Agent Rogue: Renegade

Chapter 20

Scotty Williams

I looked down at my shaking hands as the elevator began to rise, chiming at every floor. There was no sign of Amber at Rose's house, only an unlocked door and leftover glasses of wine. One of them had been spilled, staining the carpet. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Collins had taken samples from both glasses and intended on delivering them to forensics when there was a chance. He held the sealed plastic bag at his side, swaying it slightly as we neared the top floor.

Davis put a hand on my shoulder, making me jolt. "We'll find her, Scotty."

My chest tightened. "What if it's too late?"

"She's a fighter. She'll be alive, I'm sure of it."

I swallowed. "I know."

The thought of Amber on a mission never frightened me. She was professional -- strong -- and knew what she was doing. But we could have never planned for this. None of us expected Rose to turn on us except maybe... Amber. I sighed. She didn't trust her from the beginning and I told her to give Rose a chance; that she was just being paranoid. She had no proof, of course -- just a feeling. But I should have trusted her.

I looked over my shoulder. Collins was staring at the floor, paling.

"What is it, Collins?" I said.

He took a breath. "We believed Rick's death was at the hands of Kane, correct?"

"We did," I said with a nod.

"And now we know it could only be Rose."

I had known for over an hour already but it still struck a blow. I gulped. "Aye."

"But who did we think hired Kane?"

I frowned. "Sienna." 

He gestured. "So..."

"Sienna hired Rose?"

"Exactly."

"But Sienna's in a cell," said Davis. "And Rose would not have gotten close to us without working for someone else so how does this...?"

"Who does Sienna work for?" Asked Collins.

I drew a breath. "Marcus."

"Exactly."

"No, it can't be," I retorted. "He can't... why would he go to all of this trouble?"

"Maybe he wants her back," said Collins. My stomach twisted. No way. No way in hell would he be getting her back. He had tried and failed before. He had to fail again.

Davis nodded and crossed his arms. "It would make sense. We have enough links to him."

"Everything has been well organised," Collins explained. "The security cameras and phone signals have been failing all day, Rose got a promotion that got her closer to Amber, Kane could have been broken out by Marcus. The death of Derek's family could have been as simple as a distraction."

"Bloody hell," I cursed. 

Everything was linked back to him; back to Marcus. Everything bad I could recall was connected to him. The arrest of Sienna worked to his advantage: Amber was fired. The arrest of Kane worked to his advantage: it highlighted a potential ally. Collins sending Rose to investigate, again, worked to his advantage by giving him a revenge-crazed agent with the power to keep an eye on Amber. Nothing felt real anymore. Everything was controlled; connected to the puppet master: Marcus Knight.