A/N: OHMYGODS! So incredibly sorry for such a long stretch of time! I've been soooo busy lately, and I haven't had time to update. It started bugging me.

I made our All Region Band! I'm so excited! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!

Please keep my sister and my two best friends in your prayers. They've been sick : (

Hazel POV

I grabbed a tube of lipstick and uncapped it. I seriously hoped that my dress really did look good on me, and my shopping buddies hadn't just been trying to flatter me.

It was a pastel green dress (think Disney princess Tiana) that had wide straps and a flat neckline. I wore a white sweater over it, since it was freezing that day. The material was fitted up top, and it flowed out into the rest of the dress. It was jagged from around my knee area the rest of the way down (think Tinker Bell) and had another layer of sheer fabric underneath. It reached my mid-shins. They said it complimented my golden eyes or something like that. I'd never really considered my eyes to be gold; I always thought they were, well, hazel.

I checked my appearance once more. I was satisfied with how I looked. I slid on my white flats and grabbed a few more necessities: lipstick (taser), perfume (pepper spray), watch (camera), and a small handgun. Despite years of training I always was armed.

The doorbell rang. I closed my bedroom door, walked down the hall, and answered it. Frank had come to pick me up. I smiled and locked the door on my way out. The two of us got into his car and he turned the keys into the ignition.

"You look nice."

Frank's compliment caught me off guard. I had heard I looked "good", "fine", and even "fancy", but never in my twenty-one years had anyone called me nice looking. It was better than being called "hot" or "sexy". It had depth.

"Thank you, you don't look bad yourself."

We rode in silence for a minute or two. I was really anxious for some reason. Come on Hazel, this is not how a first date is supposed to go. Wait; first date? Well it technically sort of is because we're going together and he picked me up. But it won't be just us.

I started digging through my purse, desperately trying to silence the voices in my head. I finally found what I was looking for.

"Hey, do you want any gum?"

"Sure."

I placed a piece of Trident orange-flavored gum into Frank's hand. The silence bugged me.

"Are you excited?"

Frank shrugged. "I guess. I'm happy for Grover and Juniper."

"Me, too. I've only been to a few weddings, though."

"I've only been to two weddings. The first one I don't even remember because I was like five, and the other one was huge, so no one really talked to me."

"Was it fun?" I felt needy to conversation, but I just wanted to talk.

"I guess so. The white stretchy thing hit my cousin in the head."

I laughed at that. "You mean the garter?"

"Whatever it's called. We haven't let him live it down to this day."

"I've never caught the bride's bouquet," I added.

Frank nodded. "Legend has it whichever girl catches the bouquet will be the next to get married."

"That's interesting. I never knew that."

"It worked for Juniper. Last year at another wedding she caught the bouquet, and now look."

Could it be true? There was no way to know for sure. We pulled into the chapel parking lot and joined up with the rest of our office near the front. Well, most of the rest of our office. Rachel and Nico were nowhere to be found.

Annabeth turned around to face me. "Aw, you look so pretty."

"Thanks Annabeth, you look good, too."

Annabeth was wearing a silver form-fitting dress. It had one strap over her left shoulder and a flat neckline. It stopped at around her knees. Her pretty blonde hair was pulled into a side-ponytail with a big, dark brown flower bow clipped into it. She wore dark brown, high heel boots, with a black/grey/brown trim around the top. Unlike me, Annabeth didn't seem to be bothered by the temperature.

I grabbed one of the bulletins and began reading through it. Songs, vow readings, and I found what I wanted at the bottom of the page. The list of all of the bridesmaids. Holly Berry, Fern Green, Laurel Hill, Myrtle Rivers…I leaned over to Frank.

"Is it just me, or do all of these names sound nature related?"

Frank read the list and laughed. He pointed out a few I hadn't read yet. The Maid of Honor was Grover's cousin Fawn Springfield. Willow Meadow, Juniper's college roommate, had helped with the décor. Juniper's niece, Summer Rainey, was the flower girl. Surely they were fake names.

Rachel came flying (nearly literally) into the service room, Nico hot on her heels. They squeezed in next to me, pressing me up against Frank. The pew was so crowded I didn't think there was another possible way to fit everyone again.

