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

Chapter 29

Archer's Point of View

I stumble out the door, and sputter into a coughing fit. Those men were gone, left shortly after the traitorous brats escaped. A few cadets had been lost, but we could always replace them.

I heard stumbling to my left and looked over; what was that wimp, Josiah, doing, wandering around?

"Josiah! I shouted, walking towards him. The boy tensed at the sound of my voice, and he slowly turned around with a terrified loom in his eye.

"What are you doing out here, kid? You should be in there helping the remaining agents clean up." I questioned him.

"S...Sorry sir, I came out here to take a breather from all the smoke in the house. I'll report back inside now." he stuttered, walking past me and back towards the house.

Something in his pocket caught my eye; it looked a lot like a phone. Cadets were only supposed to have walkie-talkies on missions. Suspicious about why he had a phone, I grabbed Josiah's arm and reached into his pocket.

"Hey, what are you doin?" he shouted, jerking away from my grip, but not before I could fish the phone out of his pocket. I examined the device, and exclaimed, "What are you doing with this?"

Josiah tensed up, and hesitated; I assumed he was trying to find a dumb and pathetic excuse for having it. Sighing, I shook my head, and said, "Come on, I need to report this."

I pushed him towards the door, and for a moment Josiah walked, but he then turned around and punched my face! As my head exploded with pain, and my vision blurred, I saw the brat sprinting towards the road.

I raced after him, and pinned him to the dirt. "You called them in, huh? You called in the authorities." I said, finally putting 2 and 2 together.

Josiah didn't answer; instead he yelped when I pushed down harder on him. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and jerked his head upwards, causing another shout of pain to escape from him.

"We really do have to report this, don't we?" I taunted, menacingly. I forced the brat to his feet, and pushed him towards the building, but not before dropping the phone and crushing it to bits with my boot. This boy was in a world of hurt.

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Rory' s Point of View

"Are you sure you two will be alright on your own? You could come with us." I offered, while Lilian was packing up. Zylina was leaning against the door-way behind me, and when I looked over my shoulder to look at her, she had her pointer finger perched on her bottom lip, and she looked deep in thought.

"Nah, we'll be good on our own. We'll check in and make updates." Luke answered. I nodded in agreement, and extended my hand for a hand-shake. He returned it, and said, "I need to give you and Zyl something before you go."

Before I could respond, Luke fished two things out of his pocket, and held them up so I could see; two identical pocket knives.

"Their dark color can blend in with your outfits when on a mission, and I know you two don't like the use of guns." he explained, handing the knives to me.

I examined them for a moment before looking up, and saying, "Thanks." Luke nodded in return and responded, "Keep Z safe."

I nodded again, and looked over my shoulder once more; Zylina was in the same position. "Someone has to." I muttered, turning to Luke again and stuffing the knives into my pocket.

I grabbed my bag, and started walking towards the door-way; I stopped when I got in front of Zylina, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You said your good-byes?" I asked.

Removing her pointer finger from her lip, she nodded and pushed herself from the door-way. I saw her turn to Luke, and give him a slight wave of the hand, before turning back to me.

As we walked out the door, I could feel a tense feeling coming from Little Z. Who was in that room with her? My mind went back to the attack on the old facility building, trying to think of who I saw, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get a clear picture because of all the chaos that had happened in the building.

Either Zylina would tell me on her own free-will, or I would have to interrogate it out of her, and I didn't want to have to do the latter. I could tell by her eyes that she saw someone that she didn't want to see. Was it Cree? No, he was in the living area when the attack started.

Zylina still hadn't said a single word by the time we were on the road. What was it that she wasn't sharing?

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Zylina's Point of View

I knew Rory was getting suspicious; it was written on his face every time he looked at me. I didn't know how to tell him about the boss, or the fact that he had eyes on his parents and the kids we had rescued along with their families; I didn't know how to tell him about Carlos and his family, I still wanted to keep them out of this nonsense.

It was late at night when we were finally on the road, and the only thing that I could gaze at outside the window was the barely visible silhouettes of trees, and the horizon.

I flinched when I felt Rory's hand come in contact with my shoulder, and my head quickly turned to face him; I could see his concerned expression due to the light of the map screen.

After he made sure I relaxed, Rory said, "How about you get some sleep? I need to figure out where we're going next."

I nodded, but didn't say anything; I hoped he couldn't see that my hands were trembling. I wasn't trembling because Rory had scared me, but because I was scared of what the boss could do to him and the families we had saved along the way if we went after the Academy again. 

TBC....