Episode 14: In the Wink of an Eye
Part 2
Strolling out of his office with the papers tucked between his elbow and side as he held a coffee in each hand, Nick looked like a model agent. A few female employees hurried past as he rounded Lancy’s desk, and he winked at them; they giggled in response.
“Surprised to see you up so early.” Nick groaned at Vitruvian’s grating voice. “You Lancybassy’s errand-boy now?”
“Just making sure I have plenty of time to spend with everyone while we’re here.” Nick flashed his trademark grin. Overall, he’d been having a pretty good morning until Lancy tried to tackle him from under the desk. “Hey, nice to see you.” He winked at Kate.
“Flirt with your own secretary, 008.” Vitruvian stalked toward Nick until he was inches from his face, then poked him in the chest. “You’re up to something.”
Nick shrugged with a smirk. “And what are you up to so early? Inventing flying machines? Painting? Writing in your journal?”
“I’ll have you know, I have a strict schedule every morning.” Vitruvian adjusted his tie. “I’m always up by 0600 to be in the training facilities by 0630. Then–”
“Blah, blah, blah, blah. I bet you scheduled boring me to death in your journal, too.” Nick wiggled one of the coffees and grinned smugly. “Too bad for you, a certain someone asked me for a coffee date this morning. Gotta go.” Who cares if that certain someone was actually Lancy, Nick thought to himself as he slid past Vitruvian with a slight shove of his shoulder.
As Nick walked away, he heard Vitruvian say “hold my calls” to Kate.
Once out of earshot, Nick decided to focus on the rest of HimTak, instead of letting Vitruvi-lame ruin his day. He grinned as he passed other employees, acknowledging them with a brief nod. Meanwhile, everyone he passed had an expression of awed confusion. Though Nick briefly entertained the idea that they were awestruck by his presence, it was more likely that they were also surprised to see him up so early.
He would have spent more time contemplating his shortcomings, but a familiar voice interrupted him.
“Nick! Hey! What are you doing up?”
“Styx, mornin’!” Nick called as he strode over, giving him an elbow bump when he reached him. Then he lifted one of the coffees with a wink. “Woke up early, decided to surprise Diamond.” The only thing she’d really be surprised about was that Lancy hadn’t come with him. Or maybe that she saw him before Lancy.
“That’s cool. I get it, you gotta change your schedule up if she’s with Vitruvian at night.”
Ha, that won’t happen today, Nick thought to himself. What was it Grasshopper always used to say? Something like “Birds always suck no matter what time it is, but men get shit done?” That made sense. Nick shrugged. “Nah, just wanted to do something nice before our date tonight.” The one he’d just decided they were going on.
“Hey, about our meeting this morning–”
But Nick tuned Styx out when a bouncy song brushed against his ears.
Rockin’ Dior ‘cause it goes with my diamonds
Got a pink gown custom by Alaia
I’ll be on stage when the stadium light up
After a quick scan, Nick spied Diamond’s secretary, Chris, making several expressions at his camera then winking after each one. Way to pick a useful secretary, Di, Nick thought as he rolled his eyes, then turned back to Styx with a grin. “Sorry, it’s just 00s again, but I’ll update you afterward. Why don’t you pop by my office at noon? See ya.” Nick bumped into Styx as he turned toward the office. “Sorry, man.”
“Yeah, see ya… at noon…” Styx waved, but Nick had already moved on to following the song.
Luckily, it played from within the office behind Chris, so Nick slipped past the oblivious secretary and through the open door where the soft, understated rose gold and white decor of Diamond’s office greeted him. Once inside, the song became louder.
I said no
No no no, a no no
No no, that’s a no no
No no, I said no no
No no
Behind her desk, Diamond’s sultry dance matched the song’s bass line as she playfully wiggled her finger and ran her hands down her hips, brushing against the lavender satin of her body con dress.
A sly grin quirked on Nick’s lips. Then he set both coffees and the papers on her desk before sneaking behind and sliding his hands down her waist. “Hopefully you’re not turning some poor guy down because of me.”
“Hi, Nick.” Diamond giggled, leaning over her shoulder to give Nick a quick peck on the lips.
Up early and Di’s responding to less flirting than usual. Must be a Tuesday thing. No wonder Lancy likes them so much, Nick thought to himself as his grin grew.
