Anna blinked and placed the binoculars against her eyes again. "I forgot how boring this part of the job is."

"Surveillance isn't your thing?"

"Not since I had a hyperactive child with what people would diagnose as ADD." Anna shook her head and passed the binoculars to John. "He's made it impossible to spend too much time sitting still."

"The basic difference between boys and girls." John aimed the binoculars at the building and followed a few of the people before handing them back to Anna and grabbing for a camera. "Catherine's only rebellious stage was wanting to be called 'Katie' and then 'Cathy' on alternating days."

"I remember that stage." Anna leaned back in her chair. "When you wanted to be someone different but you weren't sure what that would mean."

"Did you do that?"

"Not much you can do with 'Anna', since it's only two-syllables to begin with, but I tried a few different nicknames until Mary convinced me that was ridiculous." Anna sighed, bringing the binoculars up to her eyes again. "I think every girl goes through that phase because we're trying to find out who we are."

"Boys do the same thing, just not with our names." John pointed at himself, pausing with the camera. "My name only has one syllable so I'm already pretty screwed in the variations department."

"Were you a hyperactive child?"

"No." John shook his head, checking the pictures on the camera before flicking his gaze toward the negative response on the heads-up-display. "I was the quiet, brooding type. Good at football but a loner."

"Big reader?"

"Always and forever." John brought the camera back up, snapping more pictures. "Why'd your organization pick this site anyway?"

"There's a lot of foot traffic, which makes it a nightmare for surveillance, but it gives a false sense of security to whomever is trying to traffic in our information." Anna checked the location through her binoculars again. "But we're a little more obvious, as far as the surveyors, which will get them on edge so they'll miss the others watching."

"We're not the only ones?"

"Of course not, what if we miss something?" Anna shrugged, lowering the binoculars for a moment. "Or, what if they spot us, we give chase, and we lose them? Someone's got to be on our tail to better be on theirs."

"I thought it was because they worried we'd shag in the car."

"Please." Anna snorted, "I've already got all that out of my system."

"Have you?"

"Of course." Anna pointed at the car around them. "This isn't your mustang and there's not much chance of you getting any in this car."

"No?"

"Not on this op anyway." Anna put the binoculars up to her eyes again. "I think I've got our rat."

"Where?" John quickly snapped as many pictures as he could before checking over them until one popped as recognized. "She one of yours?"

"Yep." Anna sighed, "I hate this part of the job."

"Even if it saves your organization?"

"It's the worst part of being in HR. It makes people afraid of you because they think you're always stalking them."

"But if you are?"

"It's no better."

John paused, "If it saves a few people then… Well, as they say, 'Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire' so…"

"This isn't any time for the Talmud." Anna played with the binoculars a moment. "And I get that it'll save people but… I never expected it to be Phyllis. For anyone to betray us, really, but especially her."

"Why not?"

"Because she's one of the best people I've ever met." Anna knocked her head against the cushion. "It's always the quiet ones."

"True for more details than you'd want to imagine."

"I know." Anna ran a hand through her hair before dropping her hands to her sides. "Alright, we'll follow her."

"Wait," John held out a hand, opening a file on his phone and scrolling through it. "Maybe she wasn't supposed to be doing this."

"No one supposed to be doing this. That's why we left this opportunity open. It was the perfect monkey trap."

"Hence why anyone in their right mind would've avoided it." John showed Anna his phone. "It says here she grew up with Thomas Barrow."

Anna took the phone and read the details. "Wasn't he your job in Shanghai?"

"One of them, yes." John clicked his teeth. "But this one, Baxter, she's got something else of note in her file. A man named Peter Coyle."

"You know the name?" Anna handed back the phone.

"I know his reputation." John tucked it away. "He's a small time thief, mostly, but I've heard a few things about him trying to move in higher circles."

"Like the circles where your wife moves?"

"More like the circles where Green's moving these days but yeah, it's all about to escalate upward."

"Then," Anna unbuckled her belt and left the binoculars, "It's time to find out if he's got any connection to why Phyllis is wandering around with information she shouldn't have or even know is available."

"The worst part about that," John followed her from the car, locking it behind them as he joined her on the route to follow the gaunt woman. "Is it suggests there are others involved in this little conspiracy."

"This is why I hate HR." Anna groaned before motioning John toward the other side of the street. "Cut her off at the next café. It'll prevent a spectacle."

"You're sure?"

"She's not the type to use a bomb or excessive diversionary tactics." Anna paused, "Then again, if she's betraying us then I don't really know her at all."

"Some things a little more deeply ingrained."

"Desperate people do desperate things in desperate situations."

"Maybe." John shrugged before leaning toward Anna, "Chances of her having a gun on her are… what, exactly?"

