The Hidden Two

by Kimberlee R. Mendoza

  Laura slid up next to him. “Then why did she lie to us?”

  “Did she?”

  That thought rolled around in her head over and over. Did she? Was not sharing information the same as lying? S.I.U. would instantly have an affirmative answer to that notion. It was hard for Laura to trust anyone, anyway; things like this got under her skin quickly, distorting any rational thoughts.

  The sound of morning birds cooed in the distance reminding her it was late, or should she say early? She needed to sleep. Closing her eyes, she folded under Bryce’s arm, into his chest, and tried to still her breathing.

  He combed a hand through her short hair. “I don’t think she lied to us. Maybe kept that from us, but can you really blame her? I say we give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s been like family.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” She nodded toward the light on the nightstand. “We can sleep now.”

  “But you woke me up.”

  “So?”

  A knowing grin slid across his lips.

  She shook her head and laughed. “You know we need to sleep.”

  “Yes, eventually.” He reached out and began to tickle her.

  Someone knocked on the door. Both stopped and sat up.

  “Yeah?” Laura said.

  The door swung open, revealing a distraught Teddy. “Willow is gone.”

  “What do you mean gone?” Laura was instantly on her feet, moving toward him.

  Teddy backed into the hall and flipped on the light. “I mean, she was on the couch with us. I put her in her bed, covered her up. The pillow still has the indentation, and the covers are rumpled. She’s just not there, and I’ve looked everywhere.”

  Laura started for Willow’s room. Her first instinct was to check the closet. It didn’t look disturbed. Her duffle lay on the floor, untouched. All the hangers were still filled. Bryce came behind her and opened the drawers. Full. Both of them glanced at each other.

  “I’m not sure what is happening, but we need to look for her.” Bryce glanced at Teddy. “Wake the house. We’ll check the neighborhood, airport, bus station. Maybe she got spooked by our conversation.”

  “What if we found her out and—” Laura started.

  Bryce shook his head. “No, we’re not starting there. She is family. Until I know for sure she has burned us, we will assume she is on our side.”

  She nodded. Though she ran the team, he was still her husband. Many would be surprised how she honored that. It probably wasn’t easy being married to such a strong woman. “Okay. Let’s get everyone up. Bryce is right. We need to start a search.”

  ****

  After looking for Willow all night, Laura was only able to sleep for a few hours. Every fiber of her body desired more rest, but memories of being betrayed by so many people over the last few years plagued her. Finding Willow wasn’t just about retrieving a family member, it was about protecting their position. What if Willow really was a spy and told someone where her team was? Could her absence mean trouble for them all? It almost always did. Laura would not lose another family member to S.I.U. or any other organization. If she had to kill one of her own to protect the rest of them, she would. But that, in and of itself, hurt her heart. She loved them all. Even if Willow betrayed them, she cared about her. S.I.U. had always discouraged relationships of any kind for that very reason. It often blinded people from doing what must be done.

  Laura slid her second boot on and tied the laces. A yawn escaped just as Bryce exited the bathroom. He cupped both hands over his newly shaved head and sat on the edge of the bed. His half-mast eyelids and dark circles said he, too, was wiped out. He maybe slept an hour more than her, but that wasn’t much.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded. “I’m just worried.”

  “That she’s okay or that she’s betraying us?”

  He nodded again. “Yeah.”

  Laura reached in the side drawer by the bed and withdrew her gun. She checked the chamber and safety before shoving it into a shoulder holster. “We have to go back out. You ready?”

  “Yeah, one second. I’ll meet you in a moment.” He grabbed his boots as she exited into the living room.

  The smell of coffee lingered in the air. Teddy met her with a mug and a cranberry orange scone. “Good morning, our fearless leader. Did you get any sleep? I know the answer is no, and therefore, I have made homemade scones. Well, sort of homemade. They came in a box, and I added water. But still baked with love.”

