Piping-hot coffee scalded my throat as I gulped it down. I recoiled, setting the paper cup down on my bedside table in the hotel room. Energy released inside my body, caffeine kicking in. The mental fog from waking up early in the morning began to clear.
I turned around to look at Dari, seated at a desk in the corner of the room. Her eyes were glued to her laptop. I caught a glimpse of the black-and-white image of the lobby.
"Do you see her yet?" I asked.
Dari shook her head. "Not yet. Granted, it's only seven in the morning."
"But most agents are supposed to get early starts on missions or when returning home from a mission," I said.
It was IIA policy to never waste time on missions. We were to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to bed past nightfall. That way we could complete our work faster. The fact that she wasn't down yet made me a little nervous. What could be causing the holdup? Did we miss her? Did she leave in a disguise?
Or worse, did she know we were watching her and was planning to attack us? She could have been tipped off as to our whereabouts by the double agent.
Dari shrugged. "Maybe WAOIC is more relaxed on their policy. Maybe it's just a 'hey, get here when you can, and we'll find some other mission for you to do' type of thing."
"Really Dari?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "I would be shocked if that's how they operated. It's not nearly as efficient."
Dawn popped her head out from the bathroom, a toothbrush in her mouth.
"Ib myb be mo efficnt."
"What did you say?" I asked. Dari huffed and disappeared into the bathroom. Water ran in the other room. Dawn reappeared in the doorway a moment later.
"I was saying that actually, it may be more efficient if they allow people to sleep in," she said. "People perform better when they aren't half dead to the world."
"Exactly," Dari agreed. "If she's sleeping in, I'm not going to hold it against her."
"I'm not holding anything against her," I said. "I'm just saying that something feels wrong."
"What, do you think they're going to ambush us?" Dari asked. Though she tried to keep her voice light, I could hear some underlying panic. I realized that if I, The Lead, appeared worried, then everyone else would probably be worried, too.
Don't stress everyone out with your concerns. That's not something Xara would have done.
"Not necessarily," I replied slowly. "I mean, anything could happen, but there's no evidence to support that. All I'm saying is that something feels off."
"Well, Finn, Ty, Jef, and Jax will be coming soon. They'll tell us if they saw anything in the hallway."
"Yeah, it's actually a good thing that Agent Fox hasn't left yet," Dawn chimed in. "It gives us a chance to get some breakfast."
I nodded. I had sent the guys out to buy us something to eat while we watched for Fox.
Stop obsessing! Everything is fine. It was good to be alert, but I couldn't let the circumstances get to my head.
Dari began typing on her computer. The rapid, even clacking of the keys seemed to calm me down. I breathed in sync with the letters. Ten clicks in, ten clicks out. I felt my eyes gently close as my body melted into relaxation.
"Umm, X?" I opened a single eye to look at Dari. She was still typing, but her worried eyes were fixed upon me.
"Just keep typing," I said, though I knew that I didn't need to. She could probably type through a tsunami. I allowed my eyelids to shut again. This was what I had needed. Just a few moments to myself to relax, clear my head. How does the real Xara do this?
I seemed to lose a sense of time. Before I knew it, the door creaked open.
"We're back," Finn announced.
I opened my eyes to see the four guys enter the room. Ty clutched a bag of food.
"We got the bread," Ty said, two octaves lower than his usual pitch.
"Good," I said. "Let's eat quickly and then..."
"We'd better eat in the car," Dari said. "Agent Fox is heading through the hallway now."
"Nevermind," I said, "Gather up any last minute items that you need."
The bulk of our stuff had been placed in the car earlier in the morning, but we needed to make sure nothing was left behind. I did one last sweep of the room before leaving.
Jef and Jax were climbing into the backseat of the car as I approached. Once they were situated, Ty sat down on the right. I slid in after him, and Dawn plopped down on the left.
"Agent Fox will be out soon, she's just checking out of the motel," Dari said, still staring at the surveillance camera.
"Good. We're ready to go," I said. I had checked out earlier so that I wouldn't have to worry about it now.
"Let me have some of that breakfast," Dawn said. "I'm starved."
"Say pwease," Ty said. He cradled the take-out bag in his arms.
"What did you get?" I asked.
"Belgian waffles and muffins. I decided to go with more shelf-stable options."
I snickered at the thought of belgian waffles. We were just in Belgium. I would be able to tell how authentic they were.
"Do you want something?" Ty asked.
