“There’s been a new development in the serial killer case in Livingston.”
I sat up, startled by the topic. Major had never spoken directly to me about that case—or any case. I hadn’t been in the FEA for long enough, wasn’t experienced or trustworthy enough. Kate and Alec nodded in unison.
“His fourth victim.” Major continued.
“Fourth? Who was the third victim?” I’d only heard of two. Apparently, the gossip channels in the FEA didn’t work as well as I’d hoped.
“A Mr. Chen. He was a janitor in Livingston’s high school,” Major said.
“A man?”
Major sighed. “That gave our profiling team quite a stir. Their analysis up until then had suggested a misogynist.”
Four murders. That must have been a shock for a town as small as Livingston. “Why do we even think it’s a serial killer? What seems to be the connection?”
Major released his grip on the chair. “Two victims were killed with a wire around their necks. Two were found in or near the lake—we can’t say for sure how they were killed. But they all had one thing in common: the killer had cut an A into the skin over their rib cage. We don’t yet know why.”
“Did he do it post-mortem?” I asked as all kinds of horrible images flooded my head.
“Yes. But that’s not why I ordered you into my office; you’ll become familiar with the cases soon enough.”
The thought was enough to make my pulse speed up.
“Yesterday the killer tried to strike again,” Major said.
“Tried?”
Major’s glower made me add a hasty “sir,” but it didn’t change his expression.
“Yes, tried. He strangled a girl and threw her into the lake afterward, but she washed onto the shore, where a jogger found her. He called an ambulance. She sustained severe brain damage and was placed in an artificial coma. That’s where it gets interesting.”
Interesting? I glanced at Alec and Kate, my stomach knotting into a tight ball, but they just listened, straight-faced. I needed to grow a thicker skin, become hardened, but maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this job.
“The doctors give her a few days to live, at most. Once she’s dead, Tessa, you’ll take her place.”
My fingers gripped the sleek, wooden armrest. I felt as if a hole had suddenly opened into the Earth and threatened to swallow me. “You can’t be serious.” He wanted me to pose as a dead girl to chase a serial killer?
Major straightened, eyes narrowed.
I took a deep breath. “I’ll take her place?” My voice shook, despite my best attempts to appear strong. I knew I should be grateful for the opportunity, but this was more than the usual entry-level missions, like reconnaissance or conducting background investigations. This was me at the front. While a small part of me was excited about the chance to prove myself, the bigger part considered all the ways I could fail.
“Yes, that is what I said. Once she’s dead, you’ll pretend to be her.”
He said it like it was nothing, like posing as a murder victim was a perfectly normal occurrence.
“But everybody will already know she’s dead, won’t they? I can’t pretend to be a corpse.”
“No, they won’t. Everyone will think there’s been a miracle and she recovered.”
“But what about her parents?” I asked.
Major traced a finger over the photos on the wall. “They won’t know, either. They’ll simply think that you’re her.”
“Don’t you think they’ll get suspicious if I don’t act exactly like their daughter? They know her better than anyone. I’ll never be just like her, no matter how hard I try.”
“Yes, but think, Tessa. Why would they suspect anything? For them there’ll be no other explanation for their daughter’s recovery than a miracle. And any small changes in her behavior will be attributed to the trauma. They could never imagine that people like us exist. An average human’s imagination doesn’t reach that far.”
Average human—only Major was able to make it sound like an insult. He looked at me like I was precious, his most prized possession. His trophy Variant.
Alec sprang out of his seat and began to pace the room, stalking past Major’s glass case of tin soldiers and awards, past the filing cabinet, before he finally stopped in front of the picture window.
“Don’t you think the mission is too dangerous? The murderer will obviously try to get rid of the only person who might be able to identify him. Tessa will be his prime target.”
A tight knot of unease gathered in my stomach but I tried to ignore it. If I let it gain momentum, I’d dissolve into a puddle of anxiety.
Major smirked, as though Alec’s words had been a joke. “Alec, Tessa will be facing much worse once her training is over. Like the rest of you do.”
The training was ultimately geared toward one goal: to prepare us for more important future missions all over the world. Tanner’s brother Ty had recently completed training and was immediately sent on a covert assignment abroad. We didn’t know where he was, but rumors said Iran or China. Only ten percent of all agents were currently stationed at headquarters, the rest were out in the field.