A tall, pretty woman with short, dark hair sauntered in. “Hello, Britain, I’m Providence Luck.”
“Hi Providence. I’m not really the right fit. I know Addison works here, but I’m gonna have to pass.”
Providence nodded. “If, after five minutes, you aren’t interested, you can take off.” She offered a welcoming smile. “All I need is five.”
“Please don’t take me on a tour of your meat plant.”
“No tour.”
Providence led her down a hallway, pausing in their break room for a bottle of water, then on to a modest office where she eased down at the head of a small conference table. Like the lobby, there was no artwork on the walls, no framed pictures onher desk. Her computer and keyboard sat in the center of her desk.
There were no windows, but there were four monitors hanging on the wall, all of them dark.
Brit sat caddy corner, her gaze anchored on Providence.
“ALPHA Meat Packing is a front for a top-secret government agency,” Providence began. “It started as an arm of the FBI, but the two founders believed that, because they worked outside the lines of the law, it would be smarter to cut ties.”
What?
Providence shifted toward Brit. “We’ve got a small, but very effective group of Operatives that go after the country’s worst criminals. Serial rapists, killers, or gang members that can’t be stopped by traditional methods.”
“What does that mean?”
“They’ve been arrested multiples times, been in prison, but escaped, so we track them down and eliminate them.”
Brit’s mouth fell open, but no words came out.
“Most of our employees work fulltime, but we have a handful who are called in to complete missions. We call them kill missions. From what I know, you’re an excellent sniper. I know you worked at DEA, and you’ve been working out west as a lone sniper, but I’d like to interview you for a position here, as one of our Operatives.”
Whoa.
“How do you know about my career?”
Providence retrieved her laptop. After typing several keystrokes, she showed Brit her file.
“It’s all there,” Providence said. “Your entire work history. It’s impressive.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s a lot, I know.” Providence slid the water toward Brit. “For you.”
Brit twisted the lid and drank, the cold water soothing her parched throat.
“Do you have any questions for me?” Providence asked.
“Do you know who I worked for?”
Providence nodded. “You worked for Z, but you recently resigned.”
“How long has ALPHA been around?”
“A few decades. Z and another man started the organization. Luther retired, but Z still has a hand in everything we do.”
While sheshouldhave been shocked over that piece of news, she wasn’t. In that moment, a lot of mystery surrounding her dad made total sense.
“Why doesn’t Z work here?” Brit asked.
That made Providence smile. “He’s in the middle of everything that goes on in federal law enforcement, but working in the lower level gives him the space he needs. Like you, he’s a lone wolf. He doesn’t work here because this organization doesn’t exist, not on paper anyway. Not on any org chart either. Should we decide this is a good fit for you, your work history vanishes. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.”