"Sure." He opened the bag just enough to reach his hand in and pull out a muffin topped with pumpkin seeds.
"Thanks."
"Hey, what about me?" Dawn complained.
"I already said you could have one. Just say pwease."
Dawn crossed her arms. "I'm not saying that."
"Oof, well you know what? Now I've just upped it. Before, you could have had it just for saying pwease, but now you have to say 'pwetty pwease.'"
"Hendol, you're going to give me some food even if I die getting it."
"I'll give you the food if you say pwetty pwease."
"No. Now give it."
Agent Fox strode out of the hotel, wisps from her brown haired ponytail swaying in the wind.
"Finn, get ready to follow her."
"Righto."
I leaned forward in my seat to grab my phone from my bag. An arm shot out above me.
"Give it!" Dawn yelled.
Ty twisted towards the window of the car, the food bag out of reach. Dawn's fingers opened and closed in a grasping motion. I groaned internally. How did I get caught in the middle of this? I suddenly realized that I had ended up in the middle seat instead of the left seat, where I normally sat.
I tried to sit back in my seat, but Dawn's arm hit the back of my neck. That's it. I've had enough of this.
"Cool it, you two. We don't have time for this," I said.
Ty pouted. "Fi-ne."
"Goo-d." Dawn held out her hand, and Ty gave her a pre-packaged waffle.
"She got into a white Honda," Finn said.
At least someone is still paying attention.
"Follow the car. Memorize the license plate. Dari, get a picture of it."
Dari gave me a thumbs up from the passenger seat. Since she was going to be our navigator, she had replaced Jax in the front.
"Dawn, we need to switch," I said. "I need to be closer to the window."
"Why do you need my seat though?" Dawn questioned, a smirk on her face.
"Because that's the side Xara always sits on," I said.
"Why?"
"I don't know, just go sit in the rightmost seat."
"So now I'm switching seats with Ty, too?"
"Yes. You and I need to be on the edges, closest to the windows."
"Why?"
I sighed, exasperated. "I don't know, in case of a gun war or something."
Ty crossed his arms. "What? You think I can't hold my own in a gunfight?"
"Of course you can," I said through gritted teeth. "But do you really want to be caught in the forefront of whizzing bullets?"
Ty pretended to think a moment. "Naw, I guess not."
"Then switch."
"Whatever you do, do it quick because Fox is leaving the henhouse," Finn said.
I switched seats with Dawn. Ty scooted to the middle. The car jolted backward just as I buckled my seatbelt. I glanced at Ty.
"You better buckle up. It's going to be a long trip," I told him. He threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Why do you always do this?" he groaned.
I raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who won't follow basic safety precautions. This stuff is taught in elementary schools."
Ty huffed.
I rolled my eyes and focused on what Finn was doing. He pulled onto the main road, careful to keep a far enough distance from Agent Fox so she didn't notice us. Finn slowed, allowing a taxi to go in front of us on the road. I kept my eyes on Agent Fox's car in the distance. The others remained silent as we made our way through the quiet streets of Siren.
After a few twists and turns, we were zooming down the highway.
"Okay guys, we did it," Finn announced. A cheer erupted from the others. I remained stoic, my gaze fixed on the white sedan in front of us. She was only one car away, in the left lane while we were in the center. I stared long and hard at the vehicle, my brain trying to memorize every detail about the car. We could not lose her tail.
An elbow dug into my ribs. My head snapped to face Ty.
"Why the long face?" Ty asked. "You've been kind of moody."
"Not moody," Dawn said. "Just more Xara-like."
Dari turned around and squinted at me. "Yeah, you do seem more like her. What happened?"
"Is there anything wrong with that?" I said. "Afterall, that's who I am."
Ty snapped his fingers. "I got it. I'll bet it's something the Director said to you when he kept you extra long after our briefing."
I didn't say anything. He wasn't wrong, but I doubted he knew what the Director said to me.
"Xara, look, you can be whoever you want to be," Dari said. "You don't have to be like Xara. Don't feel bad if you're not."
"That's not what he said."
"Then what's bothering you?" Ty asked.
"I'm trying to focus on the mission," I told him. "We have to make sure we don't lose Agent Fox, so I'm trying to memorize her car."
"X, I already got a picture of it," Dari reminded me.
"I know."
They didn't press further. I focused my gaze on the white car. Sloped trunk. Silver trim around windows. Black mirrors.
"Hey, you know what we should do?" Ty said. "We should make a family!"
