“Tea would be nice.”Andrea wasn’t feeling hungry, but her throat was parched.As much as she loved coffee and could use the caffeine, she wanted something to help calm her nerves not amp them up.
Michael nodded and headed into the kitchen.Andrea watched him move around the space as if he knew where everything was.He pulled out a mug and filled it with water before putting it in the microwave.
He opened one of the sparse cabinets and pulled out a small green box.“I’m afraid all I have is green tea.”
“That’s fine.”Andrea didn’t really care.
The microwave beeped, and Michael pulled the mug out and added the tea bag to it.Next, he pulled down a bottle of honey and added some and a scoop of sugar.“Here.”
Andrea took it and hissed at the hot porcelain burning her fingers.She took a tentative sip, feeling the hot liquid slide down her throat.
Andrea’s eyes fell down to the gun resting on the counter to her right.It was in more pieces than before.Why?
“Andrea, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You already did.”Not physically but emotionally.Her eyes rose to his, and she could see the regret in them, but she hardened her heart to them.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you?”She wasn’t so convinced.
“I was doing my job.”
Andrea stepped away from the kitchen and headed into the living room.Her eyes drank in the view.There were several one-story buildings in front of them, giving her a perfect view of the coastline and highway not far off.The city looked pretty from here.She turned her back on it and sat down in the middle of the couch.Michael was still standing in the kitchen, giving her space.
“I’m sure you have lots of questions.You can ask yours, and then I’ll ask mine.”
“I don’t have to answer anything.”
Michael shrugged as if it made no difference to him.“And neither do I.We seem to be at an impasse.”
They were in a standoff.Neither wanting to be the first to break.Fuck it.Andrea took a sip of tea and asked her burning question.“Who are you?”
“My name is Jack Williams.”
So his name had been a lie.She’d guessed, but hearing it confirmed sent a pang to her heart.“You’re not in IT, are you?”
“No, I work for an organization that deals in different government work.We do missions to survey and extract people and intel.”
“How was I targeted then?”She wasn’t involved with any of those things.
Jack stepped into the living room.For a second, Andrea worried he was going to try and sit next to her, but he remained standing.“It wasn’t you but your sister.There have been numerous military base attacks over the past few months.No witnesses or understanding what was stolen if anything.A few weeks ago, we got a facial recognition.It was your sister.The intel we got pointed to you, but it was blocked by WITSEC.”
Of course, there wouldn’t be information on Holly.She didn’t exist.She had been living underground for close to a decade.Andrea was in the system because of WITSEC protecting her, but she didn’t think they would just easily hand over her information simply because he worked for the government.“Did WITSEC tell you how to find me?”
Jack’s mouth turned ruefully.“Yes and no.I don’t know all the details, but your file was blocked by WITSEC.My boss somehow got enough information to locate you but nothing else.”
“So that’s why you went to the store?To get more information on me.”She didn’t bother asking how he knew about it.Last night, when Maya said he was outside her house, he’d probably broken in.She felt so violated.
“Yes, but I didn’t know if it was WITSEC or something else,” he finished slowly, averting his gaze from her.
“Right, because you thought I was my sister, so you probably thought WITSEC was protecting a criminal, and the boutique wasn’t a safehouse if needed but a place of operation.”Andrea didn’t hide the sarcasm in her voice.
If her sister was still alive, she’d be laughing that anyone would mistake her for Holly.
“I was going off the intel I had.”As if that were an excuse.
“So what exactly was the plan, move in and get close for me to confess?”
