“If she introduces you to Connor at a party,” Sauda said, “we want you to gift this to him. He’ll be delighted to wear it, and we’ll have planted a device on him.”
Winter picked up the ring and slid it onto his middle finger. It felt cool and heavy.
“What makes you think Connor will accept a gift from Winter?” Sydney asked.
“With anyone else, I’d agree,” Sauda replied. “Everyone suspects those they don’t know. But from him?” She nodded at Winter. “Would you think a spontaneous gift from the biggest celebrity in the world would be bugged to report back to a spy agency? Especially if you were the one who invited him in the first place?”
Sydney grunted, but she didn’t argue the point.
“This is where Winter’s identity will come in handy for us,” Niall said. “You’re not exactly what people expect to come out of here.”
“I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or an insult,” Winter said.
Niall shrugged. “Neither. It’s just a fact.”
They continued. Each of the pedestals held something that madeWinter’s head swim. There was a credit card identical to his own, except equipped with a listening device. There were poisons disguised as colorful mints in plastic containers. There were pens that could shoot bullets, hairspray that could paralyze, and phones that could hack into a city’s traffic signals, equipped with trackers. There was also the hotel crest pin that Sauda, Niall, and Sydney wore, except that when pressed twice rapidly with its owner’s hand, it would both shoot out a needle-like blade and send an alert and location back to headquarters.
Sauda pointed at the tiny tracker chip inside one of the displays. “We’ll be switching out your SIM card for this,” she said. “Slides in and out fairly easily.”
All Winter could think about as they went on was what Artie must have had for his own missions, what he might have used. What might have failed him during his final moments.
At the end, Sauda reached for something small in her coat pocket.
“Finally,” she said, “there are these.”
Sydney made a disinterested sound in her throat, as if she knew what was coming, but Winter frowned at the two tiny vials in Sauda’s palm, each filled with an amber liquid that reminded him of whiskey.
“Toxins,” Niall said.
“We always give these to our operatives on every mission,” Sauda said, “and you are no different.” Her voice shifted, turned graver. “In the event that something goes catastrophically wrong, in the event you find yourself in a situation from which you cannot escape, take this.”
Winter’s blood ran cold at her words. He stared at the vial. It was a suicide drink.
“They act quickly and painlessly,” Sydney told him.
“I’m not killing myself,” Winter said automatically.
“Everyone thinks that,” she went on in a quiet voice. “Until you’re put in the position and you realize you weren’t so different all along.”
We always give these to our operatives,Sauda had said. That meant Artie, too. Winter stared at the vials and felt his throat close up.
“The chances of you needing this are slim,” Sauda went on at his silence. “Still. Agency protocol.”
Sydney was staring closely at Winter now. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Is that how my brother died?” he whispered, turning to face them. “Was he forced to commit suicide?”
There was a heavy pause. Niall sighed, looking to Sauda as if for her approval to speak. When Sauda nodded, his furrowed gaze returned to Winter.
“No,” he replied. “Your brother died because he went back for a hostage during an exchange gone wrong, against Panacea’s orders. He died saving a life.”
Winter closed his eyes. Once, when he’d eaten too little after a hectic week of touring and a rushed visit home to check on his mother, he’d fainted during rehearsals and had to cancel several concerts in order to let his body recover. He felt like that now—the same blurring of the world around him, the same rush in his head, the same loosening of his body.
Of course Artie had died saving a life.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Sydney take an instinctive step toward him, as if preparing to catch him if he fell. He shook his head at her and stepped away. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. Words sat on his tongue and melted.
“You’ve witnessed many things, Winter,” Sauda said softly to him now. “Have you ever witnessed war? I’ve been sent on assignment into one. Do you know what it’s like to be trapped in something you can’t escape?” Sauda looked at him with an expression of pity, and he felt his insides recoil from it. “The only reason we are putting you in danger’s path is because an entire population is depending on us. And when I say that, I want you to picture what that really means. Mothers walking their kids to the bus. Construction workers eating lunch together. Fathers waiting at the train station for their families. Children on their first day of kindergarten. People in love, people with friends, people with full lives. Good people.” She nodded at Winter. “Your brother fully understood thedangers of this job when he accepted it. I want you to, as well. I’m not going to lie to you about how dangerous this will be, but I promise that you won’t go in unprepared. Okay?”
