Page 21

Con had instructed Alex to watch the Imperial Production movies that had been pirated, but she hadn’t even been assigned a desk yet. Nor had she been introduced to anyone except for Marcus Allen, whose office door remained closed.

It was awkward and uncomfortable but thankfully, the floor was nearly empty with only two stern-faced agents sitting near the back. Alex found an empty desk devoid of any personal belongings and set up her laptop there.

She found the movies on a streaming service she subscribed to but barely ever had the time to actually use. For the next four hours, she slipped her headphones on and watched the two movies that she hadn’t yet seen—she had indeed gone to the movies with Tori to watch Rise of the Titans last year before they’d been accepted at the Academy.

This, despite the fact that she knew, deep down, it was a complete and utter waste of time.

Alex also knew that her partner was testing her.

Still, she didn’t let this knowledge affect her focus or her attention to detail. She watched the movies closely.

When she was done, Marcus Allen’s office door was open. Alex stretched her back and pulled the headphones from her ears.

She could see the man behind his desk, scribbling something on a sheet of paper.

Marcus raised his eyes and when their gaze met, Alex quickly looked away.

I would like you, Agent Frost, to provide me with regular updates on Agent Constantine Striker.

Alex inwardly cringed.

Marcus Allen had put her in an impossible spot. Spy on her partner or lie to her boss.

Please, don’t call me into your office , she silently pleaded. If he did, Alex didn’t know what she was going to say.

Well, Agent Striker… he asked me a few questions about the case, we—no, I had breakfast—and then he dropped me off here, told me to watch the movies. What’s that? No, I have no idea where he went.

Thankfully, Marcus didn’t say anything.

And after resting her eyes for another few moments, Alex changed her focus.

Back in her college days, it was fairly common for her and her roommates to download movies from torrent sites to watch on their computers while lying in bed or to have on in the background while getting ready for a night out.

This was in the early days of Netflix, the then-sole streaming service, and the selection wasn’t as diverse as it is now.

Alex still had some of these websites saved in her browser.

She searched for Titans first, probably because it was the best and most popular of the three films.

No results.

Curious, she searched for the two other movies. There were a few copies of these available and Alex, for the sake of the case, went ahead and downloaded them.

The internet was blazing fast—and thankfully the login and password were the same as back in Quantico—and within minutes, she was able to start playing the ripped version of Quantum Guardians .

Only, it wasn’t Quantum Guardians . It was a completely different movie.

Some cheesy Rom-Com.

Frowning, she tried Eclipse next.

Same thing—this time it was a poor-quality version of The Princess Bride .

Her experience told her that this wasn’t particularly unusual but what was strange was the fact that none of the copies were of the actual movie that was being advertised.

More searching revealed that there were no legitimate copies of any of the three films on the torrent sites that she searched.

This was odd.

Popular movies, and these three, quality aside, most definitely qualified, usually had dozens of ripped versions with different bit rates and varying sound qualities.

But not the IP movies.

Martin Yeo had evidently been very successful at getting the pirated versions taken down. But if his actions, whatever they were, were this effective, why the hell was he so worried about Shadowstrike ?

It could be that he’d had to go to extreme measures to remove the other movies. Then again, it should be easier the second time around. A temp or an assistant could just repeat what they’d done previously.

Alex sighed. She was in need of fresh air.

The two other agents who had been at their desks were gone now and Marcus Allen’s door was closed once more.

Normally, she wouldn’t dream of leaving work this early. But her mind was fried from watching superheroes battle intergalactic foes and Alex wasn’t sure what else to do.

She wanted to talk to Con but had no way of reaching him.

Thank god Marcus didn’t ask to speak to me.

At the Academy, they’d taught her how to fire a gun, interview and interrogate suspects, identify and subdue threats, and defend herself.

What they hadn’t taught her was how to deal with an obviously broken partner and a boss who seemed to only care about getting him fired.

“Agent Frost?”

Alex, surprised to hear someone call out to her, stopped.

Agent Frost…

Despite her rather uneventful, and unpleasant, first day, she still felt a smile creep onto her lips as she turned.

It was the pleasant secretary who had given her access early that morning.

“Yes?”

“How was your first day?”

The woman had a kind, matronly face, with deep blue eyes.

“It was… great.”

Alex had always been a terrible liar and the secretary saw right through her.

“It’ll get better, hon. Con… he’s different. But he means well.”

Alex still wasn’t sure what to make of her partner. It was as if the man had a split personality. There had been the morning, silent, hungover version, then there was the more talkative and intelligent diner Con, and then there was the almost cruel person who had dropped her off at a strange building where she knew nobody and told her to watch movies.

