A Spy Like Me by Laura Pauling

Author:Laura Pauling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, spy fiction, mystery and detective, ally carter, gemma halliday, humor adventure, teen action adventure, espionage female, gallagher series, mysteries and detectives, spying in high heels
Publisher: Laura Pauling

Twenty-four

While Gray rambled on about the business, I hid behind my latte.

We were huddled around a big white plastic table in the warehouse, and the chill rising off the cement floor and leaking in through the windows set my teeth to rattling. I rubbed my arms and blew into my hands to warm my fingers. Though chilled on the outside, a fire burned in my belly. I felt like a large black cauldron with all the memories of the past couple weeks churning, bubbling, and boiling. The lies. The messages. The trickery. I had lost touch with the truth. And Malcolm sitting across the table looking oh so suave and knowledgeable just added fuel to the fire.

My head pounded. Clues, images, and snippets of conversations swirled in and out of my brain. If Jolie and Malcolm had nothing to do with Aimee’s disappearance, then what had happened? Her grandmother’s cottage was abandoned, the neighbor warned me to stay away, and I had no leads.

As Gray finished up his end of the meeting, Dad shuffled papers ready to embark on a long list of to-dos.

“So.” My voice echoed in the large room but still sounded small and wimpy. I cleared my throat and spoke louder. “I don’t think Spy Games’ clients are all that impressed with our dramatic entrance.”

Frankie smirked. Nancy gave me her motherly smile. Gray ignored me. So did Dad. Malcolm studied me.

“Your dad explained it to me,” he said. “Sounds like fun. I bet clients love it.”

I pictured Malcolm tied up in a chair while bat turds dropped from the rafters into his hair. With that image in mind, I said, “I had a conversation with a client and she mentioned it was kind of show offy.”

Okay, that conversation never happened, but no one had to know.

Dad cut in. “The entrance stays.”

I pictured walking over to Malcolm with a power drill in one hand, ready to torment him, and the fear on his face when he broke down crying, admitting his guilt. Every once in a while, Malcolm tried to catch my eyes, but I refused to play his game. I refused to be another toy in his chest.

“Savvy?” Dad asked.

Everyone was staring at me. “Yes?”

“What do you think? Will that work?”

A blush crept across my skin. I had to cover. I couldn’t disappoint him. “Yup. Great idea.”

A part of me wished I knew what I was agreeing with. Dad can brainstorm some pretty wacky ideas. Like dropping from ceilings. But I couldn’t ask him to repeat it. He wanted me to be the perfect Spy Games staff. Enthusiastic. Attentive. In control.

The rest of the meeting, I imagined the different ways to torture Malcolm. Except, it made me miss Aimee. I’d never felt so far away from helping her as I did right then, sitting through a meeting, with her replacement at the table. It was like she’d been erased from the earth and no one cared.

“Does anyone here even miss Aimee?” My voice was louder than I meant it to be.

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