When Arena woke up, she was in her room at the compound. The room was dark. She rose and turned on the light, feeling rather groggy. Somehow she ended up in her pajamas. She tried to focus on the numbers of her clock, but they swam before her. She changed as quickly as she could without getting woozy, and went down to the commons, but everything was dark. It must have been the middle of the night. So she went back and knocked on Sterling’s door.
He opened the door wearing a navy robe, hair stuck up on one side. He didn’t look like he had been asleep, though. He reached out and caught her arm. “There was nothing you or I could have done. Nate and Lorna are professionals, and Celeste needs them for whatever she’s planning. We’ll get to them before that happens. They will be okay.”
Gently, he pulled her into his room and led her to a small sofa. “Do you want some tea? Peppermint or green?”
She shrugged. He went over to a coffeemaker, filled with water that must have been already warm. He handed her a cup of green tea. She sipped. It was expensive tea. He held a cup for himself, and sat down in the chair next to the sofa.
“You all gave me something to sleep?” She wanted to be mad, but her mind was too muddled.
He nodded. “Bertha thought you needed to rest. She did what she thought was best at the time. I don’t think I would have, but she said you were really upset. She brought you back and put you to bed.”
Arena’s heart ached. “Who is Celeste? Why did she want Nate? She was his boss, right?”
He nodded again. “Yes, she was the one who got him sent to the Misfits. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that we were up against someone who knew everything we were doing and all the CIA procedures. However, she didn’t claim to have the boards, and I think she was telling the truth.”
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“Celeste Baker was the former Assistant Director of Covert Operations.” He took a sip of tea. She mirrored him, thinking that maybe the caffeine would clear her head a little bit. “There’s not many people above her, which means that the list of people who could have ordered the hit on Nate’s asset was short.”
“It’s Yates, isn’t it?” Arena asked.
“I am honestly not sure,” said Sterling. “Yates is ambitious and ruthless. But he was also moved to Director after the incident with the asset, right ahead of Celeste. I don’t think there’s any love lost between them. There’s not many other people with that kind of power, though. Looks like we need to start chasing that trail.”
“How are we going to get them back?” Arena was starting to panic, but her head remained foggy. “How will we get them back--without them?”
“Listen to me, Arena,” he moved over to the couch, and took her hand. “We didn’t know what was going to happen, and she knew exactly who she was meeting. But her cover has slipped now, and she no longer has adequate access to the CIA files. She can’t surprise us again. Even if we have to get help, we will get them back. I promise you. I’m only glad she didn’t decide to just shoot all of you right there.”
Tears began to spill down her face again. She put the cup down on the side table, unable to drink any more, partly afraid she was going to spill it. He put his cup down and gripped her hand with both of his.
“They underestimate us,” he said, anger rising in his voice. “I’m betting she wants revenge on Nate, but I’m sure it’s also because she thinks that he’s the only one on our team who is really useful. I think she’s hoping to turn him, and maybe Lorna, and without them we can’t do anything about it.” He whispered vehemently. “She’s wrong.”
Slowly, he reached a hand up, and wiped some of the tears off her face. His hand was warm and gentle. Without really thinking about it, she put her head on his shoulder, and closed her eyes. She felt his hand brush some of the hair off her forehead. That’s the last thing she remembered before drifting back off to sleep.
