Undercover with the Hottie (Investigating the Hottie) Read online

  Since he didn't respond, I added, “You've gone from tomato to more of a pink grapefruit.”

  He closed the eye and backed from the room.

  “Wait, were you winking at me?” I asked.

  Christie shook her head. “I think he was avoiding you, and I'd be surprised if he's speaking to you.”

  In order to properly convey my feelings about her snarkiness, I stuck out my tongue and blew a raspberry.

  “Better watch out or your face will freeze like that,” Christie said.

  “Yeah, right,” I griped. “I didn't fall for that when I was five, and I'm not going to fall for it now.” I had totally fallen for it when I was five, but I would never admit it to her.

  “You know you have your contact in already, right?” she asked.

  Uh. “Yeah. So?”

  “Will doesn't have his in, but you do.”

  Obvious much? “Yeah, Christie. I get it.”

  “If you really got it, you'd have turned beet red by now.”

  Huh? “Why would I turn red?” The only time I turned red was when I was embarrassed, like when she busted me for kissing Will. Oh crudballs. I'd kissed Will, and I'd done it with the contact in. “OhmyGod give me that footage,” I screeched.

  “Not. Gonna. Happen,” she said, entirely too full of herself.

  “You can't watch it,” I said, giving it another shot.

  “I can pretty much do whatever I want, chica.”

  Unfortunately she was right. What now? Bargain? Bribe? Blackmail her? I didn't have anything to use against her. Other than telling Mom the spy thing, but I had to tell her that anyway and it didn't give me any leverage. If only I had closed my eyes when I'd kissed Will. Hey...

  I did close my eyes. I thought back to the soft touch of his lips against mine. What did I see, what did I see? I saw Will pretty clearly, but I didn't remember seeing Will's face smooshed up into mine. “I closed my eyes,” I said, triumphantly. “I shut my eyes, and you have nothing. Hah!”

  “You sure about that?” she asked. “Really sure? Or are you just hoping you closed them?”

  Crudballs and marshmallows. Now I wasn't sure. It didn't take a master spy to make me doubt myself when it came to Will. And unfortunately, I was matching wits with a master spy. Uh, yeah. Maybe not quite matching. Christie seemed to be outwitting me.

  I so wanted to wipe that smirk off her face. Taking a deep breath, I dug deep for some nonchalance. “Oh, I'm sure.” I puffed up my chest a little to convey my confidence.

  “You should go check on him,” my aunt said. “If he's past extremely ripe garden tomato, tell him to take another rest.”

  Extremely ripe garden tomato? Had I ever seen a tomato from a garden? Yes, but those were grape tomatoes. Did that count?

  I would be able to figure it out. Plus, he probably already had it in.

  Will was in the downstairs bathroom. I didn't step inside, but I did stick my head round the corner to peer into the bathroom. Will was blinking rapidly and contact solution was running down his face. I was hopeful that he had managed to get the lens in, but I didn't have enough clues. “How's it going?”

  “I don't think you really want to ask me that.”

  So, I guess it wasn't going well.

  “Anything I can do?”

  He groaned. “I don't think you want me to answer that.”

  Geez. “If you need to vent on somebody, I'll go get Christie.”

  “No thanks.” He squirted more solution on the contact and prepared for another try. “You should probably go though, because I'm about to crack.”

  Thirty minutes or so later, Will had finished his second break, and Christie, Grandma, and I were having a huddle in the living room.

  “At what point is this going to cause permanent injury to his eye?” Grandma asked.

  “I don't know,” Christie admitted, “but at this point, we're undermining his confidence which cannot be good for our mission. We need Will full force. Cocky, self-assured hottie.”

  “Hey!” She was not allowed to call him a hottie.

  “Have you got a better way to describe him?”

  Uh. No. I didn't bother to reply.

  “I'm going to put a stop to this,” Grandma said. “I'm just going to have him wear my sunglasses.” She stood and went to her purse. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses that weren't the large framed Grandma glasses that I had expected. Of course, I had learned that Grandma was anything but typical. The black pair of Ray Bans would work fine for Will. Grandma walked over to the bathroom.