  “Do you know how much I love you, Teddy? You are always my ray of sunshine in a very dark world.”

  A slight tint of red lined his cheeks. “Thanks.”

  “How did you end up so—” She paused, glancing at Deshawn, who sat at the table nursing a cup of coffee, before finishing her statement. “Happy.”

  “I come from a very dark background. I had to make a decision years ago. I figured I would learn to rise above it and not let it have me.” He placed the plated scone and a cup of coffee on the counter and motioned for her to sit. “Two creams and one sweetener, the way you like it.”

  Laura smiled and slid onto the stool.

  Helena entered yawning. “Something smells good.”

  “Teddy made scones.”

  “I love you, Teddy.”

  Another red-faced smile lit up his features. “If I knew I would get this much love, I might have made these months ago.” He grabbed a spatula and plated another scone for Helena. “Coffee?”

  “Yes, please. I hope it’s strong. That was a long night.” She rubbed hands over eyes and yawned again. “Myers is still gone. Are Charlie and Eri back yet?”

  “I’m not sure. They said they’d keep looking, and we could take shifts.” Laura lifted the light pastry to her mouth and nibbled a soft bite. “This is good.”

  “Where do you suppose she is?” Helena asked, as she reached for the creamer at the end of the counter.

  “I wish I knew. I know she revealed something pretty significant last night, but I didn’t think we were mean to her, were we?” Laura glanced at Teddy, as he knew Willow best and was also good at gauging situations when it came to emotions. Not something Laura had mastered.

  “Um,” he shrugged, “she seemed okay. I mean, she obviously knew it wasn’t the best conversation, but didn’t act like she would bolt.”

  “Where would she go?” Laura took a sip of her coffee. The dark aroma woke her senses. If only it could give her wisdom too.

  Bryce entered and smiled. “Hey, Teddy, I will take whatever it is you’re serving up.”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Spidey senses.”

  Laura laughed. “What he means is a snout for sweet stuff. Teddy made—”

  Charlie and Eri staggered in from outside. Their faces revealed the answer, even before she asked, “Any luck?”

  Charlie pinched his lips together and glanced at Myers.

  “She didn’t leave, Laura.” Myers held up a clump of red hair. “She was taken.”

  Chapter Three

  Willow worked to open her eyes. They felt so heavy. Groggily, she peeked through her lids. Where am I? She couldn’t see much. Some sort of material covered one eye, but the other one slightly peered around the edge. The room lay dark, but thanks to some light seeping through the cracks in the walls, she was able to make out several forms. From the smells and shapes, she guessed it to be a laundry room.

  Clumps of material lay all around her and what looked to be a washing machine and dryer were to her right. The sweet smell of laundry detergent made up for a foul odor of mildew and rust. Above, the sounds of scuffling noises and the creaking of old floorboards, combined with the occasional muffled sounds of people talking, set the tone. From what she could tell, it seemed like two people were there.

  How did I get here? The last thing she remembered was going to sleep on the couch, watching a movie with Teddy, Myers, and Helena. She squeezed her eyes tight and worked to still her breath. Her mentor, Laura, had taught her to alw
ays do a self-assessment of the situation.

  The back of her neck stung a bit. Chances are they drugged her. Her ankles appeared to be secured by duct tape, and her wrists were bound behind a pole by some type of cuffs. She wiggled, seeing if either would give way. No such luck.

  She tried to envision what different people from her team would do. Teddy would keep it lighthearted. Visions of him prattling on made her grin. Laura would say, “Survive. Fight back.” That was all Laura knew how to do. That gave Willow a purpose, a sense of confidence. She aspired to be that great some day. Often, she had asked her mentor for lessons. Even though Willow was a full-fledged agent, something she had been afraid to tell Laura, she still had a lot to learn. Part of the reason she was locked up at S.I.U. was for making so many silly mistakes. This time, she couldn’t afford to be stupid. Remembering her training and being fully aware could save her life.

