Crossing the Line

by Meghan Rogers

  “Of course not,” Sam said, sinking back into his seat. He turned his attention back to his phone as the rest of us piled in. Nikki took the backseat, leaving the passenger seat for me.

  “So,” Sam said as Travis pulled out of the parking lot. “What kind of music do you have here?” I glanced back and saw him on his phone, scrolling through what I assumed was Travis’s music collection.

  Travis’s eyes jumped to Sam in the mirror. “Stay away from my music.”

  The speakers filled with light rock music, and Travis’s glare to the backseat intensified. Sam just sat there with the same cocky smile, his eyes twinkling. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  • • •

  Despite the fun Sam had on the way over, he was all business when we pulled up to Spencer Industries. He had access to their system in less than a minute. “Do you have aliases you want to use?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Travis said, handing over three ID cards.

  I leaned closer. “Where did you get these?”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I had them made while you were talking to Simmonds.”

  “Without him signing off?”

  He shook his head once. “Don’t ask.”

  I glanced at Nikki, who rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know.”

  “You guys are good to go,” Sam said, passing the IDs around. “Keep your phones on you. You have my number if you need me for anything.”

  “Oh, do we?” I couldn’t keep the amusement out of my voice. He hadn’t touched any of our devices.

  Sam only smirked and sent us on our way.

  Getting into the building was as easy as Sam said it would be. Once we were in, it wasn’t any harder to get to the chemical engineering floor, which Dr. Rollins was apparently in charge of. My heart started to pound as I thought of all the chemical weapons my mom could have developed for KATO. The damage that could have been done. I pushed the thoughts away and focused on what we had to do.

  Before long, we were standing outside Dr. Rollins’s door.

  “Nikki, you take notes,” Travis said. “Get everything down so we can sort through it later.” She nodded and pulled out a notebook. “Joss, you and I will ask the questions. We need to do everything we can to steer the conversation toward the specifics of your mom’s research.”

  I took a deep breath. I’d been on research assignments like this before. Assignments on which I had to get information out of someone as casually as I could. But I never had this fluttering feeling in my stomach.

  Travis knocked on the door. It opened quickly. Dr. Rollins was a gray-haired man who was probably close to retiring. He was flustered at first, since he had no memory of setting an appointment with us. But he was quick to recover and invite us inside, offering to do anything he could to help. He was patient, and seemed genuinely interested in helping us.

  “So, you’re looking to get in touch with Lexi Steely?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Travis said. “We came across some research she did while she was here and wanted to follow up. We’re having a hard time tracking her down, though.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t be too much help with that.” He rubbed his jaw, thoughtfully. “Lexi was a very talented scientist. She’d look at a problem, see how everyone else was attacking it, and find a different approach. But unfortunately I haven’t heard from her since she left.”

  I wasn’t used to hearing about my parents like this. A sick, sad feeling settled in my stomach. I inhaled sharply. This was a mission, just like anything else, and it was time I started acting like it.

  “Can you tell us anything about the work Lexi did while she was here?” I asked.

  His brow furrowed, pensive. “She started working here about twenty-five years ago. She wasn’t here long—I think it might have been only a year—but the work she did was incredibly impressive. She started with a few smaller projects, but it wasn’t long before she was assigned to the bigger development teams. She set herself apart quite easily.”

  “What type of chemical engineering was her specialty?” I asked.

  “She coordinated across a couple different labs, but her strength was definitely in pharmaceutical development,” he said. My stomach plummeted.

  “Drug development?” Nikki asked, looking up from her notebook. “Really?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Dr. Rollins said with a nod. “She was on the verge of a major breakthrough on a cancer treatment drug when she left. In fact, I assumed that was why you were here. We used her work as a basis for most of our advancements in that area for several years after.”

  He kept talking, but I had stopped listening. I was too busy fighting the urge the throw up. If drug development was my mom’s strength, I had no doubt what KATO had used her for.

  Travis met my eyes, and I knew he had put the pieces together too. He wrapped up the meeting as quickly as he could after that, thanking Dr. Rollins profusely for his time. I followed Nikki down the hallway, and Travis fell into step next to me, keeping a cautious eye in my direction. Despite the way everything was turning inside of me, I knew, this time, no one could tell by looking at me. This was a secret I desperately wanted to keep.

  Sam peppered us with questions the whole ride back, while Nikki and Travis took turns answering or deflecting, depending on the question. But I barely noticed. Everything around me was a muted haze. It was all I could do to keep myself together.

  • • •

  Our group dispersed when we got back to campus. Sam hurried to make up for lost time in the agent prep labs, and Nikki ran off to the training session. It took me a minute to even consider the fact that I had to get out of the car. I reached for the door, but Travis grabbed my other arm.

  “Hey,” he said. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded.

  He shifted in his seat, angling himself so he was facing me better. “I’m not just talking about how you’re feeling. I’m talking about your—cravings.”

  Cravings for a drug that my mom created. I looked away, balling my fists to keep my hands from shaking.

