Chapter Nineteen

Zella Mills - Solaria Del Sur Library

Zella fisted the soap pump to give her hands a second lather up. She felt so dirty in public bathrooms.

Khloe grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands. Zella waited eagerly for her to explain why she had left the Eagle Intelligence Agency. “As you know,” Khloe said. “The United States has been engaged in a cold war with Xopren for years now. The two nations are competing for power and military supremacy.”

“Yeah,” Zella said. “It’s pathetic. Their actions put people’s lives in danger.”

“And sometimes, people lose their lives over pure greed,” Khloe said. Zella used one of the air dryers. Khloe waited until the loud, forceful rush of air stopped before she continued. “Here’s the truth, Z. The EIA assigned my team a top-secret task. We were to meet with a Xopren defector and negotiate terms that would give us Intel to prevent a terrorist attack. His name was Ivan, and he was prepared to tell us about a planned attack and a major cybercrime plot. I was leading the negotiation. In exchange for the Intel, he demanded immunity. He wanted us to help grant him a visa so he could escape the execution waiting for him in his homeland. His stipulation was that he wanted a home in Vegas, and a new identity to go along with it. He’d seen Vegas in movies and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Defectors don’t get to just choose where we put them. It took hours of chit-chat, but I got him to settle on a deal that would place him under witness protection in Maine. Sadly, higher-ups in EIA and COG had other ideas.”

Zella rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

“There’s a notorious narcotics pipeline in Oshela, Africa. Used to export guns, drugs, and other black-market goods. This pipeline was operated by Xopren forces, and it was a major source of their political funding. Ivan had direct knowledge of the Xopren operatives who handled this pipeline, and COG wanted him to give up this Intel. Ivan refused to rat out his former comrades. And so, they took him away from me and moved him to one of their torture facilities. Do you know what waterboarding is, Zel?”

Zella shrugged. “Beats me.”

“Waterboarding is when they pour water down your nose and throat, long enough that you’re on the brink of drowning,” Khloe continued. “COG was so desperate to steal that pipeline from Xopren that they tortured this poor man who just wanted to escape the doom and gloom of living in a military state. He desired a fresh start in the America that I love. The one where we’re free to choose the life we want. But COG took it too far and killed Ivan unintentionally because he wouldn’t give up his friends. They didn’t even give him a chance to change his mind before taking his life in such a savage way.” Khloe’s hands were shaking. She took a series of deep breaths to calm herself.

Zella thought about what she could do to comfort her. Should she pat her arm? I’m so bad at this social shit.

Khloe continued speaking. “I’ve witnessed more dirt during my time at the EIA. But that incident was the last straw for me. I was so invested in granting Ivan a new life, and they threw it away like it meant nothing. I’m all for American patriotism. But it doesn’t mean we have to treat foreigners like dregs.”

Zella nodded. “Well said.”

“When I returned to the office, I sent a formal complaint and threatened to be a whistleblower. They didn’t like that. They offered me a lump sum of hush money. That was the final straw for me. If I took that money, nothing would ever change. They’d keep thinking they could throw tax payer’s money around to solve problems like these, so I resigned on the spot.”

Zella composed her response carefully in her head before speaking. “I get it. I would have reacted the same way. It’s infuriating having them undo all of your work like that. And then, to think so little of a human is pure evil.”

“Right?”

“Did you ever hear anything after you left?” Zella asked. “Did they let you go just like that? Knowing them, I feel like they’d try to get back at you.”

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“Both EIA and COG are run by arrogant bigots who think they’re in control of the world, so to answer your question, yes, I was punished. They made it so no company in America would hire me again. I thought it was weird when even the postal office turned me down. My friend in the EIA confirmed to me I was professionally blacklisted. And the worst part of it is that a terror attack was attempted in Tampa. A suicide unit hijacked an airbus and planned to fly it into a theme park. Thankfully, the Air Force thwarted the attempt. But not without some casualties on the bus.”

“I remember that,” Zella said. “They killed a whole family on that bus. Even the kids weren’t safe.”

“We could have saved that family had it not been for COG and the EIA interfering in my negotiation, Z. That’s what hurts the most.”

