Agent Rogue: Espionage

Chapter 17

The five of us barely spoke for the rest of the night while the storm cleared. None of us slept. All of us paced, moped, and grumbled until the rain stopped at daybreak and an agency transport could be called from the closest point of reception to collect Sienna's body.

          We waited for her to be taken away before we left ourselves.

          Being inside a more compact area in the helicopter turned the atmosphere even more unbearable than it was within the chateau. I had told Derek what I saw between Collins and Davis. Much to his disapproval, I asked him to keep the knowledge quiet for now to respect their privacy as much as possible and to avoid risking them getting in trouble with the no-doubt-already-furious Director. He kept his promise during the night, but grew agitated throughout the helicopter journey, tapping his foot and clenching his jaw, struggling to keep the words bottled in.

          Until he snapped.

          "I can't believe you two."

          Everyone lifted their low heads. Even Scotty glanced over his shoulder from the pilot's seat.

          Collins pulled his brows together. "What do you mean?"
"Leave it, Derek," I warned. The atmosphere was tense enough. We did not need another fallout right before confronting Rodriguez.

          He ignored me. "You know exactly what I mean." Derek rose from his seat in the cockpit. Scotty frowned at me as if to say I don't but kept quiet. "We have been waiting for an opportunity like this for well over a year. We worked for months to make sure this went smoothly and you two had to go cock it up right at the last second."

          Davis forced a bitter laugh, biting his lip as if holding in an argument while Collins looked to me. "You told him?"
"It put the mission at risk. Of course I told him."
"Told him what?" Scotty asked.
"Not now, Scotty." I tapped his shoulder but he shifted in his seat, agitated.

          Scotty turned on Tracey's autopilot and swivelled around.

          Davis shook his head at Derek.
"Missions go wrong all the time, Barnes."
Derek tutted but I got there first. "This could have been prevented. Your reckless actions cost us this mission."
Collins sighed. He knew we were right. "We can still recover what we lost."
"We're certainly not recovering Sienna," Scotty snipped. "Thanks for that one, Davis."
"I eliminated one of Marcus's allies. Is that not a good thing?"
"We could have extracted crucial information from her," I explained. He should have known this.
"The location of Gabby and my sister included," Derek said through gritted teeth.

          Davis jumped to his feet, lip quirked, anger growing. "We were engaged with hostiles. I made a decision for the good of the team. Not that you'd know what that is, Barnes."
Derek didn't blink. "I'm not the one fucking about like a teenager while on duty."

          Scotty winced as if sucking on a lemon.

          Davis laughed without a drop of humour. "You want to talk about fucking about on a mission? Let's talk about how you and Knight got together, Barnes, come on."
"That was different," Derek retorted.
"Hardly any different."
I crossed my arms. "We're not talking about us—we're talking about you. You messed up here, Davis. Not us."
"No, because you never let your emotions get in the way, do you?"
"That doesn't change the fact that you lost us this mission."
"The mission isn't everything!"
"Yes it is!" I leapt to my feet. "This isn't some meaningless office job. The work we do determines the fate of millions, including Jade, Gabby, and every victim of Marcus's."
"We can try again!"
"How? Come on, Davis, you tell me how."
"We'll figure it out."
Of course. "You see! You have no idea because you didn't think. You never think about the bigger picture."
"My picture doesn't fit your picture, you mean."
"What are you talking about?" Scotty asked.
"Knight's been in charge of this mission since day one. What she says goes. Damn the fact that Arthur's Second-in-bloody-Command."