that didn’t include a toilet break together, for over a year. When they went into the field, they wanted the two of them to pass as sisters. That could only happen if they were super close to one another. It had worked. They bonded. But now, it was like that other girl didn’t exist. Never her true friend. Just passing time to be placed on the case. Who knew? “What has happened to you?”

“Nothing.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Nothing? When you and I first met, you were just as angry as me.” Helena could not believe how passive she was being. Incensed, she slid back in the chair and stood, pointing, her hand shaking. “She killed not only your father, but your entire family with that bomb. Do you not remember? Don’t you care anymore?” She shook her head and mocked, “Whatever happens, happens?”

Alicia folded her fist under her chin and leaned forward on the desk. “She didn’t kill my family.”

Helena faced her, legs apart, arms folded. “What?”

Alicia yawned before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a manicured nail. A small sardonic grin passed over her features. “This was never about us, but always about you. We knew if we fed that rage, you’d do the right thing. So, he put me in as your handler. The only way it worked is if I could identify with you.”

Helena could not fully comprehend what she was hearing. Was she merely a pawn to bring Laura in? Her legs wobbled. She stepped back and sat in a chair by the door.

Alicia didn’t seem to care she had just dropped a bomb; she just went back to the monitors.

“Did you ever care about me?” Helena squeaked.

“Sure.” Alicia glanced over her shoulder. “About as much as you cared about Laura’s team.”

Tears welled in Helena’s eyes. Why did that bother her so much? Probably because she felt betrayed and realized she didn’t have one friend in the world. The ones she had, she betrayed, and the one she thought she still had betrayed her. This was getting worse.