Undercover with the Hottie (Investigating the Hottie) Read online

  “I f-f-feel like an idiot.”

  “I have an idea, but don't think I'm trying to make a move on you.” Logan opened one of the bedroom doors. “Come on in here and wrap up in the blankets.”

  I peered into the room and saw the inviting comforter and throw. Thick, probably down, and no doubt warm.

  Logan held his hands up. “I'll leave the door open, and I'll stay in the chair across the room.”

  I laughed in between shivers. Then I went into the room, sat on the side of the bed, and pulled the bedspread around me. Logan helped me free the bottom corners and tuck it around my legs, and I was completely cuddled in the heavy blanket.

  “Is that better?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Just give me a minute.”

  Logan smiled at me. “Was it worth it?”

  “Oh yeah.” The chattering of my teeth had slowed to bouts of a half dozen instead of a continuous chatter.

  “Hey, man,” a familiar voice called from the hall. “Have you seen Amanda?”

  Uh oh. I looked up at Logan who stood suspiciously close to me, and then over at Will who'd walked far enough into the room to realize that I was in the center of the comforter burrito.

  Chapter Ten

  Will's expression turned menacing. “What's going on here, Amanda?”

  Logan held up his hands. “It's not what it looks like,” he said.

  Will practically growled at Logan. “We had a deal, man. I look out for your sister, and you look out for mine. We agreed. Hands off our sisters.”

  I was impressed that Will managed to keep our covers because I knew he was angry. Very angry.

  “Will!” I jumped up, tossing off the cover. “W-w-will. Calm down.”

  He stopped when he heard me shivering and actually looked at me. “Are you okay?”

  “I was cold. Just cold. W-w-we were on the roof. It was so p-pretty. Logan didn't do anything wrong.”

  This situation could turn bad fast. We had to get out of here before Logan picked up on the not-so familial vibes.

  “Logan,” I said. “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Sure. It's cool, man,” he said to Will. “I promise. Nothing went down here.”

  Logan went into the hall and shut the door.

  Will stood there for a minute. He closed his eyes for several seconds as if summoning calm. Then he walked over to me. “You're really okay?”

  “I'm fine. Cold. Not as bad as I was, but still cold.”

  Will reached out to feel my cheek with the palm of his hand. “You are freezing.”

  “M-my legs are worse.” I tried to smile.

  “Sit down,” he said.

  When I did, he pulled the blanket back around me. Then he sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me and the blanket.

  “Should we call Nic?”

  “No. I'll be okay. I feel silly, but I got so cold.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Will called for them to come in. He didn't release me though. “Hey,” Sidney said, giving us a worried look. “Logan said you were freezing, and he asked me to check on you.”

  “I'm okay. We went on the roof and it was too cold. I'll be back downstairs in a few minutes.”

  “Okay,” Sidney said. “I'll let Logan know you're okay.” She pulled the door to behind her.

  “You getting warm yet?” Will asked quietly, squeezing me tight in his arms.

  “A little.” His lips were right there, and I turned my head a little bit. Then his lips met mine and I leaned into him, deepening the kiss.

  A human squeak from the doorway startled us, and Will's eyes opened wide as we sprang apart.

  “Sidney,” he said, jumping up so fast he nearly knocked me off the bed. “Sidney!” he yelled.

  By the time I stood and cast aside the blanket, Will had run after her. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. What were we going to do? What were we going to tell her?

  Poor kid must be freaking out.

  I pulled off the coat and tossed it on the bed as well. If this went down like I feared it would, I'd be leaving this party in a hurry.

  I heard Will calling for Sidney, and I followed the sound into another bedroom. He was standing outside a door, his expression bleak. “She's locked herself in the bathroom.”

  We were going to be in so much trouble with Nic and Christie. And GASI.

  I went over to the door. “Sidney, I beg you. Please don't text anybody or tweet or anything. Please listen to us first. I promise we can explain. We aren't brother and sister.”

  “Somebody could hear you,” Will cautioned.

  “Sidney, please. I promise it's all okay.”

  “I'm not coming out without Logan or Leah.”

  Will shook his head, frustration practically dripping from him. “We have messed this up so bad.”

  “We don't have a choice, do we? We have to read her in, and Logan too.”

  “Nic is going to kill us.”

  “Not if Christie gets to us first.”

  “Sidney,” I called, my voice cracking. “We'll get Logan. Just hang on.”

  “Don't text anybody, Sidney,” Will begged. “Please.”

  I turned to go search for Logan, but he'd already found us. He stood in the doorway. “What's going on? Is Sidney sick?”

  “No,” I assured him. “She's probably puking, but not because she's sick.”

  “Not helping,” Will said. Then he said to Logan, “Can you come in and shut the door? This is going to entail some drama, and we can't risk anybody hearing.”

  Logan did as asked. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Did something happen to my sister?”

  “No. She's fine.”

  His shoulders relaxed infinitesimally. “What's going on?”

  “Sidney,” I called to the door. “Logan's here. Will you come out and let us explain?”

  The door opened and Sidney stepped out. She refused to look at either me or Will, and she rushed over to her brother and buried her face against his chest.

