An orange.
It hung low in the sky, unpeeled, like a single bright eye watching over me, holding my conscious accountable. It's edges were burned to a crisp, surrounded by bleeding violets and wounded roses. Thin strips of dark clouds swept across the sky, stirring up the colors to create light purple, deep red, dark blue.
"It's almost dark, when do you want to go?" I asked, the nerves crawling all over my arms and legs like ants.
Crystal turned around and peered over the booth we were sitting in, looking out the window from across the restaurant. Shopkeepers were closing up their stands and packing up their produce, and the streets were gradually becoming less busy. However, the light from the sunset still illuminated the stones in the buildings and the faces of the people that passed by.
Crystal turned back around to face me. "It's not dark enough yet. We want to keep a low profile, remember? Try not to be seen?"
"I know, I'm just worried we won't have enough time to find anything. Searching Xanthus's car shop, his apartment, and the routes that he takes isn't exactly a task that takes five minutes to complete." I sipped my water anxiously.
After our team dispersed, Crystal lead us into this restaurant so that we could "lay low until the time was right". The restaurant was dimly lit with booths lining three of the walls and tables scattered in the center. When we first walked in, there weren't too many people, but as the night grew later, more and more people arrived, most of them occupying the stools at the bar that backed up against the fourth wall. Crystal and I had snagged a booth all the way in the back next to the restrooms, waiting patiently until we could use the darkness of the night to cover us.
"We'll be fine," Crystal reassured me. "Relax. Someone might notice if you don't."
"Right," I muttered. "Relax." I inhaled through my nose and exhaled out my mouth. Even though I'd done my fair share of sneaking around, this was serious, a life or death situation. If the wrong person noticed us or our cover was blown, we were dead.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Crystal got up and gave me a pointed look. "Try not to pass out while I'm gone."
"No promises."
Come on, Amber. Get your act together.
All of a sudden, Noah's voice whispered over the comms system tucked away in my ear, "Hey guys..." He trailed off, his quiet voice mixing with the static.
"Can I get you anything else?" I jumped at the unanticipated voice and glanced over at our waitress, Kate, who seemed to have soundlessly appeared out of thin air. She was smiling politely, despite her tired and droopy eyes giving away the long day she'd had.
My heart calmed down a bit when I saw it was just our waitress and I smiled back. "No thank you, just the check will be fine."
"Of course. I'll be right back." She took away our plates and took them back to the kitchen, returning a moment later with the check.
"Thank you for coming and have a good night." Kate placed the black book that held the check on the table next to me before walking away again. I reached into the team mandated jacket to grab the wallet from one of the inside pockets. The jacket looked casual from the outside, but the inside contained many pockets holding useful items like a stuffed wallet, a cell phone for emergencies, and a gun. The guns were similar to the ones we used during placement testing, and even though Chase gave Mason and I a quick refresher before we departed, I was hoping gun training would come up in the near future.
"We have to go," Crystal hissed as she came up behind me, her words rushed and urgent. She didn't even wait for me as I slapped some bills on the table and hurried after her out of the restaurant.
"What's the rush?" I asked, almost jogging to keep up with her fast pace.
"He's about one block down..." Chase's voice trailed off. Quickly, Crystal gripped my arm, and pulled me around the restaurant into an alley. We ducked down behind a garbage dumpster just in time to see Xanthus, our target, walk past the alley.
"You guys okay?" Noah asked over the comms system.
Crystal pressed a finger up to the system in her ear. "Yeah, we're good. Thanks guys."
"No problem," Noah responded before the line went silent.
Crystal whipped around to me. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Wha-what do you mean?" I stuttered, my tongue thick and heavy.
"Did you not hear what Noah and Chase were saying? About Xanthus coming this way?" Her dark eyes blazed and her lips pressed together tightly, as if attempting to restrain the string of colorful insults that she desperately wanted to hurl at me.
