by TR Moore Ede
“Right, and I thought I put it in my pocket. It must have slipped out or I missed my pocket.” She bit her lip, a clear worry forming in her eyes.
“We’ll find it, calm down,” I said. I flinched when my phone rang. With a huff, I fished it out of my pocket just in case it was my parents. As soon as I caught sight of the number calling, my eyebrows furrowed together.
“What is it?” Jessie asked.
I titled the phone so she could see.
Her eyes widened. “But- That’s my phone!” As agents, our phones were harder to break into, with a lot of safeguards in place. Phone numbers and other information on it could be very valuable to people like the UIC.
I let out a long breath and answered the phone.
“Jessica!” Jessie hissed, her eyes widening.
“Who’s this?” I asked, holding my phone to my ear.
An unfamiliar voice came over the speaker. “Not the owner of this phone.”
“I know that!” I snapped. Surely Jessie hadn’t lost her phone that long ago. How could this person have broken into it already? “She’s standing next to me. How did you even get onto her phone?”
“... I can see you. Keep going straight,” said the voice. It sounded like a girl.
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?!” I whispered. “Do I need to guess who you are? Granted, I’m pretty sure I know already.” This had to be the UIC, right?
She went quiet. “What- How-how would you guess who I am?”
I blinked a few times. Her nervous stuttering seemed to work against her being a part of the UIC, but I wasn’t going to rule it out quite yet. I glanced at Jessie. It could be UIC, but they’re not talking like they normally would. Let’s move forward but do it with caution.
Jessie nodded and followed.
“You must be quite skilled with electronics to have broken into her phone already,” I said, tilting the phone away from my face to find the button to record the message.
“I’m just trying to find the owner, that’s all. There-there were smudges on the screen.”
“Really? Because her phone isn’t that easy to break into; not like normal phones. What are you hiding?” I blinked a few times when something caught my eye. I glanced at Jessie, then pointed toward the bench. Her phone was laying there in the thin layer of snow!
Rushing over, Jessie picked it up and immediately began brushing off what snow she could.
Turn it in and check the settings. See if it is working properly, I told her.
I can't even see that the phone is being used.
“What would I be hiding? I'm just trying to be nice and return a phone,” the girl said.
“Of course,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Anything Jessie?
After taking the back off to make sure nothing was attached, she went to the settings and tried a few things.
I clenched my jaw. “Something just isn't right.”
“Why?” the girl asked.
“Because my sister is holding her phone!”
“Oh…” There was a small silence before she hung up.
“And now,” I muttered, pulling my phone from my ear. My eyes bulged when I saw the recording wasn't there. “No! I pressed record!”
“My phone seems all right. What’s wrong?” Jessie asked, peeking over my shoulder
“My recording is gone. There isn’t even any evidence that I started recording! I know I pressed the button.” I glanced around. “Our phones must be hacked or something. We should bring them to the Agency to get them looked at. For now, let’s get out of here before someone shows up.”
After doing a quick glance around, Jessie nodded and followed.
Our parents were heading to the Agency headquarters later that day, so we tagged along. “Mr. Frendle!” I called. He was the Agency’s main tech guy.
“Hello, Jessie, Jessica,” he said, slowing down so we could catch up. “How can I help you?”
“We think someone hacked our phones,” I said, then proceeded to tell him what happened.
His eyebrows furrowed together as the story went along. “Jessie, how long did you say you were missing your phone for?” he asked as we followed him to his workspace.
“Maybe five minutes,” she said. “The person was still talking to Jessica when I picked up my phone. There were no signs of a call in progress, and everything seemed fine. I opened up the back and didn’t see anything.”
Mr. Frendle nodded and took our phones. “You said it was Jessie's number?” he asked, glancing at me.
I nodded.
“Could you unlock your phone for me, please?”
“Sure.” I put in the password and handed it back to him.
He nodded and went to the call log. He stared at it for a long moment, then shook his head.
“What?" I asked, coming up next to him.
Chapter 16
Mr. Fendle exhaled a long sigh, a hint of annoyance in his breath. “There is no trace of you receiving a call from Jessie, let alone the recording that accidentally got deleted.” He handed back our phones, then folded his arms across his chest. “I know you're bored but that doesn't mean-”
“Mr. Fendle-” I started.
He held out his hand. “Bringing in supposedly hacked phones won't get you on missions again. Don't waste my time with silly things like that. If you do this again, Mr. Mason will hear about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have actual work to do.”
“It's not a joke,” I muttered under my breath, watching him leave.
Jessie took my arm just in case I wanted to run after him. “I’m not sure anyone will believe us without proof.” She glanced down at her phone. “Do you think we’d be able to find traces of it? I don't think he actually tried-”
“No, he didn't, but this is a dead end. I wouldn't know where to begin to find a hacker who is that good.”
“But we can't just sit by and wait.”
