My Classified Life

Chapter Thirty: This Isn't Follow The Leader

 Dedicated to: elaineharlington for being the first one to answer the riddle correctly :)

The Washington Monument stood tall and strong, soaring over D.C. and serving as a monument to the first, first President that is. In person, you can clearly see the stone color change from when builders stopped for a number of years. As I jogged towards it my breath was catching in my throat, it looked so close but it was so gosh darn far away.

At the foot of the Washington Monument was the familiar messenger, khakis and polo shirt, but this one seemed to be excited for me to read my slip of paper, apprehensive for my reaction. The short, little, bald man handed me the slip and stared at me as I read it.

Road Block! As of now, you have a tail. Loose it and come ALONE to the next location according to the following clue:

If you get caught one day, you may end up inside me. If you are truly great, you will only be a visitor in my walls.

　

She was just testing me now, leading me to International Spy Museum on a mission and expecting me to stay strong and not spend hours inside! She was right about one thing, some of the best spies in the world are not in the museum because they never got caught. It's still a home for the legendary though, and maybe one day I would see a filmy picture of myself from a security camera, the only evidence that I'm not just a ghost. Or, maybe it will be a mug shot. You never know.

As I walked away from the Washington monument, leaving the messenger with his annoying smug smile, the feeling of eyes on me set in, two pairs now. One was Dylan's and one was my tail.

And I had to lose both.

I didn't know which one would be harder.

The slim and slender young man that my mother had gotten to tail me was very good at his job. The elevator I stood in rose to the top of the Washington Monument for the second time, my ears popped painfully as I tried to ignore the tourists that engulfed me. All the sweaty people who had been living out of a suitcase for who knows how long all pressed into an elevator, I just wanted to get out of there. I had already ridden up once and came right back down, this time I would wait a few minutes.

The man who was following me looked like other tourists, camera strapped around his neck, a polo shirt and jean shorts along with comfy tennis shoes paired with awkward and too long of socks. He looked so.. normal. If I hadn't witnessed him following me around I would have just taken him as another tourist.

The doors opened and the happy tourists piled out and shuffled as one mass towards the look out windows, cameras ready and all the moms were rounding up their kids for a picture. I stepped out calmly and searched for an open area of the look out deck where I wouldn't have to deal with people. My tail hadn't emerged from the elevator yet and unless he is stupid, he won't. This is a game of cat and mouse, and every cat knows that you don't go chasing after a mouse if it only has one way out of where it's hiding. I wasn't sure why I was even up here, maybe trying to lose my other cat? Maybe hoping he'll fall for it? Either way, I was going to enjoy the view.

From up there, I could see the National Mall and the small and blurry outline of the Capitol building. The Smithsonian buildings stood out amongst all the other nameless ones, and before I knew it, I was challenging myself to identify all the buildings. As I stared at a large one made of black brick with a gray roof, a tap on my shoulder made me jump a few feet in the air. The little amount of space I'd had to myself was taken up by Dylan as he leaned in overlooking D.C. with me. His eyes were smiling along with the tight smile his facial features held, his dark brown hair perfectly messy and his jeans and tee went together in that perfect boy way. My staring must have been obvious.