Espionage

Led Down the Wrong Path with the Right Promise

"You don't have the clearance to hear it. Sorry." She directed her attention to me. I saw red at that moment. I am so sick of every adult in my life withholding information from me, when this entire situation hinges on me.

"Didn't know I needed clearance when it came to my life and my safety. Thought we were done keeping secrets, Headmistress Morgan." I fumed before storming out of her office. Kingsley looked like he wanted to tell me, and I feel like I can crack him. I went and waited in his office for him to return. I heard the door of his office begin to open and he jumped a bit as he saw me.

"Bloody hell, Daniela. You shouldn't be here." He gripped his chest as he fully entered his office.

"Kingsley, you were going to tell me, weren't you?" I asked, standing up. He walked around me to get to his desk.

"You heard your headmistress. I'm not allowed to tell you." He sat, not bothering to look up at me, opting to go through some paperwork.

"And you know that's absolute bullshit. Please. I deserve to know what I'm up against." I begged. He halted his paper shuffling. "Theo please." He squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"For fucks sake." He groaned before pointing to the chair in front of me. "Sit down." I quickly sat and pulled the chair closer to him. "This doesn't leave this room, understood." I nodded and he set his papers down.

"Alright. The last time this happened they took a top clearance agent who they'd been after for a couple years. It was a friend of mine, a mentor to me. He was a few years older than me and helped me out in my first years at MI6. Anyways, The Circle got their hooks in him and that was the end of it. Tortured him for months for some intel on two countries in the Middle East. Then they executed a terrorist attack, pinned him for it, and make sure his body was blow to bits in the wreckage. It devastated the economic system of one country and was rumored to be an attack directed from a different country, which the agent was from. It heightened already existing tensions between the two nations and it almost resulted in a war before the UN stepped in to moderate peace negotiations." Kingsley explained, his voice hushed, somber.

It all hit me like a ton of bricks. I was going to die. This is what I was up against. There's no beating them. They aren't going to be bested by a teenager. They've been doing this longer than I've been alive. I'm just a means to an end to them. A pawn to their game. They're going to use me anyway they deem fit and I don't know why even try anymore. There was still one piece of this puzzle that didn't fit to me.

"What about Mr. Solomon?" I asked and Kingsley shook his head.

"I don't know. Everything I know about him I've learned secondhand and I learned all of this when I was fresh to the agency. Allegedly, when Solomon was much younger, around his teens to early 20s, there were speculations of him working with the Circle. He had to complete some type of rehabilitation program that was meant to deprogram any training he received from the circle. He got his security clearance taken away from him temporarily until he could prove to the government that he was trustworthy and never had any part of working with the Circle. That was years ago, but now there's new evidence incriminating him and with everything going on with Tyler that it's not looking exactly promising. However, between the two of us, I've read the reports. All of them and much of the intel that was given to us doesn't seem reliable to me. It seems incredibly manufactured and right at the perfect time to cause some disruption. I mean, two people with immense knowledge on The Circle, who are highly trained, and have a personal interest in protecting the most recent target of The Circle suddenly get accused of espionage leaving you in the most vulnerable state you've been in since this whole mess started. That doesn't seem like it's a coincidence." He leaned over the desk and I took a second to take in everything he told me. That did seem suspicious. The evidence against them couldn't have come at a better time. It seems desperate, like they're pulling out all the stops to get to me. Including getting rid of my personal protection.