  “What did you do to her?” Logan glared at Will.

  “She saw us kissing,” I said. “She freaked out.”

  Logan's mouth hung open like a fish gasping for air.

  “We aren't brother and sister. We're actually dating, but we had to pretend to be brother and sister.”

  “Why? That's crazy. What... why?” Logan asked.

  “We're undercover,” Will said. “We're investigating a situation at the UN.”

  “That's ridiculous. Why would you be hanging out with us if you were investigating something? And why would it matter if you were twins?”

  “Would it be okay if we went back to our loft where we could do a better job of explaining everything?”

  Sidney looked up from her brother. “So you're some kind of spies?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “And your parents and grandmother are too?”

  I went with the easiest answer. “Yes.”

  “We really can't afford to compromise this mission,” Will said. “We can read you in, and then you can decide whether you want to speak to us afterward.”

  “Logan?” I asked. “What do you say?”

  He looked at me and nodded. “Let's go sort this out.”

  Will pulled out his phone. “I'll call Nic for a ride.”

  “Was Leah still watching the band when you left, Sidney?” Logan asked.

  “Yes. We can grab her on the way out.”

  “Hey, Nic.” Will held the phone to his ear. “We have a situation. Can you pick us up ASAP? It will be Leah, Logan, and Sidney with us. No. We're all okay.”

  He hung up and turned to us. “Five minutes.”

  The color had returned to Sidney's cheeks but she still looked a little shell-shocked. “It will take us that long to get out of here,” I said. “Sidney, I know we really freaked you out. But can you pretend everything's normal? We don't want to attract any attention when we leave.”

  She nodded.

  “This means I don't have a shot with you,
right?” Logan asked me.

  Sidney saved me the trouble of answering by punching him in the gut. “You idiot,” she said.

  “Why don't you and Sidney go down first?” Will suggested to me. “We'll follow in a minute.”

  I looked at my new friend. “Are you okay with that?”

  She nodded.

  Leah assumed something was very wrong when we told her we were all leaving. “Did something happen?”

  “Everything is fine, but we need to talk,” I told her.

  “Wait! What about Daphne?” Leah asked.

  I'd forgotten all about her.

  “I'll text her and see if she can get another ride,” Leah said. She started punching the words into her phone.

  “She isn't going to hear it,” I said. “We'll have to look for her.”

  “No,” Leah shook her head. “She'll feel it vibrate. She keeps it in her bra.” She studied her phone for a few more seconds and then grinned. “See. She said she has a ride.”

  “Good.”

  When we'd stuffed all four of us into the car, Nic pulled away from the curb. “Nobody's hurt?” he asked.

  “We're all safe and sound,” Will assured him.

  “We should probably wait until we get back to the loft to talk.” I pulled out my phone and texted Christie.

  Me: Made a mistake. We're going to have to read Sidney, Logan, and Leah in.

  Christie's answering text used a popular three-letter texting abbreviation that indicated serious frustration.

  “Are we all going to our loft?” Nic asked.

  “Yep,” I said. “We have some reading in to do.”

  The car swerved a couple inches into the next lane before Nic righted it.

  “Sorry,” Will said.

  Nic groaned. “Which one of you did something stupid?”

  “Both of us,” I admitted. “And we really need to get back to the loft because all of us aren't on the same page.”

  “Got it.” Nic didn't ask any more questions.

  When we entered the loft, all the lights were blazing and Grandma and Christie were alert and ready for battle.

  I flinched as they greeted us. They were going to kick my butt, and Will's. Probably not until the others left though.

  “Come on in and sit down,” Grandma said.

  Once everybody was sitting on the sofas, Christie looked at me. “Maybe you should start by briefing us on your misadventures at the party.”

  I took a deep breath and then spit out the information as fast as I could. “WillandI kissedattheparty andSidneysawus.”

  “Oh for heaven's sake,” Grandma said.

  “Wait! What?” Leah said. “Why would you kiss your brother?”

  “I got this,” Christie said. “All five of us work for GASI, a secret government agency specializing in technology and espionage. Amanda and Will were recruited because teens can move about freely in many settings. Our current mission involves uncovering those behind a plot against the UN Secretary-General. We have confirmed at least one attempt on his life. We are racing the clock to get to the bottom of this, and we have very little to go on. As such,” she paused, “we had to resort to electronic monitoring.”

  Christie waited for a reaction which didn't come.

  “We've been hacking into every phone and wifi network we can find,” I explained.

  “Wait... even ours?” Leah frowned.

  “We've pretty much been using you and your friends to pass on the virus that lets us spy on everybody.” I shrugged as I finished. “Sorry.”

  “What Amanda said and what could have been phrased much better,” Christie paused to glare at me, “is that we had a dire need for communications access, and with your exceptional skill and use of technology, your help was essential.”

  “Isn't this why Germany got so mad at the United States?” Sidney asked. “Why would you do this to us?”

  “We were desperate,” Nic said. “We had a huge blind spot because we worked hard to avoid surveillance on the UN. Then we were in a position where a life was in danger and we were floundering around in the dark. The information we've gotten from our surveillance on the three of you, and your father, has made this conversation possible. If we hadn't been able to vet you over the last few days, we would be meeting with your father right now and asking him to send you away.”