  Above, the scuffling moved across the floor, and then, a door opened at the top. A shaft of light marked some stairs. “Should I take her water?” a woman asked with a thick country accent. Something about it sounded off. Forced even.

  “We want her alive, don’t we?” a man replied with a matched southern charm. “Here, hurry and take this to her.”

  Willow closed her eyes and allowed herself to go limp.

  The woman’s footsteps rattled the steps, and then, she was by her side. “She’s not awake yet.”

  “Well, wake her. We have to get going.”

  The woman yanked hard on the rag around Willow’s face and shoved her head up. The outline indicated the woman wore a ski mask. That was good. Maybe their plan wasn’t to kill her after all. If she couldn’t identify her captors, there was always hope of being freed later on.

  “Drink this.” The woman put the bottle to Willow’s lips. She drank as much as she could, most of it dribbling down her chin.

  “Why am I here?” Willow asked, once the bottle was pulled away.

  The woman didn’t answer but clicked out a knife and cut the duct tape from Willow’s ankles. She walked around the pole and unlocked the cuffs. Willow clenched her fist and was just about to punch, when she heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked at the top of the stairwell.

  “Just in case you have any stupid ideas,” the man said.

  Willow nodded. She would wait.

  “Let’s go.” The woman pushed her forward.

  The steps had rot, creaking with every step. The outside light at the top of the stairs burned her eyes. The silhouette of a man with a rifle made her pause, but the woman nudged her up and out the door. Willow glanced around, confused. It looked like suburbia. The house was nicely decorated in contemporary blues and grays. Family pictures decorated the walls, several candles burned around the room, leaving a vanilla fragrance, and a beautiful ornate rug lay at her feet. Where am I?

  The man adjusted her blindfold, and the room became dark. First, she heard what sounded like the pulling of duct tape, and then, she felt it being wound around her hands. A moment later, one of them pushed her down onto the couch that had been to her right and wound the tape around her ankles again.

  “Is she secure?” the woman asked.

  He touched the blindfold. “Yeah, good.”

  “Oh, it feels good to take that thing off,” the woman said, and then, something soft hit Willow’s arm. She assumed it must have been the ski mask.

  The two began to speak in muffled whispers a few feet away. Willow exhaled slowly and tried to still her breathing, concentrating on their tones, hoping to understand by using all her senses. The country accents were now gone. “This will never work if they don’t know we took her,” the woman whispered. There was something familiar about her voice. “You know everything rides on that one idea.”

  “Trust me. I left a wad of her hair in the bush by the door. If they are as good as the boss, and you say they are, they’ll find it. No problem.”

  “Are we ready when they get here?”

  “Despite what I’ve told you, you still haven’t told me why they would even come here? It doesn’t mean anything.”

  The woman laughed and said in a regular tone, “Because I have left my own clues, my incompetent friend.”

  “Do not insult me. You know I’m a higher rank.”

  Rank? S.I.U.? Willow tried to sit up, though difficult without the use of her hands and feet.

  “Are you sure we want to keep her in here and not in the basement?” he asked. “It seems more—”

  “Trust me, you want her close until they are ready up there, just in case her people show up.”

  Somebody dropped down next to her. Wind whipped by her face. Likely, they were checking out if she could see. “It is pathetic really.” The country accent had returned. “All this time, they have been running from S.I.U. Killing and locking up anyone who had any affiliation with the agency, and yet, two of the agent’s operatives were right under their noses the entire time.” The woman grabbed Willow’s chin. “Isn’t that right Agent Willow Briggs? A traitor to her oath and people.”

  Willow’s heart rate increased. Somehow this woman knew her. And though she was trying to disguise her voice, Willow was sure she knew the woman, too. She just had to concentrate, to remember. It was always hard to discern things with a blindfold on. But the agency had taught her to focus in on key elements. She could do this. Figure it out. She just had to keep her talking. “What do you want from me?”