"High." Anna pointed. "That café, if you can. It's got the best ingress and egress monitoring set-up and there's a secondary exit that's easily manageable and accessible. We might need it."

"Or need to block her from it?"

"About like that." Anna waved John away. "Go on, she doesn't know who you are and it'll make her edgy enough to miss me."

"We're taking a pretty big risk here."

"That's exactly what we're doing." Anna gave a little laugh, "But that's kind of what we've done so far, isn't it?"

"I guess it's our MO now." John feigned a salute and crossed the street to trail as a shadow and Anna followed her on their side.

Given the hour of the day, Anna worked hard to keep her pace matching Baxter's while staying far enough back to keep her invisible. But the innate human instinct to detect predators, although buried through evolution, maintained the primal desire for survival that alerts someone to the sensation of being watched or followed. Anna kept track of the slightest of twitches and kept herself in the shadows of taller people and corners of buildings every time Baxter turned over her shoulder. The paranoia of survival and betrayal running high in her target allowed Anna to keep track of her close enough to force Baxter to cross the street to avoid the tingle of being targeted.

It was only a second but Anna could barely control the twitch of her grin when John stepped right into Baxter's path and gripped her wrist enough to stop her going for a weapon. The light worked against them so it took Anna a few minutes to join John as he feigned light conversation with Baxter. Their faces held the façade of friendship and geniality but Anna noted the slight tremor in Baxter's arm and John's ever-tightening grip.

"I think," Anna put her hand on Baxter's other wrist and nodded at John to release the first. "We need to take this somewhere a little more… private."

"Do we?" Baxter's voice trembled slightly and she rolled her shoulders back to try and appear relaxed to the few people who glanced in their direction. "I'm sure this conversation isn't really necessary."

"I think it is." Anna slipped her hand into Baxter's pocket and retrieved a box she then held up to show John. "This isn't yours, is it?"

Baxter's shoulders slumped and she nodded. "No, it's not."

"Then I think we need to speak in private before this goes anywhere." Anna nodded toward the café. "Shall we?"

The trio moved into the café and Anna directed them to a table while John took the position as sentinel. They settled, all false smiles and fake voices for the waiter before Anna got serious. She put the box on the table between she and Baxter before sighing.

"Phyllis, I don't think there's a good way to say this but…" Anna sighed, "This looks very bad. Atrociously bad, actually."

"The kind of thing they kill you for." Baxter nodded, "I know."

"Which is why," Anna held up a finger to stop Baxter potentially spiraling. "I want to know what's going on. Because this doesn't seem like you."

"Then I'll be honest," Baxter met Anna's eyes. "You don't know me."

Anna sucked the inside of her cheeks, chewing on them for a moment before nodding. "You're right, I don't know you and we're barely even co-workers. But I'd like to think that our company isn't one to hire people who'll betray us."

"I hope you'll not now tell me that we're a family and you'd hate to think I'm betraying our family."

"That's ridiculous." Anna shook her head, "Families are dysfunctional and we've got more than enough of that in our business already. I don't need to say we're anything like that at all."

"Then what'll you use to convince me we're on the same page?"

Anna paused, studying Baxter's face. A face holding no guile and appearing only sad and depressed by the situation. No anger and no frustration but… Exhaustion. An exhaustion for something Anna noted roiled just under the surface.

"I think you're tired." Anna noted the twitch in Baxter's cheek at the words. "You're exhausted about… whatever it is that you're hiding and trying to balance here. I think you're ready to get out from under the weight of whatever's got you absolutely destroyed. It's dragged you down and you… You deserve better."

"Why do you think I deserve better?"

Anna shrugged, "Don't we all deserve better?"

Baxter paused and then nodded. "I think we do."

"Then maybe you'll tell me why you have this?" Anna tapped the box before opening it to show Baxter it was empty. "Since it's just a red herring."

Baxter's entire body released tension in a second while also almost dropping lifeless before her. "I suspected as much but… But I had to do something with it."

"Why? I mean," Anna shuffled forward in her seat, "If you suspected it was a ruse anyway, why risk it?"

"Because it was… It's what I was told to do." Baxter took a breath, "I'm sure you've seen my file."

"Read it just after we spotted you."

"You and…" Baxter pointed toward John, who waved his hand once before going back to his sandwich. "Him?"

"He's a temporary loan from the other side as we're both trying to…" Anna coughed, shifting for a moment. "Root out our problems."

"Are they suffering a leak too?"

"Is it you?" Anna waited but Baxter shook her head. "That's a relief, in a way. Not a complete relief, since we've still got to plug that leak now too, but it's good to know we're not suffering from the same entity."

"Maybe it is the same." Baxter shrugged, "I know it's not me but that doesn't mean the person on the other end's not the same."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because my… Contract was bought by someone else."