Diamond turned in his arms, lightly ruffling his hair as she stared into his eyes with an alluring pout. Nick leaned in to kiss her, but she dodged him and grabbed the coffee from the desk. “Aw… you brought me a coffee?” Her expression softened into a gentle smile.
Nick swallowed away the fluttering in his stomach. He could never let her know that the soft smile affected him more than the flirtatious expressions, as much as he enjoyed them.
“…from Lancy.” Diamond smirked as she peered at the label on the cup, then set it down and grabbed the other cup instead. “At least Lancy has good taste in delivery men.” She winked as she took a sip.
“He definitely wasn’t happy about it.” Nick laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t like this lockdown either. It’s driving me crazy doing nothing but online shopping in my room.” Diamond sighed. “I’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out what to do while waiting for shipping. Any ideas?” She winked.
“You’ve resorted to pre-recording your late-night texts?” Nick laughed and gestured to her phone perched on top of the filing cabinet behind her desk.
It flashed purple, then quickly exited to a display screen with Diamond’s picture in the upper corner and a feed of images.
“You’ve started an OnlyFans account?” Nick frowned, then shrugged. “That’s cool, I guess.”
“Not yet. You know I like dinner or drinks first.” Diamond laughed and grabbed the phone. “It’s this fun new app called Wink. You record videos, but they disappear after a couple of days. You can pay to have them stick around longer, but the exclusivity is part of the fun.” Diamond clicked on her picture and scrolled through the screen. “It gets kind of addictive, though, because you don’t want to miss anything. Lancy and I send each other great videos we find all the time.”
As she spoke, Nick wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his head on her shoulder, watching her scroll through her personal feed. “On the app?”
“Yeah, if you’re friends, you can share other people’s videos…” Diamond grinned back at him. “…Or send private videos. Want to see one?”
“Stop selling me on new apps; I’m already in. I’ll just download it and follow you.” Nick reached into the back pocket of his cargo camo shorts and frowned after discovering the pocket was empty. He quickly reached into his other back pocket, only to find that it was empty too. Next, he dug into one of his front pockets.
“Happy to see me?” Diamond giggled.
“No.” Nick groaned. “Or, well yeah, always, but I can’t find my phone.”
After setting her phone and coffee on the desk, Diamond turned to face him again, the same gloating smirk on her face. “Have you checked your other pockets? I’ll help.” She reached both hands into his back pockets, giving a playful squeeze to his butt. “Empty. What about the front?” She winked as she pulled her hands from his back pockets and slid them into the front pockets. “Doesn’t feel like a phone, but…”
“Desiree…” Nick whispered.
“We can shut my door. Chris wouldn’t even notice,” she whispered back, slowly pulling her hands from his pockets.
Nick leaned in to kiss her. She never let them fool around at the office — something about not mixing business and pleasure where K could see it. Was this what happened when you woke up early? Nick groaned. He’d woken up early to get to the meeting on time. That was a promise he’d made to K after they’d dislodged the bomb.
“Nick?” Diamond frowned.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we’d be late for our meeting.” Nick slid his hands down his side pockets, confirming his phone also wasn’t in them.
“I can’t believe you’re saying that either.” Diamond laughed. “What’s with you today? First, you wake up early; now you’re worried about making it to meetings on time?”
“You don’t like it?” Nick pouted exaggeratedly, hoping to hide the fact that her playful jab stung a little. “Wouldn’t have caught your dance if I didn’t.”
“Glad you did.” She smiled and ruffled his hair. “Especially since we don’t get to sit together at the meetings anymore.”
“How ‘bout I take you to dinner tonight?” Nick grinned as he leaned in for a kiss. “Have to find my phone first, though.”
At the same time, she giggled and said, “After you find your phone first, right?”
“Jinx. I owe you a drink.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Diamond smiled that same gentle smile and met his lips.
Though Nick briefly wondered whether he left his phone in his room, one thought consumed his mind instead: Damn, I should wake up early more often.
***
K stood in front of the large projection screen, glancing between his watch and the familiar beep and hydraulic hiss of the automatic door. At 0918, the always punctual Grasshopper arrived first. Though his eyes remained locked on the door, K gestured to the table. “Sit wherever you like.”
“A lizard who loses its tail becomes strategic and cunning.”
When K returned his gaze to the table, he chuckled. “You always see right through me, Grasshopper.”
The older man merely smiled as he sat at K’s left side.
“How are the newer recruits handling the grounding?”
