Chapter 1
Faith
Present Day
I opened my tired eyes.
Our flight had just landed in New York on a cloudy night. I listened to the passengers whispering as they stood up to collect their bags.
“Did you hear about that poor boy in Orkbus, California?” one woman asked another.
“Yes, it’s so tragic,” she replied. “Can you imagine how the family must be feeling? I hope they find him.”
I leaned my face into my hand in worry and exhaustion. The boy they were referencing was Wolf’s very own grandson. Back when I worked for the Real Life Immersion Program (RLIP), a secret division of the FBI, my partner Wolf had saved my life on numerous occasions, and though I promised myself I wouldn’t return to this line of work, I found myself taking this flight to meet with RLIP and discuss how I could help under these dire circumstances.
Ashton sat next to me and placed a hand on my arm in reassurance. “They’ll find him.”
Ashton and I were newly married. And after everything we’d been through recently, he wasn’t super stoked about me taking a flight to New York alone, so he came with to make sure nothing bad happened. Though one could argue that I have the training of a secret agent and could protect myself, I was glad he was there.
A text suddenly rang on my cellphone.
It was from Mr. Harrison. “Someone’s watching. Cover your faces before you get off.”
I discreetly showed it to Ashton, whose eyes went wide.
“We gotta find something,” I said, looking around.
Ashton reacted quickly, pulling out our backpack.
“The beanies,” I commented.
He found two beanies, some sunglasses, and scarves. We put them on quickly. It was strange wearing sunglasses at night, and we got a few looks, but it was better safe than sorry.
“I don’t think this is enough,” Ashton said behind me as we shuffled down the middle aisle.
“It’ll do,” I answered. “If we wear anymore, we’ll draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.”
Once we made it off the airplane, we walked awhile and searched around the terminal. I suddenly recognized Mr. Harrison standing against a wall, wearing casual sweat clothes.
“Lisa!” he called, exuberantly walking over and pulling me into a bear hug. “How’s my little sister doing?”
My name’s not Lisa, I’m not his sister, and Mr. Harrison is never this exuberant. But there was a reason he was doing this.
“I’m good!” I exclaimed, clapping him on the back. “I’ve missed you!”
Mr. Harrison released me and went for Ashton. “Lucas! I’ve missed my awesome brother in law! We have a lot to catch up on!”
Ashton played along, but I saw a subtle stiffness in his demeanor and he subtly eyed the people around us. I could tell he was concerned, and for good reason.
“Let’s start walking,” Mr. Harrison muttered, gesturing for us to stay behind him while we walked. “Check your ten o’clock.”
I glanced in the general direction and noticed a man with a shaved head watching us closely.
Mr. Harrison looked around while he walked and led us far away from the area. We ducked into a small resting area with vending machines. Nobody else was around.
“That guy was following me around the airport,” Mr. Harrison whispered as we set our bags down. “For a long time. I hope that little display threw them off. They wanted to see who I was picking up.”
“Think we covered our faces well enough?” I asked.
He nodded. “I think so. Let’s go.”
***
“I don’t know about this,” Ashton said, sounding tense.
“It’s going to be ok,” I replied back, reassuringly grabbing his hand as we entered the elevator. “It’s just a meeting.”
We were in RLIP headquarters. The doors to the elevator slid shut as I pressed the button. We stayed silent.
My parents had helped to start RLIP years ago, and I ended up becoming a secret agent for the organization for years…until things changed, and I’d decided to leave in pursuit of a normal life. I'd met Ashton Mathis on a mission in Toselville, Vermont awhile back. Then after getting married, ghosts from our pasts returned and I was kidnapped. It was a rough ordeal, but just as everything returned to normal, we found out about Wolf’s grandson. Emotions were still raw, and we were going to have to handle this situation with gloved hands. Ashton wouldn’t say it straight out, but I could tell he was uncomfortable with me getting back into the field.
The elevator stopped and we entered a little hallway lined with doors. There was a waiting area nearby. I wore my short, blonde hair in a low ponytail and pulled my black business jacket tighter. It felt strange to be walking back into the job.
We entered room 310 to find several agents sitting around a conference table. I recognized a few of them as people I’d worked with in the past, including Mr. Harrison and Wolf.
Wolf looked stunned when he saw us enter. Hadn’t they told him we were coming?
“Faith…Ashton…what are you doing here?” he asked.
I glanced at Mr. Harrison. Apparently not.
I cleared my throat. “Mr. Harrison has asked for my help-”
Wolf instantly cut me off. “No! Absolutely not! You’re not getting dragged into this anymore. You forget about this and return to Vermont this instant.”
He'd never spoken this strongly with me before.
I cleared my throat. “Wolf, I have a right to help you,” I said calmly, not wanting to get too fired up at him after everything he’d just been through.
Wolf looked to Ashton. “I can’t let you lose her again. Not after everything that just happened.” Wolf turned his attention to me. “You’re married now. You can’t do this to your husband. I saw how distraught he was when you disappeared. Go home.”
“At least let me listen in on the meeting and then I’ll make my decision,” I said. “Who knows? Maybe there’s a way I can help from a distance without actually going into the field.”