"It must have been when I was talking to the waitress." It wasn't an excuse, but it was the truth. I just didn't register the soft voices in my ear compared to the waitress, who was talking directly to me at the time. I was an idiot, and I knew it almost cost us.
"You were talking to the waitress?" Crystal was exasperated. "We're not here on a social call, so get your head out of the gutter and pay attention. With this job, you have to do a million things at once. If not, you risk getting caught."
"Okay, I'm sorry. It won't happen again," I promised, my face so hot I thought I might pass out.
Crystal's eyes closed as she took a moment to breathe. In a cool voice, she apologized, "I'm sorry for flipping out. This team has just had a lot of close calls and defeats, and because of that, sometimes I can become," she paused a moment to find the right words, "emotionally involved."
"It's okay," I murmured, understanding that she didn't want to continue the conversation.
Instead, I gave a small smile and asked, "Do you think it's dark enough now?"
Crystal's lips tugged up into a smirk and she rolled her eyes. "You're going to make me go insane." She got up from behind the dumpster, brushing off any dirt or dust, before poking her head around the corner of the brick wall.
"Coast is clear. Let's go."
I followed, my pulse on high alert. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jacket to try to remain cool and casual, even if on the inside, my heart was playing pinball within my rib cages. We kept to the right side, making casual conversation as if we were two friends that lived down the street and were just out taking an evening stroll.
"Where to?" I asked, my voice low.
"We can hit his apartment first so we have more time before he comes back," Crystal whispered, nodding politely to an elderly couple passing by us on the other side of the street. In so many ways, this town was like the one near where I grew up, with small shops and a sense of community. We passed other families out walking, some with small children or bags of merchandise. There were couples, young and old, sitting on benches or milling around the restaurants, holding hands and talking softly to one another. Yet in so many ways, this town was nothing like I was used to. It offered new possibilities, new temptations. People carried around devices, phones, with screens that lit up their faces. They walked on paved roads next to stone buildings and glass windows. It was like a totally different world.
"There is a fire escape in the back of the apartment building that leads up to each of the apartments. Xanthus is on the third floor, apartment number four," Crystal instructed as the apartment building came up on our left. It looked exactly as it did from the photos, with the brick walls and dark shutters. This part of town wasn't too busy, just a few cars parked on the road in front of the building, and a couple of people walked along the sidewalk out front.
"There's a camera at the main entrance but that is it. Just make sure you don't make it on to the tape." We kept our heads low and our voices hushed as we walked around the side of the building. I slid on the gloves that each of the team members were given, to prevent our fingerprints being taken for evidence or something. They just said it was a necessary precaution to make.
My heart hammered in my throat as Crystal began the climb up the metal fire escape, each step crashing like a plate shattering on the kitchen floor. Loud. Traitorous. Echoing like bells all around us.
I tiptoed behind her, terrified out of my mind, watching as the stairs screamed out our location, exposing us. The railings slithered around my ankles like one hundred pound snakes, dragging my heels down so they were low and heavy. I almost tripped but managed to catch myself in time, sucking in a deep breath and pushing all my fears to the back of my mind.
Crystal paused at the window on the third floor. "It's this one." She pulled a pin out of her jacket pocket and fiddled with the lock on the window. I watched anxiously, looking over my shoulder for any spying eyes. There were two people walking on the sidewalk a little ways away, but unless they turned around and looked up, we were in the clear.
A tiny click from the window calmed my racing heart, and I did another quick survey of our surroundings before following Crystal as she lifted the window and slipped inside.
"We're in."
****
Ah, here we are! Thoughts? Opinions? I'd love to hear what you think! This chapter was actually so much fun to write, especially Crystal's character. Lol, I have to admit she kind of intimidates me. Don't worry, you'll get a lot more of her in the future.
Do you think they will find anything in Xanthus's apartment?
Who do you think Xanthus really is?
Also, totally off topic and random question, but what's your favorite thing to do in summer??
Don't forget to vote, comment, and keep reading!! Thank you so much to everyone who keeps supporting me and this book! You are amazing!
See ya!
Payton