"The chains are broken
but are you truly free?"
C H A P T E R 1 8
L U C I A N A
The recruits had wide smiles across their faces and were looking at me expectantly. I hastily looked away and turned to David. "Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?"
"By all means, Luciana." he said and lead the way to the door.
I shut the door behind me and almost yelled at David. "What the hell was that?!"
"Just one of the new recruitment rules." he said with a shrug.
"When were these 'new recruitment' rules made, might I ask?" I said through my teeth.
"A few days back."
"And you're cool with it? Letting the newbies go on missions?"
"I understand this might be a little hard for you to process, but this decision was taken collectively and I didn't have much of a say in it."
"Of course you have a say in it! You are the head of the organization for god's sake!"
"Not this time, Luciana."
"Okay fine! But why do they have to go on missions with me? Why not someone else, like Nathan or Alex?"
"Because it is you who is their head trainer, not them." he said, looking pointedly at me.
I took my head in my hands and groaned.
I can't take them on missions!
What if the person was already dead before I got there, again? I could not get them to lie to David and I would also have to come clean about Karl!
But I can't show any signs of panic.
I took a deep breath and said. "By when do I have to have the names of the top two recruits?"
"Tomorrow would be good."
I gave him a look. "Tomorrow? You're kidding right?"
"I am completely serious, Luciana."
He really needs to stop saying my name like that!
"The names will be on your table by tomorrow morning."
I stormed back into the training room and head straight to the table with the water bottles. Picking one up, I unscrewed it's lid and threw it down, gulping the entire bottle down in one shot.
Alex ran up to me and I caught Nathan looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
Guess he was still mad at me.
How was I going to tell him that Amber knows about Karl Summit?
"Hey Luce! What happened with Marcello out there?" Alex asked looking concerned.
"It's nothing Alex." I said, not looking up at him.
"Hey, come on, talk to me." he said, taking my hand in his.
"I can't, Alex, I'm sorry but I can't." I turned away from him.
He caught my hand and turned me around, making me look at him. "It's okay, I understand."
It's okay, I understand. I love you.
Rachel's voice rang through my head. He sounded so much like his sister.
I gave him a small nod and removed my hand from his.
Nathan saw this and turned away but I was walking right toward him. I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.
"I need to talk to you." I said, still griping his shoulder.
"I don't want to talk to you." He started to turn around but I didn't budge.
"Now, Nathan." I said, looking at him intensely, hoping to convey the seriousness of the matter.
"Fine, let's go out."
We walked back to the place David and I talked. He shut the door behind him and waited for me to start.
"So, Amber knows." I started slowly.
"Amber knows what exactly?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"That Karl Summit was dead before I shot him." I mumbled, playing with my wrist watch.
It was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "Did you tell her?"
I glanced at him and saw him glaring at the floor.
"What? No! I promised you that I won't tell anyone! She found out when she was going through the police reports."
"Oh, okay." he said, still looking at the floor but not glaring at it.
"I can't believe you thought I would tell her." I shook my head disbelievingly.
Scoffing, I pushed past him to get to the training room.
He tried to say something but then gave up and went back to staring at the ground.
"You should know I would never break a promise to you."
And then I slammed the door in his face.
~~~~~~~~~~
I was sitting on the bed and writing down the names of the recruits, alongside their strengths and weaknesses.
Cole, Thea and Aaron are my top three.
Thea was at the top and Cole and Aaron were tied for the second position.
Cole was good in physical combat but Aaron was better than him in shooting. Cole could shoot but not as good as Aaron.
I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note to David.
I still had time until morning but I usually liked to finish whatever work I had before reaching the deadline.
Thea Miller is in the first place.
The second position is tied between Aaron Kendall and Cole-
I stopped writing. What was Cole's last name?
Oh right, Cole Grant.
Why did that name sound so familiar?
Grant
Where had I heard a Grant before?
I closed my eyes and thought hard.
Spencer Grant.
A successful businessman, deceased wife and two children.
One of my missions.
Was he Cole's father?
No, it couldn't be. Cole's file would have mentioned it if he had any siblings.
I completed the note and got up to find someone who could take it to David.
I opened the door to see if anyone was out. I saw a person with familiar looking blonde hair coming from the direction of Miranda's room.
"Hey, Angela! Here!" I called out for her.
She turned around to see who called her and caught my eye so I waved her over.
"Hello." she said, looking anywhere other than me.
I handed the note to her. "Please, take this to David for me."
She nodded, putting it in her pocket and walking away.
That was weird.
Was everyone acting weird or was there something wrong with me?
Shrugging, I went back into the room at shut the door, ready to get to bed. But, I noticed something peeking out from underneath the trash can.
I pulled it out and saw that it was a piece of paper. I unfolded it and read what was written inside.
Don't believe everything you hear.
Don't trust everyone you know.
Even the walls have ears.
Where did this come from?
Still trying to figure out what the note meant, I sat down and looked at the note again.
How did this even get here?
I heard a knock at the door and roughly shoved the note into my back pocket. I made my way to the door and open it to see Alex raising his hand, ready to knock again.
"What is it Alex?" I asked.
"They arrested Miranda."