Spy School - Back to Basics [2]

17: Exchanging

I didn't even bother to point out that it was probably illegal, and no one else did either. None of them probably cared anyways, though.

Erica dialed Orion's number; since Cyrus made the ransom call with his phone, it was now compromised, and Erica couldn't put it on speaker, for fear the van was bugged.

Orion picked up immediately, judging from how soon Erica started talking- or rather, whispering, because again, the van could be bugged.

"Hello." A pause as Orion responded. "No, she's not here- though everyone else is. We're kind of on a mission, and we need your help urgently. I don't think it would take you long." Another pause. "Uh, we need to do a quick, no-trace transaction. In a few days, when this all clears up, the CIA will pay you a nice fee. You see, we need to funnel funds stolen from them back into their bank, without the culprits knowing." Pause. "I'll tap the number in morse code; we might be in a bugged area."

Erica tapped the SKITTLES' bank number with morse code into the receiver, to quiet for any possible microphone bugs to pick up.

"As for the bank number you'll be transferring it too," Erica continued, whispering, "you know where to put it: the CIA Federal Reserves." There was one final pause as Orion told her something. "Only an hour? Impressive. Well, goodbye, Orion. And thank you."

I was surprised at Erica's gratefulness: she gave compliments only once per half a year, and gratefulness was even rarer. I suppose she realized how dire the situation was.

"In the meantime, while we wait for him to complete that, I think we have a source of inside information," I said quietly.

"Ivy," Erica whispered, guessing my answer.

"Yes. She's not captured yet, no?" I asked her.

"Not that I know of," Erica whispered. "She never actually interfered in battle, though I heard some low-rankers call her 'traitor Ivy' before, because she has guards around her house, even though it's because she's a valuable member."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I overheard a conversation when I was looking for you," she replied.

"But since she didn't reveal that she was helping us, she's probably still in the underground lair," I concluded.

"Hold on," Trixie asked, "what's this poison ivy you're talking about?"

"She's a person who was forced into SKITTLES' organization. She's helped us before, and since she had to work on a high-stakes project, so she has to know something," I answered.

"She could just be pretending to help you," Cyrus pointed out. "She could be leading you into a trap."

"That's true," Erica admitted, "I suppose a background check is required."

"What were they blackmailing her with?" Mrs. Mogilevsky asked.

"Her family, she said that there were guards outside her house, we even saw a scheduling sheet for that in the security room we were in," Erica replied.

"What's her last name?" Mrs. Mogilevsky asked.

"Brown, I believe," Erica said.

Mrs. Mogilevsky did a quick Google search on her phone. "Oddly enough, it says her only living parent- her dad- died in a mining accident five months ago, and she now lives with her senile grandmother, according to a CNN article."

"So her family is just her grandma?" Mike asked.

"Well, I'm actually surprised they are even thinking of threatening her with her grandmother's death; she's rarely ever actually home, going out to bars and casinos. Child services got a lot of criticism for that decision, but according to the article, nothing was changed," Mrs. Mogilevsky.