The Assassin - a Denied Spies Novel Book 1

Ava

Charlie's dad was closing the shop by the time we got the bikes and everything away. "So you decided to come back then," he teased.

"I had to pry Ava off the bike, it was hard work but I got there eventually!" Charlie joked and I shoved her into Jake and I swear I saw something between them. Quickly Charlie steadied herself and pushed back but unlike her, I didn't go flying, I didn't even jolt. Charlie's dad let out a small chuckle before talking.

"So what are you up to now?" he asked opening the door, beckoning us out the shop for closing. "It's not that late, I'm sure you will be doing something before heading home, especially if someone doesn't like their new house?" I smiled at him and after a few minutes of silence Kate piped up.

"We could train some more, I still need some help getting tough and Ava needs to learn some more." I agreed first; anything was better than going back home. It wasn't long before everyone was nodding their heads in agreement.

"OK, but we need get there without being seen which means fast," Jake said.

"Wait, who said we need to go the HQ?" I asked casually and everyone stared at me confused. Well, everyone but Charlie.

She looked at me in wonder while she spoke. "You want to..." she began but stopped when I nodded.

"Yeah, I want to visit the secret room." Everyone continued to stare at us baffled.

"I'll go ask," Charlie said excitedly before running after her dad.

"What's the secret room?" Kate asked and I smiled before speaking.

"In Charlie's house there is one room that we've always been forbidden to go. I've tried to break in many times but every time I tried, Charlie's mum or dad caught me. You know what I'm talking about Craig don't you, the small plain black door next to your mum's and dad's room?" Craig nodded and shuddered; he's always been scared of the door and what is hidden behind it – that was mostly because me and Charlie would tell ghost stories about it and freak him out.

It wasn't long before Charlie darted back. "He said no," she said looking at the ground. We all fell silent for a few seconds before Charlie tilted her head up and grinned. "But..." she began pulling something out of her pocket. "I don't think it'll matter much," she finished dangling a key from her finger. Everyone cheered; making sure her dad didn't hear us.

"So when do we go?" Jake asked; trying to hide his excitement. I looked at Charlie and she nodded – she wanted me to figure it out. I took a while to think before coming up with the conclusion.

"In five minutes," I stated and everyone stared at me bewildered. Even Charlie looked at me confused. "Your mum leaves work in two minutes and your dad takes ten minutes to lock down the store. We can't go straight to your house or he'll know so we need to pretend to be going somewhere else then head to yours, we'll walk the opposite direction as your house then we'll cut through the small alley - that'll be our shortcut. Then we'll head to yours." Charlie took a while thinking through the plan and making sure the times are right before agreeing with me.

"She's right, we need to go now though, we wasted time listening to you talk," she said turning towards me. I nodded and started walking.

It didn't take long for us to reach Charlie's house but it took ages to get into the secret room.

"Are you sure that's the right key?" Alex asked for the third time since we got to the house.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's the only key that he doesn't keep on his keychain." Charlie insisted.

"Who cares, move over, I'll get it open..." I started but Charlie cut in.