No! Don't pull something like this now! Not when one of you is a traitor! My heart twisted into knots, threatening to tear into pieces.
Dari turned around and squinted at him. "Um, excuse me?"
"I mean like we're all one big family," Ty said. He turned to me. The fact that he was smiling like he understood why I wasn't myself made my blood boil. He placed his hand on my shoulder, like a father about to give his child a lecture. I pulled away and turned to the window.
"Xara, I know that this is going to be a tough pill to swallow," he stated in his most official, dad voice, "But you're going through puberty."
A laugh bubbled inside my chest, spilling over as laughter burst out. Ty remained solemn.
"It's completely normal to have mood swings, it all has to do with the changing of hormones within your body. During your teen years, you're going to experience a lot of emotional turmoil. But it's all about growing into the person you are destined to—"
Ty cut off because I wasn't listening to him anymore. I clutched my stomach, my lungs rasping for air. In the corner of my eye, I could see that Dawn and Jef were laughing with me. Even Jax had a smile on his lips.
"Now, now," Ty continued. The way he was able to keep a straight face through all of this made it that more hilarious. "Puberty is no laughing matter. And it's nothing to be embarrassed about either." This caused me to laugh even harder. If Ty wasn't a secret agent, I can one-hundred percent say that he would be a stand-up comedian.
"Dude, leave her alone," Finn said. I caught a glimpse of his face in the front mirror. Yup, he's laughing too.
"Ah, Finn," Ty said, switching from dad to psychiatrist. "The protective older brother."
Finn snorted. "You don't know how weird that is to think of Xara as my younger sister." He shook his head.
"No, not the real Xara," Ty said. "This Xara is your younger sister."
"Who's almost half your age," Dari added.
"Who's Xara then?" Finn asked.
"She's Mom," Ty said.
"I mean, you're not wrong," I chimed in. "I was created from her DNA."
"Ooh right. That's still weird," Dawn commented.
I shrugged. "Yeah I guess." I had always thought of Xara's Mom as my Mom. And Professor Nyryn was like the physical 'mother figure' in my life. Xara had always just been...well...me.
"You, Dawn, you're Xara's sister," Ty continued. "And Jef is your husband."
Dawn and Jef recoiled at the same time.
"Woah, woah, woah, I did not agree to be shipped with anyone," Dawn said.
"That's just the way of the game," Ty said.
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Who are you? Xara's husband?"
Ty paused for a moment. He managed to keep a smile, but I saw past it.
That hurt him far more than it should have.
"Naw, Agent X needs to be a single, working mother," he said. "I'm young Xara's other brother." He turned around. "Jax is Xara's brother."
"And Dari?" I asked.
Ty thought for a moment, a mischievous flicker in his eyes. "She's young Xara's crazy Grandma."
A phone adapter flew around from the passenger seat. Ty threw up his arms before it hit him in the chest. It bounced from his palm onto the floor.
"Hey!" he exclaimed.
"Do you still think I'm an old Grandma?" Dari questioned. She glared at Ty.
"Yes," Ty said. The charger cable came at him next.
"Wait, but Grandmas aren't normally good with phones and stuff," Finn said.
"Yeah, and I would say that I'm pretty good with technology," Dari added.
"Then you're her crazy Grandma from the future," Ty said.
Dari was about to chuck another charger at Ty but paused. "Well, that's not so bad."
"I'd say that's pretty cool," Finn chimed in. "It would also explain why you're ahead of your time with technology."
"Yeah," Dari said, a smile inching onto her face. She reached around the passenger seat and punched Ty in the arm. "You're pretty good at this."
"I know." Ty grasped the air on the side of his head. "Oh, I was about to flip my hair, but I just realized that it's short."
Ty's hair was no longer long and straggly. It was its usual length, short and neat.
"Hey, uh, guys," Finn said. "I think we might have a problem."
I groaned. Oh, wow. Now there's yet another problem. Just my luck.
Maybe that's why Xara never let herself get too emotional. Just when she was starting to feel happy, a crisis struck.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I may...or may not...have lost the, er, tail." The last word was barely audible, yet it came across loud and clear to me.
Lost the tail. Lost any hope of finding WAOIC headquarters.
But how was it that our best agent in cars and following people lost Agent Fox? He was an expert. An expert! Something was not right. Did he lose Fox on purpose? Is he the double agent who's trying to stop us from finding Xara? Is Xara's own brother her traitor?