  “You think Dad would just ship us off?” Logan asked.

  Nic nodded. “For a week or two. He's loyal to the Secretary-General. Why do you think he works long hours and travels so often?”

  “Is our father involved? Is he a spy?” Sidney asked.

  “No. He's not. In fact, he doesn't know we're here. We are determined to keep this mission as quiet as possible.” Christie shook her head. “Even a loyal man can make the mistake of trusting the wrong people. We couldn't risk exposing the team that is protecting the Secretary-General.”

  “Why do they want to kill the Secretary-General?” Leah asked. “Mr. Vargas is a nice man.”

  “We don't know,” Christie answered. “If we knew why, we'd have a head start on figuring out the who.”

  “Wait, is Mr. Vargas safe? Somebody could be attacking him right now,” Sidney said.

  “No. He's safe. We have a team protecting him. We have over a hundred agents collecting and sifting through mountains of data back at Headquarters. We will find out who is behind this.” Nic shared a look with Christie. “We have a deadline that we'd like to meet for political reasons. However, if we were to fail, the Secretary-General's safety would remain intact.”

  “Since Will and Amanda mucked this up so badly, we have to trust you with this information. We have to ask that you keep this to yourselves. We must rely on your discretion. If our identities are compromised, we could be in danger.” Christie looked from Leah to Sidney to Logan. “If the information we have shared with you gets out, the Secretary-General could be in grave danger.”

  “You can trust us,” Leah said.

  “You think it's somebody working at the UN? The assassin, right? That's why you didn't tell our father and why you're using teens with ties to the UN. You really want to see what you can find out about their parents,” Logan said.

  “Yes,” Christie said.

  “So what's the deadline? Can you tell us?” Leah looked from Christie to Nic.

  “We want to wrap this up by Tuesday, but we can't give you any more specifics at this point,” Nic said.

  “Are you still monitoring us?” Logan asked.

  “To be completely honest,” Grandma said. “We will need to monitor you between now and Tuesday to be sure that you don't compromise us, whether intentionally or accidentally.”

  “Sorry, guys,” I said.

  “We'll get to your apologies later, Amanda,” Christie said.

  “I was apologizing to them. I figure I'll be apologizing to you and Nic from the time they leave until sometime early Monday morning.” We'd definitely be begging for forgiveness for days.

  Nic almost quirked a smile. Maybe there was hope for us after all.

  “Wouldn't it just be easier for us to help you?” Sidney asked. “I mean we might as well. Then you'd know what we were up to, and maybe we could make a difference.”

  “We'll discuss it, Sidney,” Christie said. “But don't get your hopes up. You're a minor, and despite the example set by Will and Amanda tonight, operatives are highly trained and the risks involved cannot be taken lightly.”

  “I'm almost eighteen,” Leah said. “And Logan already is.”

  “We'll discuss it,” Nic said. “In the meantime, please keep this to yourselves. Remember that somebody you know may well be the enemy here. If not someone you know, then perhaps their parents, or their coworkers. This isn't a game. This truly is life or death.”

  I wasn't sure where we stood when the three neighbors filed out of the loft. They didn't seem happy.

  I went over and joined Will on the sofa. Since we were going to get chewed out anyway, I reached for his hand. Holdin
g his hand felt good, but the truth was that I was horrified at our mistake. Could I be a spy and date Will?

  Neither of us spoke, and the adults were talking quietly in the kitchen area.

  “I feel like such a loser,” Will said.

  I squeezed his hand. “I know.”

  “Too bad we didn't do that thing with the oozing zit. I think it might have helped.”

  Too exhausted to laugh, I smiled. “The stress from this will probably doom my complexion for weeks, months even.”

  “Assuming we live that long,” he muttered.

  “We still have our brass knuckles,” I said.

  “Only for self-defense,” he said. “And we can't use them on Grandma.”

  “Of course not,” I agreed.

  Finally, Nic and Christie came over and sat on the sofa across from us. Grandma stood nearby.

  “We aren't going to discuss this until morning,” Nic said. “We need more time, and frankly, you deserve to be miserable with the guilt and uncertainty.”

  He didn't pull any punches.

  “Go upstairs and get in bed.” Christie sighed. “I know you won't sleep, but stay in your rooms.”

  “We do need to verify that Sidney was the only person who saw anything tonight. Is there any way that someone else saw you kissing?” Nic waited for our answer.

  “Nobody else,” Will assured him.

  “We were in a room alone, and Leah had already confirmed that there were no active cameras in the house during the party.”

  “Thank God for small favors,” Grandma said.

  “We'll see you two in the morning. It's Saturday, and Christie is scheduled to make contact with Smith. If things work out, we'll probably have you two spend the day with the teens.”

  Will stood, and I stood too. There didn't seem any point in saying it again, but I did anyway. “We are so sorry.”

  “Oh, and leave your phones,” Nic instructed.

  I pulled the phone from my pocket and set it on the coffee table. Will set his beside mine.

  I followed Will upstairs and we shared a brief hug before going into our respective rooms.

  What a disaster.

  Chapter Eleven