"Sorry we're late; Janae stopped working halfway here."

Piper crossed her arms. "See, Jason? It's not unnatural to name your GPS."

"What," I asked feeling hopelessly confused, "is this something I should know?"

Jason waved me off. "It's nothing."

"So now she's a nothing. Guess who's getting unfriended as soon as this thing is over with." Piper stuck her tongue out. Jason sighed.

The service started shortly after. All of the bridesmaids wore dark blue dresses with lime green ribbons tied around their waists. The Maid of Honor, Fawn, had hers tied as a sash instead. Juniper was so pretty. Her dress was a crème-white shade that matched her skin perfectly.

One day that'll be me. I was startled by my own thoughts. Where had that come from? I wasn't even dating. Maybe that's why I thought that. The overwhelming desire to wear a wedding gown.

We all cheered as they shared their first kiss as a married couple. After they had made their escape from the crowds, the rest of us started leaving for the reception. Reyna grabbed my arm as I went to leave. She lowered her voice.

"Hazel, look. Do you think he knows Grover or Juniper?"

I looked to where she had been ever-so-slightly gesturing. A man in a tux was standing near the back exit. He had a finger pressing one ear closed, and a phone pressed to his other ear.

First trick of *Covert Operations (CoveOps): Act natural. Blend in. You belong wherever you don't, and nobody notices. The phone gimmick is the oldest trick in the book. He wasn't really talking to anyone. He had a receiver in his ear and was picking up orders from someone. As far as I knew he didn't work for the government and if he did he would have been sitting with us.

I shook my head. "I'm willing to bet he's armed, though. Don't avoid him, but don't associate too much. I'll tell the others."

Reyna nodded and dragged Leo toward the opposite exit. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Soon enough money would be exchanged to see when and how long they would get together.

The reception was fun. We did our best to avoid the guy we'd seen, and eventually I forgot about him completely. I learned how to do the Wobble from Thalia, because apparently she "rocks at shaking her thang", according to Annabeth.

One of the "slow dances" came on: Crazy Girl, by the Eli Young Band. Our entire office area had been sitting when it first came on. Katie seemed to be flipping out over one of her favorite songs. Alas, Travis was a very dense little boy. Nyssa crossed her arms.

"Travis if you don't go dance with Katie right now then I will."

Katie held out her hand toward him. "Dance with me."

Travis laughed, and the two made their way to the floor. I personally didn't get their joke, but it didn't matter. With every movement, Katie's dark green dress shimmered under the strobe lights. It was like Annabeth's, except it was strapless and had a sequin flower on a brown belt that wrapped around her waist. She looked so pretty.

I felt a tap on my own shoulder. I turned and locked eyes with Frank.

"Would you, um, I mean, will you, uh—"

I smiled and stood up. I knew what he meant. We joined several other couples on the dance floor. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes. It was actually peaceful for the moment.

A little kid dropped a plastic fork, and it made a click when it hit the floor. My eyes shot open. The click had sounded like a degraded version of a gun cocking. I was overreacting over a five year old's clumsiness, but my line of business did that to you. It made me remember the guy that was/wasn't supposed to be there. I looked up.

"Hey Frank, see the blonde guy in the corner? He's in a black tux with a black tie."

Frank glanced over and nodded. "He looks uncomfortable. Like he knows something bad is going to happen."

I hadn't thought of it like that. I looked at him again and noticed the crazed look in his blue eyes. At our office, one of the jobs was to analyze motives and responses of criminals once Thalia interrogated them. The only problem was that was Grover's job. Hey man, just a heads up, we think there's a serial killer at your wedding. No big deal just thought you would want to know. That would so pass over well.

I looked over to where the guy was, but he was gone. I did a quick head count. Thalia and Nyssa were gone, too. I briefly panicked, until I saw Thalia round the corner to go to the bathroom. It was okay. Nyssa and Thalia were using the buddy system. Smart move when dealing with a creep.

"Does he appear to be armed?" I asked. Frank looked over again.

