“Yes.”
“I’ve been involved in animal rights since I started walking.”
“Which is why you take it for granted.” Kane ticks off the points on his fingers. “You’re too angry, you’re not punctual, and you failed us yesterday. You’re too immature.”
“I’m nineteen,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’m at my peak.”
“What peak is that? The immaturity one or the one marked for hotheads? Because you’re climbing both right now.”
I press my hands flat on the table. Better there than bunched up in Kane’s face. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. The man I admire more than anyone is sounding exactly like the father I hate.
When Kane speaks again, his voice is gentle, as if he’s picked up on the shattered sensation I’m trying to shrug off. “When you prove to me you’re ready, I’ll gladly hand over to you the assignments you want.”
“What do I have to do to prove I’m ready?” I ask bitterly. “Abolish factory farming?”
“It’s not what youdo, it’s what’s going on in here.” Kane taps the side of his head.
I jerk a thumb in Heather’s direction. “What about Little Miss Innocent over here? She’s what, sixteen, seventeen—”
“Nineteen!” Heather interjects, looking annoyed.
“And you think she won’t crack under the strain of what she’ll see in there?”
“I’ve prepped her,” Kane says.
But I sense doubt, glimpsing a look of...what? Guilt maybe...wavering across Kane’s normally inscrutable face and I zero in on that hesitancy. “You’ve got one shot at this and you’re wasting it on her.”
Kane rubs the back of his neck in an aggravated motion. “Justin, even if I managed to get you in, you’d no doubt end up punching some of the scientists and trying to free as many animals as you can. Which won’t serve our purpose.”
I open my mouth to argue but shut it as soon as I realize Kane has a point.
Kane sighs. “Even if I want to change things, it’s too late. Heather’s in. And the reason she got in is because her background’s clean.” He looks at me, as if willing me to understand. “I know it’s not perfect, but she’s our best bet.”
I sit back in my chair. After a moment, I give a curt nod. “Okay. Whatever.” It grates me, but I’m learning to bide my time. “When does she start?”
“Wednesday.”
“So soon?”
“SolomiChem are short-staffed so the sooner she starts the better.” Kane turns to Heather. “Heather, you’ll be reporting to Justin every day for debriefing.”
Up until now, Heather was silent while we argued over her capabilities. Kane’s statement, however, causes her to look at him and burst out, “I thought I was reporting to you.”
“I’m afraid I’m working on something else. Something equally important.”
“I’d rather report to you,” she insists.
“It’s not possible. Not right now. Justin can handle his part in this.”
“But—”
I stretch lazily across the table and grasp her hand. “Now, Heather, I realize we have some personal differences”—like inhabiting two different planets—“but for the sake of the animals I’m sureyoucan put them aside.”
Despite the fact that this is nothing more than a glorified babysitting job, I have the grim pleasure of seeing alarm streak across her face as she snatches her hand out of my grasp. I make no effort to hide my grin. Maybe I’ll enjoy this assignment after all.
5
KANE
