Page 19 of The Society (Spy Girl 3)
"That's when things got a little out of control," Lorenzo says. I can tell he's been eager to talk about all this. And he sounds, well, proud of me. "The other two guards came out of the office. One fired a shot at the ceiling."
"Idiot," I say, shaking my head.
"Yes, ceiling tiles rained down on them. Then you should have seen her. It was like something out of a movie. She somersaulted out from behind us--a gun in each hand--fired the guns simultaneously and with only two shots killed both men."
"And what about the girl? Was she caught in the cross fire?"
"No, she was behind the kidnapping--had hired the men, was going to feed Lorenzo to the sharks, and then become queen. After that, she wanted to sell the Strait of Montrovia to the highest bidder and rename the country Arcadia. I slapped an exploding pore strip on her head and then kicked her out of the way just as she went boom."
"Lorenzo," the admiral chastises, "you should have told us this."
"At that point, Gallagher showed up. I didn't want to blow my cover, so I let him take the credit. I guess I assumed you all knew about Ophelia."
"I didn't tell anyone," Lorenzo says, gazing into my eyes. "You trusted me with the truth."
I take his hand in mine. "I really appreciate that, but it's important they know now because we need help with trying to figure out just what is going to start in Montrovia."
"Wait, what did you just say?" the Mossad agent asks.
"British intelligence picked up some kind of chatter that led Gallagher to Montrovia in the first place--it starts in Montrovia."
"Who do you work for? And how old are you?" the admiral asks me.
"I just turned nineteen. I've been trained for the last six years." Then I tell them the rest--starting with my mother's death to the death of everyone at my school to finding out that Ari and I are really brother and sister. I don't hold back any details, save for one. I don't tell them that The Priest might still be alive and that the cute little kid upstairs is really his son.
When I finish, both men sit in stunned silence, trying to take it all in.
MISSION:DAY THREE
I wake up early and alone in Lorenzo's bed. A quick glance at the clock on the bedside table tells me it's four in the morning. My sleep was plagued with dreams of Blackwood, probably the result of telling the men everything last night. I don't know if I should have confided in them, but I can't trust Black X to tell me the truth.
I flip on the television, thinking the news might lull me into going back to sleep, but I wake up fully when I see a story about how the United States is considering military action against Syria in retribution for the recent death of the president.
But that's wrong. Black X invented the story about Josh and Syria. They can't let our government act on it.
I think about the dean of Blackwood. How he gave me my father's watch. How he must have wanted me to know my parents had been spies. Even though he's been lying to me, maybe I can get him to tell me some of the truth.
I call my emergency contact number.
"Hello, Dean?" I say when someone picks up.
"Are you in danger?" he asks with a surprising amount of emotion, almost sounding worried.
"No, that's not why I called. I want to know why the media is still saying that Josh killed the president. Why aren't they telling the truth about The Priest? I just saw on the news that our military is considering a strike on Syria in retribution. How can you allow them to do that? To kill innocent people? I want to know who runs Black X."
"I am not authorized to share that information."
"That means you know."
"Yes, I do."
"And do you agree with their tactics?" I inquire.
He lets out a tired--or maybe an exasperated--sigh. "Not always, but I believe in their cause."
"I know what they did to my friends," I tell him.
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't and I won't continue to work for someone who does nothing but lie to me. I know what you did to my schoolmates. I was there. Everything and everyone was gone--well, except for Josh."
"You saw Josh?"
"I sure did. And he told me everything. What I don't understand is why Black X killed them all."
"That's easy to answer--because of you."
"Which is hard to make sense of. Huntley Von Allister isn't even my cover. It's who I really am. Black X has lied to me at every turn. You, the one person in this world who I thought I could trust, lied to me."
"Why do you think I told you to trust no one?" he counters.
"Interesting that you were spared."
"Sometimes, I wish I hadn't been," he says with another sigh.
"If you hate Black X and what they did, why do you continue to work for them?"
"Because I don't have any other choice."
"Will they kill you if you try to quit?"
"No, but they just might kill you. Consider those from Blackwood who perished as patriots who volunteered for duty but were lost in battle."
"A battle against what?"
"Evil."
"My mother figured out what was going to happen, didn't she? That's why she was killed."
"I believe so, yes."
"And what did you do before you were the dean?"
"I was your mother's handler."
"Her spy handler?"
"Yes, and I have no idea what she was on to. The last two weeks of her life, she was on vacation. Once she was killed, Black X came to me, said I would be in danger by default. Black X kept us both alive by stashing us at Blackwood Academy. We owe them our gratitude."
"So she died before she could tell anyone what she'd learned?"
"I spoke to her that night. She told me you were outside, climbing the tree in your backyard. Do you remember that?"
"I didn't until recently. Since then, I've had a few flashes. Like I remember, after she called me inside, I was sitting on her bed, folding laundry from our trip, while she finished unpacking. That was when we heard a noise out in the living room, and she told me to hide in the closet."
"Have you remembered anything else?"
"Other than what happened after that, no. I can't remember where we had been. What did she tell you when you spoke?"
"That she hadn't really been on vacation, that she believed there was a conspiracy to, and I quote, 'end the world as we know it,' and that she would fill me in on everything she had learned when she arrived at the office the next morning."
"That's why all the therapists focused on what had happened before my mom died rather than the trauma of the event itself. Because it might have shed some light on what she'
d discovered."
"That's correct."
"And my mother's real name is Kelley Bond, and Ares Von Allister really is our biological father?"
"Yes."
"And Blake, the man who I thought was my father? Were he and my mother married?"
"On paper, yes. A family is a good cover."
"The CIA covered up what had happened to them by saying we all perished in a car accident. But the CIA doesn't know what happened to me because they never found my body. I overheard the CIA director talking about it. He said he prayed that whatever the assassin had done to me was over quickly."
"When did you hear that?"
"At a party. Believe it or not, I'm pretty good at this whole spying gig."
"That's because I taught you well."
"Does the CIA think you are dead, too?"
"Yes."
"Blackwood is not a black CIA operation?"
"No, it is not. It operates independently and prefers it that way. No bureaucracy. I'm afraid I've answered too many of your questions. I must say good-bye now."
"Wait! I have one more question. Did Ares Von Allister tell my mother that my twin brother died and then give him as a bribe to General Bradford?"
"Yes, he did. I'm sorry, X."
"Don't ever call me that again. My name is Huntley," I say before hanging up the phone.
I wash my face, reeling. I never suspected that the dean was my mother's handler. But now I understand why he treated me differently from the other students. Why he was harder on me. And, as horrible as it is, I get why they killed everyone.
Ari is right. Something bigger is going on. Something that someone has been planning for years. But what I don't understand is why my mother went off on her own. Why not tell someone why she was going in case something happened, especially if it was truly that big of a deal? My dad--well, the man who I thought was my dad--hadn't gone with us. Don't ask me how I know that, but I do.
I close my eyes and try to remember more. Nothing comes, so I decide to get ready for the day. Once I am showered, blow-dried, and freshly made up, I look for Lorenzo. When I don't find him in the usual places, I sneak into his private study and attempt to go down to the secret room in the basement.
To my surprise, when I put my palm on the glass, I'm prompted to enter a six-digit passcode. It takes me a second to realize that Lorenzo must have kept a scan of my palm when he opened my account at the Royal Montrovian Bank.