"Maybe. He does not have a gun, I can tell you that. Experienced gunmen are more relaxed about their work. No promises on tranquilizers or explosives, though. And a matchbox can easily be hidden in a coat pocket."

"It's a wedding. When he got caught he'd have to pay for the damages plus a fine and time in jail, if not execution. Surely if he's working with a professional gang he'd know better than that."

"Not necessarily. And if he's really experienced he thinks he'll never get caught, which is exactly why he chose the wedding of two government operatives."

A sinking feeling tugged at my stomach. I wasn't in the mood for dancing anymore. Crazy Girl ended, and How Do You Sleep by Jesse McCartney came on.

"Come on Grover, we had this talk in eighth grade!" Thalia's voice rose above the music. Everyone started laughing.

"Well it's not your wedding, and I'm not the deejay. Life's not fair, is it?" Grover replied.

I missed having him around at the office. Things certainly weren't quiet or dull; it just wasn't the same without Grover.

We all went out the back doors and lit sparklers. Grover and Juniper ran through the path we made and into a new car, courtesy of our head supervisor (the one above Mr. D.) The couple was gone, off on their honeymoon. Only a half hour left to party.

The deejay stopped the new song, Mistletoe by Justin Bieber. "Hey, we just had an iPhone 5 turned in. Does anyone want to claim it? If not, I'll gladly take it."

"It's mine." Will called out, as he walked to the music booth. He frowned when he got it. "The screen's cracked."

That was red flag number one. Will was so careful with all equipment it was ridiculous. His phone shouldn't have been cracked.

"Check your messages," Piper advised. Will unlocked the phone and began scrolling through his messages.

"Seriously, who's had my phone? I don't even know this number, and I didn't call Nyssa five minutes ago." Will tapped a few more things. "And I didn't take a pitch black video."

If it was quiet in the reception hall before, it was like a cemetery after he said that.

"Where is Nyssa?" Travis asked. We all began looking around. The sinking feeling in my stomach plummeted.

"She said she left her phone in my car and went out to get it. Right after Crazy Girl started playing she went out," Will answered.

Willow, Juniper's old roommate, opened the door and stared into the parking lot for a long time.

"I don't see nobody out there," She announced to us.

Realization hit me like a rock. Of course. Nyssa disappeared around the time the mystery guy did.

"Will play the video," I said. Will connected his phone to the projector screen that had been displaying pictures. Thank god only government people and people sworn under oath were present, other than the children who wouldn't remember that night in a month.

It was of Nyssa. I could make out her curly hair and her dress in the shadows. Every now and then I'd caught a flicker of her gorgeous white dress, but that was about it. She was muttering to herself.

"Where did I put my stupid phone? It's not under the seat, or in the cup holders—"

"Nyssa!" A voice called out. Nyssa looked up.

"What?"

"I found your phone. You left it on the table when you went to get a drink."

"Of course I did," Nyssa muttered then spoke up, "thanks, Will! Can you bring it over?"

"Sure."

A few seconds passed. Nyssa's voice picked back up.

"Wait, you're not—"

The video stopped. Even the little kids had stopped running around and were staring at the black screen. Will looked paler than a corpse.

"That wasn't me. I haven't even left the building."

Willow pushed the door open again. "There's an empty parking space and some burned rubber. Oh, and there's an empty cup rolling around in the parking lot."

Annabeth went out and retrieved it. When she came back in, she was holding the small punch cup. There was a grim expression on her face that confirmed my suspicions.

"Lipstick stains. It was definitely Nyssa's."

Of course. It was all too perfect. What better time to kidnap a trained government operative than when she's right under the noses of several others?

And scene. Sooooooooooo? How'd I do? Could be better, but it could be worse? I don't know. Only you do!

Crazy Girl is an AWESOME song. I highly recommend it, even if you don't like "hick trash". I listen to a variety of music so it doesn't bother me, but either way, LISTEN TO IT!

I don't own the iPhone 5. Heck I don't even have a phone : ( I also don't own any fireworks (currently) or any of those dresses. If you want to know what all of them looked like, review or PM me and I'll reply or put it in the next chapter's AN. CoveOps belongs to Ally Carter (an AMAZING author). R&R!