“Though they have natural instincts, nestlings prefer the safety of the known. Rather, it is the fledglings one must worry about.”
K chuckled again as the door beeped and hissed. At 0920, Jay entered, followed by Red and Pearl.
The two men shared a knowing glance, and as Jay sat on K’s right side, he patted the chair beside him. “You’ll probably want to sit here, Pearl.”
Pearl frowned and crossed her arms. “What? Why?”
“Trust me.” Jay patted the seat again.
“You know, not that I don’t appreciate being included in this secret 00 only meeting, but this is taking away time I could be using to catch our guy.” Pearl sank into the chair beside Jay.
“Or girl?” Red sat beside Pearl. “This is usually Emerald’s seat; is that okay?”
“Sit wherever you want, Red. It’s just a chair.” Emerald shrugged as she entered the room, then pulled over a chair from beside the wall, plopped into the seat beside Red, and rested her feet on the second chair.
K hurriedly turned toward the projection screen, hoping to hide his grimace from detection.
“And you wonder why everyone has you in their phone as ‘Grandma,’ K.” Emerald laughed loudly.
Not quick enough, K thought as he furrowed his brow.
“You’re supposed to pick a family member. Something no one would suspect.” Jay shrugged as the door opened again.
“But not ‘Grandma’ specifically.”
“Why don’t you tell everyone what embarrassing thing you have Jay in your phone as, Avril. Bet it’s ‘Daddy’ or something.”
0925 — perpetually tardy Nick Carter had arrived early for a meeting. K cleared his throat before he involuntarily made any other sound, grateful that his back remained facing the room.
“Probably not as weird as whatever slacker thing you have Diamond in your phone as. Booty Call #1 or something?”
While the crass “Booty Call #1” would have been more secretive, he’d caught the two of them on incoming calls from each other before and knew they were simply labeled “Desiree” and “Nick.” K hid his chuckle by clearing his throat once again. At the second throat clear, the agents remained silent, and K turned back toward the room, gesturing to the table again.
“Looks like you get to come back to the slacker side of the table.” Nick grinned at Diamond as he rounded the corner of the table, then pulled out the chair beside Grasshopper for her.
“You can’t label booty calls by numbers, Emerald. It’s too hard to keep track of them. You have to at least use emojis, like eggplants on a scale of one to ten.” Diamond winked as she sat, then put her coffee, a small notebook, and a fluffy pen on the table.
After plopping into the seat beside her and setting down his coffee, Nick grinned at Diamond and held up ten fingers. When Diamond flashed ten fingers and an eleventh one, Emerald rolled her eyes.
The door opened again, and the stoic 007 wordlessly took a seat beside Emerald. K glanced at his watch – 0930. In an equally unusual turn of events, Vitruvian was late. Perhaps Grasshopper had been right, the agents who were used to leaving were the ones that needed to be watched more carefully. Though he didn’t suspect Nick, it was equally unusual that he was early. K held up his hand and finally spoke. “I appreciate your punctuality, even though it seems like time is limitless at the moment. In an effort to preserve this feeling, I’d like to keep this meeting short.”
Nick reached his fist out to Diamond, and she giggled. At K’s stern glance, Nick shrugged, grinning sheepishly.
K slid two envelopes across the table. “005, 007, here is your newest mission docket. Review these, and we’ll debrief in my office before you leave this afternoon.” They shared a brief nod. “In the meantime, I know that FANS has kept us preoccupied the past year and a half, and the stress of that has led to some internal scisms. I’d like to encourage everyone to use this downtime as a way to bond with lower ranks or rebuild your relationships with one another in whatever ways you see fit.”
Jay lowered his sunglasses and winked at Emerald, who grinned in response and slowly started opening her envelope. Meanwhile, Nick plucked Diamond’s pen from her hand and quickly scrawled something on her notepad. As she giggled, the door slammed open.
“Sorry I’m late!” Vitruvian rushed into the room and hurriedly sat in the empty seat beside Nick at 0937.
“As I was saying,” K cleared his throat, “If you do not have missions, use this time to forge stronger relationships with each other. As high-ranking employees, I expect you to model this culture shift for everyone else.”
When Vitruvian tried to catch Diamond’s eye with a wink, Nick slid his arm around her waist and smirked at him. Diamond remained oblivious to the exchange as she wrote a response to Nick’s earlier note.
