Trust No One

Chapter 14

Annabeth POV

Walking out in nature helped to clear my head. 

Agent Beauregard didn't tell me that much information because she got paged to leave. In hindsight, Silena was leaving on a mission tonight, so she couldn't tell me much. 

Her message was still floating in my brain. 

They will kill him (I assumed that she meant Charles Beckendorf). 

Silena Beauregard was forced to become a terrorist spy because she was scared for the person that she loved. Silena wasn't a bad person, but she did put her family before her job. 

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. 

However, in our line of work, our responsibility to saving the world has to come first. It always is about helping others over yourself. 

Silena had an audio chip in her arm, so she couldn't reveal too much without causing suspicion. However, I had so many questions for her. Most of them had to do with Percy's last mission and what happened to him. 

I had no choice with Agent Jackson either, she said. 

I sighed as I continued to walk through the woods. 

I was on a trail that connected Lake Valor to the town square. We lived in a small town because (obviously) a secret government organization had to be in an isolated area. 

Suddenly, I got a phone call. 

I was expecting the call from Leo since was running late for our meeting at Demeter's cafe. 

"Hey, Leo, I'm on my way," I said into the phone. 

"All right, Annabeth. I'm just making sure because I know that you were going to talk to Agent Beauregard today," Leo said. 

"Oh yeah, I did, and you won't believe what I found out. I'm on my way. Can you order me a caramel coffee?" I asked. 

"Sure thing. See ya, Ms. Intelligence," Leo said. 

I could almost hear his annoying smirk. I hung up the phone and quickened my pace. I couldn't wait to discuss everything with my friend and teammate. 

However, I hated the guilty feeling that I could only trust Leo because he didn't work at Lake Valor. I wanted to be able to trust my colleagues and friends, but I couldn't right now. Even if they were good people (like Silena), they could still be working with the enemy. 

***

Leo had a slight freak-out after I told him. We had just confirmed that Lake Valor was compromised. 

The worst part was that some agents were willingly working with BlodgeHarm and WiCKeD while others were coerced to. It was hard to see the big picture of who's good and bad. 

The world we lived in was gray (not black and white). 

Regardless, we didn't have our next steps until Silena Beauregard returned. She would know who was compromised and who to steer clear of. 

Leo and I both knew that we couldn't tip off the wrong people. 

Silena was good, so she wouldn't alarm BlodgeHarm and WiCKeD. At least, that's what we hoped. 

Regardless, Chiron was surprised that Silena was a spy. However, he understood why she would sacrifice her integrity for Charles Beckendorf. They were engaged, and at that point, she'd do anything to get him back. 

I spent the entire weekend organizing my thoughts and privately collecting evidence against select agents, starting with Silena Beauregard. 

Of course, I made sure to validate that Silena was coerced.