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

Chapter 14

Rory's Point of View

I had finally finished unpacking in my new room; the walls were painted sky blue, there were a couple of old paintings left on the wall, a bookshelf that looked a century old, and a creaky, old wooden floor. There was also a cool looking chest pinned against the footboard where I had stashed my clothes.

I had put my duffel bag next to the bed when I heard a soft knock on the doorway. I turned my head, expecting to find Zylina, but to my surprise it was Lilian. "Oh hey." I called over to her, a little shocked. She gave me a small wave, while also giving me a soft smile as she walked over to me.

The two of us stood there awkwardly in silence for a few moments, before I cleared my throat, turned back to my bag, and asked, "Did you come in here just to be quiet and awkward?"

"No, I just wanted to apologize about my behavior earlier." she answered. I perked up and looked over my shoulder towards her. "Uh, thanks I guess." I uttered, turning away once again. Was she really trying to apologize? Was this a necessary time, Lilian?

I heard Lilian sigh sadly, and start shuffling out of the room. I suddenly felt a little guilty for being mean to her, and I snapped my whole body around, and grabbed her shoulder to keep her from leaving.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry for doing that. That was a jerk move, but I don't understand why you're just now starting to apologize." I explained to her, letting go of her shoulder. She turned to me and exclaimed, "I feel like I can trust you more since you've proven to be trustworthy."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and gave her a smirk. "What made you think I wasn't trustworthy?"

It was her turn to cross her arms in front of her chest, and she answered with, "Mostly because of your ties with the Academy, but you always look like you're up to no good."

I chuckled a little bit at the joke, and said, "Ah yes, I just have that effect on the people around me." Lilian let out a small giggle, and pushed my arm playfully.

"Alright, alright, so we're good?" I questioned her, after we finished laughing. She nodded, and responded, "Yeah, I guess we are."

Before Lilian could turn around to walk out the door, her twin appeared from behind the doorway. "Am I interrupting something?" Luke asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Almost in perfect sync, both Lilian and I shook our heads, and Luke gestured for us to follow him down the stairway.

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Zylina's Point of View

"Hey, Zyl, you might wanna come down here and see this!" I heard Luke shout from the first floor. I strolled from my room and leaned against the railing, while looking down at Luke below.

"Luke, I'm pretty sure we've talked about you calling me Zyl." I scolded him from my "perch." He groaned, and mumbled, "No promises, now get down here." I then smirked before coming down the stairs, and placing myself on the sofa next to Rory and Lilian. Strange. Shouldn't they be sitting as far away from each other as humanly possible?

"Alright Luke, why'd you call us down here?" Lilian questioned her brother. He turned his laptop toward us and we leaned forward to get a clearer look at the screen. There were multiple security videos on screen with black and white footage.

"Luke, why are you showing us random security videos?" Lilian asked, glancing up; I think we all had the exact same question in our head.

Luke pointed to a video in the left corner; a truck at a gas station with a middle-aged man pumping gas into the vehicle, and a younger boy on the opposite side leaning against the trunk.

"Wait a minute...." Rory's voice trailed off as he clicked on the video, paused it, and zoomed in on the younger one's face. My eyes went wide and I turned to face Rory, who also had shock plastered on his face.

"Tha.....That's Josiah," I finally stuttered out. "Yep." Luke briefly said.

"I'm sorry, who?" Lilian asked. Right, she knew nothing about the Academy at the time.

"Josiah is a newbie cadet we encountered on our first mission in Findlay. He helped us out a little by giving us the keys to unlock the main doors." Rory explained, keeping his gaze on the nervous looking boy in the camera.

"There were those two agents we encountered at the Museum, and if there's more than two located in this area, then that probably means that they're going to "pick up" a kid." I exclaimed, examining the middle-aged man seeing if I recognized him from my time at the Academy.

"We have to keep our eyes peeled for a missing-child report because right now we have no way of knowing who's going to be "recruited" next." Luke informed us. Lilian, Rory, and I leaned back on the couch in almost perfect sync and sighed. 

TBC....