  “Jocelyn.” I turned back to him. His expression was intensely puzzled and concerned.

  I shook my head. “Don’t be nice to me.”

  “What?” His forehead creased. “Why not?”

  I looked him dead in the eyes. “Because if you’re nice to me, I might lose it.”

  His face softened. “Maybe you need to.”

  I drew a tight, shaky breath. “Please. Don’t be nice to me.”

  He was quiet for a long moment, then said, “Okay.”

  Neither of us moved. And after a minute, I couldn’t take the silence. “I’m just so—angry,” I said. “For years the thought of my parents was what got me through KATO. Knowing that they worked for the IDA meant that if I could just get out, then there might be someplace safe to go. I thought they saved me.” I raked my hand across my scalp. “But my mom—she did this. She was supposed to—she wasn’t supposed to put something like that in me. And I hate her for it.”

  I stared out the windshield at the brick wall ahead of us. He didn’t say anything until he was sure I was finished. When he did, his voice was soft. Almost as if he were afraid he might scare me away. “You have to be realistic, though. She probably had no idea it would be used on you. And from what you’ve said, I bet they’d threatened to kill you if she didn’t develop it. Exactly like they did to Dr. Foster.” I finally looked at him. “Not only that, but that drug was the only way KATO could control you. What would they have done to you if they couldn’t?”

  I swallowed hard. “They would have killed me.”

  Travis nodded “She saved you. It may not have been pretty or ideal, but you’re alive. Now you have a chance to do something about it.”

  I took deep breath, letting his words sink in, then I found myself nodding. “Okay.”

  His eyebro
ws shot up. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” I felt myself relax a fraction. I didn’t know whether I believed what he was saying or whether I just wanted to.

  Both of our pagers chirped before either of us could say anything else.

  “Simmonds wants to see us,” Travis said, glancing at his.

  I looked to my own pager. This had to be about the files. I couldn’t think of anything else that would need our attention. A short surge of anticipation forced everything else to the background. “All right.” I pushed my door open with a renewed sense of purpose. “Let’s see what he’s got for us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  SECRETS

  Agents,” Simmonds said, nodding at each of us as we walked through the door. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked me.

  I nodded once. “We did.” He gave me a hard, sympathetic look, but I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “What did you need us for?” I asked.

  He took the hint and moved on. “The tech team decrypted the rest of the drive. I haven’t had a chance to look at the data yet, but it’s being uploaded to my computer as we speak.”

  I drew a sharp breath, hoping this would give us everything we needed. Travis and I both stood in front of the chairs by the desk, waiting. I drummed my hand against my thigh, finding it impossible to keep still.

  Simmonds started typing on his computer, sending the files to the empty screens behind him as he opened them. I scanned the documents quickly. They were too big for a cipher, and had already been translated to English. “These are mission files,” I said. My old code name caught my eye. “And some of them are mine?”

  “It looks like it,” Travis said, taking a step closer to me.

  Simmonds clicked on one of my files. It was a mission that I’d been on within the last year to a research lab in India. I’d had to get a specific type of titanium.

  I swallowed hard. I had a guess where this was going. “Were all of these missions retrievals?”

  Simmonds flipped through a few files. “It looks like they were.”

  Most of it was a mix of chemicals and metals that could be expected to come together for some kind of explosive, but then there were random things as well. Produce from specific fields in specific counties, minerals from specific mines, sand from a specific beach, and everyday chemicals that shouldn’t play too much of a role compared with the more combustible elements.

  “These have to be for Foster’s weapon,” I said.

  “I would say you’re correct,” Simmonds said, staring at his computer. His eyes met ours for half a moment before he sent the image to the screen behind his desk. “I believe we’ve found out what KATO intends to do with Dr. Foster’s research.”

  It was plans for a missile. The bottom corner had a date that was six months old. “How long would it take to build something like this?” I asked.

  Simmonds shook his head. “We really have no way of knowing.”

  “But I would think if there are plans for a missile, and a record of these retrievals, it would mean that Foster’s close to getting the components of his weapon together,” Travis said.

  “I guess now we have a better idea of their timeline,” I said, letting my bitterness seep out.

  “Their target has to be South Korea, right?” Travis turned to me for confirmation.

  “Absolutely,” I said, nodding. “But they still need a way to move an army across the DMZ.” The land between the two Koreas was littered with land mines and explosives. It was called the Demilitarized Zone—or the DMZ. “They’d use the missile to take out the South’s army and leaders, which would disrupt their defense system, then the North would send their people across the DMZ to complete the invasion. They can’t move on any of this until they have a way across.”

  Simmonds eyed me steadily. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I was sure I wasn’t going to like it.

  “What is it?” I asked. I couldn’t handle that look.

  He sighed. “A little over a year ago, a Japanese research lab was doing testing on hovercraft technology.” He paused for a beat, and seemed to be bracing himself. “It was referred to as Project Pegasus.”

