Page 2 of The Dauntless (Spy Girl 5)
“Huntley, what happened with Dupree?”
“Why should I tell you? Give me one good reason!”
He has been firing back responses, but he pauses for a long moment before he says softly, “Because not only was I your mother’s handler, but I’m also … your grandfather. And I’m worried about you.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait! I didn’t know—until recently. I knew you as Calliope Cassleberry your whole life. Your mother never told me that she and my son—”
“Son? You’re saying that you are Ares Von Allister’s father?”
“Yes. Your mother, who was known as Kelley Bond, and my son were friends in high school. Kelley’s stepfather was abusive. He beat her badly, left her to die really. My son found her, took her to a hospital a couple of towns away, and checked her in under a false name—Charlotte Cassleberry.” He lets out a little chuckle. “Charlotte was the name of my late wife’s terrier. Anyway, she was in the hospital for quite a while and had numerous surgeries, which dramatically changed her looks. But there was still the issue of needing to hide from her stepfather. With my resources, we were able to give her a new legal identity.
“After her college graduation, she got in touch with me. Her stepfather was still looking for her, and she and my son had had no contact because of it, but she was applying for a government job and was worried her background might not hold up to scrutiny.
“I worked for the CIA, training potential agents. When she told me that she had taken martial arts and mastered basic weaponry during college, I recruited her on the spot. Until you, she was the best I’d ever trained. She went on to be an outstanding and highly decorated agent.”
I soak in what he said, knowing that he’s not lying about this. Ari and I have yet to share what we discovered in the Montrovian safety deposit box with Black X. It seemed pretty trivial in comparison to the nuclear threat.
“And how did you come to train me?”
“I was offered a position by a double black covert agency known as Black X. My death was faked, and I ran a top-secret facility that trained young men and women—something I was good at. I never expected them to send you. I wanted to tell you the truth. The truth about your mother. The truth about me. I was told that it would impede your training. But had I known you were my granddaughter or that Blackwood had been created solely for you—”
“What would you have done differently?” I rudely interrupt.
He sighs heavily. “I don’t know. But I do know that the only way to get out of this mess is to get through it.”
“When did you find out?” I ask in my harshest tone.
“On your birthday.”
“And your son—is he really dead?”
“Yes, he is.”
“I’m glad about that actually. Because, if he wasn’t, I’d have to kill him myself. What is the purpose of Black X?”
“That’s simple. To stop whatever your mother discovered. You haven’t asked again who runs Black X.”
“That’s because I don’t care anymore. Good-bye, Grandpa. Don’t ever contact me again. And for your information, Dupree shot all but two of his men for being stupid, and then he held a gun to my head. He fired, but at the last moment, he must have slightly moved the gun because he killed himself instead,” I say, abruptly ending the call.
I pace back and forth in front of a large grouping of sculptures featuring a steel clock surrounded by vibrant-colored spheres and circus performers, one a fourteen-foot-tall stilts walker. I stop pacing to sit on one of the spheres as I contemplate what I just learned.
I feel a little bad about the way I just spoke to the dean, a man I’d respected for six years. The man who had been a sort of father figure to me. I shake those thoughts from my head. It doesn’t really matter at this point.
I’m here. In Omaha. Keeping a promise to a friend.
I’m not letting anyone control my actions anymore. In fact, I gave myself a mission.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Recover the precious memories of your final days with your mother by visiting the places in the photos she left behind.
At first, that was it.
But then I added something else.
Discover who owns the emerald rings.
And destroy their secret society.
I glance down at my backpack. The one I used when traveling with my mother. The one I now keep along with a few outfits on the gorgeous black jet I still haven’t technically purchased from Lorenzo. I didn’t even bother to pack. Just called the crew and hopped on the plane. I’m going to have to get used to not having an on-call concierge to handle my wardrobe.
My phone buzzes with a call from Ari. “Did you see the news from Montrovia?”
“Yeah, this morning.”
“Where are you?”
“Where are you?” I fire back.
“Well, after almost dying, I got to thinking about life. And death. And … I asked Allie to marry me.”
Oh, jeez. We are just alike.
I roll my eyes. “Tell me you didn’t elope.”
“Are you kidding? Allie wants a wedding fit for a princess.”
“Her family paying?” I ask, knowing that, if the dean tells Black X that I quit, our money might very well disappear.
“Not funny,” he says. “I’m worried about you.”
“Not that worried. It’s been nearly twelve hours since the news broke in Montrovia.”
“Sorry, we were—”
“Enjoying life?”
“Yes, very much. I say, we forget about Montrovia and find a new place to live. And back to my first question. Where are you?”
“Omaha.”
“Isn’t that a little drastic?” He laughs.
“The Olympic swim trials happen to be here. I promised Daniel I’d come. And just so you know, I quit Black X.”
“Can you wait until after my nearly royal wedding?”
“Ari, maybe the DNA tests were a setup to make us believe it. Maybe Terrance lied. Who knows?”
“Your mother—our mother—wrote the truth in the letter we found in the safety deposit box.”
“I’m not sure I trust anyone anymore.”
“Not even me?” There’s a long silence as he waits for me to break. “Seriously? I almost died for you,” he finally says.
I sigh. “I almost died, too. There’s a lot you don’t know, Ari.”
“I guess I’m coming to Omaha then. Allie has to leave for a photo shoot. I was going to go with her. Figured we deserved a little time together. Not to mention, I’m pretty beat up from wrecking the motorcycle.”
“We’re both alive, Ari. That’s all that matters. Take the time off. Get better. Enjoy Allie. There will be no more missions. I’m okay,” I say with conviction, thankful for Blackwood Academy’s course on effective lying.
“Okay then. Huntley?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not alone anymore. You have me. Don’t forget that.”
“Tell Allie congrats. That I want to see a picture of the ring. And that we’ll celebrate soon.” Even though I’m sad about my situation, I am happy for my brother.
“We’re going to buy the ring today, and then I’m sure she will be shouting it from the rooftops,” he says, ending the call.
I considered texting Daniel before I left Montrovia, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I was going to text him when I got here, but instead, I’ve been wandering outside the Omaha convention center where the event is being held, Lorenzo’s vows on repeat in my head.
“Whatever our future holds, Lee, you must know that you, and only you, hold my heart. You give my life beauty and joy. You’re like a song, the melody of you playing within every beat of my heart. I will love you until the end of my days. That is my solemn vow to you.”
What I haven’t come to terms with yet and why I keep pacing is if Lorenzo meant what
he said. All I know is that he hasn’t texted or called me—which in and of itself is probably the answer. It’s just not the answer that my heart is willing to accept.
But then again, I’m the one who walked out on him.
I didn’t want to. But I knew I had to. Yes, initially, I felt betrayed. But I know in the furthest depths of my heart that he loves me.
And that’s the real reason I left.
I want what’s best for both Lorenzo and Montrovia.
I was lying when I told him I don’t care what happens there. His country and my life are inexplicably entwined. My mother had discovered the plot to destroy it, and I am fated to do the same.
Hopefully, before it’s too late.