Questions rolled off my tongue before I could collect myself. "What?" I cried. "How?"
"I think I might have gotten a teensy bit distracted..."
"You think?"
"Okay, fine," Ty said hoarsely. "I will own up my mistakes. I got cocky, and I was distracted. I know, you—I mean Xara—always taught me to keep my head and not be arrogant. Today...it's an off day. I'm sorry. I really am. You can punish me later, but please, just help me look for the car."
My eyes met his in the front mirror. His face was pained and bright red. I felt myself soften.
Mistakes happen. Don't worry about the double agent now, just find Agent Fox. That's all that matters.
"Come on guys," I declared. "We're looking for a small, white Honda. The front of the car is kind of rectangular and protrudes. The car rounds into a sloped trunk in the bag. The sides are smooth and white with silver handles. The windows have silver trim around the edges. The mirrors are all black. If you can see the license plate, it will be 'B5WA185.'"
Dari turned around, her jaw slack. "You memorized all of that?"
"Yes. Now get looking."
I was grateful now that I had been so observant. It would make this process easier. I started to look out in front of me, but my eyes quickly got lost in the sea of cars. It was impossible for me to see more than three cars in front of me. I sighed, wondering if it was even worth the trouble trying to catch up to her. Who knew how far ahead she was.
Wait, my pen! I unzipped my backpack. I dug through clothes, various weapons, and tech gear. Come on! Where is it?
Near the bottom, my fingers brushed cold metal. There it is! I closed my fist around the fountain pen and retrieved my hand from the bag. I sat upright, a triumphant grin settling my face. I had won the great battle of 'finding that random thing that you threw into your bag and got buried at the bottom.'
Ty's brow wrinkled. He looked down at the bronze fountain pen wrapped in my fist. "Uh, Xara? What are you doing? This is no time for writing."
"It's not just a pen," I said. I pressed down on the end of it for two seconds. A long tube shot out. Ty's eyes widened.
"It's a telescope?" he asked.
"Yup."
"Huh, nifty."
I pointed the telescope outside the car window. I could now see far in the distance. Red Subaru, no. Green Jeep, no.
My eyes settled on a white sedan. Is that it? I searched the back of the car for the manufacturer's logo. It was a Toyota, not a Honda. Darn it.
My eyes darted between the cars. I caught a glimpse of a shiny, Honda logo on the back of one of the cars. White Honda. I zoomed in to look at the license plate. B5WA185. Bingo.
"I found it!" I declared. I kept my eyes on the car. I was afraid that if I looked away for even a moment, I would lose the car.
"Where?" Finn asked.
"It's way up ahead," I said. "Like way, way up ahead."
"How far is way, way up a—"
"She just passed exit 31. "She's in the center lane."
"We're at exit 29," Dari announced. "Finn, do you think you can catch up?"
"I'll try," he said.
The car slowly accelerated. Finn flipped on the blinker and darted into an empty space in the left lane. He jolted back to the right, crossing two lanes of traffic. He slammed on the break just before bumping into the car in front of us, then shot into the center lane. His speed rose steadily, his weaving growing faster and faster.
I looked in my telescope again. Agent Fox was still ahead in the right lane, but we were closing the gap quickly. Finn passed exit 30.
Suddenly, a car cut in front of us. Finn jerked into the left lane at the last moment, inches in between the car in front and back of him. A horn blared behind us.
"Shut up," Finn muttered as he accelerated just enough to pass the car in the right lane. He darted back to his original spot.
The sign for exit 31 came up quickly on the left. My eyes skimmed the highway, resting on Agent Fox's car.
"She's at exit 32 now," I said.
Finn glanced in his rearview mirror. The leftmost lane was moving much faster than the others. The car lurched forward. My body flew towards Finn's seat, but my seatbelt locked across my chest, holding me in place. Finn skidded across three lanes of traffic, landed in the left lane, and sped towards the blue car in front of him. I braced myself for him to hit the car's bumper. At the last moment, Finn turned on his blinker and slid into the lane beside, then to the center. I felt air escape my lungs. I could see the white Honda now, only two cars in front of us.
"How are we doing now?" Finn asked.
"Good," I said. "She's two cars in front of us."
The car decelerated to the speed of the other cars. It was weird how slow seventy miles per hour felt after we had been driving so fast.
"Finn, can I just give you a piece of advice?" Dawn said.
"What?" he said, checking his mirrors.
"Don't teach driver's ed."