A Spy's Home---Book 3: A Friend I've Never Met

Chapter 5

Next morning...

Zylina's Point of view...

I jerked awake, and jolted up in the bed. "Crap, another nightmare again. I should be over the shootout." I mumbled. I swung my legs off the bed, and started getting ready for the day.

In nearly a half an hour, I was leaning against the doorway that led into the hotel watching the sunrise. I was in a sweatshirt due to the cold front that was blowing through, and I could feel my cheeks turning red. "Hey early bird." I heard Luke say. I jumped and instinctively got ready to punch something. Luke decided to play along, and held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Please don't hurt me. I'm just an average citizen." he said, with a hint of sarcasm. I relaxed myself, and rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's an instinct for me now when something scares me." I apologized.

Luke let his hands fall back down to his side, and he said, "It's alright. Since you were raised in the Academy, I don't really blame you. Now come on in before you catch a cold or something."

I followed him inside, and into the kitchen room. "It's summer, why is it only 45 out?" I asked, shivering. "Simple answer: Mother nature hates us." Luke commented, smirking. "Well that would explain a lot of things." I snickered.

"So, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked. "Do you have any hash browns?" I responded with. Luke looked in the refrigerator, and gave me a thumbs up. "I'll take two of those please." I answered.

A few minutes later, I was sitting on the countertop eating two hash browns that were well cooked. "People say that girls are the best cooks, but you and Rory cook hash browns and eggs really well." I commented, through bites of food.

"Well, I'm pretty sure any Mom out there can cook better than me any day." Luke retaliated, playfully. I raised up my hand and said, "Not me."

"Wait, you've never cooked before?" Luke questioned. I shook my head, and he stared at me with shock. I blushed in embarrassment, and exclaimed, "I never had too. When on missions we went to diners, and at the Academy they cooked it for us."

"Oh, I guess you're right about that. I'll teach you how during dinner this afternoon, and when you leave I'll ask Rory to give you some lessons." Luke answered. I silently cheered; finally I'll get to learn something other than hacking and fighting.

There was a knock on the doorway and both Luke and I turned our heads to find Lilian leaning against it. "Hey sis, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked. She gestured for him to follow her into the other room; Luke paused and then turned to me.

"Stay here, I'll be right back," he told me. I nodded, and he followed Lilian into the next room and closed the door.

I waited in the kitchen area like I was ordered to; whatever it was, it wasn't my business and I didn't want to seem nosy since Lilian already felt suspicious of us.

A minute or so later, Luke came roaming back in, but this time he looked more serious than earlier. "Zylina, I need you to come with me into the other room." he simply said.

Confused, but curious, I nodded my head, hopped off the counter top, and followed Luke to the lobby area of the hotel; Rory was in there too.

"After I gave you that first clue in Findlay, I decided to do a bit of research on the Academy facility; try and find it's weak points. Turns out the location of the facility isn't the original." Luke informed us, as we gathered on sofas circling a round coffee table.

Rory and I looked at each other, our eyes narrowed. "When we were younger, we moved once because the authorities started to suspect something was up. That's how we ended up in the countryside of New York." Rory explained to them.

"Well it turns out that the Academy has moved facilities a total of 10 times in the history of its existence." Luke responded with. Our eyes went from narrow to wide in moments.

"How long has the Academy been around?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. "Our estimate is about 30 years." Lilian answered. "So for 30 years the Academy has been kidnapping babies from their parents, and the authorities or the government didn't suspect a thing?" I exclaimed.

"They didn't at first, but I've hacked into some things and I've learned about several projects and programs the government is putting into place to track down this organization." Luke said.

Sighing, I asked Luke, "Shouldn't we tell the government about it, and lead them to where the organization is, since we know the location?" In response, Luke shook his head and said, "We can't, not now at least. We don't have any evidence to prove our claim."

I raised my eyebrow a second time as I studied Luke's face. "I feel like there's a "but" coming." I said. "I think I know where we can get evidence. I found out there's an old Academy facility a couple miles south outside of town. If we go there we can probably find evidence to prove what we're claiming is true." he explained.

"Sounds like a plan." I agreed. I looked over at Rory, waiting to see what his answer was. He looked back and forth between me and Luke and Lilian. "Let's see what the Academy left behind." he answered, smirking. 

TBC....