  My limbs went numb and my stomach dropped to my feet. I had stolen the plans for KATO, shooting Travis in the process. I met Travis’s eyes, an expression of devastating understanding crossed his face.

  I lowered into one of the chairs as the reality sank in. “I did this,” I said. I hunched over, putting my head in my hands. “If this works and they get a hold of South Korea, they’ll pick another country to target. This could effectively start World War III and I gave them the technology.”

  “You did what you had to at the time,” Travis said, his voice so quiet I was sure only I could hear it.

  I tilted my head enough to see him through my fingers. “That really doesn’t help.”

  Travis pinched the bridge of his nose and turned back to Simmonds. “Sir, what do we do about this?”

  “We need to split our resources between working out a plan to put a stop to KATO, and detecting any kind of weaponized attack coming out of North Korea.”

  I straightened up, my eyes widened. “Detecting an attack? By the time that happens it’ll be too late.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” Simmonds said. “They have all the tools they need to pull this off, and they’ve done an exceptional job keeping it quiet. At this stage, the only way we’d find out anything for sure is if we put people inside that agency. If there was any chance at success I might take that risk, but it’s a suicide job.”

  I stood up, pacing, trying to think of a solution. “I can find out,” I said. Just saying the words sent a rush of fear through me. But I had to do this. “I’ll get in touch with them or—something. I’ll find a way to get what we need.”

  “How can you possibly get that information without tipping off that you’re on our side?” Travis asked.

  I bit my lip. “I don’t know,” I said. “But I did this, so I have to fix it. I’m the only person who has a shot.”

  “Except there’s every chance that it won’t work out,” Travis said. “And then they’ll come after you.”

  “I don’t care.” And right then I didn’t. This was my fault and I had to do something. I was too afraid to think about what it could mean. “They used me to make this happen. I can’t just sit here and watch.”

  “Jocelyn,” Simmonds said. “I promise you we will find a way to handle this. We simply need some time.”

  “And what if we don’t have it?” I asked. “For all we know, Foster’s putting the finishing touches on the missile right now.”

  Travis glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and shook his head. “No. You’re not doing this.”

  I rounded on him. This was about so much more than me. “I came here to hurt KATO. Now, this wasn’t exactly what I planned, but this is how it’s happening. I’m the only person in this agency that KATO thinks they can trust. I can come up with some cover story. Something to make it seem like their information is important to my assignment.”

  “They’ll know something is up the second you start asking questions,” Simmonds said. “And we’ll lose any chance at building our access to their internal database.”

  “And what good has that done?” I asked. “We know, what? Five side operations? Have you gotten anything relevant?” He stared at me silently, as if I were someone he’d never met. “That’s what I thought.”

  “Jocelyn—” Travis was angry, but I didn’t care.

  “No!” I snapped. “I’m doing this.”

  I left the office, ignoring Travis, who was trying to negotiate with me. I needed to get away. I needed to think and come up with some kind of plan. I was terrified, but my determination kept moving me forward. I needed to act before I lost that. I had made it downstairs, and a hallway away from the buildin
g’s door, when I heard Travis calling after me. “Jocelyn!”

  I didn’t respond. I was about to round the corner into the atrium when he tried again.

  “Goddamn it, Jocelyn!” He must have sprinted to catch up to me, because the next thing I knew he had a hand on my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Do you even realize what you’re risking?”

  I tried to tug away from him, but his grip was too firm. “Let me go.”

  “No!” The vein in his neck throbbed and I knew he was at his breaking point. “If you try and get more information from KATO they’re going to know you’re not working for them anymore. Do you get that? Do you want to end up back in their facility with a needle in your arm? Because that’s where you’re headed!”

  “I don’t need to be told what could happen to me.” I yanked my arm away from him. “This is my call, not yours.”

  “Joss—”

  I rounded the corner before he could say another word and came very quickly to a stop. We weren’t alone. There were about a dozen agents gathered in the atrium. Nikki, Cody, and Rachel were among them. Travis’s outburst hadn’t been quiet, and judging from looks on their faces they had heard the whole thing. I felt Travis next to me and pivoted to face him, breathing heavily.

  For the first time at the IDA I made no attempt to hide what I was feeling. I felt the anger and betrayal sprawled all over my face and I didn’t care. All of the uncertainty about KATO made this feel so much worse. I was supposed to be able to count on him like I never could on anyone else.

  Travis started at me, his eyes wide and apologetic. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t want to hear it. I turned my back on him and walked out the doors, moving as quickly as I could across the courtyard without running. Travis hurried after me. “Jocelyn.”

  I kept moving.

  “Jocelyn, I am so sorry.” He stepped in front of me.

  “Get out of my way.” I wouldn’t look him in the eye. I couldn’t.

  “Joss, please.”

  I tried to push past him, but he grabbed my arms, and I reacted. I kneed him in the stomach and twisted him to the ground, putting him behind me and out of my way. He didn’t try to get up. He just looked at me with one of the saddest expressions I had ever seen. I turned on my heel and left him there.