Oh, Lucas can run, but he can't hide. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter - I'm so grateful for all of the awesome support I'm getting from you guys! Now it's time for Viola to carry out her first "A" mission...hope you enjoy!

Chapter 13

I glance at the text from "A" one more time, the bright screen contrasted against the dark sky. So much for a formal introduction onto the team. Apparently Red Coat isn't the type of person for small talk.

I'm both a little surprised to get my first official orders from "A" so soon, and also surprised that I haven't gotten any before this. As soon as I read the message, I experienced the same feeling of dread that I did the night that I got my first and only other message from the same pseudo name. But this time it's not a threat. This time I'm playing for the other side.

I turn the car lights off and get out, shutting the door quietly behind me. I've parked a little ways down the street, thinking that's the sort of thing "A" would do. "A" doesn't get caught, and right now I am "A," so I have to make sure that I don't get caught, either.

I pull the black hood over my head and walk casually up the street, checking the house number on the school directory that I've pulled up on my phone. I shove my free hand in the pocket of the hoodie, wrapping it around the full can of spray paint.

I was expecting Red Coat, or Mona even, to give me a more detailed explanation of just what, exactly, I am supposed to do. But after getting the vague "A" message telling me to shut Lucas up, I bailed on Radley and drove straight home. I haven't heard anything since then, and I since I don't have my own key to the lair, I couldn't go there to check for any information.

So I guess this must be my formal introduction to the team…pull off my first "A" stunt. I'm sure Red Coat is somewhere watching, but as I squint up and down the dark street, I don't see any flashes of red.

I reach the Gottesman house and walk slowly around the perimeter, eyeing the windows. No lights are on, probably because it's nearly one in the morning, but I can just barely make out a few Star Wars stickers pasted on one of the upstairs windows, and I decide that unless Lucas has a younger, nerdier brother that I never knew about, it's a safe bet that it's his room.

Fortunately, Lucas' bedroom was not hard to find, and the window is open. Unfortunately, there is not a tree placed conveniently outside of it, as there is by my room, so sneaking in will be a problem. There is, however, a garden trellis secured to the wall. I grab onto it, shaking it hard with both hands. It doesn't budge.

Thankful for this good luck, I take a breath and hoist myself up, gripping the bars of the trellis until my knuckles turn white. I'm not too scared until I climb a good few feet off of the ground, when it becomes apparent that if I fall, I could have a worse problem than just waking someone up.

My foot slips on a leaf and I stifle a scream, holding on tight as my weight bends the wooden bars of the trellis slightly toward me. I hold my breath and readjust my grip until I feel secure again.

I pull myself up another few feet until I'm just under Lucas' bedroom window. Using the knowledge I have gained from years of gymnastics to balance myself, I hold tight to the trellis with one hand and reach to push the open window up further. Then I grab the window ledge with both hands and pull myself up and in, my arms shaking from both fear and aching muscles.

I tumble headfirst into the dark room and thankfully land on soft carpet. I hold my breath for a moment, tugging my fallen hood back up. I sit on the floor for a few moments, catching my breath and letting my eyes adjust. The only movement in the room is the breathing of the lump asleep in the bed.

My heart is pounding hard and fast in my chest. I pull the can of spray paint out of my pocket – thank god it didn't fall out when I was climbing – and shake it. Then I rise to my feet and begin to inspect the room.

The majority of wall space is cluttered with posters of superheroes and old, framed comic books, along with shelves filled with boxed action figures and stuffed animal versions of Star Wars characters and superheroes. God. You can tell Lucas is a little nerdy just by looking at him, but I clearly underestimated.

I roll my eyes at the décor and mange to locate the only wall space not taken up by posters or shelves. Holding my breath, I hold the spray paint up to the wall and write, in bright red.

Keep your mouth closed and your eyes off of Radley. No one likes a tattletale. –A

I have never written in spray paint before, and the words are shaky at best. The can hisses as the paint shoots out, and the smell is beginning to make my eyes water. I'm just finishing, making the "A" big and bold, when I hear a rustle. I stick the cap on the paint and whirl around. Lucas is beginning to stir.

I can't get caught, not on my first "A" mission. My sister would kill me, if whoever Red Coat is couldn't get to me first. I stick the can back in my pocket and practically hurl myself out of the window, remembering at the last second to grab onto the trellis before I fall ten feet.

Climbing down is much easier than climbing up, even at twice the speed. I scamper halfway down and then jump, landing on my feet so hard that my teeth rattle. Grimacing, I pause to catch my breath before taking off back down the street, flinging open the door to my car and speeding off.

My heart feels like it's going to explode out of my chest. I can't believe I just did that. I actually broke into someone's house and vandalized their bedroom. I should feel horrible and guilty, and I do, to the point that at one point, I even have to pull over and throw up in the grass.

But despite all of that, I can't help but enjoy the slight feeling of adrenaline still coursing through me. I've never done anything that bad in my life.

I've never done anything that exciting in my life. And it feels sort of good.

A block away from my house, I impulsively make a left instead of a right and find myself pulling into the Mayflower Hill parking lot instead. I push down the hood and practically skip through the lobby and up to the second floor. I stop in front of apartment "A" and knock.

Mona told me the last time I visited her that it's easiest to sneak out of Radley at night, when the nurses' shifts change, and sneak back in the morning. I'm sure she'll be here, especially if she knows what I did tonight. And in some twisted way, I can't wait to tell my older sister that I successfully carried out my first order from "A." I feel a strange, demented sort of pride that I know I really shouldn't be feeling.

I knock once more and the door finally swings open to reveal someone in a black hoodie, but it's not my sister.

It's Toby Cavanaugh.

...

It was only a matter of time before Viola met the third member of the team, right? Next up, Viola tries to get answers out of her new teammate, and the "A" shenanigans continue. Let me know what you think!