I slid my phone into my pocket. “I’m afraid we have no choice. The only way to get another phone is to buy it, but it won't be like these ones.” I ran my fingers through my hair. I hated the thought of a possible UIC person listening to all our conversations and possibly tracking us. But if he wasn’t concerned, should we be?
“There’s a breach in area two-thirty-six!” a voice rang over the speakers, making Jessie jump.
I looked at her, then ran in that direction. I knew what area two-thirty-six was. Weapon testing.
“What are we doing?” Jessie asked, rushing to catch up.
“I know that area.”
“It’s none of our business,” she said as we approached the room.
A hand grabbed my arm before I could enter it.
I turned to see Agent Seal, a close friend of our family. “What’s going on?” I glanced back at the door. Smoke was slowly fading from the room.
“I’m surprised you’re here. Aren’t you not allowed on any more missions?” he asked.
I tried to pull away, but he didn’t budge, his brown eyes drilling into mine. I glared back. “We were here for a different reason. What happened? What was taken?”
“You don’t need to worry about it,” Agent Seal said.
“Please. I want to know.”
Why are you pushing? Jessie asked.
If it’s a weapon, we could encounter it on the team. Read his mind! I know you’re not super fond of it, but this may be information we need to know.
Jessie gave a mental whimper. Fine.
“Agent Seal, please,” I said as he pulled me away from the door.
“If you do remember, the UIC is after you. And if that is them, then they could have caught you!”
I tried not to groan.
The weapon was a cannon, but instead of bullets it uses electricity to knock people out. They think it could kill people if put up high enough which is why they took over the testing, Jessie said.
I swallowed. The UIC better not have it because we’re going to see that on the field if they do.
H
onestly, who else would it be?
I was quiet for a long moment, trying not to imagine what could happen. I hate to admit it, but you’re right.
“Is something wrong?” Agent Seal asked, looking between us.
I shook my head. “Just thinking. Is there anything we can do-”
“Go home. Jessica. Do I need to remind you of your age? Don’t worry, we have people for this sort of stuff,” he said.
I huffed.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re off missions?”
I gave a small shrug as I looked away. “We just glazed over something in a report. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal.”
“And why not?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s an official report and everything needs to be mentioned for a reason. You’re lucky that you only got banned from missions for a bit.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to say a few things. “It’s hard to explain.”
He shook his head. “That usually means it’s hard to say in a roundabout way because you’re not willing to say it in the direct way.”
“Can we just not talk about it?” I muttered. “We did it because we feel we have a legit reason.”
“Like what?”
“You’ve obviously talked to Mr. Mason, so you already know what he does,” Jessie said, coming up next to me. Deep breaths. They have to be more suspicious because we’re underage and because the UIC is after us.
I know, I know. I let out a long breath.
Agent Seal sighed. “I agree that your reason isn’t solid enough. We all know the UIC is after you.”
“Yet you put us up against them,” Jessie mumbled.
“I’m not in charge so I can’t speak to it.” He glanced at the doors. “Judging by what happened in there, they’re getting close. Head home. Now.”
“Please stop talking like we came to beg to go back on missions. We came for a good reason,” I said.
“What was it?” he asked, walking us away from the door.
I sneered. “Mr. Frendle already told us off about it. You wouldn’t believe us, and if he couldn’t do anything, then you can’t. Even if you did believe us. Come on, Jessie.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her at a faster pace than Agent Seal.
You shouldn’t be so rude, Jessie thought with a scowl.
I know, I know.
What does he always seem to worry about you?
I sighed. My parents have been close friends with him and his wife for longer than I’ve been alive. They got pregnant around the same time and lost the child, or something like that. They don’t talk about it, ever. And I guess because of it, they were able to almost become a second pair of parents. When they get to know you well enough, you’ll go through the same thing.
Jessie looped her arm through mine. You make it sound like a bad thing.
It’s just sometimes a tad annoying having two sets of parents always on top of me, and then Terry.
Terry isn’t that bad.
I rolled my eyes. I’m not the one with the crush.
Pink crept onto Jessie’s cheeks. “Jessica!” she snapped, whacking me.
I laughed.
When Mom and Dad finished their job, we headed home. “So, I had an interesting talk with Mr. Fendle,” Dad said, starting the car.
I stopped, then hit my head against the headrest in front of me. “Just forget about it.”
“You said you were there for something serious,” Mom said, looking back at us.
“We were. We didn’t lie. It really happened. This unknown user, person, thing really did all that. Mr. Fendle told us off about it, and besides, it’s not like we’ve pushed it. Ask Jessie, she was there. You know she wouldn’t make a joke like that.”
Jessie nodded. “It did happen. We promise.”
Dad sighed. “We’ll talk about this later. And Mr. Mason is still waiting for an answer about the report.”
Jessie placed her hand on my leg. Saying anything won’t help. I’m just as frustrated as you, but there’s nothing we can do.
I huffed and pressed myself into my seat. Eve owes us big time.
Jessie rolled her eyes. Well, she did make us the earpieces and voice changers.
I shrugged. True.
