When her alarm goes off at 7, he is nowhere to be found. The towel has been neatly folded and returned to the bathroom, her razor is in the shower but she can smell her shaving cream in the bathroom, and the chain is off the door.
She finds his note when she's making coffee, written on the back of an old grocery list. His handwriting is perfectly even, slanting at exactly the same angle towards the right, and some of the letters bear the characteristics of someone not educated in America.
I'll be in touch soon, it reads simply. She is a trace disappointed that he didn't mention the night before, but is simultaneously impressed by his discretion.
She showers languidly, reluctantly pulling on her clothes and twisting her short hair into a low bun. Makeup is too much of a bother, and besides, she told Eric she'd pick him up at 7:45.
A quick peek in the hall mirror confirms what she feels: she looks like someone who didn't get enough sleep. But when she thinks about the reason for not sleeping, a sly smile creeps over the features of the face in the reflection.
Four days later she is furious at him when they find out the Covenant has managed to free Kazari Bomani, a man Sloane helped to put behind bars. Surveillance feeds put him at the prison along with a half-dozen armed Covenant foot soldiers, mowing down guards wholesale. At least they take only what they came for and leave the rest of the prisoners safely behind bars.
"Arvin Sloane's intel was instrumental in convicting Bomani in the first place," Lauren sniffs delicately when she questions the rationale of using him to find out what the Covenant wants with Bomani. Her tone is lightly superior, one Sydney only hears her use in the briefing room when Sydney seems out of the loop. "I'm due to meet with him in Mexico City tomorrow, one of our routine briefings for the NSA."
"Then I'm going with you," she spits, looking at Dixon and her father to back up her indignation. Dixon is infuriatingly impassive.
"Fine, Sydney—you will travel with Lauren to Mexico City, meet with Sloane in person, and see if he can't give us a new perspective on this," Dixon blandly endorses the idea of them traveling together.
As soon as Dixon stands, her father nods curtly at her and they proceed to a private corner of operations room.
"Dad," she hisses, "This is crazy! How can they take Sloane at his word, as though SD-6 and the Alliance never existed?"
"Sydney," Jack places his hand on her arm, "You need to calm down."
"How can I calm down," she retorts, brushing his hand away. "They act as though I'm the crazy one to be suspicious of anything that Sloane says! Why did you not back me up in there?"
"You know as well as I do," Jack's clipped tone gave her pause, "That we are already on thin ice with the Agency. Bob Lindsey is waiting for any misstep on either of our parts to return me to federal custody and you to the insane asylum. And I do mean any—" his voice goes much lower, "—misstep. Dixon and I have chosen to keep your agreement with Sark quiet for the time being. But you know that will go over badly if anyone related to the NSA finds out."
She can't meet his eyes as he says, "Particularly as you were so vocal about not releasing Sark in the first place."
At this she nods, and wonders briefly what things would be like if they hadn't traded him for Richter in the desert. It was the NSA, after all, who bungled that so horrifically.
"Walker didn't have any intel, Dad," she sighs. "Sark dropped by a few days ago. All Walker would tell him was that Julia Thorne was an assassin."
Jack's silence makes her uncomfortable and she continues, "We won't be hearing from Walker again."
Her father nods tersely, and says, "Well, that would seem to fit with what we already knew, then. At least we're not dealing with conflicting stories. I take it Sark didn't offer any intel on yesterday's prison break."
"No, of course not," she feels slightly betrayed. "Maybe he didn't know about it."
Jack's one raised eyebrow confirms he thinks otherwise. "Keep your wits about you, Sydney. Don't forget he's one of Irina's."
"I know, Dad."