The two of them were silent for a moment. Zella processed her story. Somehow, she felt closer to Khloe. These feelings were new to her. The only woman she’d ever been close to was Marina, who worked at her foster father’s lab. But she was at least twenty years older than Zella. She’d never had a female friend who could be also a peer. She couldn’t deny that it felt nice. It made her consider making an effort with Khloe. “Khloe,” she said.

Khloe hummed curiously at her. “Hmm?”

“I hope you know that I’m not trying to ruin you and Joe’s love.”

Khloe blinked at her.

Zella’s heart rate spiked. Shit! Maybe I shoulda kept my mouth shut.

Khloe suddenly burst out in laughter. “Jeez, that’s so forward, Zel.” She pressed her knuckle to her lips and giggled. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just funny how bluntly you speak.”

Zella’s brows rose. “Am I supposed to say stuff I don’t mean, or what?”

Khloe shook her head. “No. I’m just used to working in an industry where people communicate in doublespeak.”

“Doublespeak?”

Khloe nodded. “They purposely distort their words, and I have to decipher what they really mean.” She did something that caught Zella off guard and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I appreciate your honesty, Zel. I’ll be equally honest and say that I got jealous of how close you and Joe were suddenly. But after speaking with you, it sort of just feels like you’re misunderstood.”

“Is that a good thing?” Zella asked.

Khloe smiled back at her. “It just means we have to teach you social ethics. Joe is right. We need to take you out.”

It was something Joe had told her many times, and now it was coming from Khloe. Zella imagined the two of them pillow talking about her. She tapped Khloe on her shoulder in acknowledgment. “For now, how about we keep trying to catch our hacker?”

“How about we drive over to the Halal spot and grab some doner kebabs?” Khloe said. “Our phantom is in hiding; it will take some time to find them.”

“Sure, I could eat.”

*

Zella Mills – Library Car Park

Intuition was something Zella relied on. It guided her well throughout the years following Dr. Calloway’s death when she had no choice but to live independently. Thanks to his own paranoia, her foster father had taught her well. He’d taught her to feel the flow of the wind. To read the environment. To use all senses to form an assessment of the threat level.

That was how she could feel something coming their way as they made their way to their vehicle. There was a brief window between the sound of footsteps running up their lane and Khloe prompting Zella to watch out. Zella drew the pistol tucked into her waistband right as the offender reached her side.

She felt self-satisfaction with how sharp her reflexes were, but she kept her expression stiff to hide her smile. She needed to channel her inner nasty to let this girl know she was making a big mistake. “You’re messing with the wrong one, lady,” Zella said. She eyed the girl up and down. She wore a cream-colored sports tracksuit. Bangs obscured her forehead, with the rest of her hair being tied messily into a ponytail. She was shorter than Zella and had East Asia features. Her black-painted nails had chipped tips. The smoothness of her face showed she was possibly around Zella’s age. The girl threw her arms in the air while Zella had her gun aimed at her. “What do you want?” Zella asked. “Explain yourself.”

“I finally meet Zella Mills in the flesh,” the girl said. “Was that you who bugged the library?”

At last, it appeared they had found the hacker. Zella tightened her grip on the handle. “Why did you hack us?”

Khloe was shuffling around on the other side of the pickup truck, but Zella wasn’t ready to take her eyes off the hacker. The mistake of not looking ended up costing her.

“Drop the gun and follow us,” came a male’s voice. Zella turned her gun in the direction Khloe had been. A man was now holding Khloe to his chest and covering her mouth with one hand. The other hand held a gun against the side of her head.

“Let her go,” Zella snapped.

The hacker girl knocked down Zella’s pistol with an unexpected level of force. The pistol fell somewhere under the pickup truck. “Come with us, Zella,” said the girl. “This doesn’t have to end messily.”

She weighed up her options. She felt like she could take the girl out in a scuffle, but the man could be dangerous. It would be irresponsible of her to risk Khloe’s life while trying to save face. “Where?” Zella asked.

The man holding Khloe nodded across the car park to the section that had slots for air vehicles. There was a large air truck parked there. “We’re going inside the Errant,” he said. The Errant was a brand of air truck that came with a conference room built into its rear end. It struck Zella as odd that they’d have an Errant on standby. It meant that they were dealing with someone with a status or reputation.

The girl prompted Zella to follow her, while the guy walked behind them, holding Khloe by the arm. Without her gun, Zella was anxious. But she still had a couple of surprises tucked away if things went left in the Errant.