CH. 3
The next morning the She Spies awake to the sweet smell of freshly cooked breakfast. Their noses lead their still drowsy bodies to the kitchen, where Amy is just taking a fresh batch of pancakes off the stove.
"Morning guys," she says to them, smiling.
"What're you doing up already?" asks DD.
"Yeah, you're awfully perky," says Shane.
"Kinda like DD usually is," says Cassie.
Amy smiles.
"Well, I figured that since you guys are letting me stay here I'd cook ya breakfast. It's the least I could do," she explains.
"Oh, that's so sweet," says DD.
"Yeah. Are you sure you're Cross's niece?" asks Shane, as she and the others sit down.
"Positive," she says.
She looks at the spread of food before her.
"So, you guys hungry?" she asks.
The She Spies all voice their hunger and happily dig in.
"You guys don't mind that I went through your cupboards, do you?" asks Amy as the She Spies fill their plates.
"No, of course not," says DD.
"Yeah, as long as those are the only cupboards you went through," says Cassie.
"Those were the only cupboards you went through, right?" asks Shane, pausing in mid cut.
"Yes," she answers, rolling her eyes.
"Good," says Shane.
"Yeah, you can never be too careful," says DD.
"Right," says Cassie, taking a bite of her pancakes.
Later, the She Spies and Amy pull into the parking lot of the office. Once the car is parked, Shane looks at Cassie and DD.
"Are you guys sure that Cross isn't going to mind that we brought Amy with us?" asks Shane.
"Well, he did want us to check in before we continued with our…job," says DD, pausing and trying to think of the right word to say without revealing their job is to Amy because she doesn't know that Amy knows what they do.
"I know what you guys do," says Amy flatly, looking out the car window, unhappy that she has to see Cross again so soon.
They don't say anything, but the She Spies have noticed the change in Amy's attitude and demeanor since they left for the trip to the office. They figured it was because she was going to see her uncle. What they thought was weird was that she was always fine until Cross was mentioned. Then she seemed miserable and showed a bit of the attitude that Cross had mentioned to them.
"Oh," says DD.
"Don't worry. She doesn't know what our mission is," says Cassie.
Amy snorts.
"And if I did, then he'd just tell my parents and have me put in some white building where you have someone over your shoulder constantly making sure you don't do anything wrong. Or what they consider is wrong, anyway," she said, still keeping her gaze fixed outside the car window.
"I'm sure he isn't that bad," says DD.
"You'd be surprised," says Amy, getting out of the car.
The She Spies glance at each other.
"Well, it is Cross she was talking about," says Shane.
"True," says Cassie.
DD nods in agreement as they all get out of the car.
The She Spies enter their office with Amy trailing a yard or two behind them. They quick make their way to Cross's office. The She Spies enter, but Amy turns and goes in another direction.
"Good afternoon ladies. I trust your night went well?" greets Cross.
"Yup," confirms Cassie.
"Despite the fact that we had to clean a few toilets-" starts Shane.
"You mean I had to clean a few toilets," corrects DD.
"Hey, I cleaned some too," insists Shane.
"Ladies," interrupts Cross before they can continue fighting.
"Sorry," says DD.
"We'll get down to business in a minute," says Cross, standing up.
He looks around, searching for Amy.
"Where's Amy?" he asks.
"Oh, she's-" starts Cassie, turning around.
The girls hadn't seen Amy walk away from them, so they were expecting her to be behind them. When the realize that she's not there, looks of confusion wash over their faces.
"Not there," finishes DD.
"Then where is she?" Cross asks, crossing his arms.
The She Spies stand there for a moment, trying to figure out where Amy could be.
"Well?" says Cross.
"We'll just go find her," says Shane.
"Good idea," says Cross.
The girls leave his office to search for Amy. Cross shakes his head and sits back down at his desk.
A few moments later, the She Spies return with Amy in tow. Amy's now holding a cup of coffee.
"Found her," says Shane.
Cross stands up again and walks towards Amy.
"Where were you?" he asks.
"Getting some coffee," she answers like it's no big deal.
"This is a government office and I can't have anyone not affiliated with it running around here like it's a playground - especially not a headstrong teenager. Besides, you don't drink coffee," he says.
"How would you know? I haven't seen you around lately, surprisingly enough. I figured you'd be spying on me again," she said in a smart-alec tone, trying to push his buttons.
Cross keeps a serious face, knowing what she's doing. He really doesn't feel like having this talk at the moment, especially not in front of others.
"This is neither the time nor the place for this discussion," he says.
"Never is," she says, looking away.
Cross silently walks over to his desk as the She Spies exchange glances. He presses the intercom button on his phone to page Duncan.
"Duncan, can you come here for a moment?" he asks.
"Be right there, sir," answers Duncan from his room.
Seconds later Duncan enters Cross's office.
"You wanted to see me sir?" he asks.
"Yes. Could you please take Amy to the other room so I can talk to the She Spies?" asks Cross.
