Dear Dad,

Logan somehow talked Headmistress Morgan into letting him attend some of our classes. I guess there's a fair amount of politician in him after all. It must be nice to know exactly who you are and where you come from. I wish I knew more about myself, and about mom. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know that, apparently, I'd been dead for six years. Next time you decide to fake my death, you could at least clue me in.

Thanks In Advance,

Maddie

Maddie set her pen down and tucked the evapopaper letter into her notebook. She wasn't sure what compelled her to write letters she had no intention of ever sending, but it was starting to become an annoying habit.

It had taken a while for Maddie to get used to seeing Logan tagging along with Casey as she moved through the halls of Gallagher. Logan had somehow convinced Headmistress Morgan to let him sit in on some classes, but so far Logan's and Maddie's schedules hadn't overlapped. Logan had an exclusive prep school education heavy in foreign policy and culture, and he spoke four languages fluently. Maddie had spent the last six years flying through basic English, math, history, and science by way of correspondence course. It was hard to get an excellent education when your father had been telling everyone you were dead.

Just like your mother. It was a thought that had lodged itself in Maddie's head just a few weeks earlier, and refused to give. If Michael Manchester had lied to the entire world about the death of his daughter to protect her, maybe it was possible he had also lied about the death of his wife.

Eve Manchester.

It was a longshot, Maddie knew, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. What if Maddie's mother was out there, somewhere, and Maddie had never known? What if her father had kept Maddie's mother from her all of these years?

Fortunately, the Gallagher curriculum kept Maddie far too busy to spend too much of her time dwelling on her family's secrets. Between regular classes, catch-up assignments, and Logan's latest hobby - finding as many opportunities to see Maddie alone throughout the day as possible - she was exhausted.

But life at the Gallagher Academy was improving. Maddie had grown used to sleeping on the floor outside of Logan's room, waking up early, and going for a run around the grounds. Maddie loved the stillness of the early mornings, almost as much as she loved how powerful she felt when she let her thoughts fall away and sank into the rhythm of her legs pounding and her heart beating.

And sometimes, when they rounded the far side of the P&E Barn, where no one could see, Maddie would even let Logan hold her hand for a few hundred feet.

In all honesty, Maddie wasn't really sure if they were dating or not. There had been that incredible kiss in the rain, and Maddie's skin still tingled just thinking about it, even weeks later. Since then, there had been a lot of secret hand-holding and intentional touching. Maddie routinely found Logan's hand gently resting on her shoulder, or the small of her back at times when touching her was totally unnecessary. But every touch sent sparks of electricity racing over Maddie's skin, so she wasn't about to protest.

Besides Logan and Casey, Maddie hadn't really made any friends since arriving at Gallagher, but she knew this was her own fault. Maddie avoided her roommates and the rest of the sophomore class as much as possible. It was hard to be the new girl in a close-knit group with four years of history, and Maddie felt uncomfortable in her skin every time she had to attend class with the other sophomores.

In the P&E Barn, Maddie could sink into her instincts, and avoid as much unnecessary conversation as possible. It was difficult to talk to your classmates when you were busy scaling a 200 foot wall or running through an obstacle course of lasers and flash grenades.

No, it was her Covert Operations class that Maddie truly dreaded attending. Joe Solomon was a tough instructor, and Maddie understood why. Probably more than any other girl in his classroom.

But it took all of Maddie's focus and willpower to keep her mind in Sublevel One, and not let it slip back to a mountain in Alaska. For every tracking and counter-surveillance technique they discussed, Maddie's brain conjured a real-life example, and her hands began to shake at the thought. One moment she was listening to a lecture on the best techniques for subtly guiding your target toward a strategically advantageous location. The next, she was burying a snare under two feet of snow and lodging her second favorite knife in a bridge piling.

And then her pen was clattering to the floor and all of the other sophomores were staring at her as she raced to pick it up, in the least covert manner possible, feeling Joe Solomon's judgmental gaze boring through her ducked forehead.

And so Maddie was naturally apprehensive about her first off-property Covert Operations Assignment. As she gathered with the other sophomores in the entryway, she tried her best to tune out the chatter of the other girls and calm her racing heart.

"Maddie."