"Contract?" Anna frowned, "What does that even mean?"

Baxter took a breath, "Do you remember the man mentioned in my file, Peter Coyle, and the… Criminal file he's got?"

"I didn't read much into that part of it but I've got a feeling he's the kind of skeeze that really makes you sick." Anna shivered, "What did he have on you to… bring out your more criminal side?"

"He was…" Baxter shrugged, "He was the kind of person you want to impress because they represent everything you think you want."

"And he wasn't?" Baxter gave Anna a side-eye and Anna nodded. "Sorry, that was ridiculously stupid."

"I'll not comment." Baxter took a breath, "But Coyle had enough to slowly grind me down. And… I tried my best to get myself out from under his influence but no matter what I gave him or what I paid him he never went away."

"Such it is with blackmail." Anna took a moment. "What exactly did he have on you? What, specifically, could he use against you? We…

Anna lowered her voice for a moment, "We kill people, for a living, and I can't see our organization getting too frustrated with misdemeanors."

"It's more than that." Baxter opened her mouth but shut it. "I'll not go into it, since it's… Rather embarrassing."

"And none of my business." Anna held up her hands. "I'm only interested in how it pertains to our investigation."

"He… He eventually got tired of our little arrangement, since I couldn't pay him anymore, and he… Sold the contract."

"Who did he sell it to?"

"Thomas Barrow."

Anna let out a breath. "The now deceased Thomas Barrow?"

"Which was the problem." Baxter teethed at her lip for a moment. "He was satisfied just holding it over my head because, in a way, he was better at it than Coyle. Coyle only saw it as a temporary arrangement with monetary gain. Barrow saw the opportunity to get information."

"What kind of information?"

"Mostly governmental information we skimmed off the top in our work that wasn't really related to the work we were doing but now…" Baxter took a careful breath. "It got closer and closer to what we were doing but every time I tried to break away Barrow threatened me with the information he had so I continued."

"But Barrow's dead." Anna shook her head, "He's not holding it over you anymore unless he's working from beyond the grave."

"That's the thing, he had a plan for everything." Baxter stopped, shaking her head slowly. "Thomas was always one for having a backup. He made sure everything happened so he could always control people. And, when he died, he orchestrated his information to sell through the highest bidder."

"So someone then bought your contract?"

Baxter nodded, "My file, or whatever Thomas and Coyle worked out between them to organize the information they had on my exploits, sold to Carlisle."

"How long have you known?"

"Only about two weeks." Baxter shrugged at Anna's expression. "I don't know what else Thomas complied in his files but my guess is that Carlisle when for what was most critical or profitable but eventually found my file and realized its value."

"So he's been blackmailing you to steal this?" Anna tapped the box.

"Yes." Baxter closed her eyes and let out a breath. "In a way it's freeing to finally admit it. To have someone… Hear it."

Anna blinked, "Not 'understand'?"

"I'm not sure anyone will ever, truly, understand this." Baxter pursed her lips for a second. "What exactly do you think they'll do to me when I admit this to the Dowager? When they… Find out?"

"Depends on the next steps, I think." Anna took the box back, turning it between her fingers. "If you want to keep working in this business, you'll have to tell the Dowager… Or whomever she decides you'll tell, exactly what you've told Coyle or Barrow or Carlisle."

"And then?"

"Then we'll have to use you as our agent, instead of theirs."

Baxter blinked, "You want me to work as a reverse mole?"

Anna frowned, "I think it's called a double-agent but that's what I'm going to tell the Dowager when I hand in my report."

"That I'm going to be your agent?"

"It's a step in the right direction and, honestly, an avenue to get into Carlisle's organization that we didn't see as a possibility before and that's going to be a start in the right direction." Anna waved her hand to get John to join them at their table. "Phyllis here is our key to get into Carlisle's organization."

John blinked and looked between Anna and Baxter. "Are you serious?"

"Very." Anna turned to Baxter. "Are you up for this?"

Baxter took a breath, her fingers twiddling on the table for a second, and nodded. "I've been doing it for so long in a way that made me feel… less. I'd like to finally do this in a way that makes me feel fulfilled."

"Then I'll say we've got this all taken care of." Anna tucked the box into her pocket before standing up from the table. "And, in the future, I think you and I should spend more time together outside of work. You're a very interesting person and I think we might have a lot more in common."

"It's a lovely idea but I don't think it'll work out." Baxter smiled at them. "It was nice, to have you both come and give me a chance, but I think we're better off strangers in all of this."

"Maybe for the best." Anna bit the inside of her cheek. "We'll need to get you a handler to manage this transition."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Baxter looked at them and Anna shook her head as John nodded.

"I've got someone. I think he'll be excellent at it."