Suicide Mission (Guarded Secrets #1)

35: "My mom was mixed Hispanic and Black."

Two Months later

There was a prominent knock on my door that caused me to look up from the paper fragments of the files I had been shredding. As promised I had taken the first cross shredder I found, once I was allowed to leave my room again, and was personally going to shred, then burn the scraps from every file to make sure no one was finding these people ever again. I wasn't going to be responsible for these being the only files left intact for someone to find and take advantage of again. When I didn't answer the knock, "Hello?" a soft voice asked, following another knock, as the shredder finished the file and came to a calm stop.

"It is open. You can come in," I obliged with a sigh as I got up from my desk chair, leaving the last file on my desk, and waited for the person to enter. I was under house arrest after my disappearing stunt following my mission, needless to say Sharp Shooter wasn't pleased with me, and up until today I wasn't even allowed to leave my room except for meals and training. He had told me that I got lucky, but I had to remember that I was now part of a team and I had to think about them as well. I hadn't told anyone I was leaving, and made Tessa promise not to tell them until she met up with them and explained what happened. I had been right though, I was gone before she finished the story otherwise Demon would have found me before I could make it to Ash's mansion.

When I arrived back at the agency everyone had asked what I did while I was gone, thinking of me as a helpless rookie that couldn't do anything yet, but I surprised them all. They were in awe to hear that I found the man responsible for my pain, and the loss of my family. They were shocked when I told them that I killed him, but not without taking a beating myself. I had been lucky that Ash wanted to finish me off personally, at his own hands as he said, otherwise I wouldn't be alive right now. Ash's men would have taken me out before I could have touched Ash. He underestimated me, just like my team did, and now no one would do it again.

The door slowly opened to reveal a tall, tanned figure and a familiar white perfect-teeth smile. I lifted my eyebrow curiously as I looked at my newest friend. I almost failed to recognize her, but the smile was a dead giveaway. I had never seen such white teeth before her, they almost shone so brightly that they blinded me. Tessa stepped into my room, completely different than how I had met her. Her long blonde hair was cut short and now a deep brown, her eyes were changed with the help of colored contacts to a hazel coloring and her white skin was now a perfectly dark tan that almost made her look as if her heritage was a mix between Hispanic and African American.

I said as much and got, "Did you know my mother was mixed Hispanic and Black?" as a response. "And your dad?"

"White; that's so boring," she said, shutting the door behind her and coming into my room fully.

She had successfully completed her makeover so that her old cartel wouldn't find her again, even underwent a small facial surgery from cheek bone to cheek bone to prevent facial recognition. She had tried to avoid it, but realized it was best to prevent being noticed by anyone from her old life. It was sad to think that she would always be undercover, so that no one would recognize her, and could never be her old self again, but she was safer here than she would have been in the cartel. She had even gotten her tattoo already, leopard spots from her hip to her ankle. She showed it off proudly with her choice of clothes, short black shorts with a pink crop top and bare feet. Due to the revealing clothing, I could see exactly where her spots started and ended.

"What's your name, rookie?" I asked with a joking smile, hoping that she would understand the humor.

She was slow at times, and I was sure a makeover can't change your personality, but it could do wonders to keep you hidden from those around you.