When K furrowed his brow, Grasshopper mouthed “fledglings” to him. K stifled a laugh in response.
“Cool, thanks for including Red and me in this short meeting, K. I’m going back to catching that guy.” When Pearl started to stand, Jay patted the arm of the chair. “What now?”
“Red, how has Archie performed on his internship so far?” K asked.
“He’s a little inexperienced, but he’s doing great so far,” she answered. “I think he’ll become a real asset while he’s here. You and Jay have always been great at recruiting and vetting interns.”
“I’m happy to hear that glowing review. Pearl, I’ve decided that Tara is not the correct fit for HimTak.”
“It’s about time, K! I’ve only been telling you that for a month. I don’t need a secretary or assistant; they’re all absolutely useless, and training them to be useful is a waste of time. Just like–”
“While you’re all here, I’d like to update you on our hacker from last year that Pearl caught rather handedly.”
Pearl scoffed and crossed her arms as Nick snickered.
“As you know, we take these threats seriously, but also keep our eyes open for young talent. For that reason, we will be welcoming Seth Cooper on as an intern.”
“No way!” Pearl gritted her teeth as Jay held her arm tightly against the chair.
“I trust that you will train him appropriately.”
Nick’s snicker became a loud laugh.
“How could you do this to me, K? He hacked into our system!”
“This is not up for discussion, Pearl. He has gone through an extensive vetting process and will be joining your team.”
Nick grabbed his sides with crossed arms and hunched into himself as he laughed hysterically.
“Shut it, Blondie.” Pearl frowned and continued to stew silently.
“Pearl, K, do you have any new information about the breach and the mole? Or if there’s anything else we should be doing while we wait for our next missions?” Diamond asked as she tapped her pen on the notepad.
“If there’s a mole,” Vitruvian interjected.
“There is a mole.” Pearl glared at him.
“While Pearl analyzes the coding trail, we will each take a shift monitoring the internal security cameras for suspicious activity. To show that I am also participating in the team building, I will take the first shift with Pearl.” K passed a stack of paper to Jay and a stack of paper to Grasshopper. “You’ll find the rest of the schedule here.”
“What kind of lame team building are you and Pearl going to do, K? Two Truths and a Lie? Trust falls?” Nick asked with a snicker.
“The game where everyone holds hands and tries to get the hula hoop around the circle?” Red smiled.
“Perhaps we will discuss that while we work.” A brief smile crossed K’s face at their jokes. “You’re welcome to make suggestions as you all make your rounds. Dismissed.”
***
“I hate you, K,” Pearl stated with a small huff before sipping her Code Red Mountain Dew. Her hatred of coffee was pretty infamous, and this was how she got her morning pick-me-up.
K laughed beside her, setting his coffee down on the table as the pair monitored the feeds on the many screens before them. “I suppose we could start playing Two Truths and a Lie. However, I already know that that’s the lie.”
“You’re funny today. But I don’t understand why you’d want to hire that… that child… just because he happened to barely crack the system–” It still bothered her to no end that the kid had been able to get in at all. Even if she’d been alerted pretty fast due to her own safeties set within the highly complicated system.
K smirked. “He would’ve gotten further had you not caught him. And if you remember, I recruited you rather young yourself. You hadn’t been at MIT very long.”
“I was older than him.”
“Well, now you can’t say I’m giving you a ‘useless’ secretary. Now you have a qualified assistant. He’ll be able to help you.”
“I don’t need help.” Her arms crossed in front of her chest.
“Kitana.” It was rare that anyone used her real name. From K, it was practically unheard of. “You’ve been working non-stop since the breach.”
“Well, yeah, we have a mole. I want us protected and that douche-canoe caught!” She reached for her can, playing idly with the tab on the top in an effort to keep her hands busy.
A smile flitted across K’s face at the word douche-canoe. “And you’ve gotten worse ever since the loss of Opal. You’re rarely in your quarters anymore, and you’re pushing people away. You’re going to burn yourself out at this rate.”
“I’m fine.” But was she? When it came to her laboratory and her work, she was a real loner. Of course, sometimes she would partner up with others on projects, but it was the exception rather than the norm. That was why the loss of Opal still rested heavily on her mind, as she’d bonded so well with her. She’d considered Ashavari a real friend, and now she was gone.
