Page 39 of Strange Lights

“Don’t you think that’s a little weird?” Calvin says.

“No,” Gemma says decisively. “She’s in the agency. She’s maintaining cover. Can’t risk showing her face to anyone but me.”

“What?” Calvin says sharply.

“You’re sure?” I ask, though I’m not surprised. Agency 51 agents are the biggest group of backstabbers you’ll ever meet.

“Yes, and before you ask, I’m sure she’s loyal to the Whistlemen,” Gemma says.

“I was skeptical when I found that part out too,” Wolff says. “Gemma and the boss kept that from me. Gemma only told me a couple of days ago when we lost contact with her. We expected some spotty communication with everything in an uproar. But here’s the thing: The boss doesn’t miss designated prearranged contacts. Never. Not once. She’s never even been late to contact us. And this is too important a time for her to go missing. I think she’d risk her cover before doing that.”

“How do you know she’s not defected back to the agency?” Calvin asks. “Or that they haven’t found out who she really is working for?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense,” Gemma says. “There’s been complete radio silence. If they’d found her, I’d expect a counterattack. The only thing we’ve heard about the agency lately is from you, with Eldi disappearing. Something fishy is going on at the agency. Something happened.”

I’m trying to make the pieces fit together in my head.

“So we can’t help you even if we wanted to,” Gemma continues, “because we’re operating blind. Scrambling to find our own boss. I have no idea what Agency 51 is planning, but it likely won’t end well for us, Eldi, or the aliens still up there.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Their grand plans don’t matter. I need to get Eldi back either way. Any information you can give me might help. Anything you can tell me about a weakness I might exploit to get in, things to watch out for, anything.”

I’m begging for scraps with nothing of value to offer. Maybe they have some crucial piece of information I can use. I don’t know why I’m bothering. Wolff hates me, and Gemma has long suspected I’m hiding things.

The silence stretches. Calvin places a comforting hand on my leg and squeezes. I’m about to give up and walk out when Gemma sighs and pulls out her laptop.

17

The Kingsleys

Gemma has more than I expect but nothing new I can use. A map of the largely underground base in Nevada, built into the side of a small mountain, cloaked by magic and experimental tech. It includes all the known exits and entrances, security, details I never knew anyone to have, and I can’t help but wonder how Gemma got her hands on all this. How high up is their mystery boss? It’s helpful, but my heart sinks as I realize there’s no straightforward solution. I’m sneaking in, and there’s little hope I will go unnoticed. I think I can get to Eldi. But I don’t know if I’ll be making it back out myself. If I can free Eldi, Calvin would take care of her. . . . Well. It’s bleak, but it will have to be enough.

“Now, I don’t know exactly what they want with Eldi,” Wolff says, “but it’s safe to assume that their approach is going to be similar to everything else they’ve ever done.” He nods to Calvin. “Look at the werewolf project, for example.”

“The werewolf project?” asks Calvin.

“Reggie didn’t mention anything?” Wolff says.

“Nothing specific.”

“Honestly, it slipped my mind. There’s been a lot going on,” I say with an apologetic grimace at Calvin, who only frowns.

“Big details to forget, considering he is one,” mutters Wolff.

“He wasn’t always. He recently got in the way when I was hunting down a pack of the things to vaccinate, and he accidentally saw Eldi⁠—”

“And then Reggie shot me with a triple dose of tranquilizers,” Calvin adds helpfully.

“That sounds more like the Reggie I know,” Wolff snorts.

“I’ve never once shot you, Wolff, tempted as I might have been⁠—”

“Anyway, as Wolff was saying,” Gemma interrupts. “Agency 51 is responsible for the lycanthropy strain on the loose. They tried to weaponize it, and now there’s a rampant epidemic. Someone invented a vaccine a few years back, but it’s been hard to get ahead of the spread.”

“They take any werewolf they can get their hands on for experimentation,” Wolff says. “They genetically engineered this strain to turn humans, who then disappear into the hands of Agency 51.”

“Reggie did warn me they target any supernatural creature,” Calvin says with a sideways glance my way.

“Reggie knows enough; she could tell you more than that. At the least, general information about the Kingsleys and about the werewolf project. Lucky for you, you’re too high profile for them to get away with making you disappear easily.”