Four girls living in Goldmont, each with a different story and a troubled past. Two new teenage spies. One missing girl. Two cousins must save the day. Or else.
Later that evening, Nikki Monroe and her older sister Paige Monroe stepped into the elevator in the main building of The Investigation Units, or TIU for short. "Floor number twenty-three," Paige announced, clicking the glowing yellow twenty-three button. Nikki tapped her foot anxiously until the elevator doors opened, letting them out to an enormous glass door. Just like she remembered, a small pin-pad locked the door closed.
"Do you remember the code?" Nikki asked her sister anxiously.
"I might."
Nikki held her breath while Paige punched in a few numbers. Miraculously, the glass door slid open and let them into a small office. Everything looked exactly like Nikki remembered it--the blue striped carpet, the swivel desk chair, and the hallway full of grey file cabinets labeled with red numbers. Nikki immediately spied file cabinet sixteen and tiptoed towards it, pulling her black hoodie tighter around her head. Even though she'd helped Paige disconnect the security camera, she wanted to be extra safe that no one could see who she was. Paige reached into her back pocket in her black skinny jeans and pulled out a shiny silver key that she had received from one of Nikki's friends from an institute she went in Europe; Derrick Smith.
The file cabinet popped open with one turn of the key. Paige rifled through all the papers, finally pulling out a faded red folder.
"Aha. Got it," She murmured. She opened the folder and took out a paper with a picture of a girl with curly dark blond hair.
"Kalea?" Nikki spluttered.
"It says on her file she joined TIU two days ago. She hasn't even had her first mission yet. Newbie," Paige smirked and took out another page. It had a picture of a solemn looking black girl with two black braids, a sky blue ribbon tied to the ends of each one.
"Karissa too?" Nikki gasped.
"They joined the same day," Paige said and winced at Nikki, "This isn't good. It could mess up everything."
Nikki folded her arms angrily. "I hate her. Everything that happened in the last two years is her fault."
"You mean Mom and Dad sending you the The Berna Martin Institute in Europe?" Paige guessed.
Nikki shut her eyes thinking about that horrible day. She'd had a fight with Kalea the day before, and Kalea had ran to Nikki's mom, Mrs. Monroe, to tell her that Nikki had threatened to hurt her. Mrs.Monroe had come into Nikki's room the next day, while Nikki was just finishing her math homework. She had put down a pamphlet that read The Berna Martin Institute. It showed a dark looking castle-like building with smiling kids on the cover. Mrs. Monroe had explained this place would help Nikki would her violence problem. Before she knew it, they were in Europe. Her parents were living a happy two years in France, while Nikki was locked up at The Berna Martin with a bunch of psychopaths. She hated Kalea for that. Her only two "friends" there had been Derrick Smith and Tina Logan. Because of Kalea, she'd missed her first year of high school. The beautiful Goldmont summers. Shopping at Saks. Eating Peach'N'Berry ice cream while watching Supernatural. Two years of her perfect life, gone. And now Kalea was going to pay. Big time.
"Well, whatever you do sis, I've got your back."
Nikki shot her sister a grateful smile. The more people she could get in on her plan, the better.
The glass door slid open just then, a red-haired lady with fierce eyes stepped into the office wearing an expensive-looking women's pinstripe suit. She took a seat on the swivel chair and flipped open a laptop. Nikki stifled a gasp. The lady hadn't seen them yet. Paige quietly and slowly slid the red folder in her black drawstring bag and motioned for Nikki to follow her. Paige tiptoed past the hallway of file cabinets, going in the opposite direction of the lady and the desk. By the time they reached the back entrance door, they could only see the a part of the desk the lady was sitting at. Paige opened the door with a small click. They quietly ran down ten flights of stairs and slipped through another door, leading outside.
"That was a close one," Nikki remarked and looked around. She could see Paige's silver Mercedes Benz a block away.
"Very close," Paige agreed.
Once they were safely in the car, Nikki pulled off her hood to shake out her long, dark brown hair. Paige put key into ignition and the car sputtered to life.
"Next stop, Derrick's," Nikki said and smiled evilly.
Time for her plan to spring into action.
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Derrick Smith paced around the room a couple of times and then stopped in front of the refrigerator. It had a few ABC magnets, a picture of Derrick and his younger sister at some beach, and a shopping list. Derrick ran his hand through his stringy maroon-colored hair and turned towards Paige and Nikki, who were crunching on pretzels on Derrick's mom's coffee table. Unpacked boxes were stacked all around them.
"So, basically, Mariam Johan recruited her daughter and her niece as part of her team?" Derrick concluded, opening the faded red folder.
"Pretty much, yeah," Nikki sighed and popped three more pretzels into her mouth.
The side door, which was located in the kitchen, crashed open. A green-eyed girl with auburn curls gave the three of them a tight-lipped smile.
"Hey, Veronica," Nikki chirped. Veronica Mills was Derrick's half sister.
Veronica gave Nikki a small wave and reached into a cupboard for a granola bar. She took a big bite and gave all of them a weird glance. A heavy silence hung in the air.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" Veronica asked confusingly with a flip of her curls.
"Derrick and I were assigned as partners for the Rory Ann science fair and Nikki is here because I'm supposed to keep an eye on her," Paige quickly explained.
Nikki frowned. That wasn't the excuse they had planned if someone came.
"Oh, cool. I would love to hang, Nikki, but Monica and I have to work on our science project," Veronica stated and grabbed her backpack, "Toodles!"
The door slammed closed.
"You have to keep an eye on me?" Nikki blurted angrily.
Paige threw up her hands in despair. "I'm sorry. It was the only thing that came to my mind."
"What happened to Derrick signed up to be a math tutor and we were both getting tutored?"
"That's suspicious. I mean, both of us?"
Nikki started to protest but Derrick put a hand on her shoulder. "Chill. I don't think she suspected anything."
Paige nodded. "We're good."
"Whatever. We need to take down Kalea. Starting with everything she loves," Nikki schemed. She pulled a notecard from her back pocket.
Derrick licked his lips in thought. "So let me get this straight," He said, leaning against the fridge, "Monica Teasherallen is her best friend. Rowane Johan is her sister. Karissa Herzel is her cousin."
"Correct," Paige approved and gave Derrick a paper with instructions, "Are we all ready?"
"Oh, I've been ready, ages ago," Nikki said and gave Derrick a wink. Derrick smiled back. They've been planning this since they met at Berna Martin.
"And whatever happens, we always have a Plan B," Paige concluded.
The three of them shared a secretive smile. All will go well, and Kalea would get the revenge she deserved.