  “In all honesty, I want you to die for my cause.”

  “And what cause is that?”

  The woman stood and moved away from her. “For all of you to die. That is my cause. Pretty powerful, no?”

  “All of whom?”

  There was some whispering and a slight pause before she answered, “Your hypothetical family, of course.”

  “Did we wrong you in some way?”

  The room grew quiet. Neither male nor female spoke. Did someone motion the other out? Had Willow pressed too much? She listened, hard. A slight creak could be heard a few yards away, and then, a door closed. Was she alone?

  Assuming she might be, Willow leaned her head down to the side of the couch. What felt like a pillow scratched her cheek. She rubbed her head against it, trying to hook the blindfold. It took a few tries, but eventually, it worked, and the cloth fell down around her neck. The room was empty.

  Willow peered around. What could she use? A burning candle sat to her left on a table. This would likely hurt, but she had to try. She scooted to the end of the couch, then hopped up on the end table and held her binding over the flame. Heat and then pain shot through wrists. She bore down, not wanting to scream, trying to block out the sting. The smell of burning hair and plastic wafted to her nose. It started to loosen. It was working. The door opened. Her eyes went wide. Willow snapped the wristband, ready to fight. She looked up and met her male captor’s gaze. Her heart sank.

  Chapter Four

  Teddy paced behind the kitchen counter, not happy with any of the answers their crew had. Why weren’t they doing something? Anything? All this speculation was making his head hurt. Usually, he was the one spreading optimism, but he didn’t feel much joy right now. Whether anyone knew it or not, Willow meant something to him. They had been in this together from the moment of their rescue last year. They jokingly called themselves the odd men out. Not that they were ever treated that way, but it gave them a bond. Truth be told, for a while, he even had a crush on her. Kind of silly since she was completely out of his league and a few years older. But they were friends, and he wanted her back.

  “We’re wasting time!” Teddy slapped the counter.

  Everyone stopped talking, eyes wide, and stared his way, obviously not used to that behavior coming from him.

  Eri touched his hand. “I know it feels that way, but we don’t know where she is, and until we do—”

  “I’ve got something.” Charlie looked up from his laptop. The group huddled around to see the screen. In front of them was a satellite map. He fingered a se
t of roads. “I have the vehicle driving west on Pepper Lane, turning right here on Amistad, and then going left in this neighborhood just past Orange.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Charlie nodded.

  “Okay then. Everyone load up.” Laura grabbed a rifle bag from the counter. “We don’t know how long they’ll be there.”

  The team didn’t need to be told again. Each grabbed his or her various gear. The sound of loading guns reverberated around the house. Within minutes, they were climbing in the back of their black van. Adrenaline coursed through Teddy’s veins. It had been a while since he had been in the field. The last time had been when they took out S.I.U. almost eight months ago. Though he was proficient with a gun, he was rusty with hand-to-hand combat. Many times, Laura had encouraged him to practice his skills, but he just wanted to forget the old life and move on to this one.

  Taking a job at a local movie theater surprised everyone, but he’d rather clean up popcorn than shoot someone. The rest of the team had been on various missions to rescue S.I.U. agents and trafficked teens, but he opted to stay back. He wanted to forget all of it. To move on. Feel like a normal teenager. But apparently, Laura had been right all along; this life would never leave them alone. Teddy sighed. They would always be fighting. Normal was just a figment of delusion created by some sit-com.

  “Slow down.” Laura leaned forward in the passenger seat and pointed through the front window to a two-story white house on the right side of the street. “Look, that’s a vehicle like ours. That is probably it.”

  Charlie decelerated to a stop along the curb and then shut off the engine. “How do we want to play this?”

  Laura looked in the rearview mirror to see Deshawn had pulled over as well and touched her com. “Come on up.”

  Once everyone was together behind the vehicle, Charlie asked again, “So how do we want to play this?”