"Sure," says Duncan. An awkward silence follows. "Uh, who's Amy?"
"My niece," says Cross.
"Unfortunately," mutters Amy.
"Oh. He has a niece?" asks Duncan, looking at the She Spies.
They nod.
"Yes, I do. Now, if you'll excuse us," says Cross.
"Right," says Duncan.
He looks at Amy.
"I take it you're Amy," he says.
"Yup," she replies, "Now let's get out of here before he accuses me of something else."
"Okay," he says slowly, not getting why she was being so hostile.
He turns and leaves Cross's office while Amy happily follows him, relieved she doesn't have to talk to Cross anymore.
The She Spies look at Cross. Silence follows Amy's exit for a few moments. Finally Cassie decides to speak up.
"Um, I know you said you didn't want to talk about it-" she starts.
"I don't," he says flatly.
"Will you at least promise to tell us eventually?" asks DD, concerned.
"Alright. I'll tell you. Eventually," he says, "As for right now, we need to get down to business. How did you ladies fare last night?" he continues, changing the subject.
DD and Shane open their mouths to answer when Cross interrupts.
"And I don't need to hear about anything having to do with the bathroom," he says.
The girls close their mouths.
"Well…I was cleaning the whole night," DD starts slowly, unsure of how Cross would react to the subject, "but from what I hear, Shane had a good time last night. With her date."
DD throws a sly grin towards Shane.
"Oh really?" asks Cassie, interested.
"It wasn't a date," insists Shane.
"Well, whatever it was, I hope it didn't interfere with your assignment," says Cross
"Oh, it didn't. I was just trying to play when a guy from the next table offered me some tips on how to play better," explains Shane.
"Did you manage to get any information on the case?" asks Cross.
"No."
"Nothing?" asks Cassie.
"Nope."
"He didn't show either," adds DD, trying to keep Cross from getting overly upset with them.
"I hope you ladies do better tonight."
"Oh, we will," says Shane, acting more confident than she felt.
"Speaking of which, who's staying with Amy tonight?" asks DD.
"That depends. Which one of you feels like baby-sitting a rebellious teenager?" asks Cross.
The She Spies look at each other, unsure of what to say.
Amy is sitting in a chair in Duncan's work area, within him construct a new hidden microphone.
"So, what exactly are you making?" she asks, leaning over the edge of the desk to get a better look at what he's doing.
"A two-way pressure activated microphone for shirt collars and lapels," explains Duncan, picking up a screwdriver and attempting to screw the two parts of the microphone together.
"How's it work?" she asks.
"Well, when you exert enough pressure on the surface, it will turn on or off, depending on what position it was in to begin with," he continues, "the compact design keeps it hidden. If the prototype works I may try a new design."
"He makes another attempt to screw the two parts together. He ends up dropping the two pieces because his fingers are too big.
"Darn. Can you screw these together for me? Your fingers are smaller than mine," he says, handing the pieces to her, careful not to touch the center.
"Sure," she says, taking them from Duncan, "But if it's pressure activated, won't it always be turning on and off?"
Amy screws the parts together.
"That's the interesting part," he says as Amy hands the newly connected pieces back to him, "It keeps a fingerprint of the first person that touches the pressure pad, that way only that person can activate or deactivate the microphone. And even then, only if enough pressure is placed onto the pad."
"That's cool," she says.
Neither of them realizes yet that Amy has already accidentally touched the pressure pad. Now it will only work for her, if they even remember that she touched it in the first place.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door. Duncan and Amy look up to see Shane standing in the doorway.
"I hate to interrupt, but we have to get going," says Shane.
"Cool," says Amy, standing up and grabbing her coffee.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Amy," says Duncan, also standing.
"You too," says Amy, "and I hope that microphone thing works out for you."
"Thanks," says Duncan smiling, happy that for once someone seemed generally interested in what he was creating.
He opens his mouth to explain to Shane what they're talking about, but Shane interrupts.
"I'd ask what you were talking about, but Duncan would probably start babbling about stuff that we frankly don't have time to hear about," says Shane.
"Oh, okay," says Duncan, disappointedly looking down.
Shane shakes her and leaves the room with Amy close behind her. Cassie and DD are waiting for them by the elevator.
"So, who did my uncle convince to watch me this time?" asks Amy, taking a sip of her coffee and following her.
"Actually, DD volunteered," explains Shane, motioning to DD as they near the elevator.
"Ah," Amy looks at DD, "Do you think you're up to it?"
"I think I can handle it," says DD confidently, pushing the elevator button now that everyone was there.
"Even after you were told all those stories about me?" she asks, raising an eyebrow and taking another sip of her coffee.
"Yeah," she says, nodding.
"DD's handled some pretty tough people in her day," confirms Cassie, "Not that you'll be tough to handle."
"Yeah, you seem fine when Cross isn't around," says Shane.
"Or spoken of," adds DD.
Amy just smiles silently and shakes her head as the doors close.