Catlin sat back down and looked passed the empty seat across from her. The others ate in silence. Brisa was walking up the stairs towards her cabin still wearing the armor and enchanted gear Catlin had made especially for her. Catlin knew exactly where Brisa’s cabin was, but it was best not to force a conversation right now.
Catlin had approached Brisa’s door with a powerful disguising enchant to keep Brisa from freaking out on site. The event at the shuttle platform had affected Brisa much more than Catlin had wanted. There was no way to know Brisa would be so ill-equipped for life outside the news room.
She slowly got to know Brisa. Honestly, she was easy to get along with. As they bonded, Catlin slowly weakened the enchantment but Brisa was still not ready to know the truth. She had thought that eating with the person she was hired to follow would be enough of an apology. Perhaps it was working for a while
Catlin had dropped the disguising enchantment at the table some time ago. Her mask also had a perception enchant making it easier for her to see through disguises. With all that, Brisa was still under the influence of Catlin’s spell. Which meant one thing: Brisa wanted to believe the lie.
Once her eyes were open, they saw how she reacted to being tricked. She didn’t like it. No one does. No one ever does. Catlin knew that from the start but she was assured that things would turn out for the best. They were following an “inspired” plan after all.
Catlin turned to Neely, “You told me to hide myself. Now she doesn’t trust us at all.”
“It was better than the alternative,” he rebutted calmly after taking a drink. It was water this time, “Or would you have liked her to run, scream, and call security on you.”
His distant calm bugged her and his tactics were unfeeling. All of her hard work was wasted. She’ll be recovering from performing those enchantments for at least a day. The fruit of her labor walked away along with Brisa. Catlin had lost a friend and they still needed to find someone to report on Jaquan, all because of Neely. “What do we do now,” she asked Jaquan.
“We continue on our way,” he answered with his mouth full, “You said she was only going to stay in the town for a little while, right?” He chewed a bit more then he swallowed, “We just have to wait for the replacement team. Then we check them.”
They continued their meal. Everyone ate their fill except Catlin. She wasn’t hungry.
—–
Brisa reached her cabin still a little shaken. It seemed that the BigBad Crew was fine eating without her. They seemed not at all hostile to her this time. Still the tricks and betrayal were a different type of hostility. They had attacked her before. No matter if they were remorseful, they wouldn’t get another chance.
Catlin’s impromptu meeting was a good trick. The Crew may have wanted her to join them on their trip. However, after telling them her secrets, she didn’t feel safe around any of them. Catlin could use her fears and weaknesses for any purpose. The “Catlin” she met could have also been a smokescreen. She just didn’t know.
Duard would probably call her a fool for leaving like she did. But he wasn’t here. Only she was here with no backup. Still, Brisa had surpassed him on one note. She had, after all, gotten as close to Jaquan as he did; and without getting stepped on. Duard was probably just leaving the hospital after his three day reminder that Jaquan ‘hated’ reporters.
All the same, the shuttle was landing. It was time to call South Coast.