The real question was, who is the actual Constantine Striker?

The moment she stepped outside, the heat sapped Alex of her thoughts.

It was late afternoon, bordering on evening, but it was still so damn hot out.

She used the blade of her hand to shield her eyes as she looked upward.

Bad idea.

Blinking away the stars that speckled her vision, Alex began to walk. She had no destination, just needed to move a little.

It wasn’t the nicest of areas, sandwiched between a freeway and a major artery, but as she headed north on Lewis Street, Alex came across a compound housing a beautiful cathedral and behind that, a memorial garden.

Only now did Alex turn on her phone.

She had three missed calls, all from Tori.

Working her way toward the garden, Alex found a comfortable-looking bench and sat down.

Then she called Tori back.

“Oh my god, Alex, where are you?” her friend asked excitedly.

“Orange County. I’m in LA.” The words sounded strange coming out of her mouth. Last night, she’d been in dreary Virginia sitting alone at a desk, scouring cold case files.

And now she was here .

Now she was an FBI Agent.

It was surreal.

“I can’t—I can’t believe it. And Stitts said that you got a perfect score on your test?”

If it had been anyone else, Alex would have suspected jealousy. Hell, she would have been jealous if the tables had been turned.

But not Tori.

Tori was a good friend. Tori only wanted the best for her.

“Yeah. It’s been… it’s been a whirlwind.”

“I just—you’re an Agent Alex. And you already have your first case!”

“It’s only temporary. And the case is…” Alex hesitated. Her initial instinct was to keep the details of her current case to herself. They weren’t supposed to share information about active duty. But this was Tori. “To be honest? It’s a bit boring.”

“Who cares!” Tori replied immediately. “You’re an Agent. Tell me about it.”

“We’re looking into pirated films. Trying to figure out who’s leaking them.”

“Ooooh , meet any movie stars yet?”

Alex smiled.

“Not yet.”

A priest entered the gardens and looked over at her. Fearing that he might approach, Alex nodded politely and then left, continuing up Lewis Street.

“You’re not going to guess who my partner is,” she said.

“Who?”

“Con Striker. The man who caught The Sandman.”

There was a long pause during which Alex pulled the phone away from her ear to make sure that the call was still connected.

“You’re shitting me. You’re shitting me.”

Alex’s smile grew.

“No, for real.”

“What’s he like?”

Alex paused.

What is Con like? She’d asked herself the same question.

“Serious.”

“Huh. Well, at least he’s hot.”

“Tori…”

“Just sayin’, just sayin’.”

“What about you? Did you get your test results back yet?”

“No, not yet. I’m sure I did fine, though. Not one hundred percent like you, but I did well enough. Stitts said that we’ll probably get our results back sometime next week.”

Alex passed a small bookstore and stopped to look through the window. Prominently displayed were new releases by D.D. Black and Lisa Regan.

“Tori, can I call you back?”

“Yeah, sure. Gimme a call tomorrow. I want to hear all about what it’s like to be a real FBI Agent.”

“I will. Bye Tori, be good.”

Alex hung up and entered the store. She perused the tables near the front but not finding what she was looking for, approached a man behind the cash.

“Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to have a copy of The Great California Gold Rush ?”

The man eyed her curiously.

“We have a few about the gold rush. Not very popular but—”

“No, I’m looking for a specific book. It has a longer title but—” she racked her brain, closing her eyes and picturing Con’s cell phone when he’d struggled to turn off the audiobook. Eyes still closed, she said, “ The Great California Gold Rush: A History of the Largest Migration in US History. Yeah, that’s it.”

“I’ll check.”

Alex opened her eyes. The clerk was typing away at the computer.

“You’re in luck, I’ve got one copy hiding in the back. I’ll get it for you.”

The man left and Alex’s phone rang.

“Tori—”

“Agent Frost?”

It wasn’t Tori; it was Con.

How the hell did he get my number?

“Yes?” She stopped herself from adding ‘sir’ .

“Where are you right now?”

Alex raised her gaze and looked around.

“I’m walking up Lewis Street, getting fresh air.”

“Good. I’m going to pick you up.”

“Okay. Where—”

But Con had already hung up.

“Here you go,” the clerk said, returning with a large hardcover version of the book she’d requested. It was covered in a thin layer of dust and the man turned away from her as he blew it clean.

Alex paid and left the bookstore.

Then she stood outside, waiting, wondering what Con had planned for the evening. It was late to interview any of the main players in the piracy case, but she knew that sometimes surprising a person at home had a way of getting them to offer different answers than they might in a professional environment, such as at their place of employment.

But when Con pulled up twenty minutes later and told her to get in, it quickly became evident that her new partner had something entirely different in mind.