Max was in the middle of her daily cardio when the call came through, direct to her cell. The team was needed down at the Academy, minus Amy and Haley. Max made her way across the hall, lightly knocking on Amy's door. When no response came, she dipped past the door, surveying the room. It was empty. She knew Amy and Haley had taken to going on evening runs after training and lessons to unwind. It afforded Max and the girls an opportunity to slip out without their knowledge. She called Janet, and hailed Dominque from her room, beckoning them both toward her car in the garage.
"We're needed at the Academy. New assignment, I'm guessing." Max tried to sound authoritative. Both teammates nodded in response, and the three filed into to the car.
Mr Phipps was waiting for them when they arrived at the Academy.
"Ladies," he nodded.
The three girls nodded in response.
Mr Phipps, assuming the tone of the team, pursed his lips and turned his large body toward the screens now hovering in front of the booth and pressed a button on the small remote he was holding.
The blue screen was suddenly filled with pictures of a thin woman with large almond-shaped brown eyes and dark hair. Credentials, much like the ones they had seen bearing Haley's name just a few weeks earlier, filled the opposing screens. Mr Phipps cleared his throat, "I'll get right to it. I believe you are familiar with this target."
"Lucy's returned to the game, huh?" Janet asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her upturned hand. She watched the screen carefully. Mr Phipps pressed his remote control one more time and another row of pictures appeared, bearing the faces of several men, the foremost of which was a skinny, blonde man. Janet let out a squeak. Dominque raised a skeptical eyebrow and sighed, "avec sa... associates."
"Rumoured. Rumoured associates. No charges have ever been filed." Janet's voice was pinched and strained.
After flicking her a brief look, Max turned to Phipps, arms crossed beneath her chest.
"So, you want us to go back out after Diamond?"
"Lucy Diamond is active again, meaning she's once more a threat… despite the fact that this agency was assured as to her 'inactive' status.
"Let's just say she isn't handling the break up well." Max tried to fight the grin that pushed at her lips, but she knew it was useless.
She was glad Amy wasn't there. Despite the fact that they had broken up a little over a month before, Amy hadn't seemed herself for a while. Her excitement over Haley was the most animated she'd been since she'd been with Lucy.
"This is why Ms Bradshaw was not to be a part of this meeting. We felt that there may be too much of a… Bad taste left after their decision to part ways. We felt she could not adequately analyse the situation."
"So, what is the situation?"
"Lucy Diamond is up to her old tricks, ladies. She is starting small this time, knocking over small banks with uninsured savings, but we predict she will be elevating soon. We believe she is saving money to build a weapon which will actually accomplish her life's goal: destroying Australia. We obviously cannot stress enough the damage this would do."
The D.E.B.S. nod.
"As of now, this is a recon assignment."
Max stepped forward, examining the information on the screens in front of her. "So, you want us to just watch from a distance, see if she makes any big moves?"
Mr Phipps smiled, lowering his head to look at his shoes. "Um, it seems there has been some miscommunication. It won't be you D.E.B.S. that are looking after this reconnaissance. It will be your new recruit."
"So you want Haley to take on Lucy Diamond as her first assignment? That's a little serious, don't you think?" Janet sounded a little frightened, and turned toward Max with an expectant look on her face.
"Oui. I agree. She is strong, but green, non?" Dominque looked at her co-captain, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
"We're not asking her to take her down single-handedly. We're just asking her to stake out some of her old haunts, tail her. Give us the opportunity to put a plan in place to capture her. These people, these are Ms Graham's people. Skaters; bikers; miscreants; criminals. She'll be right at home." Mr Phipps noted.
Trying to hide the amusement in her voice, Max leaned against the control-panel and mewled, "Exactly. Don't tell me you guys think the somersaulting wonder-child isn't capable of a little sleuthing?"
"When were you going to tell me Haley was tailing Lucy?" Amy was angry. Max knew she would be, but Phipps had sworn the three agents to secrecy. She had maintained she would stay strong, but watching her co-captain and best friend stare her down, disappointment and hurt etched on her gentle features, Max felt her resolve cracking.
"Phipps asked us not to tell you. We didn't know how you'd react… after everything. How did you find out?"
"Haley. She came to me for advice." Amy flopped down on Max's bed, her forearm covering her eyes, "I didn't know what to tell her, Max. Nefarious criminal? Charming devil? Rose to the top of a notorious crime family? Has a smile that can make the world shift on its axis? She's dynamite in bed but she can't give up her criminal life, for money or for… for love?" Max heard Amy swallow the lump in her throat.
"We tell her what the dossier tells: her criminal record, what she's capable of. Your history, that doesn't matter. Not to us and not to Haley." Max moved to sit beside her friend, laying her hand gently on her knee. "What happened last year, let's forget it. Okay? Let's just look at Lucy like any other case. Someone to be stopped." Amy groaned in response. "And let's look at Haley like any other rookie. She needs her first mission. A tailing assignment is perfect, and a big target might be necessary if she wants to join this team. So we treat her like any other agent trying to earn their stripes."
Amy slid the arms from her face, looked at Max, and cringed.
"I don't know if I can, Max. I don't know how much I can push my feelings to the back of my mind."
Max grinned.
"Do you mean Lucy, or Haley?"