He was right here.It was unmistakable—the man who had lunged at her with the knife was now seated calmly across from Tems, his arms crossed.
A cold realization began seeping into Sydney’s veins.
“Go back with her, then,” one of the others, a woman, said.
“What about Panacea?” Tems asked. “I need to stay a little longer. There’s a few loose threads.”
“We’ll take care of your loose threads,” her attacker interrupted. “What is it, your luggage?”
Tems shook his head. He didn’t look like a captive or the subject of an interrogation. There were no cuffs on his hands or feet, nothing binding him to the chair. His posture was relaxed, with no intention of bolting from the room. “My recorder in the hotel. I didn’t have time to get it.”
“We’ll send someone.”
“What are you going to tell the director?”
The man shrugged. “CIA needed some more time.”
CIA.The man who had attacked her at the airport was a CIA agent. They were all agents, sent over by the government. Sydney felt her stomach twist sharply, the impossible questions bubbling up in her mind even as she answered them herself. Why was Tems sitting here, talking with them like they had all been working together? He had been unable to reach them after the assassination, had looked and sounded so frustrated. Why was he now talking about Sydney’s mission as if it were an obstacle, like he had no intention of following through with their escape?
Unless he’d never intended to. Unless he had never really been here for Panacea.
His words came back to her from the night they’d talked at the hotel. When she’d asked him if she needed to contact the CIA.
No need to make contact,he’d said.I’ll check that they’re in place for us.
“You should have let Seah in on everything,” Tems muttered now. “It would’ve made things less complicated for us.”
“Seah couldn’t know. He was a liability.”
“You don’t plan an assassination for six months just to risk it all on a loose asset.”
“You should know. At least yours went smoothly.”
Tems gave a single, cynical laugh and nodded. “At least mine did.”
At least yours went smoothly.
Sydney had to lean against the wall for support. Her mind whirled,trying to make sense of what she’d just heard. It couldn’t be true. But in her head, all she could see was Tems giving her a wry smile.
An agent never asks directly. They only know what makes sense.
And she knew, with a certainty that made her sick to her stomach.
Tems hadn’t been here to work on his Panacea mission to stop the assassination. He had been hereforan assassination. But not for Rosen.Not for Rosen.Sydney’s breathing sped up until her lungs hurt.
At least yours went smoothly. At least yours went smoothly.
Tems had planned Niall’s murder.
30Walking a Tightrope
Sydney squeezed her eyes shut as she struggled to process it. How could it be true? Tems had been a Panacea agent for years. He had gone through training as part of her class—they had graduated at the same time—she had worked with him on a mission. Tems had taken the Panacea oath. There had been no signs of suspicion on him at all.
No. That wasn’t true, though. There were warning signs. He had disobeyed orders on his first outing as a recruit, had set fire to an entire train line without permission from Panacea. He had stolen her passport in Stockholm and gone against protocol, had been sent to the Sapphire Cross for it. Niall had been constantly frustrated with him.
Sydney had gone rogue before, hadn’t she? She had done things to defy authority, too. Many agents had, for the good of their missions.
But Tems was different. He hadn’t defied Panacea in the past for the sake of a mission. He had always done it in reaction to something. Had always acted on emotional triggers. Hadn’t Niall complained about that? Hadn’t the analyst demoted him for it?
