ADA

CHIEF ALIANA WRIGHT looked up, her stony expression not wavering as we sat in the uncomfortable wooden chairs in front of the desk. She wore a red suit that complimented her brown skin, and her eyes narrowed at Carter's shirt. He flushed and crossed his arms, trying to hide the stain.

I owed everything to Aliana- she took me under her wing and offered me a job at the Agency during a tough time. A memory broke to the surface, and I shoved it down, my hands curling into fists. Now is not the time to dwell on the past.

"Unfortunately, I have some distressing news for you, Jay and Ada." Chief's expression softened and smoothed into something more... sympathetic? It was unusual for her to address us by our first name.

"Well, that sounds cheery," Carter mumbled. I kicked him in the shins. He retaliated, and we became locked in a strange kicking contest.

"Children, stop it!" Aliana reprimanded. She clasped her hands together before resting them on the desk.

"She started it," Carter grumbled.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Aliana raised her voice. Pressing her fingers to her temple, she continued. "This is what mothers must feel like."

"So, what is the news you wanted to tell us?" I asked as I kicked Carter one last time, ignoring his glare burning holes in the side of my head.

"It's about Special Agent Ezra Grey," Wright said, her lips curved down and pursed together.

My breath hitched, and Carter tensed next to me. Ezra was the first friend I made at the Agency, and he went on a top-secret mission three months ago. I was always worried about him- to the extent that I would suck up my pride to ask Carter if he'd reached out. The answer was never what I hoped it to be.

"Is- uh, is he okay?" I asked, my voice small and scared, betraying the tornado of emotions in my heart. My right knee bounced up and down and Carter mimicked the movement, his fingers locked together in a tight embrace.

"We discovered that Grey had dropped off the map three days ago."

"But it's not unusual for Agents to disappear briefly," Carter interrupted, colour draining from his face.

I understood he wanted to cling onto the last sliver of hope that everything was okay, and everyone else was simply overreacting- an expression I'd seen mirrored in those with missing relatives.

"He's right," I whispered. Damn, never thought I'd ever say those words. "Agents, uh, go missing all the time. What's- what's really wrong?"

"While that is true," Chief Wright conceded. "It was the events succeeding the disappearance that was the cause of concern." She levelled my gaze. "Special Agent Grey's Analyst was found dead in his apartment last night- stuffed in a chest freezer. His throat had been slit, and judging by the marks on his body, he evidently put up a good fight."

I sucked in a sharp breath while Carter swore under his breath, my heart pounding in my chest like it was trying to escape from my body. I knew the Analyst the Chief was talking about. He was damn good at his job, and it pained me to add yet another ghost to my graveyard.

Analysts were responsible for the logistics- finding the best routes, gathering data and so on- while Agents stormed into the room and did the more active side of the missions. Think of the Analysts as the brain and the Agents as the brawn. A dead or captured Analyst could be detrimental to the Agent.

In situations like this- which were incredibly rare- the Agent would be called back to HQ, and a new team would be assigned to the same mission. But this would only happen after the original Agent was called back.

I was confused as to why Carter and I were called in. Perhaps it's because Ezra is our friend?

"That's not all." Aliana continued, sounding almost... scared? "Upon further examination and a thorough post-mortem, it was discovered that the Analyst had died two months ago."

"What?" I croaked, my throat dried up like a desert and I gripped the edge of my shirt. "Someone else had- no. That's- no, that's impossible."

"Clearly not," Aliana said with a twitch of her eye. She opened the desk drawer, pulled out a beige file, and slid it over to me. "Fortunately, we have a lead suspect."

I caught it seconds before it went over the edge and spun it round to read the title. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. "What the hell?"

Carter tilted his head and looked at the name- my name. An impetuous snort escaped his lips and humour flooded his tone. "Damn, Wilson... didn't know you were a criminal."

"Shut up!" I scowled and looked at Aliana studying us with an amused but exhausted glare. "Chief... c'mon! You can't- you can't believe that I could–"

"And why not?" Chief raised an eyebrow. "Why should I believe you? The evidence is in there."

For a second, I could feel nothing but fear. Pure, unfiltered fear. It coursed through my veins, turning my blood into burning ice. A single thought played in a loop pierced through the haze. If Aliana doesn't believe me, who the hell will?

