Spy-in-Training by Jonathan Bernstein

Author:Jonathan Bernstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-07-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Bus Driver

Kelly never answered my friend request. My brilliant, intricately constructed plan was a piece of cake, after all: a piece of my horrible, inedible carrot cake. Why? Why doesn’t she want to be friends with me? What’s wrong with me? Does she see through me? Is my agenda not as hidden as I thought? She hasn’t just disincluded me from her social universe. Her lack of response is preventing me from successfully carrying out my first legit mission. Which means Spool will be disappointed with me, which means Carter Strike will be doubly disappointed. I haven’t even met my real father and I’ve already let him down.

“Pull it together, Bridget,” I tell myself. It’s two a.m. I can’t sleep.

My paranoia level is through the roof. My brain writhes with worst-case scenarios, all of them stemming from Kelly Beach failing to respond to my friend request. What would Carter Strike do? He wouldn’t be moping, whining, and sweating. He wouldn’t be getting himself worked up about the ulterior motives of C, K & N. He would be cool, calm, and collected. One plan went down the toilet. He’d simply regroup and start over with a new plan. So what’s my new plan? I could utilize the valuable resource that is Natalie. She has the little sister network in her pocket. But going down that road involves giving Natalie power over me. I’d owe her. Worse, I’d have to give up possibly incriminating information as to why I needed her help. I cross Natalie off my list. Now the list has no names. Then I think of another name.

Joanna.

A new scenario forms in my head. A terrible scenario. A scenario in which I message Kelly a link to the Conquest Report. I think it’s a safe bet she’s unaware of its existence. A Tumblr filled with unflattering opinions about her, her friends, her family, her sense of style, her diet and hygiene. Would that perhaps attract Kelly’s attention? Enough to motivate her to get in contact with me? Maybe then I could form a bond with her and start weaseling my way into her father’s dark secrets. But, in order to get to Kelly’s dad, I need to be able to mess with Kelly’s head, and in order to accomplish that proud feat, I have to throw Joanna under the bus. Delete that: I have to drive the bus over Joanna. Then I have to reverse back over her and, just to make sure there are no remaining signs of life, no involuntary twitches or gasps, I have to squish her one last time. Am I up to driving that bus? I wouldn’t class what Joanna and I have as one of the all-time great friendships, but she’s never deliberately put me in harm’s way. If I do this, I can’t say the same. But then in a twisted kind of way, I would be giving her what she’s always wanted and deluded herself that she had. An audience.

It’s two thirty a.

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