She heard her name, and turned at the sound, expecting to see Casey, but came face to face with Tiffany instead. Maddie tried her best not to let the surprise show on her face, and instead just stared at Tiffany blankly.

"Are you okay?" Tiffany asked, with a very out-of-character tone that Maddie thought approximated authentic concern.

Maddie swallowed hard, and nodded. "Of course," she choked out.

Tiffany looked skeptical. "You look kind of sick," she said gently. "Are you sure you shouldn't stay here?"

"I'm ok," Maddie nodded.

"You know Alice had the stomach flu this morning and had to stay behind," Tiffany continued. "I know you're basically never in our room but it's still possible you picked it up."

"She's fine." Casey jumped in, arriving at Maddie's side. "Honestly Tiff, someone is going to think you're afraid she'll do better than you."

Tiffany rolled her eyes, and leveled a glare at Casey, and Maddie strongly suspected the two of them had a history Maddie still knew nothing about. Maddie started to thank Tiffany for her concern, in an attempt to diffuse the tension between her friend and her roommate, but the entire class fell silent when a young, fit, gorgeous woman in her mid-thirties, appeared at the front of their group.

"Hi there, sophomores!" Abigail Cameron called out enthusiastically. Maddie instantly recognized the woman from her interrogation at the beginning of the semester, and her heart slowed a little as she realized that Joe Solomon was far too infamous to take them on a clandestine adventure. It was a well-known secret, after all, that Joe Solomon was also supposed to be dead.

"I'm Abigail Cameron," she announced. "And yes, the headmistress is my sister. And yes, the infamous Cameron Morgan is my niece. And there's a rumor going around that the CIA Director, Edward Townsend, is also my husband. But that I will neither confirm nor deny," she said with a wink.

"We're heading out into the real world to do some practice brush passes," she announced. "Super basic spy stuff. But I will also be testing your powers of observation, so stay sharp ladies. Just because Roseville is our hometown doesn't mean there can't be intruders. You know what Joe Solomon would say," she raised her hands, and the entire sophomore class responded in unison.

"Notice everything"

"That's exactly right, Ladies," Abigail continued. Maddie saw her eyes shift in a different direction for half a second, and a small smirk slid over her face. Then she turned around, called "Let's go, ladies," and set off toward a van parked in the circular drive.

The entire sophomore class exited the front doors of the Gallagher Academy, including one very tall, very handsome, president's son, who had fallen in at the back and casually moved along with them. He settled himself in the rear of the cargo van with twenty-three girls, and one well-seasoned secret service agent who had definitely known he was there the entire time. And seemed perfectly fine with it.

"Well," she said calmly. "Since we seem to have an even number, I'll split you into teams of two."

Abby mercifully paired Logan with Maddie, and Maddie took it as a compliment. She passed Maddie a short black wig, and Maddie folded her brown hair into it and settled it on to her head.

Abby passed disguises around the van, but paused when she got to Logan. She shuffled through an equipment trunk before passing Logan a long brown wig with thin, oily hair. He put it on good-naturedly, and was instantly transformed into a cross between John Lennon and Willie Nelson. Abby studied him critically for a moment, and then moved on. Casey became a box dye blonde, but that didn't change her hostile expression at being paired with Olivia.

"We don't normally pull out our legends for a simple training exercise in town," she admitted. "But given recent events and certain uninvited guests, I think an abundance of caution is in order."

Abby smiled at Logan with an expression that said she really didn't mind the extra work of re-styling twenty-three girls, but he had better be worth it.

"Now," she continued. "Mr. Mitchell, I trust you can tell me the three elements of a perfect brush pass."

Logan nodded, and immediately recited, "approach, distraction, delivery," like a boy who spent all of his free time using his photographic memory to memorize as many spy books as possible.

Abby nodded, and continued her oral pop quiz, calling on the other sophomores at random. Logan placed his hand on the bench beside him and brushed Maddie's fingers in the process. Maddie casually moved her hand away, and tried to ignore Logan's hurt expression. When they stepped off this van, they were going to be on the outside. In the middle of Roseville. With all the Rosevillians, or whatever they called themselves.

Maddie knew that Abby had paired her with Logan because Abby trusted her to keep Logan safe. And Maddie had no intention of letting Abby, or more importantly herself, down.