A Teenage Spy Story

Chapter 22: April

Chapter 22: April

I hadn't completely processed what they had said. Janey had killed Agent Winters? My dad was dead?

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You don't have authorization to know," one of the guards said.

But that's what they didn't know.

"April, April listen to me," Janey said as she was cuffed and led out of the room. "It wasn't me. Trust yourself. Do what you have to do."

"Janey, what do you mean?" I asked, but the door had already closed.

"April?" May had woken up. "What was going on?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about that. I need you to think right now. Did you see who knocked you out?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember anything about today."

Jocelyn sighed. "It was too late."

"What was too late?" May asked.

"I tried to cure you," Jocelyn said. "But it didn't work. And April, I think what they said was true. Someone poisoned your dad."

"Dad?" May asked.

"I have to go see," I said.

"I'm coming," May said as she sat up.

"No. Stay here. Jocelyn, don't leave her."

Jocelyn nodded and I walked out. When I reached the office hallway, there was a crowd of guards. "Sorry, but you aren't allowed in here."

I pulled out my badge and slid my finger across the back. With Dad dead, Janey imprisoned and Zach kidnapped, the top three in the A1 no longer had their position.

"I am," I said.

"I'm sorry, Agent Winters, but you aren't."

"Can you read my card? What rank does it say?"

He looked at my card. "April Winters. #1. Number 1? I'm sorry, go ahead."

"Thank you," I said with a tone that was very clear that I didn't mean it at all.

I walked in and quickly surveyed the scene. It wasn't as gross as some of the other things I've seen, but nothing ca brace you for the sight of your dead dad. I looked around the room, nothing out of place except his laptop and the cup of coffee on the floor.

The cup of coffee made sense. Someone snuck the poison in there, but if Janey killed him, why would she steal the laptop? She would have authorization to everything.

I walked back out and went to HQ. I went to Michael's desk straight away. "Janey's in the Underground."

He nodded. "I know."

"And you're just sitting here? You're not even slightly surprised?"

"April, I saw the security tapes. I've run every possible scan on them, and there's no way it could be faked. Janey poisoned the coffee."

"It wasn't her!"

"How do you know?"

"She was with me when it happened."

Michael looked right at me. "Do you know that for a fact?"

"Do you really think it was her?"

"I side with the facts. And right now the facts point directly at her."

"But what about the missing laptop?"

His eyes widened. "What missing laptop?"

"My dad's laptop was missing from his office."

"I need May. Now."

"May's still in bad condition."

"April, if the laptop really is missing... I need May right now."

I walked back down to the medical wing. "May. I need you now." She got up and walked out. "How are you?" I asked.

"Better," she replied. "I didn't realize Jocelyn was so good at medical stuff."

"Well, I guess it's poisons. That's what's she's good at."

"Is it true?"

"Dad's dead."

"Was it Janey?"

"Evidence isn't looking good, but I don't think so."

"Do you know what mom would say?"

I smiled and laughed a little. "She would call us her lovebugs and crack a joke until she could figure it all out."

"So that's what I'm going to do."

"Right now you need to see Michael now."

"I heard the adults are coming out from retirement because they don't think the A1 can be run properly," May said.

"I won't let that happen," I replied.

"But how can you stop them?"

"May, I'm the #1."

She shrugged. "Yeah, makes sense. Zach was #3, I take it. But with him gone, #4 becomes #1."

"Wow, you processed that really quickly."

"Next is... Michael?"

"God you're good at that."

"And the #3 and #4 are completely unknown by anyone except them?"

I nodded. "Yeah. And at this point they might not even know either."

"It's probably Jocelyn."

I shook my head. "She's not 18 yet."

"So why am I needed?" she asked as I opened the door to control.

"Michael needs you. Dad's laptop was stolen."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's a problem." We went over to Michael.

"Do we have any tracking on it?" May asked.

Michael shook his head. "There's only one thing that could find it."

May sighed. "I can get it, but it's not going to do us any good."

"Mom's laptop?" I asked. May nodded and walked off.

"If we could only get into it," Michael said.

"Why can't you?" I asked.

"Too much security. Half of it we can't even figure out what it is. If we try something and it goes slightly wrong, it'll all blow up. Maybe figuratively, maybe literally. We don't know."

"But if we can get into it?"

"All of our problems would be basically solved."

"And we have a lot of problems right now," I mumbled.