Undercover missions had always unnerved Liz. There was always the chance something could go wrong, or that Red's true mission could be exposed. She walked toward the table with confidence she pretended to posses, her gaze flicking past the faces that hunched over plates or spoke loudly. They were here to meet a Blacklister, relatively low on the list and Red would do most of the talking. Liz adjusted the microphone button on her coat.
"Lizzie!"
The shrill voice made Liz freeze, then she faced the table in question. Cassandra Reed. Her high school nemesis had gained a few wrinkles but her voice remained the same: cutting. Two other women Liz faintly recognized were sitting with her. With little choice in the matter, Liz moved closer. She had to shut up Cassandra before her target arrived, and she could only accomplish that by talking. Ironic.
"What are you doing here? I thought this place was too ritzy for you."
Liz could read between those lines. Once a foster kid, always a foster kid. Somehow it labeled her as less in Cassandra's mind. Liz's thieving hadn't helped with that image either.
"I'm with a friend."
Liz cast a furtive glance toward Red, who was speaking with the restaurant's owner, out of earshot and faraway. Of course he was. Red knew everybody. Cassandra followed Liz's gaze and she smirked.
"A friend? Is he your boyfriend?" She mocked, raising an eyebrow as she appraised Red. Liz internally winced. Ressler was probably hearing everything.
"Or your sugar daddy?" One of her cronies spoke up with a knowing look.
"I knew it all your high grades in school didn't come just from hard work." Cassandra said. That sent the other two snickering, while Cassandra just grinned. Liz flushed as rage burned through her veins. Then she felt Red's hand on her arm and the laughter ceased.
"Who's this, Lizzie?"
She could tell from his tone he'd heard the last part and wasn't happy.
"Nobody. Just some old friends. Let's go."
She broke from his grasp and strode over to their table, leaving the whispering behind.
Red joined her, anger and worry mixing in his eyes in a way only his could.
"They didn't sound like friends."
"Drop it, Red." She snapped.
To her surprise he complied and raised a hand to order drinks while they waited. Maybe a drink was what she needed. After she gave her order, Liz stood.
"I'll be right back."
She could feel Red's gaze on her as she left. In the restroom Liz inhaled, looking at herself in the mirror. Why had she let Cassandra rattle her so much? It was time to get her head back on straight. She had a mission to complete, lives to save, a cover to keep. Just like Tom. The thought came out of nowhere, and she stopped it before anger clouded her again. Cassandra and Tom be damned. There were more important people to be thinking about, like the ones she was going to save by stopping him.
The drinks were already at the table by the time she arrived, and to her annoyance Red started back on the topic of her friends. She took a gulp of her drink to steady herself.
"Look, Red, Cassandra was the queen bee alright? She took it upon herself to bully me for four years but it's in the past and there's nothing you can do to help me."
From Red's narrowed gaze at the table, Liz could tell he was thinking of one thing.
"When's he supposed to arrive?"
Red looked back toward her, friends temporarily forgotten.
"He's late."
Liz felt her stomach flip. The man they were hunting was Richard Constantine, a harbormaster whose side business was importing human cargo. It was possible he was fleeing as they spoke. She took another sip as she waited, glancing toward the entrance. Had he made them? She considered calling Ressler. Then nausea suddenly climbed into her throat, too strong to have been from anxiety. She gripped the table.
"Lizzie, are you alright?"
"I'm just feeling ill, that's all."
She stood up, praying he wouldn't follow but she heard his chair scrape anyway. She took another few steps toward the restroom before her legs gave out from under her. What the hell was going on? Had she been drugged? Liz felt Red's arm circling her, colors and lights blurring like a carousel going too fast. As darkness ate away at her vision, the last thing she heard was Cassandra Reed laughing.