But then I saw the glint in her eyes and the subtle twitch in her lips, and realised she was testing me. She believed me, but wanted to see how I would respond. I needed to be strong if I wanted any chance of surviving the cut-throat questioning of the other Chiefs.

Strengthening my resolve, I let my shoulders drop as a demure smile crept over my lips. "Why am I being accused?"

"After the Analyst was discovered, Chief Caddel ordered a thorough search of everyone's bank accounts. We wanted to see if somebody had received a large payment or if they had some illegal or secret offshore account." Aliana explained. "We discovered a secret account with shockingly large amounts of money deposited bimonthly. This would not garner our suspicions, but Chief Caddel wanted to follow the money trail. Every cent in that account was obtained illegally in your name."

"That's- that's not my account!" I spluttered, flicking through the pages in the file. My eyes bugged out of my head when I saw the amount of money. "What the hell?"

Carter leaned over and let out an incredulous bark of laughter, blue eyes alight with amusement. "Damn Wilson! If you had this much money, why are you always riding that broken bike?"

"Zip it, Carter!" I hissed, shoving him back. "I am not a criminal!"

"The evidence suggests otherwise!" he cried out, clutching his chest in mock shock. Oh, he was enjoying this way too much.

"What about you, Special Agent Carter?" Aliana asked, turning her sharp gaze on him.

"Uhhh..." Carter looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. "What do you mean?"

"Do you believe Ada?"

I waited for Carter to launch into a lengthy rant about how guilty I was and how much he hated me. I waited for his jibes and remarks, perhaps adding little embellishments to his tales of woe in order to make me sound like a big criminal. I closed my eyes and sank into my seat.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do believe her."

My eyes flew open, and I stared at him. "You what now?"

Carter shrugged. "Wilson is annoying. Uptight. Snobbish. And very, very violent–"

"Hey!–"

"–but I find it hard to believe that she would put Ezra's life in danger. Besides, what's her motive?" He leaned forwards. "I hardly think it's for money. Just this morning, I nearly killed her while she was riding her bicycle–"

"You what now?" Aliana's eyebrows shot up and nearly disappeared into her hairline. Then she waved her hand and shook her head. "Actually, I don't want to know."

"–and I don't believe she would be cycling to work if she had the money! And-and why would she come to the Agency each day- a place where we are paid to catch criminals? It seems stupid and not completely like her." Carter finished, leaving me gobsmacked.

Just when I thought, huh... Carter's not as bad as I thought, the big idiot had to ruin it by adding: "Besides, villains have to be street-smart and organised. And well..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, deeply regretting not strangling him in the elevator when I had the chance.

"Oh no, no, no!" Aliana shook her head and Carter off. "I cannot listen to another one of your arguments. Right now, the only people who believe Ada are in this room. You have to move fast. I've managed to hold off the Chiefs for now. They want to question you tomorrow at zero six hundred hours. But I know Chief Caddel will want to barrel through it like a drunken buffalo and arrest you at the first chance he gets."

"So what do we do?" Carter questioned, and I was glad he did so. I was too overwhelmed to speak or do anything stare at the incriminating file in front of me.

Aliana pulled out a white envelope. "You both need to get out of the country- go to El Salvador. That's where Special Agent Grey's last location was. Not now, though- that looks suspicious. Carry on your day as normal and, after the interrogation, meet me at the Agency- no one will be here, so it's much safer. No matter what the outcome of the interrogation is, there's no way Haddel will let Ada go.

"I have emailed you both the flight tickets and case files. Once you're off English soil, I can simply say that I sent my top Agent and Analyst on a sensitive and difficult case. Do not tell anyone about this talk." She leaned back in her chair, resting her interlocked fingers on her lap. "Now go. And remember what I said."

So much for staying under the radar. I thought miserably, mumbling a quiet 'thanks' to Aliana as Carter and I exited the room.

"Damn." Carter breathed out, running a hand through his hair and messing it up. "So, should I pick you up at yours at zero three hundred?"

I shook my head. "No, that's fine. I'll meet you at your house and we can plan there." I walked away, feeling I'd aged a hundred years in the arc of a few minutes. 

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