AGENT 23 BLACKOUT (Agent 23 Book 1)

CHAPTER 7

After our latest round with Agent 24, Kayla and I rush from the city center and do our best to disappear. Instead of retreating into a frightened state of mind, I find myself with a new, albeit growing, rush of emotions, like steel tempered by heat. I don't need help from my grandparents or any other adults. I've got this. A sense of awareness fills my thoughts, making me hypersensitive to the sounds around us and the movements taking place on our ever-changing perimeter. As if I know what I'm doing and where I'm going, I guide Kayla around the back corner of a building that faces Main Street. It's a tactic to get us out of harm's way.

We zigzag back and forth down other streets on a northwest heading. Originally, our flight from Agent 24 took us south, but without knowing why, my instinct leads us in the opposite direction. The best I can assume is that I'm trying to reverse course in order to throw the assassin off our trail, because something tells me he won't stop until we're dead.

Several streets over and behind Lattes, running parallel to Main Street, Kayla throws on the brakes and stops. "I think we lost him."

"But we need to keep going." I place a hand on my hip, panting lightly. "For whatever reason, he thinks I'm a threat to him."

"Are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you Agent 23?"

I take a step back. Her question comes out of nowhere. "No, I'm not some secret agent. Do I look like one? I'm just a teenager."

"Well," she says, "you're awfully athletic for a history buff."

"I told you I lift weights and run when I'm not at Lattes or at school, or studying. I have to do something in my spare time."

Her eyes drift away. "Or so you say."

"It's the truth, Kayla, believe me."

The snow that started light picks up in intensity, flakes collecting on Kayla's flaxen hair, which is now loose from the clip and falling over her shoulders. Wild strands hang across her face, obstructing her vision.

When she doesn't answer me, I shift my weight from one foot to the other as I look at her. The hair on her face bothers me. I reach up and nudge the rogue locks aside. Shake my head and sigh. "I'm not a secret agent, or an assassin."

"Assassin," Kayla repeats in a hushed tone.

"Not unless I have amnesia or something. What's the chances of that?"

A sudden look of comprehension washes over her. "I should go." She backs away, grinning nervously. "You know, I have that test to study for."

"That wouldn't be wise. Not now." I grow serious. "I think you should come with me. You may not realize it, but you're a witness who Agent 24 wants to silence. He knows who you are. Remember? He asked why I was hanging out with you. He thought I was playing you for information regarding my next assignment."

"Listen to yourself, Aiden. You're talking like you are Agent 23." Her lower lip trembles. "Who are you? Really?"

"You know who I am."

"No, I don't." Kayla wags her head. The hair I moved out of her eyes returns to her face. "We just started talking to each other tonight. Other than that, we've only made glances in class. What about those moves you did back in the alley and on the bus?"

"It was self-defense. I was trying to stay alive and keep you alive, too." My head tilts as I search her eyes, trying to latch onto any sense of understanding between the two of us. "If there's anything you know about me, you've learned it tonight. You saw it firsthand. I may love natural history and science, and I may be incompetent in my knowledge about girls, but I won't stand aside and let some beefy assassin kill innocent people, especially you," my head bobs, "or someone like you." Mist burns my vision and heat flushes my cheeks.

Kayla's lips curl up slightly. I see a hint of trust flash across her eyes.

We stand in silence as the snow falls. Finally, she tucks her rogue locks back into place behind her ear and says, "Where should we go then?"

"I have an idea." As I nod in the direction of the city museum, I reach for her arm but stop shy of touching her elbow. Our eyes meet and my anxiety intensifies, but I forge on. "We can hide for the rest of the night until Agent 24 gives up. I know a place. Besides, I have to smooth things over with my boss. Hopefully, I won't get fired."