  “He can wear those instead of the lens?” Why hadn't Christie told him that sooner?

  “Yes, but it isn't ideal. He would have to keep them on all the time. Brenda comes off as eccentric when she keeps them on. Will might draw attention. The teens you guys are dealing with are just as likely to snatch them off his face as to give him a hard time about them.”

  She had a point.

  “And if he isn't wearing them, he isn't as secure as we need him to be. We have to be able to check in on you two. Otherwise, the risks of the mission may become intolerable.”

  Intolerable. Like the driver getting shot.

  “Will!” Grandma's voice carried from across the loft. “Don't be stubborn. You may need that eye one day. Wear the sunglasses.”

  I choked on a giggle. I hadn't seen them in action as grandmother and grandson quite like this.

  “My money's on Grandma,” Christie said. “She's a tough old bird.”

  “She is going to kill you for saying that!”

  She gestured away my concerns. “So you're betting Will will win?”

  “I didn't say that.” I didn't want to commit to either side. I didn't think Will could stand up to his feisty grandma on this issue, but wouldn't it be disloyal of me if I didn't pick my boyfriend?

  “Fine, you take Will.”

  “What are we betting anyway?”

  She considered for a moment. “Winner decides how we spend New Year's Day.”

  Oh please. Like I had a shot at some input in the first place. “Deal.”

  With that settled, we turned to watch the event unfold in the bathroom. Grandma was still arguing with Will.

  “I am not going to hurt myself, Grandma. Good grief! I'm here as a spy. I have to at least get this stupid thing in my eye.”

  “Now, Will...”

  “Grandma, go away and give me one more chance.”

  “Oh for Heaven's sake. You stubborn, stubborn boy. Just like your mother.”

  “Grandma, we all know who I get it from.”

  Grandma sighed heavily and walked back over to us shaking her head.

  “You gave up?” Christie asked in a blatant attempt to manipulate the outcome. “Shouldn't you stick to your guns?”

  “I'll give him his 'one more try.' What can it hurt?”

  “It could hurt my plans for New Year's Day,” Christie grumbled under her breath.

  “No cheating,” I hissed. If I did manage to win this bet, I was going to plan something heinous for New Year's.

  Will rushed toward us pumping his fist in the air. “That's what I'm talking 'bout.”

  “Oh no.” Christie hung her head.

  “Are you serious?” Grandma said. “All that time in the bathroom and all it takes is the threat of my sunglasses and you pop that sucker in your eye like a pro?”

  We won, and Will got the lens in. We're ready to get back undercover and we're doing whatever we want on New Year's Day. “Go Team Will!” I shouted.

  “Did you show him the sunglasses? I don't think he would have tried so hard if he'd known they were Ray Bans.”

  Grandma looked at Christie like she'd grown purple tentacles. “The point was for him to get the lens in. Why are you splitting hairs when I got results?”

  Christie blanched. That's right. Busted for being a bad leader. “Uh, you're right. Sorry. Good job, guys.”

  “As soon as Will's eye fades from stoplight red to a nice mid-pink, we'll send you t
wo back out there.”

  Will came closer, grinning at his success.

  “Guess what?” I said.

  “What?”

  “We won.”

  “The more time you spend with your aunt, the less I understand anything you say.”

  “Hey, that's not nice.”

  He shrugged. “You two are kind of nuts together.”

  I raised a brow and pierced him with a glare.

  It was a really good thing that we'd gotten up so ridiculously early because the doorbell rang about twenty minutes later.

  Grandma could see who it was on the tablet, but she didn't give us a hint. “Why don't you answer the door, Amanda?”

  Did that mean it was one of the guys? I wasn't so sure I liked being used as boy bait.

  Chapter Seven

  I pulled open the door to find three of the girls from last night instead of the boys. I realized from the look of disappointment on their faces that they were here to see Will. And I was pretty sure they were posing to look their best.

  “Oh, hi,” one said.

  The other two covered their desire to see Will instead of me with perkier greetings.

