Agent 34

Chapter 6

Everly's POV

"How exactly do the two of you know each other?" Ian questioned me.

I shrugged. "We really don't," I replied. "But let's just say that Tessa seems to believe she's in competition with me."

"I find it hard to believe that you did nothing to provoke her."

I continued walking down the hallway. "You can believe whatever you want," I said as I balanced the files in one arm and pulled my phone that Lily had brought with her to give to me from my pocket as it began to vibrate. "I really don't care. Though you should ask yourself if you really think Tessa needs a reason to a b***h to someone."

Ian scoffed. "Tessa's not always that bad."

"Tessa's default setting is b***h," I replied as I answered the incoming call from Lily. "What's up?"

I could hear sirens in the background. I rolled my eyes. "What did you do? You only just left me at the agency like half an hour ago."

"Everly, I-I . . ."

I stopped in my steps as soon as she spoke, because there was pure panic in her tone.

"What's going on?" I asked her urgently. "What happened?"

There was a sob from her end. "I just got back to your house." Another sob. "It's Henri."

My heart stopped and I nearly dropped all the files in my arms.

"You need to get here. Now. I don't know-" She was cut off by another sob followed by a flurry of voices.

I didn't bother to wait for her to continue. "I'm on my way," I told her.

I was stopped, however, by a hand grabbing hold of my arm.

"You're so dead set on helping with finding my team member and now you're just going to bail?"

"It's an emergency," I hissed at Ian, my mind going frantic at the possibilities of what could be happening.

Henri had been living with me for years after the death of his wife. He'd been an old family friend who I would ask to look after my house while I was out of town and he and his wife would do just that. After she'd passed away, however, he'd ended up moving into my house and still taking care of it as I was mostly gone. He was like a father figure to me and he viewed me like a daughter. He was also older and so, I was worried about his health.

"I'm sure," Ian replied sarcastically.

I glared at him. "Look," I said. "I don't have time to deal with you right now. You can talk to Zero and ask him for my address. Come by later and we'll go over what's been done to look for your team member as well as what our next move."

I began moving down the hallway once more. "That is unless you're still adamant about not wanting my help, in that case just do whatever you damn well please, and I'll take care of the rest."

I took off at a sprint before he was able to reply. I made it to the agency garage and took the keys to one of the cars reserved for agents and sped out of the garage as fast as I could.

I did not live that far from the agency. Usually, it was only a twenty-minute drive, though with traffic it could be longer. This time I made it there in just over five minutes.

The gates to the driveway leading up to my house were already open, and as I sped up the driveway I could see the lights of an ambulance parked right by the front door.

I parked the car and didn't bother removing the key from the ignition before jumping out and running up the steps to the door. I ran through the open doorway only to slow in my steps as I realized the house was pitch black inside.

Odd, considering there was still a couple of hours before sunset and there were several windows throughout the house that should have been providing the rooms with light.

"Henri!" I shouted as I took a few more steps into the entry room. "Lily!"

The door behind me was suddenly slammed shut and before I could turn and look at what caused that, the lights were suddenly thrown on.

"Surprise!"

I took in all the balloons on the ceiling, tied to the stair banisters, and littering the floor. The huge glittery banner saying "Happy Birthday!" in colorful bold letters strung up from the ceiling. There were confetti and glitter on every visible surface. And then I looked at all the people who had shouted out a surprise as soon as the lights had come on.

Henri stood in the middle of them, his hands shoved in his pockets and a rather amused smile on his face. Devin, Jason, and Zack all stood to his left, with Zack standing an extra three feet from Devin and Jason. Chase stood to Henri's left with his arm over Megan's shoulders. Everyone was smiling, but where Megan's and Jason's smiles were kind and happy, Devin, Chase, Zack, and Henri's smiles were all highly amused. Chase also looked a bit smug, like he was enjoying my discomfort way too much.

I didn't even say anything, kept my face blank, and turned on my heels to walk back out the door. Except, Lily was behind me, leaning back against the door, a wicked look in her eyes as if she was daring me to try and leave.

I let out a long sigh and rubbed a hand down my face. "My birthday was months ago," I reminded her.

"Yes, I know," Lily responded. "And this had been planned for then, except you conveniently weren't here."

"That was not my fault."

"Alas," Lilly continued as she walked forward and began pushing me further into the room. "Here we are now."

"And the ambulance?" I asked, even though I really didn't need to know the answer. I could guess it.

"I commandeered it," Lily said nonchalantly. "I'll return it tomorrow." She continued pushing at my back. "It needed to be believable otherwise you would have suspected something and never would have walked through the door."

"I'm about to walk out," I told her. She was still attempting to push me, but I wasn't going anywhere . . . until Devin walked forward and threw his arm over my shoulders, forcefully pulling me away from the door.

