Chapter 3

I spent the rest of the day being poked and prodded by a bunch of scientists. It seemed like no one was interested in explaining anything to me.

I didn't see Derek again until dinner that night. They wouldn't let me go home, on account of the fact that they knew that if they did let me, I'd never come back. Which wasn't entirely true. I mean, I still wanted Jesse back.

So, that's why I found myself that evening in a relatively small cafeteria, filled with whatever scientists weren't working right then, Derek and me.

The food in the cafeteria turned out to be horrible. I got a salad that looked as though it had been drenched in some unidentified liquid. If I hadn't been hungry, I wouldn't have given it another thought. Unfortunately, the Agency obviously didn't like to give its employees much free time.

I was sitting alone at a table near the back of the cafeteria when Derek showed up.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked, giving me one of those big smiles that might have actually looked kind of sexy if I didn't hate the guy's guts.

Without waiting for me to answer, he pulled out the chair across from me and sat down.

Then he had to go and try to make conversation with me. I'm not kidding. I really didn't want anything to do with him. I tried ignoring him, but Derek just went right on talking.

Finally, Derek sighed. "Come on, Suze, don't you have anything you want to say?"

To be truthful, right then I wanted to tell him off. But instead, I just went, "So, what made you become an agent?"

That just made him frown at me. "That's confidential," he said, picking up his turkey sandwich. But he did finally shut up. When we had both finished our dinners he said, "Have they showed you your room yet?"

I blinked at him. The fact that I would actually have to sleep there really hadn't dawned on me for some reason. "No."

"Come on." Derek grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the main hallway, then led me down another, narrower hallway. Finally we stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. "This is it," he announced, pulling out a keycard and swiping it through the little slot. It beeped, and Derek pushed open the door.

I glanced around the room. It wasn't much really. There was a bed and a closet and a small hallway that I was tempted to see where it led to, but I held my ground.

"There's a bathroom down that hallway," Derek said, as if reading my thoughts. "And there's some clothes and stuff for you to wear in the closet."

I nodded, walking over to the bed and sitting down on it.

Derek paused, looking unsure of what to do next. Finally he said, "If you want anything, I'm just down the hall."

"Yeah, thanks," I said, though I didn't intend on asking him for anything.

He left, letting the door click softly behind him.

I sighed, falling back on the bed. I needed to find a way out of this place and fast.

As it turned out, I wasn't going to have to wait long.

***

I woke up that night to the sound of someone creeping around my room. I sat up, reaching out for the lamp beside the bed.

A hand flew out grabbed my wrist, twisting it behind my back. I opened my mouth to yell, but his hand clamped down over my mouth. I tried to bite him, but he held on.

"Shut up," he hissed in my ear. "Do you want them to hear you?"

He let go of me, and I turned to stare up at him. "Derek? What the hell are you doing in here?"

"We need to talk," he said, sitting down on my bed.

I blinked at him. "Talk about what?" I demanded.

Derek ignored my question. "You know, I was surprised you didn't recognize me earlier."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, I thought for sure you'd have recognized my name." He grinned at me. "Or at the very least, my initials."

It took me a minute to realize what he meant. "You're DA?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise. "Yes."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you," he said, shrugging.

Raising my eyebrows I said, "Why would you want to help me? You don't even know me."

"True. But I think we could be very helpful to each other. You want answers to your questions, and, well, I want to get out of here as much as you do."

I laughed. "Are you kidding? If you wanted to get out of here, you wouldn't be helping the Agency."

"It's not that simple," he said guardedly.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence I asked him, "Why should I help you?"

Derek shrugged again. "Because you want to get your boyfriend back, and I can help you do it." I bit my lip, wanting to ask him about Jesse, but I kept silent. Derek seemed to read my mind. "He's fine," he assured me. "A bit angry, but fine. For now, at least."

"What do you mean 'for now'?" I demanded.

"I mean that the Agency isn't big on keeping its promises," he responded with more than a little bitterness in his voice. He met my gaze. "So what'll it be, Suze? Are you going to help me or not?"

I bit my lip. I didn't trust him. I couldn't. But I knew that at the moment I didn't have a choice.

I took a deep breath. "Fine. I'm in." I just hoped I wouldn't end up regretting my decision.