Page 18 of The Eagle (Spy Girl 2)
"Yeah."
"How old was he?"
"Nineteen."
"Jeeze. That's illegal."
"It didn't feel illegal, Josh."
"He took advantage of you."
I shake my head. "No, he didn't. If anything, I took advantage of him. I had a crush on him. I knew his habits. When I blew out the candle, he was my wish."
Josh wraps me in a hug like I need one. I pull away, still gripping the gun tightly. I'm not sure what the hell is going on here. No way everyone is dead. They can't be.
"Sex is just sex, Josh. The means to an end. Isn't that what they taught us? That you can and should use sex to your advantage?"
"Yeah, but you just never seemed that way. You impressed the hell out of me with your skill at--well, everything-- but there's a softness inside you that you don't let many people see."
"So back to graduation."
"I believe they are cleaning house because of you. Just what kind of a mission are you on?"
"I'm not sure."
"How many people did you interact with at Blackwood during your time here?"
"There were eight students when I arrived along with four instructors, the Dean and his secretary, two kitchen staff and two cleaning crew. Four came my second year, four more my third year, and then our class had ten, including me. Twenty-six students--all the letters of the alphabet."
"So with the staff, that means thirty-six people know the truth about you. Thirty-six people who know you're not really Ares Von Allister's long lost daughter," Josh states. "Thirty-three of which are now dead. That leaves three. Me, you, the Dean."
"How do I know you didn't kill them, Josh?" I ask, pointing the gun at him. "We were all well-trained. Why are you the only one who got away?"
"The two assailants came in from the back and opened fire. I managed to dive behind the stage steps and hide while I tried to assess my options. From what I could see, everyone was down but me. The pair was now going row by row and finishing off anyone who wasn't already dead. One of them came to check the bodies on the stage. I ambushed him, took possession of his gun, and shot the other assailant."
"And then what?"
"I took off their masks. One was E. The other was A."
"Two former students were the shooters? That makes no sense."
"It does if they work the same place you do. Who do you work for?"
"Have you ever heard of Black X?"
"No, what is it?"
"Are you sure you've never heard of it? Think. When they talked to you about what you would do after graduation, wasn't it ever mentioned?"
"No. It wasn't. Not that it matters now. You have to help me, X. In the twelve hours I've been gone, someone came in and cleaned all this up. The bodies, the carnage, it's all gone. All our possessions. Every single file. Every trace of any of us is gone. And as soon as they figure out I'm not dead, they'll come after me."
"And you've never heard of a covert organization called Black X? I'm pretty sure it's how Blackwood Academy got its name."
"Never have I ever," he says, making a little joke.
I make a quick decision and stuff the gun into my waistband. "Come with me, Josh. We need to get out of here and figure this all out."
"What did you do!?" the former Dean of Blackwood Academy yells, spittle flying out of his mouth, as he storms into the leader of Black X's office.
"What are you talking about, old man?"
"Graduation was supposed to be today. I went. No one was there. Nothing was there."
"Due to a situation, graduation was held yesterday. You must not have gotten the memo."
"Where are my students? What did you do?"
"I did what I had to."
"Tell me where they are!"
"They are dead," the leader says.
The fear of this has been sitting in his stomach since he arrived at the school to find it not only empty, but completely cleansed. He knew the school would be closing, but the current students had still been living there.
"Why? Why did you have me train them only to kill them? They could have helped us here like the other graduates have!"
"I'm afraid the other graduates along with the staff are dead as well."
"You wiped out most of our organization?" Tears fill the old man's eyes. Spies aren't supposed to get emotionally attached, but he isn't a spy anymore. He had become like a father to those young men and women. He had taken pride in their advancement.
"We can only afford to have those who we explicitly trust."
"Who does that even leave us with? A concierge, an anthropologist who likes to shop, a decrepit spy, a couple hackers, and The Ghost? How are we supposed to run an operation with so few?"
"You forgot to mention Aristotle and Huntley. The rest of them have served their purpose and had to be eliminated."
He touches a photo on the leader's desk. "She would be ashamed of what you've become."
"They killed her because of me--because of the mission I sent her on--and I will do whatever it takes to destroy them."
"Wouldn't it just be easier to let the Ghost kill them?"
"Their plot runs deep. Cutting off the head of the snake will not cause it to die. It will simply rise again in another form."
"Does X know?" he asks. "Those were her friends."
"You trained those young men and women admirably. You taught them to survive on their own. She does not know the fate of her former classmates, and she must never find out."
"I quit," the Dean says.
"You owe me your life. I could have let you go to graduation and suffer the same fate."
"So it's come to this? You don't even trust me?"
"I do trust you. That's why you are still alive. And I need you to continue to monitor her. She trusts you."
"So you're only keeping me alive because I'm useful?"
"Yes, and you would be wise to remember that fact."
The old man flips him off as he exits the room. He knows he deserves it but he can't be swayed by the old man's emotion. He slides his hand down the photo, remembering how she called him right before she died. How she told him she had figured it out. How they would meet the next morning.
His thoughts are interrupted by a computer beep, indicating a secure email from one of his sources in the Middle East.
He reads it, then picks up his phone, hits a button, and says, "We need to talk."
A few minutes later, the Ghost enters his office. "I was on my way in here when you called. We have a big problem. One of the graduates managed to escape."
"How did that happen?"
"He was well-trained, I assume. But it gets worse. He took the men's hoods off and knows two former graduates were sent to kill them. I've cleaned up the mess, disposed of the bodies, and the school has been cleansed. No one will ever know what happened, unless--"
"He talks," the man says. "Do you know where he is?"
"No idea. I'd ask the old man for help, but he's not going to be happy to learn that we disposed of his former students and staff."
"He already knows, but don't worry, I'll deal with him. We did what we had to do. I would have preferred to use them in our fight. They were well-trained. But with X's high profile, it was inevitable that someone would make contact with her. We couldn't risk blowing her cover."
The Ghost nods in agreement. He understands sometimes there is collateral damage on the path to justice. "If you would have let me take care of it as I requested, it would be done. Now we have dangerous threads blowing in the wind. One little pull could unravel what's left of our organization."
"Something curious has happened in the world today," the leader says, indicating their previous conversation is over. "We know part of their plan hinged on controlling the Strait of Montrovia. I just received a tip from a source that the Syrian government has seized control of the Russian port in Tartus."
"Are they crazy? Russia will destroy them."
"It's my understanding that Russia is trying to work
on a diplomatic solution, which will take too long. We have to do something."
"Why was this not on the news?" the Ghost wonders.
"Because it's not as sensational as the President's funeral."
"And you believe this is related to Montrovia? I don't understand why they would want Tartus. It seems so random."
