Sapphire

Chapter 18

The audience of Heinz field was a sea of yellow and black. Some were waving towels around while others painted their entire bodies, their mouths open and chanting something at the opposing team. The ball was high in the air, caught on a path to an open receiver that was running past the ten yard line. Shay could imagine the screams of the fans as they watched the ball sail into the Antonio Brown's arms for a touchdown. She could smell the hot dogs and beer and sweat, could hear the thumping and yelling, could feel the excitement from the crowd.

She got all of this from a picture hanging in a living room, her thoughts creating the experience for her just based on one moment captured in time. She had never been to a football game and hadn't wanted to, but her mind had a way of making her think she was there.

"Shay, are you listening to me?"

Her mind was brought back to reality by none other than Agent Alec Wilson, her handler, her annoying babysitter, and not so bad sexual conquest. Sometimes, she liked to remind him of that last one. It always made him blush.

"I wasn't but go ahead." Shay replied, turning her attention away from the canvas and looking at Alec as he stood next to her.

"You didn't get anything from that meeting? Nothing at all?"

The recording she took was for her benefit, not theirs. Though Val didn't explicitly admit to killing her parents, she wasn't willing to risk either of the agents taking it upon themselves to investigate further until they found concrete evidence.

"Like I said, all we did was talk about our issues. That's all." Shay told him, resulting in a groan from Mateo Kowalski (previously known as Corey but apparently used a fake name).

"I told you she wouldn't be useful. She's just gonna keep lying to us, I'm telling you." Kowalski said.

"I'm beginning to think he's right." Alec frowned.

"I got you the location of the house, didn't I?" Shay reminded them.

"We already had that information. Nice try though." Mateo said.

Shay rolled her eyes and kept her attention on Alec. "Look, I'm meeting them again for dinner and I'll have a list of names for you then. Everyone who's involved. After that, I'll try to work my way into a mission." Shay offered, turning a glare to Matt. "That way, I'll have some concrete evidence, not just hearsay."

"That could work." Alec said.

"It'll take a while though." Shay warned. "I have to earn their trust back."

"Great, of course-" Mateo started angrily, but Alec cut him off.

"That's fine. Just don't keep us in the dark."

"I won't." Shay promised, though she wasn't sure of who she was deceiving. The FBI or Val? She felt like she was in a tug of war, her body in the middle of the rope being tugged hard by both sides, stuck in place and not moving one way or the other. She didn't know where her loyalties were anymore.

"Spend the next couple of days working. We need everything to look normal if Noah decides to check up on you again." Alec instructed. With that, she was sent back to her apartment, where she could do nothing more than wait.

******

She mostly followed Alec's instructions. Mostly. It wasn't until a day later that she decided that she needed answers. It had been too long since she had revisited the past, and since her conversation with Val, she realized that she was finally ready to face her demons.

Shay's fingers were gripped tightly around the steering wheel as she started the drive to her old home. Rock music blasted from the speakers, shaking the entire frame of the car as she sped on the highway. Passing cars using whichever lane was available, eyes narrowed and fixed solely on the road, mind blank and heart beating at a controlled rate.