And either way, she didn’t act, we acted on our own.
“What are you talking about?” Mom asked, glancing between the two of us.
“Nothing really,” Jessie said, shrugging. “... Just team stuff,” she added, a bit too quickly.
I rubbed my forehead. We need to work on your lying skills.
You act like it's a necessity. You know how I feel about lying. At least to those in charge of me.
My hands rolled into fists. Yeah, ‘cause you want to be the perfect Christian. It is necessary though. You’re a spy and a superhero. I thought you said you’d like to protect someone.
Jessie sent me a look. I would! But what are the chances that I’ll need to?
I facepalmed. The UIC is after us, genius! Against them! They’d use anyone that we care about against us!
Jessie shivered a little before shrinking down in her seat. “Oh yeah,” she whispered.
I sighed. “I know you don’t like the thought of it, but you may need to, to protect those around you.”
Jessie nodded.
Friday night, we all got a call over our earpieces. After the address to a small convenience store was given, they called whoever was available. Jessie and I arrived to find everyone else there as well as a new person. If it wasn’t obvious enough that he was Zack, his thin frame and spiky red hair gave it away. His shirt was a dark green with a whitish yellow meteor across his chest, the trail creating a zig zag.
“About time,” Visible said, rubbing his head. “Name?”
“Bolt. Vi-ss. Vis,” he said, finger gunning to try and hide that he nearly called her by her real name.
Visible rolled her eyes. “Nice catch. What’s wrong?”
“The address sounded familiar.” Bolt’s face went blank when he saw the shop. “That’s where Julie used to work.” His hands rolled into fists. “This could be a trap.”
“Then we will proceed with caution,” Flame said, stepping forward. “I’ll go first.”
“The fact that no actual officer is here is suspicious,” Flare muttered. She looked around. “Unless they were delayed.”
“Which could be equally suspicious,” I mumbled, glancing around. It was eerily quiet. Where was everyone? The police made it clear that we weren’t supposed to be on missions by ourselves. I knew that could change in the future, but they would have told us.
Flame nodded and reached for the door handle. He backed away just as a vertical line of bullets were fired, smashing the door’s glass and barely missing him. “This is definitely a trap.”
“And yet you fell for it,” the enforcer said from behind. Yes, the enforcer from the UIC.
We all turned to see him—and many others, armed. “What a welcome,” Bolt muttered before adjusting his stance. “Well, let’s do this.”
Visible caught his arm. “They’re just about as armed as they can be. We can let them talk for a moment,” she whispered.
The UICers all had either their stun gun or gun at the ready.
“If you have something to say, make it quick!” Flame snapped.
The enforcer smirked. “My my, you’re in a rush. You’ve all been quite a nuisance. We’re here to ask you to stop.”
“You’re expecting us to sit by and let people get hurt?!” Visible said with a frown.
The enforcer laughed. “Of course not. I expect to drag your limp bodies back to base, warm or cold is fine. So, let’s get this started.”
Bolt swallowed as they began to advance. “I’ll grab some stun guns.” He disappeared into a blur.
Visible turned invisible. “Wave, there’s a fire hydrant to your right.”
“Thanks,” Wave said, rushing over. She was barely able to create a shield of water to protec
t us from a spray of bullets.
I swallowed. “Bolt, Seer and I know how to shoot a real gun, so if need be, we’ll take that.”
Wave winced when another round of bullets hit the shield.
“I think those are stuns,” I whispered. “They probably would prefer us alive.”
“That’s worse!” Sapphire whispered. “Are we even going to be abl-”
“Sapphire!” Flame snapped. “Not the time. If you can, fly above the water and see if you can get a few of them down or even draw in their fire. Be careful, but the rest of us can’t stay pinned here. That’s how we’ll lose.”
Sapphire swallowed, nodded, and took off into the air, her fists glowing.
Although not as obvious about it as she was, I was just as concerned. Wasn’t this the type of situation that the police didn’t want us to encounter?
Chapter 17
Flame let out a long breath, then put his hand to his ear. I could tell by the look on his face that he was going to take charge. “We can’t fight all these people. Our goal at the moment is to escape with everyone,” Flame said over the earpiece. “Visible and Sapphire, keep an eye on what’s going on. Let us know when there’s an opening. If you can leave to get help, do it. They’ve likely delayed the police elsewhere. Bolt, you could probably do the same, but mostly focus on those who may have trouble fending people off with their power, like Seer.”
“Got it boss!” Bolt said.
“How are you so calm?!” Visible yelled over the earpiece.
“Not the time!” Flare said.
“Coming in! Open the water!” Bolt said.
Wave glanced at us before opening the water for a few seconds and closing it again.
Bolt ran in and handed us all stun guns. “So beware because some of them are probably going to use real guns now.”
I shoved the stun gun back into his hands. “I have my own.” I gestured to my wrists.
He nodded.
“Wave, send the water outward. It sounds terrible but don’t worry about hurting them, your aim should be to knock them down,” Flare said.