1.
I got bored of following the man in the pale yellow shirt, so I set my sights on a woman in leopard heels. It wasn't exactly exciting, seeing as how these people weren't trained and had no idea that I was following them, but still, it was something to do. After all, it beat sitting at home where my mom and dad were doting on the newest additions to our family: Rider and Josie. Rider and Josie had been born only five months earlier, and they were the best thing to ever happen to the Goode family. At least, according to everyone but me. To me, they were just nuisances that cried at inconvenient times and lapped up all of the attention.
Not that I'm petty; I just wish that mom and dad would hear me when I talk or see me while I'm sitting at the kitchen table. Or even care when I tell them where I'm going. I had always been one to blend in, just like my mother. I could go unnoticed to even the people that knew me really well. In spy world, being invisible was good. But I didn't want to be invisible to my parents. I wanted them to care again.
I sighed and grew tired of my game. I bought a milkshake and a slice of pizza in the food court and sat down at a small table to eat. I was on my fifth bite when someone sat across from me. I looked up.
He was my age, maybe a year older, and clean shaven. His skin was not quite tan but not pale, and his neatly trimmed hair was messy on top, a rich shade of brown. His eyes were bright blue and totally enchanting. If I had been any other girl, I would have swooned.
But, I was Morgan Goode, and I did not swoon. "Can I help you?" I asked coldly.
He smirked. "No."
"Then what are you doing at my table?"
"Your table?" he asked, feigning confusion. "I'm so sorry; I didn't see your name on it."
Not that I was an expert on dating or anything, but that didn't exactly seem like the best way to get a girl's number. "What do you want?"
"I'm just curious…" he looked around as if making sure that no one could hear us. "Is tailing civilians fun? Because, to me, it just seems boring."
My mouth fell open. Sure, spies are supposed to never let anything surprise them, but I was a little caught off guard. I mean, I was home for the summer and hearing mention of anything to do with spying just got to me. "Um…" I tried to compose my face. "What?"
He smirked again and it made me want to reach across the table and slap him. "Come on, Gallagher Girl."
I'd heard my dad call my mom that before. "How do you know…"
He pointed to himself. "I go to Blackthorne. And, I know that Gallagher's the only female spy school in North America, so…"
"I could be from England," I said.
"No accent," he disagreed.
"I could be hiding it to throw you off."
His smirk grew wider. "You could, but you're not, Gallagher Girl. So, you didn't answer my question."
What was the question? "Um…I'm just….I mean, I just…"
"Need a life?" he supplied.
I rolled my eyes, suddenly angry. Angry because he was actually right. I could've been at one of my friends' houses, but Beth was going on a mission with her parents, Leah was helping NASA, and Marie was on a world-wide shopping spree with her mother. "No," I said, a little too defensively.
"It's okay, Gallagher Girl," he said. "Everybody gets bored."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."
"Why the hostility?" he asked.
"It's not hostility."
"Morgan Goode, you are a terrible liar. What are they teaching you at Gallagher?"
"How do you know my name?" I asked, surprised.
He pointed to himself. "Blackthorne. Spy. Ring a bell?"
"Who are you?" I asked. "Besides an over-confident and severely annoying spy?"
He exhaled a laugh. "My name's Trey."
"Last name?"
He chuckled. "Carson. You're not gonna find me in the system, Gallagher Girl."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, duh."
He shrugged. "Just warning. Wouldn't want you to waste anymore of your…valuable time."
I felt myself blush. "Well, I actually do have…things that I could be doing."
"Such as?"
Shoot. "Well…"
He smirked. "That's what I thought."
"You have any suggestions?" I snapped.
Trey sighed and began to play with the salt shaker. "There's a guy behind you. He's in a navy cap and he's been following you all afternoon."
I found a reflective surface and located the guy. I vaguely remembered him earlier, in a jogging suit. Holy crap, how had I not noticed him? And how had Trey? "Well, if you've noticed that he's been following me all afternoon, that means that you've been following me, too."
Trey grinned. "Guilty as charged. At first, it was just a hunch, but…"
"Hunch?"
"They say you're good," he said. "They say that you're the best pavement artist anyone's seen in a long time."
"They?"
He smirked, but then his expression changed as he studied my face. "They say that you can't be found if you don't want to be; that you can just…disappear. They say no one can see you if you don't want to be seen."
"You saw me," I pointed out, realizing it myself.
He gave me a small smile. "Personally, I think you're hard to miss."
I felt myself blush. "Is that a compliment?"
"Absolutely."
