Crisis Zero by Chris Rylander Page A

behind me every step of the way.
    I had never seemed so weak. So vulnerable. And it was all because of Medlock. One rogue agent. One man going back on his promise had taken down the whole operation, and basically all that stood between him and world domination was me.
    A kid stuck in detention.

CHAPTER 24
A MEETING OF HOODED FIGURES IN THE WOODS PLOTTING CREEPY RITUALISTIC THINGS BETTER LEFT UNSAID
    E VEN WORKING WITH REDUCED MANPOWER, THE AGENCY scared me. They could still pull off the impossible. Like, getting a message into my dinner at home that night. How they did that, and made sure that it ended up on my plate, I’ll never know. I didn’t even want to know.
    But nonetheless, it was there, in my third bite of stroganoff.
    MEET US BEHIND THE GARAGE IN YOUR ALLEY AT 8:19 P.M.
    By “us” I had kind of hoped they meant Agent Nineteen and/or Agent Blue. But instead it was Agent Smiley, along with Danielle, who had apparently gotten a similar message in her corn chowder that evening.
    â€œStatus report,” Agent Smiley said without so much as a wave or greeting of any kind.
    We filled her in on everything we’d found so far. What I saw near Agent Nineteen’s office. The names we’d crossed off our lists. The names we still had to go—the fact that I’d spotted Junior with a hooded sweatshirt just like the music room intruder’s. What I’d found out about the construction site. We told her everything.
    And her face never changed the entire time. It remained blank. If it weren’t for her occasional nods and blinks, I’d have suspected she was sleepwalking, or dead. When we finished, Agent Smiley didn’t offer any sort of compliment. Instead, she just gave us another assignment.
    â€œNew objective,” she said. “Try and get closer to the construction zone. Find out what is going on there as soon as possible. This is in addition to your ongoing work locating the enemy spy.”
    â€œWhy can’t you investigate the construction zone?” I asked. “You could have a team there right now checking it out.”
    She stared at me and I wondered briefly if she was trying to decide whether or not to slap me. But if that was the case, she apparently decided not to. Her face remained calm and unemotional when she replied. “We are looking into it independently,” she said. “But we’d like you to do so as well. I don’t think we need to justify why. That’s not how this works. We give an assignment, and then you carry it out. That’s how this goes.”
    I sighed and nodded. I wished they trusted me enough to tell me more than they did. But at the same time, that was the reality of being a secret agent. The secrets never ended. Covert was the name of the game. If you didn’t like it . . . well, I guess you became Medlock.
    â€œOkay,” I said, starting to feel overwhelmed by all of my missions. And never mind school. That was over. I didn’t think I’d gotten anything above a D on a test or assignment in weeks. I’d flunk out before I even completed any of my missions at this rate.
    â€œAlso,” she said offhandedly, “I’m supposed to tell you that Agent Nineteen has regained consciousness and is doing well.”
    We both perked up at that. “When can we see him?” Danielle asked.
    â€œSoon,” Agent Smiley said. “Come to the shedtomorrow after school for another progress report.”
    And then she turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the alley.
    I looked at Danielle with my eyebrows raised.
    â€œWow,” she said.
    â€œNo kidding,” I agreed. “Wait, are you saying that about Agent Smiley, or the news on Agent Nineteen, or the additional assignment?”
    â€œUh, all three,” she said. “I think.”
    â€œWhat about Ophelia?”
    Danielle shook her head.
    â€œIt’s not her,” she said. “I don’t think she