Betrayed ✔️

Chapter 2: "Why am I being accused?"

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.