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CHAPTER6
After Leslie had been rescuedand the Loyalists apprehended, the pairs returned to camp, elated, and exhausted. Hank told everyone to grab a few hours sleep before regrouping at the big tent.
Cygny stood there, struggling to come up with a plan of action.
Sleep.
She knew she needed it, but she was physically and emotionally wrung out. Others walked away, heading for their beds, but she stood there trying to process the last few days and put it all into perspective.
She just came up empty.
“Hey.”
Turning her head, she saw Leo standing at her shoulder.
“Hey,” she replied and managed a lop-sided smile, “you going to head out?”
His returning smile was more quizzical than anything else. “Aren’t you? Hank wants everyone to get some sleep.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure I can get to sleep after all of this.” She looked around the camp and saw that they were all but alone. “My mind is still going over everything. Rethinking. Analyzing.”
“Overthinking is more like it.”
She laughed and felt some of the tension roll away. “Ouch.”
He ducked his head for a second before looking back at her. “Aren’t you?”
Cygny held up her hands in surrender. “Guilty.”
She froze a moment later realizing what it sounded like. What it felt like.
She was guilty.
That’s how she saw herself for what she did to Leo.
“Leo, I-”
“Hey,” he reached out and took hold of her shoulders, “now isn’t the time. Okay?”
“But you said after-”
“After we’re done here. We’re both running on fumes. I doubt either one of us will be able to fight off sleep for much longer. The let down is going to hit us and hit us hard.”
She pursed her lips together and drew in a shaky breath. “You know, that’s another difference between us.” Cygny lifted her hands between them and took hold of his shirt. “You’re used to all this… action. I’m a desk girl.”
“You worked for Homeland Security doing undercover work. That’s hardly a desk.”
“It is. For the most part. If I had to explain what my job was, I spent most of my time like a forensic accountant, culling through records. I was trained in field work, but it’s not my focus.” When he remained quiet, looking down at her with a curious stare she continued. “I’ve never had to discharge my weapon on any assignment. And I can count on zero fingers the number of times I’ve had to subdue a suspect.”
“Then,” his voice softened as he leaned closer, “why did you come here for the training?”
Why?
“Well, that’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn’t it?” She ground her molars together, shaking her head at her own stupidity. “It was a selfish reason. I wanted to do good things. Help people. After what happened to you, I felt like I had a debt to pay. A karmic one of sorts.”
She saw the change in his expression as he listened to her words and was glad that the edge of his anger with her had seemed to wear away.
“And I wanted to work with Beck. She talked about taking jobs that we wanted. Doing things because it resonated with us. Cover operations for Homeland Security are supposed to be for the good of our country. The more I did, the more I realized that sometimes the assignments were more self-serving, aiding people who had power to keep that power. Working with Beck, the idea was that we’d get to have more say in the kinds of jobs we took. That’s what brought me out here.”
A sigh escaped her lips and she leaned forward, touching her forehead to his shoulder.
“I had no idea how utterly useless I was going to be in the field. I just know that Hank-”
“You don’t know anything about what Hank is going to say,” he countered her argument before it even escaped her lips. “If you want to work for Hank and Beck, you’re going to have to follow instructions.”
She glared up at him. “I can follow instructions.”
“Then, let’s get some rest before we have to join the rest of the group at the tent.”
She agreed with the idea, but physically she balked at the idea.
It took a lot of effort for her to release his t-shirt and step back, but she did it and started walking, one foot in front of the other.
“Cygny?”
She stopped and turned back around to look at him. “Yeah?”
“After the meeting at the tent, no matter what, I want to talk to you. I still have questions that I want to ask you.”
She nodded and agreed. “And I’ll hopefully have the right answers for you.”
“I just want the truth.”
“And you’ll get it, Leo, because after everything, that’s the very least you’re owed.”
* * *