"Come on Ev," He said. "Relax. Have a drink." He looked down at the blood clothes I was still wearing. "Got freshen up and change. And enjoy the party!"

I glared at him. "I recall telling you to make sure Lily didn't do anything for my birthday," I whispered.

Devin shrugged. "This wasn't her idea," He replied with a smile.

I shot him a flat look. "Are you kidding me?" I asked him.

"Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, twenty-one is a milestone. Especially for an agent . . . especially for you."

"I do not have a death wish. I don't know why you're all still convinced of that."

"Lily helped with all the planning and decorations," He continued on as if I hadn't spoken. "Come on, you deserve some senseless fun, even if it is only one night."

"Debatable," Chase said as he looked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him and then looked to Megan. "Is he still bitter?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Oh yes," She replied.

I shrugged. "He'll just have to get over it. How was the wedding?"

"It was wonderful," Megan replied. "I do wish you'd been there."

"I was otherwise preoccupied."

"So I was told."

"And yet, he's still pissed I missed it," I said.

Megan smiled again. "He'll move on eventually."

"You two do realize I'm standing right here," Chase interjected.

I didn't even acknowledge he'd spoken and continued speaking to Megan. "Are you two planning anything for your one year anniversary?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "It all depends if he can get some time off. But we'd like to take a trip. Or maybe just a quiet dinner. How was this last mission?" She asked me. "I heard you were out there for a long while."

"Conveniently," Chase muttered.

I turned to him. "Conveniently. Why is everyone saying that?"

"You don't make it to the wedding-"

"You know why."

"-and then a few months later, you disappear for over six months-"

"Also not my fault," I interrupted him. "And I already apologized for missing the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Also," I continued. "if we really want to discuss which one of us was more in the wrong, let's talk about how you invited your team, aka your best friends, to your wedding."

Zack started laughing loudly from beside us. Chase glared at him to shut up. Zack complied, but only after mocking Chase by making a motion of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key.

Chase and Megan had been dating for years, and then were engaged for a little less than a year before getting married. However, none of his team members had known he was dating, much less engaged.

So it was a bit of shock when he just handed them a wedding invitation, told them not to be late, and then just walked away. After the initial shock had worn off, there'd been swearing and questions, and more swearing. And possibly a few punches were thrown after the accusations of him not trusting them.

Chase glared down at me, but it was playful. "Happy birthday," He said before turning and walking off to the kitchen.

"Again," I called out to him. "Not my birthday!"

Megan shook her head. "I'd go get ready if I were you," She told me. "Before the rest of the guests get here."

I stared at her blankly for a moment. "The rest of the guests?" I questioned. "Who else is coming?"

Megan shrugged. "No idea, but Lily made the guest list and she invited a whole lot of people." She winked before walking away, no doubt to go find Chase.

I noticed Jason staring at the ground with a frown on his face, seemingly deep in thought. I walked up to him.

"What's on your mind?" I asked him.

He looked at me blankly for a second, like he was looking right through me before shaking his head as if to clear it. "Uh, nothing," He said, but he still looked around like he was confused.

"You okay?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good. I just didn't get much sleep last night." He ran a hand through his hair before smiling at me, and it seemed for the moment at least, whatever had been troubling him was forgotten.

"Just a head's up," He said to me. "Lily's locked you out of your room. Something about how you have no fashion sense and you're not wearing black to your party like it's your funeral."

I let out a groan. "Great," I muttered. "Any idea where she hasn't locked me out of?"

Jason shrugged. "Her room. In fact, I believe she left a dress out on her bed for you."

"There is no way I'm wearing whatever Lily's picked out for me."

"It might not be that bad?"

"Do you remember the dress she made me wear when we went out for her birthday?" I asked him.

He just barely managed to stifle a laugh. He then avoided my gaze with a wide smile on his face.

"Case and point," I muttered.

"It wasn't . . . that bad."

"It wasn't that good."

"I thought it looked great," Zack said as he held up a bottle of beer. "Cheers birthday girl."

"It's not actually my birthday."

"No one actually cares about that detail."

I glared at him. He shot me a wink and then point over to Henri. "Henri wanted to speak with you."

I looked over to Henri. He nodded to me and then gestured with his head for me to follow. I left Jason and Zack, just as they began arguing over God knows what.

Henri was waiting a quiet corner of the room and when I walked up he gave me a hug. "I am glad you are back in one piece Miss Kingston."

I nodded. "So am I." I looked up at him. "So, what have I missed?"

He smiled down at me. "I will bring you up to speed," He said. "We probably have a few minutes before Lily realizes you're gone."

"More like a few seconds," I muttered.

He smiled. "Then I shall talk fast."