Visible Ghosts

7

"Ugh, I needed this." I murmur to myself. "This is the type of date I need more often in my life." Sipping my cup of hot coffee, I lean back against the prop of a car. After losing the boys, I made a pit stop at the small coffee shop in the student lounge and bought the largest coffee there. Now I'm hiding backstage in the auditorium nursing the last few ounces and flipping through the different cameras we have installed on campus.

Zane and I have gotten a few put in main areas to watch the busiest places but Zane logged us into the Academy mainframe too. Now we have all the work that Victor and Corey have done too. And boy, have those guys been working. They have cameras in almost every office and classroom besides the dean's office and a few rooms that aren't in use anymore.

When I got to the auditorium, a class was being held in the main theater so I slipped backstage and hid in between some of the props where no one should bother me. I figured since I had an extended break until my next class I'd do some surveillance work and start the preliminary report for Phil. We don't have much but it's best to write down any thoughts and descriptions about the people here.

My phone buzzes with an incoming phone call.

"Hello?" I answer a little cautiously at the unknown number.

"Eggplant." A smoky voice responds.

"Saxophone." Academy business, wonder who is calling.

"Hi, is this Livvy Stone?" The man asks, the smoothness of his voice a little hypnotizing. I'm a little concerned that he knows the Livvy alias. Normally I only go by that when I have deep undercover missions that could take weeks or months. I'm already on an undercover mission and don't have the time or resources to do another one.

"This is she. How can I help you?" With the hand not holding my cell phone, I pull up a program and run the tracking code. As it's running the man answers me.

"My name is Spencer, I'm in need of your assistance." He pauses as someone in the background says something that I can't hear. "My team can offer you two favors from each member if you can make it to North Charleston Elementary and pose as Amanda Lexington. Brielle Lexington is an eight year girl that is being abused at home from her stepfather. Amanda left the picture about six months ago and hasn't been seen since." My teeth clenched at this. Been through that before. No little kid should ever have to suffer through abuse from their parent. "Brielle has two older step siblings Cara and Devin who are in high school and aren't home much. Today while at recess she took a spill and her shirt pulled up exposing some bruising along her back. The nurse called home asking for a parent or guardian to come pick her up. We intercepted the call and said Amanda would be there as soon as possible. We know it's extremely last minute but we need you to be Amanda for a few minutes. We have a fake ID and some clothes for you. All you need to do is go into the school, sign her out, and bring her to the getaway car."

Spencer waits as I try to absorb all the information he just spewed. Little girl. Abuse. Mimic. Safety. I check my watch, it's just past 11am.

Lucky for me Livvy is an alias where I keep my blonde hair, all I need to do is put in some brown contacts and some heavy eye makeup and I should be good to go. Checking my bag I'm thankful that Phil drilled into me to always be prepared and pull out the supplies I'll need.

As quickly as I can I put the contacts in and start swiping mascara and eyeliner on with my free hand. "Okay, I'll do it." I reply after my appearance is altered slightly. I check my laptop for where Spencer is at. About 20 minutes north, his dot is doing circles around the elementary school he mentioned. Fuck. I have no car and Zane will be leaving within the hour to go to work. I probably won't be back in time to switch with him.