Sealed Truth [Sealed Spy #2] #Wattys2016

Chapter 2- We'll Go Down in History

Luna Ryder and Natasha Thompson were placed next to each other.

I suppose it was fitting. My sister and Aiden's mother, both of whom were killed at the same time, to have their name side by side on the Fallen Wall.

It was a collapsed wall in a 553 base in Orlando code-named Imposter that had the names of fallen agents or their families engraved on it. At first, the pretense of it was stupid in my mind. Who would want to keep a knocked down wall and write names of dead people on it? But seeing it for myself, I slowly understood. Sacrificing space for the sacrifices we had to make.

I traced my fingers around the wall as I tried to find where Luna's name was put. It wasn't written in english but the language blind people read with, braille. A series of dots that represented letters.

My fingers finally landed on Luna Ryder. I smiled as Aiden reached next to Luna's name only to trace over it several times. "It's hers," he declared breathlessly. "Which means Mom's is right," he shifted his hand and stopped, "here."

I stared at him openly. His features knotted together in concentration and I could tell exactly what he was feeling. Defeat. It didn't register with me before but it slowly made sense. He wanted to admit it.

His head whipped toward me and he gave me a small smile, crossing his arms as if to seem indifferent. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he murmured.

I didn't return his smile, even when it began to fade. His face fell and he narrowed his eyes quickly, dishing out a quick, "What?"

"I'm concerned Aiden," I admitted. He rolled his eyes and hunched farther, huffing slightly. "No, seriously. I'm-"

"Okay Z," he interrupted. I shut my trap and in turn narrowed my eyes at him. "I get that you're worried but there is nothing to be worried about!"

His voice raised until he was shouting. Agents beside us had their attention captured by the scene he was now creating. I whipped my head toward them and glared until they turned back into preparing for the honor ceremony.

I lifted my gaze and sighed, turning back to Aiden only to find that he wasn't there. My eyes skirted around the room and then I headed toward the back door, shamelessly shoving agents to get there. Most of them scampered away once they saw where I was going but some saluted instead.

"Stop saluting," I yelled, pushing through the still lengthy crowd to the door.

"You're going to miss the ceremony, Agent Ryder," Gene Perkins whispered in my ear as I passed him.

I shoved him away, glaring slightly and then rolled my eyes. An honor ceremony for people I didn't know was at the bottom of my priorities list. 

I slammed the door open and walked out, pacing quite fast. I slowed once I realized where I was. In the middle of a packed sidewalk next to a café. These bases were ridiculous but where else would be a better place then plain sight?

My gun was visibly strapped to my inner thigh and I swallowed hard when people walked by on the other side of the road. No one seemed to be noticing me, and no one was walking near the entrance of the hidden base behind me. Strange.

"They can't see you," Aiden said from behind my shoulder. He moved so he was right beside me, and I had to crane my head just to look at his talk height. He still wouldn't look me in the eye, and guilt took over. I probably shouldn't have pushed him like that. "That injection you got when you came into the base puts a bit of a camouflage thing on you. They kind of perceive you as a normal person. It's how we hide a lot of our missions from the public."

My gaze shifted to the spot on my upper arm where I had been injected. The flashing blue light under my skin was dulling slowly. I originally thought it was a tracker. "553 has some smart techies," I commented, leaning forward slightly and then looking back at him.