Chapter 8: Accidental Mission Complete
“Katelyn, Jane, Sammy,” Miss Bates said after the bell rang. “A moment?”
The girls looked at each other and walked over to Miss Bates’s desk as the rest of the students left, throwing them backward glances.
Katelyn looked around, wondering why they were being asked to stay behind.
“Pull up some chairs,” Miss Bates said, casually.
That only made them more nervous.
Katelyn slowly sat down in her chair.
“I took a look at your transcripts,” Miss Bates began. “All three of you are impressive students.”
There was a pause.
“I am actually very impressed,” Miss Bates said, pulling out her laptop. She set it on the desk but didn’t open it.
None of the girls knew why Miss Bates was suddenly complimenting them.
“Disciplined too,” Miss Bates added, finally opening her laptop. “You’re all dying to know what I’m talking about yet you are patient.”
Katelyn just silently nodded.
Miss Bates turned the laptop toward them so they could see the screen. “You know these three boys?” she asked.
Katelyn’s eyes widened as she recognized Derek, Cole and Aiden. Sammy and Jane were just as shocked.
“Yes…” Katelyn finally said.
“Do you know who they are?” Miss Bates asked.
“Guildford Marshall,” Katelyn replied.
Miss Bates nodded. “Guildford Marshall’s Academy for Gifted Young Boys,” she stated. “They are an ever moving school… The IA has been trying to locate them for years now.”
“Why?” Sammy asked. “Are they…” she trailed off.
“Say it,” Miss Bates said.
“A spy academy?” Sammy asked, quietly.
Miss Bates nodded. “They’re a boy’s spy school but they’re nothing like us.”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked.
“They’re poorly disciplined, reckless, rash,” Miss Bates stated. “They teach the boys important secrets and skills but they aren’t properly trained to handle them.”
“I’m confused,” Sammy admitted.
Miss Bates nodded. “You should be. I’ll start from the beginning,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “Grace Marshall had an illegitimate half-brother named Guildford Marshall. He was a solider for the Patriots during the revolutionary war. However, he was just an ordinary solider who died on the battlefield.”
“How did an academy form then?” Jane asked.
“You see, Grace Marshall opened her own parlor school, training spies but a loyalist, Wilkes Jenkins, suspected the school’s true purpose. He and his followers reported to the British crown but no one believed them. Women as spies seemed to be a ludicrous idea. Wilkes Jenkins then used the idea to start his own school. He chose the already deceased Guildford Marshall as the school’s leader.”
“That’s crazy,” Sammy said. “So what happened next?”
“He trained young boys,” Miss Bates said shrugging. “The original school dispersed hundreds of years ago due to its lack of success. Now, the Guildford academy pops up every once in a while but they’re monitored by the IA very closely…except they completely vanished a couple years ago. Most assumed they just scattered again but I wasn’t convinced so the IA sent me to teach at the academy as well as look into this issue.”
“You knew they were in California?” Katelyn asked.
“I suspected some students might have wandered to this area. I was planning on tracking one down,” Miss Bates explained. “I haven’t had any luck then…until the IA contacted me telling me someone searched up Guildford Marshall on an academy computer. That’s when I started getting confused. How could anyone here know about the boy’s academy? I checked the system and saw it was coming from Headmistress’s computer…in the middle of the night.”
Katelyn offered a sheepish smile. “So you know…?”
“Of course,” Miss Bates replied not slightest upset. “I came down immediately but another teacher had beat me to the office. I suspected it was a couple students who were researching Guildford. I should have exposed you but I didn’t want news of the other academy to get around as gossip in our academy so I triggered the fire alarm.”
“You set off the fire alarm?” Sammy gasped.
Katelyn stared at Miss Bates. She set off the fire alarm? The alarm that saved everyone’s skin from possible suspension.
Miss Bates smirked. “I hung back and saw you three escape the office and my suspicions were confirmed; however, I had no idea how three seniors could have stumbled onto this secret mission.”
“We met them during a Co Op mission,” Katelyn explained. “The cube one.”
“My guesses were close then,” Miss Bates said. “Your times for every other mission are consistent. The cube mission was the only one that just seemed too slow.”
“They stole the cube and kept messing with us,” Sammy explained. “We didn’t want a failing grade, so we got into a fight with them.”
“Do they know who you are?” Miss Bates asked.
Jane shook her head. “They think we go to St Mary’s.”
“How did you know we met those three though?” Katelyn asked.
“I picked a hair off Jane’s sweater during class one day,” Miss Bates explained. “Blonde dye.”
“Aiden,” Jane confirmed.
“And the others?” Katelyn asked, amazed at Miss Bate’s information collecting skills.
“Mall security camera, facial recognition,”
“Oh,”
“Yes,” Miss Bates mused. “You three have definitely made use of your weekends.”
“We weren’t sure,” Sammy replied, a little defensive. “I never dreamed we had a…a brother school.”
“I’m not upset at all,” Miss Bates assured them. “Three students completed a mission many trained IA spies couldn’t.”
