“So, this is the deal,” I say, placing my hands back on the table. He stares at me with cold, unwavering eyes. It’s difficult to keep my composure, but I know the moment I break eye contact, he’ll know I’m lying. I have to remember my training - straight face, straight tone, straight eye contact, always. Do not leave the other party any power or any room for doubt.

“I will help you break into HQ. I have access to the middle levels. I can’t get into the higher management, but I can tell you where other agents will be. If you can provide headpieces, we can communicate in secret. You can get the info you need and get back out without ever being spotted.”

“Cameras?”

“A simple feedback loop. I’ve tested this. They won’t realize until about 15 minutes after it starts. That’s your window. 15 minutes.”

“Passwords?”

“You won’t need them.” I pull out a thumb drive and slide it over to him. He looks over it methodically, as if he wants to know every square millimeter of it, examining the technology, probably to make sure it’s not bugged. When he sees it’s not, he resumes his eye contact with me. “That is a data sapper. It doesn’t matter if the computer’s locked or has an infinite amount of firewalls. It links straight to the hard drive, so any data that’s in there gets transferred. It could even hack the Pentagon, and trust me, they don’t know we have this.”

He pauses for a moment. His face is impossible to read. Is he pleased? Am I showing that I’m lying? He simply frowns a little bit, which sends shivers down my whole body. He can totally see me. No wonder he’s on the Most Wanted. Not only was he impossible to find, but I can’t tell what he’s thinking, which means I can’t tell how he’s thinking. He gives me a side eye, and although it’s more difficult than ever, I maintain eye contact with him.

“Why?” he asks. It takes everything in me to keep from gulping.

“Those bastards screwed me over,” I lied. “Day after day after day I’d work my ass off, training and studying just as hard as the others. They think they’re so superior, but I’m just as good and they have no right treating me like I’m a little kid who needs babysitting.” I find myself losing control. Maybe I’m not totally lying. Whatever I’m doing, he’s buying it. I think. “You want revenge? It’s the least I can do.”

“Revenge.”

Shivers. I can’t hold back that gulp anymore, but luckily he’s back to looking at the thumb drive.

“Once you have that info, you can take your enemy down. Knowledge is power, right?”

“More,” he replies. “Knowledge is a double-edged weapon.”

He stands up and walks out. Finally. I can breathe. I lean over the table and breathe out the resident nausea, trying to relax my nerves. However, as I open my eyes, they land on a black suitcase hiding in the corner. Lucky find. It’s combination-coded though…four digits. What four digits could they be? Something significant to him, maybe? His name! H-O-L-T… 3-5-4-6. Nope. Birthday? Don’t know it. Ugh. There are too many variables! I gotta know what’s in this case. My gut’s telling me it’s shady.

Wait. I had a code to get in here… it can’t be that simple.

I type in the code and the suitcase clicks open. Immediately, the nausea surges back. I want to pass out.

He doesn’t want information. He wants to bomb my headquarters.