Spy School Fail-Safe

Chapter 13

"That," I replied, pointing to the cart in the distance. It wasn't any cart, it was a cart for hotel cleaning service. There were aprons, gloves, brooms, mops, cleaning liquids and towels of all sorts on the cart. "That's our entry ticket."

It all made perfect sense, because Erica and I could slip into the aprons, wear the gloves and knock on the door, pretending to be two cleaning crew people. Erica smiled at me with a hint of excitement glinting in her eye. Of course, she loves this kind of stuff.

"Come on, quick. Before we get spotted," Erica said, and we crossed the hallway, reaching the cart. The aprons were a good fit, and we tied them round our torsos, and Erica tied her hair up into a ponytail.

"How will I go unrecognized?" I asked her, to which she pulled out two face masks. I nodded, realizing that cleaners usually wore face masks so they wouldn't get any chemicals in their noses, or in this case, we wouldn't get any recognition.

Erica slipped the face mask on and double-checked her appearance on her phone using the camera, just to make sure no part of her gave away her true identity. I did so too, and was almost glad to realize I barely looked like myself. I actually looked a few years older than 14. Any of my closest friends could tell it was me, but this man had been observing us from afar, so he wouldn't be able to tell.

"Ready?" Erica asked, and I nodded, even though I was doubting the fact that I was ready. She exhaled and knocked on the man's hotel room door. For a few seconds there was no sound, but then we heard footsteps and Erica stiffened, her guard going up as the door slowly opened.

The man in front of us looked like he was in his mid-thirties. He had no facial hair, and he wore all black as he stared at us up and down. "Cleaners?" he asked, and we nodded. "It's like 3 am!"

"Sir," Erica began, "we're the 24 hours cleaning service at this hotel, I believe you requested an immediate cleanup?"

The man obviously looked very confused, because he had never asked for a cleanup. I peeked into his room and noticed how messy it was. He really looked like he needed some cleaning.

"Uh, I never did, you probably have the wrong hotel room," he replied. "But... could you stop by?"

"Don't mind if we do," I replied before Erica had a chance to open her mouth. I met her gaze and she nodded ever so slightly. "That's our job, sir."

The man let us in and we rolled the cart in along with us, taking in this man's room. He had made quite a mess. The minibar was open, and his bed was an unmade mess. He didn't look like a bad guy, just a very untidy man.

"I'll... uh, be showering, I guess," he said, ducking into the bathroom. "I'll let you do your work."

He didn't even seem to suspect two cleaning people, and Erica sighed as she yanked his covers off, fluffing them. Then she checked under his bed, then under the frame before making the bed again.

"What are you doing?" I whisper-asked Erica.

"The man isn't suspicious. Which means that either he has nothing to hide, or he's hidden something so expertly that no cleaners could find it," Erica replied. "I'm making his bed and checking everything in the process. You check the minibar and his trash can."

I obeyed, quickly checking the minibar. There were a few cans of soda unopened, but everything else was empty. I threw all the wrappers of his snacks in the trash can, and as I checked the recycling bin, I found a small piece of paper.

"Erica," I called, and she rushed over, raising her eyebrows up as if to ask what? I opened up the piece of paper, and she leaned in to read the writing. I could smell her shampoo and the scent of lilacs as I turned bright pink. "Looks like some kind of note, what is it?" I asked.