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“We’re not supposed to know, but like I said, people talk.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’ve heard things around the lab.”
“You heard wrong.”
She choked on the sip of water she’d just swallowed. “I beg your pardon?”
“The rumor mill had the wrong info or it purposely spread the wrong info. You don’t support Prospero. You support another covert ops team—Tempest.”
“Oh.” Clearing her throat, she shrugged. “One agency or the other. It doesn’t make any difference to me. They must be related groups, since both of their names come from the Shakespeare play.”
He nodded slowly and traced the edge of the can with his fingertip. “They are related, in a way.”
“So what difference does it make whether we supported Prospero or Tempest?”
“I said the agencies were related, not the same. One is a force for good, and the other...” His hand wrapped around the can and his knuckles grew white as he squeezed it.
The knots in her stomach twisted with the aluminum. “Tempest is a force for evil? Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
She jerked the hand holding the bottle and the water sloshed against the plastic. “That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t work for an agency like that. Would you? You’re a Tempest agent. Are you telling me you all signed up for service knowing Tempest had bad intentions?”
“Not knowingly. Did you? How did you come to work at the lab?”
Unease churned in her gut and a flash of heat claimed her flesh from head to toe.
“What is it?” Max hunched forward, bracing his forearms against his thighs.
“Dr. Arnoff recruited me.” She pressed her fingers to her warm cheeks. “He gave me the job because I had nowhere else to go.”
“Why not, Ava?” His dark eyes burned into her very soul.
“I—I had lost my license to practice medicine. I was finished as a physician before I had even started. Dr. Arnoff gave me a chance. He gave me a chance to be a doctor again.” Her voice broke and she took a gulp of water to wash down the tears.
“Why? What happened? You’re a good doctor, Ava.”
His gentle tone and kind words had the tears pricking the backs of her eyes.
She sniffed. “I’m not a doctor. I made a mistake. Someone betrayed me, but it was my own fault. I was too trusting, too stupid.”
He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. Running a hand through his thick, dark hair until it stood up, he heaved a sigh. “So, Arnoff took advantage of your situation, your desperation to get you to work for Tempest.”
“And you? Simon? The others? How did Tempest recruit you?”
He dropped his lashes and held himself so still, she thought he’d fallen asleep for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, he seemed very far away. “You’re not the only one who has made mistakes, Ava.”
“So, what is Tempest? What do they do? Wh-what have you done for them?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, and he ran his knuckles across the dark stubble there. “Tempest is responsible for assassinations, kidnappings, tampering with elections around the world.”
“I’m not naive, Max. A lot of covert ops groups are responsible for the same types of missions.”
“Tempest is different. An agency like Prospero may commit acts of espionage and violence, but those acts promote a greater good—a safer world.”
She crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders. “And what does Tempest promote?”
Max’s dark eyes burned as he gazed past her, his nostrils flaring. He seemed to come to some decision as his gaze shifted back to her face, his eyes locking onto hers.
“Terror, chaos, destruction.”
“No!” A sharp pain drilled the back of her skull and she bounded from the bed. “I don’t believe you. That turns everything we did in that lab, all our efforts, into a big lie. My coworkers were good people. We were doing good work there. We were protecting agents who were protecting our country.”
He lunged from his chair, slicing his hand through the air, and she stumbled backward as he loomed over her, his lean frame taut and menacing.
“Tempest agents do not protect this country. Tempest is loyal to no one country or group of nations. Tempest is loyal to itself and the shadowy figure that runs it.”