While Pearl denied to K how much she’d been diving into anything and everything to escape, she knew he was right. It was her way of coping, unhealthy as it was. She’d done the same after the death of Shazam, and she hadn’t even liked him. Technology was her safe space, and she loved her work. When the world felt too chaotic, her laboratory and her projects seemed to make it all calm down again. And all of this was why she was working practically non-stop to try and track down this traitor within their midst. Because even though the two incidents weren’t connected, it gave her the distraction she so desperately wanted and needed.
So this idea of a new person being brought in now? No. This wasn’t okay. Not to mention taking on an assistant? It almost made her feel like she wasn’t enough to keep her home safe. Pearl said none of this out loud, however; instead, she bottled it up and shoved it as deep inside as it could go. Something she was used to doing.
“Pearl?”
“I’m not happy, K. We don’t need him.”
He reached over and patted her hand gently. “No, but I think he’ll add a lot to HimTak. And give you the breaks you need.”
“Look, I…” She stopped herself then and changed tactics. “How can we even trust him? Especially now?”
K’s brow lifted, though she saw the appreciation at her insight in his intense green eyes. “He’s been vetted for a long time. We had to wait ‘til he was eighteen, of course, before we could recruit him. And before we reached out to Seth, we kept an eye on any contact he had, simply to ensure this wouldn’t happen again. Beyond our normal vetting.”
“I suppose.” She was still going to bug him and his room, just in case. If Pearl had had trust issues before, they were sky high now. She stood, adjusting her purple t-shirt with the words “I keep hitting delete, but you’re still here” written on it in yellow.
“If 008 asks, we can say we did trust falls if you’d like,” K said lightly.
That brought a real smile out of her. “I like it.” She then tapped one of the screens so that it could expand in size and allow the camera to zoom in closer. “He’ll probably pout and ask why I didn’t play it with him.”
One thing that she didn’t get to often do was observe agents in their downtime, and, had the situation been different, she’d be enjoying the psychology of it. The way people’s behaviors changed based on who they were with or the history they had with them. She had picked this pairing in particular because she wanted something to lighten her mood a little. To help her thoughts feel a little less hectic and mellow herself out. To stop thinking about all the emotions she wanted to hide away.
On the screen stood Grasshopper and Nick, the older man resting his hand on Nick’s shoulder. Nick looked absolutely baffled at what his superior was trying to tell him. “What?”
“A lion does not roar into a pack of hyenas. Rather, it devours what it must and moves along with his pride.”
K chuckled and shot her a look as he leaned back in his chair. “You think monitoring them is necessary?”
“No.” She admitted. “But I’m always entertained by the way Blondie reacts.”
“What does that even mean?” Nick whined, checking his watch out of a habit that still hadn’t died. He patted his pockets again in search of something. “What time is it?”
“Time moves at a pace all its own, and a warrior need not heed it as the days pass on in an eternal dance.”
“Uh, thanks. But I need to go find my phone and download that app Wink Diamond keeps telling me about.”
Pearl laughed softly as she reached up and tapped the monitor twice, watching as it shrunk back to normal size with the others. “Have you heard about that new app, K? Lancy was telling me all about it, and you know I’m a sucker for new tech. Wink is really addictive; it’s amazing anyone can put it down.”
He snorted, taking a long drink of his coffee. “You know I don’t enjoy playing on a screen all day.”
She smiled before picking a different camera feed to focus on. “One day, I’m going to get you more comfortable with technology, K. It’s a goal.”
Emerald was leaning against the wall, gazing up at Jay with a tiny smirk. He reached out and gently ran his fingers along her arm. “I feel like every time I get you back here, you’re sent away again. I need to have a word with K.”
“Maybe, but it makes reunions that much more fun.”
He placed his hands on her hips, gently pulling her closer. His lips grazed her neck with the softest of touches. “I hate it when you’re gone.”
“Those two are really cute when no one’s around,” Pearl mused as she sent it back to the rest of the screens.
K pointed up in the left-hand corner. “Can you zoom in on that for me?”
Her brow furrowed, but she did as she was asked. This one was in the main training room. Many times, it stayed empty except for shadow agents who were eager to prove themselves in some way. But upon a second glance, she saw Leo enter from the right side, glancing around surreptitiously.
“Hmm.” It’s just Vitruvian, so why would K ask me to zoom in? She wondered.
Before she could voice her thoughts aloud, however, she saw Styx slip through the door on the opposite side of the expansive training room. He shoved his hand into his pocket, then smirked at the other agent. “You in here to get some extra training in, too? Looking to try and outdo Carter?”