  “Hey guys,” I said, forcing a smile. “Come on in and meet my, er, mother and grandmother.” If only I could remember their names to introduce them.

  “Oh, we know Brenda already.”

  “She's hilarious,” another said.

  Good. Maybe Grandma could remember their names. Then I wouldn't have to be embarrassed.

  I stepped back so they could come in. They immediately spotted Will and gushed all over him.

  “Will!”

  “Hey, Will!”

  And one of them mumbled, “The boy looks good in jeans.”

  With a heavy sigh, I closed the door. I guess I couldn't kick them out on their tushes. Although, imagining the three girls tripping over each other as we propelled them out of the house with a firm shove... Maybe the image brought a smile to my face.

  Christie met my eyes when I looked up. She raised a brow as if she could read my mind. It wasn't like I wanted them to get hurt. Maybe a skinned elbow and a few broken nails. A few scuffs on those boots I couldn't even identify but was sure cost a fortune.

  “We just came by to see what you guys were up to today.”

  “This is our mother,” Will said, motioning to Christie. “And our grandmother.”

  “Nice to meet you girls,” Christie said.

  “Well if it isn't April, Genesis, and Daphne,” Grandma said. “Haven't seen you guys in a couple of days. What a surprise.”

  “We met Will and um, Amanda, last night.”

  “We wanted to see if they could hang out.”

  “Yeah, can you hang out?” April asked, her eyes glued to Will as she twisted a strand of her blond hair around her finger.

  “What are you guys up to today?” Christie asked.

  “We don't really know yet. I guess we'll hang out at Leah's place like always.”

  “Oh, we could go shopping!”

  “Do you like to shop, Will?”

  Will didn't answer for a moment. He glanced at me for help.

  I didn't know if that would help us get the information we needed or not. I shrugged.

  “I'm not that into shopping,” he told them.

  “Yeah,” one said. “Me either.”

  Her friends actually snorted.

  “Do you like to eat?” April glanced around as if afraid of censure from her friends. “We know some great places. Or we could maybe show you guys around the city, since you're new.”

  “Sure,” Will said. “Let's grab some food and go from there.”

  “Is Leah going?” I asked. I didn't have the guts to ask about the guys in front of Grandma, Christie, and Will. If we were going to get information, we probably should split up, but I didn't want to be stuck with strange guys.

  Daphne shrugged. “She was still drying her hair. We'll have to go see.”

  “Yeah, but then we'll be stuck with Sidney.”

  Did I meet her. Him? “Who's Sidney?”

  “Leah's little sister.” Daphne shook her head at April. “She's really not so bad.”

  “She's a tattletale...” April glanced over at Christie and Grandma. “Not that we're doing anything at all that's wrong...”

  “Let's go check on Leah and Logan,” Will suggested.

  “Grab your jackets,” Christie said. “And text us where you're going.”

  I rolled my eyes. As if they wouldn't know exactly where we were at all times. “Yes, Mom.” I walked over to the counter and grabbed my purse and coat.

  Will slid his phone into one back pocket and his wallet into the other. It wasn't until Grandma laughed that I realized I was checking him out right alongside the other three girls. I glanced away as fast as I could. Christie cleared her throat, a warning for me to be more careful to act like he was my brother. Uggh. I was never going to get this right.

  Will's cheeks were pink when I looked back at him. He must have caught some of the ogling. “Let's go then,” he said, slipping his jacket on.

  He opened the door and motioned us through, “After you.”

  “He's such a hottie,” Genesis whispered.

  I was totally not having fun on this mission so far.

  Leah had finished her hair, along with her makeup and jewelry, and she looked ridiculously pretty. I made sure to avoid looking at Will. I didn't want to know if he was checking her out.

  “I can't go with you guys,” Leah said. “I have some shopping to do.”

  Genesis glared at her. “Go tonight instead.”

  “I can't. We're going to Matt's party tonight.”

  “So go tomorrow.”

  Leah sighed. “I'm going today. It's important. You guys will have to go without me.”

  “Hi,” a small voice said from beside me. “I'm Sidney. You must be Amanda.”

