Clayton Stone, Facing Off by Ena Jones

Author:Ena Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Wednesday, May 9, 7:08 a.m.

19

The next morning at breakfast I’m still thinking about the whole James thing. We finished our homework after dinner, and then our agent disguised as a limo driver took him back to the dorm. I got the feeling James would rather have stayed with us, though. He said it was nice being part of a family again.

Yeah. Same here. I even started wondering what it would be like to have a brother.

I mean, I don’t know exactly what the deal is, but if it’s as serious as Gran says, I’m thinking James might need somebody to look out for him.

I swallow a bite of scrambled eggs and clear my throat. “James seems scared about whatever’s going on with his family. Do you think we should be protecting him, too?”

Captain Thompson chokes so hard a Cheerio flies out of his mouth, and Gran’s fork stops in midair on its way to her mouth.

Gran is the first to speak. “Clayton,” she says, placing her fork back on her plate. “It’s difficult for me to believe we need to repeat this conversation. Kyle is your first, and only, priority. With the amount of intelligence chatter bouncing around, Kyle is the one who’s dealing with a serious threat.”

“But remember? You said the lacrosse team was mentioned in all that online stuff. James is on the lacrosse team, too.”

Gran rolls her eyes and shoots an It’s your turn look to Captain Thompson. He’s less stern but just as insistent. “Whatever is going on with James, I’m sure it’s being taken care of by the appropriate agency. If we can’t find any background on him, nobody can. Whoever is handling his family’s situation is doing a fine job.”

“Yes,” says Gran, softening her tone, “and I can’t blame the boy for being scared. He’s alone, and his mother is probably doing her best to create a new life for the two of them. It can’t be easy. And I’m sure James loves his father, despite the difficulties.” She shakes her head sympathetically. “No, it can’t be easy for either of them.”

Captain Thompson pushes his chair back and stands. “But as long as James is not a threat to Kyle—and from what I can tell, he’s not—then he has nothing to do with your job at Sydney Brown.” He picks up his cereal bowl and looks me in the eyes. “Clayton, this is the difficult part of working undercover. You must understand that the people you meet and interact with are important only as it relates to your job. And your job is to become friends with and stay close to Kyle Hampton. That’s it. Everything you do, every person you get to know at Sydney Brown, should fuel that mission, nothing else. Don’t try to make it more complicated.”

The conversation is over. “Yes, sir.”

A couple of minutes later, Captain Thompson leaves the kitchen and Gran leans over her empty plate. “By the way, is it getting better with Kyle?”

I look back at her. “Yeah.

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