About a week later Elena called and suggested going bowling the next afternoon. Kate was surprised by the choice of venue, but found the place virtually deserted except for the lane where Elena was obviously practicing. When she approached, Elena greeted her by saying, "Hi Kate. I picked this place because it has no cameras and lots of loud noises. I thought we could start by scanning the immediate area. I assume you came prepared." Kate pulled out her device, and both began a casual walk-around with their devices well concealed from the distracted owner and concession guy.
With no chirps sounding the alarm, they settled into a very slow game. Elena had an excellent swing; Kate did not. By the third frame, they small talk was over, and the real conversation started. Elena began by suggesting they use Russian since Kate studied in Russia in college. Kate begged off, but understood Elena had made another deliberate reveal . That kind of intel would only come from a more than a cursory vetting. The conclusion was inescapable. She had guessed right; they were interested. After a long pause, Kate asked, Why did you say my time at the fight club was planned?"
"I am informed that money from your agency was funneled to the club to buy your services. That's all I really know. Someone in your line of command wanted you there."
Kate was flummoxed by Elena's startling revelation. Nicole at the fight club had alluded to something odd about her arrival, and Kate had dismissed it as just speculation from an uninformed nobody. This claim was vastly different, and she replied, "Do you feel your intel is credible?"
"I think it is as valid as anything else we get in the gray world we both inhabit."
Kate barely registered her retort. Her mind was in a whirlwind considering the implications. She had been manipulated to live in the hellhole. The reason was obvious. Those battles with two hellholers had cured of last nagging fault. There was only one possible culprit - Rita.
Kate got up and sent three weak swings into the gutter before rejoining Elena back on the comfortable benches. After a slug of coffee, she went on, "You obviously know what I do for a living, and I am interested on why you joined and stayed with a private concern? This business does not lend itself to a normal life. Everything is tied up in lies, deceptions, and omissions."
Elena paused and said, "It isn't for the faint of heart; that's for sure. My experience is they use patriotism or some other trigger to reel you in and then the transformation begins. You think you have limits until they push you beyond them. Soon you are doing whatever because the line has become so blurry."
"My group does things differently. We let you define your limits and respect them going forward. You still have a duty to perform, and we make sure you are well trained to carry out the scope of work you agree to. I find the limits allow you to compartmentalize this part of your life from everything else, and that leads to some enjoyment not tarnished by the muck of humanity I usually deal with." Kate couched her interest carefully. It was clear she liked what she heard, and Elena would pass that along before she dropped out of sight for her much needed makeover.
Kate left both furious and intrigued. The complicity of Rita was a real stunner that would take awhile to process. She was going to confront her; it was just a matter of when and how exactly. The sheer audacity of what Rita had done was beyond comprehension. Her trust was broken. On the job front, she was intrigued by the idea of setting boundaries with her future employer. It would certainly limit the opaqueness and bleakness she was feeling with her current employer.
Her handler was suspicious when she called and demanded to be part of the meeting with Rita. She obviously thought this was some complaint about her, and indirectly, she wasn't wrong. After a scan deemed the room safe, Kate got right to the point by asking, "Did you have any part in my ending up at the fight club?"
She expected Rita to be vague, but that was not the case. Rita, without showing any remorse, replied, "Yes". Kate was barely able to contain the urge to fly out of her seat and mess with that pretty face across the table. Her rage was obvious, and her handler was preparing to intercept her if it came to that. However, before Kate could vocalize her anger and disgust. Rita continued, "And I would do it again. Jackson was right about the raw talent you bring to the table, but he did not see the flaws. Your stubborn hesitancy could jeopardize missions particularly in your new role. We don't do second rate here. A shrewd mark did something unexpected and created an opportunity to fix you with little downside since they very much liked our money."
Kate could hold back no longer and shouted, "You abandoned me to that hellhole with no idea how long I would be there. You fixed me in a place where the alternative was punishment. That is unconscionable. WTF is wrong with you? You are an evil devious bitch, and I would be more than happy to give you a demo of how well I am fixed." Kate could restrain herself no longer and began an upward lunge that was quickly thwarted by a strong shove from her handler that ended with her toppling to the ground.
Kate sprang to her feet, but found both Rita and her handler had done likewise with fists clenched. In the pause, Rita remarked, "I think between us, we can more than handle you if you want to get your freak on. We fixed you and won't apologize for it. We aren't playing dolls here. Our interventions are precise affairs. Your weakness was tolerated the first time around because we thought you would change. This time around our best efforts failed again, and then fortune smiled upon us. Now you can quit in huff or suck it up like an adult. You are a warrior in a dangerous shadow war, and how we use you in that war is not subject to your approval. You are trained to persevere through adversity, and the fight club was just another example."
Kate was incensed by Rita's callous attitude. She had been lured into this job with lofty ideas about protecting the innocents from a dark world. What they really wanted were obedient goons willing to do their bidding - no matter how they defined it. Deep down, she probably knew this, but chose to ignore it. It was a gritty unkind world out there, and she was definitely part of it. The unvarnished truth about her employment was now plain as day.
She left the room frustrated that her fists had not made contact with Rita. It would have been a tangle, but leaving a few marks would have atleast registered her contempt for the unmitigated gall of her former mother-in-law. She went home and proceeded to tire herself in a frenzy of arduous exercise. The sweat and exhaustion cooled her anger as she considered her future. If she continued, she was accepting Rita's analysis of who she really was. It was both a familiar and repugnant choice. The Gamma option brought new kinds of uncertainty, but some new boundaries as well.
Until Gamma responded, Kate took herself off the ready list and spent a lot of time with Karl between the sheets. Perhaps it was middle age creeping up on her, but she found herself always the instigator. This was new and concerning. Ever since her college days, men were always coming on to her, and Karl, while happy to oblige her advances, was perhaps signaling a desire for more than a sexual relationship. Kate was at a familiar crossroads of either keeping it just fun or investing more of herself.
Option two happened on just a few sporadic occasions. Her marriage to Castle was supposed to be the last time. She was a one-and-done kind of girl after all. Initially, it was all she hoped it would be until it wasn't. When Bracken was not the end of her mother's case, she selfishly put her marriage on pause and ran at LOKSAT just like Montgomery said with some lame excuse about protecting her husband. Hunt's plan just expedited the only outcome that might restore their marriage. She grabbed it without thinking. In the end she was both arrogant and naive. Arrogant to think she could uncover someone so diabolical as LOKSAT and naive to try and keep her very smart husband from finding out the devil's bargain she made with Hunt and Rita. Then came Jason. Now there was Karl; it was good because it was uncomplicated.