  The girl was smaller and plainer than her sister and their friends. She wore a hoodie instead of a sweater or form fitting top like the other girls. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “Have you met my brother yet?”

  Sidney didn't answer. She stood, her mouth ajar, staring at Will.

  Uh oh. Another Will fan.

  “Sidney,” Leah said. “Oh for heaven's sake. Close your mouth.”

  Sidney's mouth snapped shut.

  “Oh, and,” she leaned in close to her younger sister and said, “dibs.”

  I tensed. Over my dead body.

  With her eyes glued to Will, Sidney said, “You can't date everybody, Leah.”

  “Can I hang out with you today?” I asked. “My brother is getting on my last nerve.”

  Leah shrugged. “Sure. Brothers can be a pain.”

  “I'll say,” Sidney said, rolling her eyes. “You can come with us.”

  “Thanks! What are we shopping for?”

  “It's kind of a secret,” Sidney said.

  A secret? I loved secrets, and if I got lucky, it might even lead me to the assassination plot.

  The last thing I expected was to get in an SUV and fight our way out of the city to the suburbs. I should have gone with the others. I didn't think a lead on the assassination plot was likely to be hiding in New Jersey. It was possible, but unlikely.

  Forty-five minutes later we pulled up in front of a big chain toy store. A store I could get to anytime back home, in a whole lot less than forty-five minutes.

  “We're buying toys?”

  “You'll see,” Sidney said.

  Yeah, so would the team that was following us. I hadn't spotted them though, and I didn't expect to.

  I followed them into the store. Sidney and Leah each grabbed a cart. “Get one too,” Leah directed.

  Okay. I guess we had a long list. Of toys. To get after Christmas. Yeah, I didn't have a clue.

  Leah pushed her cart to the back of the store. Sidney was behind her, and I brought up the caboose. I had pictured us shopping some high-end designer store that I'd only seen in movies. Som
e place magical where the high price tag guaranteed that the clothes would transform me into a classier version of myself. Instead, I had a crying baby on the next aisle, two boys running through the store with swords and almost crashing into us, and an angry mom swatting her toddler on the diaper-clad bottom.

  Suddenly, Leah stopped, eyeing the shelves to the right. They were stuffed with preschool toys, specially packaged for Christmas. Castles, pirate ships, barn yards, school buses, doll houses.

  “Here we are,” she said, gesturing to the toys. “The motherload!”

  Yeah, the toys were kind of cool. I eyed the spaceship with its “safe for children under age three” astronauts. Not too shabby. Was that an alien?

  Then I saw the little paper tabs hanging off the shelves. Fifty-percent off. Clearance sale.

  “They were already a good deal,” Leah explained. “They only sell these sets before Christmas, and they run ten and fifteen dollars. I can get twice as many for the kids, store them in my mother's garage, and donate them next year to the toy drive.”

  Leah wasn't a mean girl at all. She sure had fooled me.

  “That's actually brilliant,” I admitted. “So how many do we get?”

  “Almost all of them,” Sidney said, sliding toys into her cart. “Then we'll go to the other four locations that we can get to. If she doesn't use her whole budget, we'll keep going tomorrow.”

  I was almost afraid to ask. “What's the budget?”

  “This year I saved over three thousand dollars.” Leah's face brightened with her smile.

  “That's...” As many as twenty toys per hundred dollars times thirty... “about six hundred toys?”

  “Probably less. A lot are seven dollars and fifty cents. Plus tax.”

  Six hundred toys. Okay, fine, between... fourteen times thirty... four hundred and six hundred toys. Whoa. “That's a lot of toys.”

  “A lot of happy kids,” Sidney said. “She's been doing this since she was twelve.”

  “Target and Walmart usually have some great buys too. The trick is to catch them before all the good stuff sells. Once I got seventy-five percent off.”

  Four times as many toys as if she bought them before Christmas. I didn't know much about this girl, and it occurred to me that Christie and Grandma could have given me a whole lot more information. Had she gone without toys at Christmas? It didn't seem likely from the looks of her dad's apartment.