“So, do you have it?” the recruiter asked her, but Liz shook her head.
“I don’t know,” she said and turned away.
“I don’t like that,” I said, and Bex nodded in grave agreement.
“Hey, Lizzie,” Bex said when we reached her.
When I put my arm around her shoulders, I realized they were even thinner than usual. She was pale as a ghost except for the dark circles that ringed her eyes. Guilt weighed on her, and I for one was terrified of how far it might drag her down.
“Let’s get out of here,” I told her. “What do you say? Movies in the common room? We can go down to the labs, use liquid nitrogen to make ice cream. You know how that always cheers you up.”
But Liz just stared blankly ahead. “I’m not hungry.”
When I followed her gaze I saw what she was staring at. Interpol had brought a map of the world, and it hung on the wall by their booth. It looked so small, not even as wide as two of our regular dining tables. It looked so big, filled with tiny towns and vast wildernesses. Every good operative knows that the world is small, but the planet is big. No one knew where my mom and Mr. Solomon were. No one knew where the Circle would strike next.
Except someone did know.
I looked at Liz again. “It’s okay,” I told her.
“Is it?” Liz isn’t one for snapping, but something in her tone froze me, shamed me. Made me feel small and helpless and weak.
“Liz, it’s going to be okay. I—”
“Hello, Cammie.” Agent Edwards was there, walking from the Interpol booth. Closer to me.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see him. We’d first met at the career fair my sophomore year—when I was still sneaking off to see Josh. History, after all, always repeats itself.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said and tried to walk away.
“I hope this means you’re considering a future with Interpol. I told you a long time ago that we would love to have you. I meant it then. I still do.”
“Thanks,” I managed to mutter.
“We’d have room for your friends, too.”
This made me stop.
“Ms. Baxter and Ms. McHenry—they are interested in fieldwork, are they not? And I think everyone in this room would love to work with Ms. Sutton.”
When he talked about my friends, it didn’t sound like an offer. It sounded like a threat.
“I’m sorry, Agent Edwards. My friend isn’t feeling well. We’ve got to—”
But then he stepped closer, blocking me off from Bex and Liz, who had already started moving away.
“I was hoping to speak to your mother. Is she here?” Something in the way he spoke told me that he was measuring his words carefully. He didn’t want to push me too far, too fast. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to push me.
I didn’t answer, and my silence made Max Edwards laugh. “I guess not. You know, I’ve been thinking. Funny thing about what happened with Winters, Cammie.”
“I didn’t think it was very funny,” I told him, but Edwards talked on as if I hadn’t spoken at all.
“The gunman disabled the security cameras, did you know that?”
“Yes.”
“So we don’t know what the two of you discussed.” He eased slightly closer. It was supposed to intimidate me, rattle me, make me want to talk. But it didn’t. It made me want to fight. “What did Samuel Winters tell you?”