Pearl snorted, unable to help herself.
“Pearl.”
“What? Nick’s my friend, and the way Leo gets about him bugs me.”
“You want a round with me then?”
Styx smirked hard to himself, rolling his shoulders. “Nick trained me himself. I bet I could take you down easily.”
Leo rolled his eyes as he took a bō off the wall, tossing it to the young shadow agent before grabbing another for himself. “Let’s go with one of the classics.” Because of the Japanese origins of Himitsu Takana, the art of bōjutsu was one of the first fighting styles all agents were trained in. “This way, neither of us has a home-field advantage.”
“You know, I never see these two alone together.”
K nodded, his eyes focused on the screen as the sparring match began. “It’s an interesting dynamic. 009 chose bōjutsu because he knows Styx hasn’t had as many years of training under this style as he’s had.”
Pearl tilted her head. “Hand to hand is definitely 080’s strength more than formal fighting styles. But he’s smart.” She grinned. “And working under Nick’s gotten him to open up his mind a bit more.”
Bamboo sticks bounced off each other as the two continued their back and forth combat. Leo swung as Styx leaped into the air to avoid being tripped up. The match was more even than anyone would’ve expected, experience being met with an uncanny ability to improvise. Leo spun his staff with one hand before catching it and knocking Styx’s out of his hands. Before he could knock the younger agent to the ground, Styx did a back handspring, swiping his bō from where it landed and blocking him in the nick of time.
“Does it bother you?” He taunted the blond. “Knowing you’re always going to get compared to Nick?” Styx took on the offensive, beads of sweat building on his dark skin. “That you’ll probably never match up in their eyes?”
“I’m far superior to that idiot! Half of his success is luck only!” Leo’s swings became wilder, more forceful. “Sooner or later, they’ll see. But what would you know? You’re the one unlucky enough to be shadowing him. I bet you don’t even appreciate why bō staffs are what we’re trained on first. Beyond the fact that HimTak started in Japan, I mean.”
“I don’t care.” Their dance of violence was actually a thing of beauty to watch. Each of them moved with a grace and skill that truly showed the finely tuned machines they’d been trained into being. Nothing less would do at HimTak.
“Of course you don’t. Because Carter doesn’t care, so why should you?”
“I’m my own person, Vitruvian. I have my own reasons for doing things. But I did learn one thing from Nick.”
Leo raised his pole to block a direct swing at his chest and used the momentum to shove Styx back on the balls of his feet. “What, the best way to order hot cocoa?”
He shook his head, snickering. “No. Don’t give a shit what jealous people think as long as I get the job done.” And with that, he dropped the pole to the ground, turned, and walked across the room. Styx paused at the door with a glance back. “That’s probably a lesson you need, 009. I bet Diamond might like to see that from you.”
Then Leo was alone in the room once more.
Pearl shifted her eyes to K as she reached up and shrunk the screen back to normal size again. He looked deep in thought and slightly troubled. “Are you alright, K?”
He nodded as he stood, running a hand through his black hair. “I’m fine. I’m going to go check in with Jay. Let me know if anything else catches your eye.”
She nodded. “Okay. Will you send him down for me? I want to try and upgrade his sunglasses if he’ll let me borrow them long enough.”
“Will do. I’ll also be sending down Cooper later for you to get to know.” He smirked. “Be nice to him, won’t you?”
Pearl made a face but didn’t argue. “Got it.”
After she heard her door shut, she sighed before plopping back in her chair. She pulled out her phone, hoping to send Brian a message on the iPod she’d gifted to him for his birthday two months ago. Maybe she’d get an answer this time. She hadn’t seen nor heard from him since the funeral. No one had. Sure, she knew his location and had kept K and Nick updated on where he was ever since Brian had left the CIA and later DC. The device had a tracer, as all her personalized devices did. But she wanted to talk to him, to make sure he was truly okay. She’d grown to really care about him in the same way she had with Opal.
Truth be told, the fact that Brian still carried the device was something to be hopeful about. It meant he planned on communicating with them again one day, even if that day wasn’t today. After getting no answer, Pearl disconnected the call and glanced back up at the screens. Most of the agents she’d planned on monitoring were either eating or lounging in their rooms. Her eyes shifted back down to the phone in her hand.
She supposed a small break browsing on Wink wouldn’t hurt.
***