Sapphire

Chapter 35

"How did Noah do with this mission?" Val inquired. They were standing in the surveillance room, the one with all of the cameras, the one room where she could easily get distracted by following Noah around from screen to screen. Right now he was heading up the stairs, no doubt to get ready for a night drinking. Bleh.

"He did fine. Why?"

"I ask because he's been all over the place since you got back." Val's statement got Shay's full attention. "I assigned this mission as a sort of test, since I knew it would assess his emotional stability."

"How so?" Shay's mind flashed back to earlier, memories of his turmoil making her heart pull at the strings.

"He went to juvie at age sixteen for beating up one of his foster parents. It was the father, and reports have said that the man beat up his wife but he never went to jail for it cause she didn't press charges. So Noah took matters into his own hands." Val reported.

Shay's eyes went wide as she processed this. It all made sense, but she wished she had known. Noah never spoke one word about his past and she always just assumed it was because it was too hard to talk about. Now, she knew she was right. "Oh shit."

"So be honest, do you think he's stable enough to go on a more dangerous mission?"

Shay hesitated with her lips slightly parted. Did she say yes and possibly risk the success of their next mission? Did she say no and get Noah benched, thus pissing him off more? Maybe, just maybe, she could be the one thing that stabilized him as she did today. Though, if Val was correct, she was also the reason he was falling apart in the first place.

"Yes." The affirmation was out of her mouth before she could fully decide, but once it was out, she didn't take it back.

"Ok, great. Take the next couple of days to rest and train and I'll have another mission for you soon." Val said with a smile. She was ushering Shay back out to the living room when Shay stopped.

"Oh, did you find anything out about the tracker?" Shay wondered with hopeful eyes. Val had taken an x-ray a couple of days ago and had been analyzing it, but so far Shay had forgotten to ask for an update. And since Val hadn't offered one up on her own, she had to assume it wasn't going to be good news.

Val's frown proved Shay's suspicions. "Unfortunately, the device in your arm is very sensitive. I don't know what exactly it tracks, maybe body temperature, maybe moisture, maybe both, but I do know that as soon as it is exposed to air, it will go off."

"Oh. Ok."

Val put a hand on Shay's arm for comfort. "Hey, I'll keep looking. We'll figure out a way out of this, you just have to keep playing along until we do. You can do that, right?"

Shay nodded. She had another meeting with Alec set up for the next day, actually.

"Ok, great. Now go hang out with Summer."

Shay stepped through the large door to an empty great room with dim lights. Hearing commotion upstairs, her feet led her in that direction, one step after another of unenthused movement. Noah's bedroom was closed so she went into hers, making a beeline for the bathroom since she was feeling nosy.

Noah was standing over his sink with a razor in his hand, dressed in dark jeans and a black faux leather jacket. He was cleaning up the thick stubble that had adorned his face, leaving his skin free and clear. While she did prefer the scruffy look, he didn't look any less attractive in her eyes. If anything, the idea of him dressing up to impress girls made her want him even more.

"What are you and Summer doing tonight?" Noah asked. Shay had only taken in his appearance for a second before stepping in front of her own sink, making a show of washing her face so it didn't look like she was just there for him.