Page 116 of A Touch of Treachery
And so my life slowly returned to normal.Well, as normal as it could ever be at Section 47.
Two weeks after the lab explosion, I walked into the Moondust Diner to work my regular shift.I’d been so busy with Section meetings that Pablo had been stuck handling everything, and I wanted to give him a break.
It was another cold, snowy January night, and I was glad to leave the winter chill behind and step into the warm, bright diner.I shrugged out of my winter gear and hung it all on a hook.Then I tied a white apron on over my blue waitress uniform, went behind the counter, and peered through the open service window.
“Did you miss me?”I asked.
Pablo looked up from the burger and fries he was plating and gave me a wide smile.“Hey, stranger.Long time no see.”
“I’m so sorry about my sudden vacation.A friend from out of town had to have knee surgery and needed some help.It took longer than I expected for her to get back on her feet.”
The friend-in-need lie was an old Section standby which I’d used to explain my unexpected absence from the diner.Pablo had believed me, but I still felt terrible for deceiving him.Even if I’d told him the truth, I doubted he would have believed me.Supernatural spies, magical abilities, underground labs, daring rescues, massive explosions.I wouldn’t have believed it myself, if I hadn’t lived through it all.
Behind me, the front door opened, and the bell chimed.A gust of cold air blasted over my back, making me shiver.
“Be with you in a second,” I called out, grabbing a notepad and pen from the back counter.
“Take your time, Charlotte.I’m in no rush.”
My hands froze, and my entire body stiffened, as though someone had just shoved a knife into my back.That low, silky voice had echoed through more than a few of my nightmares over the past two weeks.
“Something wrong?”Pablo asked, frowning at my sudden silence and stillness.
I forced myself to smile at him, even as my fingers curled a little more tightly around the notepad and the pen.“I just need to see what this customer wants.”
Pablo nodded and returned to his plating.I slowly turned around, knowing and dreading what I would find.
Henrika Hyde was standing at the dining counter wearing a stylish dark green coat.A smile spread across her face.“Hello, Charlotte.”
Every muscle in my body tensed, and I had to resist the urge to leap across the counter and tackle her.Two men stepped into the diner behind Henrika, both wearing long dark coats over matching suits, and I didn’t need my synesthesia to know they were armed.
Henrika tilted her head to the side.“Let’s chat.”
I had no choice but to step around the counter.Henrika sat down in the back corner booth that Gabriel, Desmond, and I always used.The two guards followed, although they plopped down in another booth a few feet away.All the customers kept eating, while the other waitresses saw to their needs.In the kitchen, Pablo and the other chefs continued cooking, and everyone was completely oblivious to the danger.
“What do you want?”I growled.
Henrika arced an eyebrow at my harsh tone.“I hear this place has excellent desserts.Let’s start with that.”
I whirled around, marched back behind the counter, and grabbed a blackberry cheesecake Pablo had made earlier.I put a slice on a plate, then carried it over to Henrika, who gestured for me to slide into the opposite side of the booth.My stomach clenched, but I did as commanded.
Henrika looked at me, and I looked right back at her.My heart thumped at a painful pace, and clammy sweat coated my palms.It took all my willpowernotto look at the neon French fries sign burning in the window beside us—and the three vials of Redburn hidden inside it.I didn’t know why Henrika was here, but if she realized I had samples of her formula, she would probably kill me and everyone else in the diner.
Henrika looked at me a moment longer, then stabbed a fork into the cheesecake and took a bite.“Mmm.Delicious.”
She hadn’t noticed the sign or the vials.I had to bite my tongue to keep from hissing with relief.
“What do you want?”I growled again.“If you’re here to murder me, then take me out into the parking lot and put a bullet in my head.But leave these people out of it.Nobody here has done anything to you.”
Henrika took another bite of cheesecake, set her fork down, and nudged her plate aside.“As amusing as it is to watch you plead for your customers’ lives, mass murdering innocent civilians has never really been my style.”
“You dream up biomagical weapons forfun.Mass murder is literally yourjob.”
She waved off my accusation.“I just make the weapons.What the buyer does with those weapons is completely on their conscience, not mine.”Henrika gave me a cool look.“I bet you’ll reconsider your self-righteous stance when you realize what your Section superiors arereallyup to.Care to wager on it?”
I knew she was talking about General Percy, and I couldn’t keep myself from asking the obvious question.“What would that be?”
Henrika shook her head.“I’m disappointed in you, Charlotte.I sent you everything you needed to find the answers you’re so desperately searching for.”