Wolf looked as though he were about to argue, but Mr. Harrison cut in. “Wolf, I suggest you allow her to listen. She might have some valuable input for us.”
“You want to use her as a nark at the high school, don’t you?” Wolf said, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.
Mr. Harrison appeared slightly uncomfortable but kept his composure. “She’s the only one who looks young enough to pass as a high school student while having the appropriate training to take care of herself in case things get ugly.”
“What about a teacher?” Wolf said. “Can’t you just place someone else as a teacher at the school? Then the age wouldn’t matter.”
“The FBI already said they’re going to assign someone as a teacher,” Mr. Harrison replied. “But the student we're investigating will most likely respond better to a friend she thinks is her own age.”
“Wolf, this is your grandson,” I said. “Wouldn’t you want to do anything to help him?”
“Of course I do,” Wolf answered. “But I also don’t want to see anybody else I care about getting hurt.”
“Just let me sit in on the meeting,” I pressed.
Wolf sighed. “Alright…fine. Have a seat.”
Wolf pulled out the chair next to his. I sat down. Mr. Harrison glanced at Ashton, who took that as his sign to leave.
“I’ll just wait out here,” Ashton said, walking towards the door.
“I apologize,” Mr. Harrison said. “Protocol.”
Ashton nodded and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Mr. Harrison turned out the lights and turned on a slideshow at the front of the room.
An image flashed across the screen of a boy with big, green eyes and wispy, blond hair that went down to his jawline.
“As you know, seventeen-year-old Paul Spencer was kidnapped on his way to school,” Mr. Harrison said. “You all know his grandfather, Wolf, a retired RLIP agent who has agreed to join us this evening for our meeting to assist in recovery efforts.”
I glanced at Wolf’s expression out of the corner of my eye. He was tense.
“We received a couple of anonymous tips in regard to his disappearance,” Mr. Harrison said. “One of them mentioned that they believe he was kidnapped for his computer hacking skills. They would not provide any other information. The other tip mentioned that he had a best friend named Sienna Burke who they believed might have been associated with the people who kidnapped him.”
I glanced over at Wolf again, whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Sienna?” he said. “They’ve known each other since they were small children. I highly doubt she had anything to do with this…he trusted her immensely.”
“So, you know her?” Mr. Harrison pried.
“I’ve met her a handful of times,” Wolf started. “I mostly know what I know about her from talking to Paul. They were neighbors and went to school together most of their lives.”
Mr. Harrison nodded as Wolf spoke and jotted down the information into his notepad.
“Do you know anything else about her?” he asked. “What her parents do? Siblings? Other associations?”
Wolf thought a moment. “She was raised by a single mother. Her dad is out of the picture and always has been. Her mom is an emergency room nurse and is never home because she works a lot of double shifts to support them. When she was younger, Paul’s parents babysat her a lot and that’s how they became friends. No siblings. From what I remember, no extended family in the picture either. No other associations that I’m aware of.”
Mr. Harrison paused to add to his notes. “A child who’s left alone quite a bit can get into dangerous activities.”
Wolf became quiet. I could tell he didn’t know what to say.
“We did receive a tip before the kidnapping,” Mr. Harrison said slowly. “That there were some bad associations at the high school and that Paul was getting roped into it against his will. We initially wanted to send Faith in to protect him and figure out what was going on.”
Wolf frowned. “You should’ve told us sooner. We would’ve stopped sending him to school.”
“You know we couldn’t because-”
“Yes, protocol.” Wolf cut him off, sounding short.
“We’ve already sent agents out to your daughter and son-in-law’s house to question them on all of this,” Mr. Harrison continued, his voice gentler. “We collected the report and they also felt it was unlikely Sienna was involved. We also interviewed Sienna and her mother. They didn’t know anything. However, we did receive the tip and it’s important we explore all possible avenues. This is the only lead we have. Faith, this is where you come in.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“We need someone to go into the high school and get close to some of Paul’s friends,” Mr. Harrison said. “We need to find out what organization went after him and why. Particularly, we’d like for you to befriend Sienna to see if she really is a suspect and anyone else who might be associated.”
I turned to Wolf. “It all sounds simple enough. I don’t see how working as a student in a high school could be all that dangerous for me.”
“Look what happened to Paul,” Wolf said. “That could happen to you too.”
“But I have training,” I argued.
“That didn’t stop Gary and his father,” Wolf said, raising his voice.
Mr. Harrison cut in. “Wolf, I understand you have a close personal relationship with Faith. But I think you need to remove that for a moment and view her as a fellow agent. She is the youngest and most qualified agent we could ask for in order to save your grandson. I think you need to have more trust in her.”
“I do have trust in her,” Wolf said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I want to do this,” I pressed.
He looked up at me. “You just can’t seem to stay away from RLIP, can you?”
“It keeps coming after me,” I said, slightly smiling.
Wolf chuckled lightly but appeared more stressed than amused. “Alright. Do what you want to do.” He paused. “Thank you for helping my family.”
“It’s the least I can do,” I replied. Then I looked directly into his eyes. “I’m going to get your grandson back.”
