“Lacee?” I repeat, still trying to wrap my head around what’s happening. “What are you doing here?”
Her head disappears for a moment. She returns wearing black magnetic gloves. “You don’t seem happy to see me, Park. I was expecting a more enthusiastic reaction.”
Am I seeing her?
I’m still not entirely convinced.
My brows furrow as I watch her twist her body out of the vent. She’s wearing black, fitted clothing that shows off every curve and toned muscle, and there’s a black backpack slung over her shoulders. She looks incredible.
Using charged magnetic gloves and shoes, she hangs upside down and crawls across the metal ceiling like she’s Spider-Man. I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it, but since I’m also hanging upside down with a direct angle at her, I guess I believe it.
“Do you know how much effort it took to get here?” She inches her way toward the camera in the corner, keeping to the edge of the wall, so she’s not spotted by the lens. “I had to leave my family’s Christmas Eve party early. I didn’t even get to have my favorite dessert, Oreo Surprise. It’s got an Oreo pie crust, layers of chocolate pudding, cream cheese, whipped cream, and more chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream. It’s delicious, and we only ever have it on Christmas Eve. It was a big sacrifice for me to miss it. So maybe you could be a little more excited to see me.”
“It just doesn’t make sense.”
“The dessert layers? They alternate dark crust with light cream, so the entire thing looks like an Oreo.”
“No.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make sense that you’re here. How did you know where I was?”
“I put a tracker on your phone when you let me borrow it at the gas station.”
She put a tracker on my secure phone?
“And I couldn’t just let you die. I mean, it’s my fault you’re in this mess in the first place.”
It’s her fault?
“So youareworking with Nicholas?” The hysteria in my voice causes my body to swing back and forth. “This whole time, you’ve been lying to me?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” She tilts her head so she can look at me. “I didn’t say I was working with Nicholas. I said I couldn’t let you die. I’m the rescue mission.”
“You’rethe rescue mission?” My voice gets even louder.
“Obviously.” Her shoulders move up and down even though her palms are stuck to the ceiling.
“And what does an electrochemist know about rescuing a government operative?”
“A lot, actually.” She rolls one gloved hand off the ceiling, releasing the magnet, and reaches inside the side pocket of her backpack, pulling out a small device no bigger than an external cell phone charger. “In case you can’t tell, I’m notjustan electrochemist.” She sticks the device on the ceiling next to the camera and clips a cord onto the existing camera’s plugs, controlling the camera. If I had to guess, the device is just looping through the last one or two minutes of video that had previously been recorded.
“If you’re not an electrochemist, then what are you?”
I brace myself for the worst. Lacee’s been working with Nicholas, designing and building chemical bombs. She’s a killer—not like me—she’s like a-weapons-of-mass-destruction-used-on-innocent-people kind of killer.
“There’s no easy way to say this. So I’m just going to say it.” Lacee sucks in a deep breath and blows it out but still doesn’t say anything. Is she purposely trying to make this moment more intense than it already is because the dramatics aren’t necessary? Spoiler alert: there’s already a ticking time bomb counting down. We don’t need to add any more suspense to the situation.
“Just tell me!” I practically yell at her.
“I think you already know. I’veprimedyou for this moment.”
“What are you talking about? Did you design the weapons with Nicholas or not?”
“No.” She shakes her head in frustration. “I’m Sienna Prime.” Her loose hand wiggles in the air at her side in a Jazz hand. “Surprise!”
Just when I think things can’t get any more confusing, they somehow do. “What?”
She gestures to herself. “I’m Sienna Prime.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You’re Lacee Warren.”