“So we’re not in trouble?” Katelyn asked.
Miss Bates shook her head. “But I advise you not to do it again.”
All three girls immediately nodded.
“So what now?” Katelyn asked.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Miss Bates said. “I’m flying back to the IA this weekend. I do need their location though.”
“Lux Hotel,” Katelyn informed her.
“Thank you,” Miss Bates said, standing up. “Don’t get cocky because you did one thing right,” she warned them. “You three still have much to learn.”
“Yes ma’am,” they chorused.
“But,” Miss Bates said as she reached the door. “Co Ops will definitely have a place for you three.”
Miss Bates left and Katelyn considered picking her jaw off the ground. They impressed Miss Bates… They impressed Morgan Bates!
“Girls,” Katelyn said, leaning back in her chair. “We just completed our first mission…”
“I know right!” Sammy squealed.
“Wait,” Jane interrupted. “What’s going to happen the boy’s school?”
That stopped the celebration.
“You don’t think the IA is going to hurt them, do you?” Sammy asked.
Katelyn bit her lower lip. Sure, Derek was annoying but he definitely didn’t deserve to be killed off. He didn’t even seem that dangerous.
“Should we warn them?” Sammy asked.
“We can’t,” Jane stated. “Miss Bates knows their location. She’s going to have their entire school on the watch list.”
Sammy crossed her arms. “Are they really that bad?”
“I don’t know,” Jane said, shaking her head. “But the IA never attacked them before, only monitored.”
“So what now?” Sammy asked.
Katelyn felt torn too. “I guess it’s just out of our hands now,” she whispered.
Morgan Bates stepped off the bus in front of the Lux Hotel. Her boot concealed a small hand gun, her normal one was strapped on the inside of her jacket.
“Bates moving in,” she murmured into her watch.
Her boots clicked as she stepped into the lobby.
“How may I help you?” the desk lady asked.
Morgan pulled a badge from her pocket and set it on the counter. “Government agent,” she lied. “I need to speak with a possible witness immediately.”
The lady’s eyes widened.
“Witness,” Morgan reminded her.
“Of course,” the lady said, immediately turning to her computer. “Name?”
“I doubt he has his real name,” Morgan sighed. “Belikov,” she told her.
The lady’s fingers flew as she typed the name. “Room 109,” she said.
“Thank you,” Morgan said, grabbing the badge off the counter. She headed towards that direction, swiping a card from a cleaning lady on her way.
The light on the door went green and Morgan cautiously turned the handle, keeping the other hand on her gun.
“Derek, is that you?” a man’s voice called. “You’re early!”
“Am I?” Morgan asked, pulling her gun and slowly approaching the couch.
The man jerked around, shocked.
“Mikhail Belikov,” Morgan said, narrowing her eyes. “I thought you were dead.”
Mikhail slowly stood up with his hands raised. “Come on,” he complained. “You know me better than that.”
“Yes…” Morgan said. “You are a cockroach who will not die.”
“So cold,” Mikhail sighed.
“How many do you have here?” Morgan asked, standing an arm’s length away.
“What are you talking about?” Mikhail asked, pretending to be confused.
“How many students?” Morgan growled.
“What students?”
Morgan pressed the gun to Mikhail’s neck, watching him cringe from the cold metal.
“Hey, hey,” Mikhail said, gulping. “Let’s talk,” he suggested. “Just like the old days.”
“You better come clean,” Morgan said, putting down her gun. “I can just as easily kill you with my bare hands.”
“Yes, of course,” Mikhail said, offering a seat. “Water? Juice? Wine, maybe?”
“No thank you,”
Mikhail Belikov poured himself some water with shaky hands. “Fifty,” he said.
“Why have you come?” Morgan asked.
“The boys have been getting into trouble,” Mikhail explained. “We were drawing too much attention to ourselves.”
“So you brought them here?”
“Morgan, I’m desperate. We’ve been at this hotel for a month now.”
Morgan pressed her lips together. “I’m going to offer you two choices,” she said.
Mikhail nodded.
“A,” Morgan said. “I call the IA and we wipe every trace of your school from the face of the earth.”
Mikhail paled.
“B,” Morgan said, thinking about her words. “The boys submit to the IA and I’ll speak with the Headmistress. The boys are welcome to finish the year at the academy as seniors.”
“What?” Mikhail asked, shocked. “You…what?”
“You heard me,” Morgan said. “The boys become IA agents after graduation.”
“Why?”
“First off, so they won’t cause trouble,” Morgan stated. “Secondly, the IA can pick them off one by one if they betray us. We show no mercy to your kind.”
“Thank you, Morgan,” Mikhail said.
“Don’t thank me so soon,” Morgan replied. “The boys are in for a shock when they see our curriculum. The academy will fail them should they lack success and expulsion if they misbehave.”
“I understand,” Mikhail said.
Morgan stood up. “I’ll let the IA know.”
“Shouldn’t you be wired?”
Morgan smirked. “Don’t get smart mouthed with me,” she warned. “Goodbye Mr. Belikov.”