Game of Secrets and Shadows (Book One in the Covert Operations series)

Nine

For some reason, I expected the house to be empty when I returned. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that Wes and Daniel would be long gone by the time I returned. Maybe that was why I made sure that I was back at the house after three-quarters of an hour instead of the full time I'd allotted to being away. Either way, by the time I returned, the two boys were standing at the kitchen table, two heavy duffle bags between them.

They looked up as I entered. Wes glanced away hastily, eyes narrowing towards the table. He was angry with me and he had every right to be. It wasn't like it mattered anyways, I told myself. I was going to England and he and Daniel would be headed north to Canada. It didn't matter if he was pissed at me. I'd probably never see him again.

Daniel, on the other hand, didn't look as mad as I expected. There was still a glint of hardness to his sea-green eyes but there was also relief and some other un-nameable emotion that I couldn't depict. There was even a soft quirk to his lips as he said, "Hey."

I nodded once, sharp, brisk movement. "Hi. You guys packed and ready to go?"

"Yes. Did you get everything you needed?" Daniel's voice was oddly polite and not the least bit argumentative so, naturally, I was wary.

"Mm hmm."

"What time are you leaving?"

"Later tonight." That was when the majority of the flights to Europe left. "You boys should be heading out soon."

"About that," Daniel began. "Wes doesn't have a passport. They won't let us across the border."

"I know."

He raised an eyebrow at me. Wes looked up, finished glaring at the table for the moment. I swung my pack off my back and let it thud to the ground in front of me. It was filled to the brim with a few spare changes of clothes, cash and credit cards, a laptop, several fake ID's, some basic weaponry disguised and designed so well that even airport security wouldn't pick up on it, and a few different house keys which unlocked the doors to several of the Grimes' safe houses. Lia and her parents wouldn't mind if I crashed in one.

In one of the side compartments of the bag, though, was my brother's new passport and driver's license. I walked over to them and slid the identification documents across the table towards him. Wes raised an eyebrow at me sardonically before taking them from my hands.

"Timothy McGee?" he said. His voice was wry. "Seriously?"

"What?" I asked innocently. I hadn't been able to help myself when creating the ID for him. "Did you think I wouldn't remember the name of your imaginary friend from when you were seven years old?"

He shook his head but the hard edge in his eyes softened slightly. "Hoped, actually," he mumbled darkly but when he glanced away from me and back to the ID, I saw the edges of his mouth upturned in a half-smile. He inspected the license closely. "These are pretty good. My hair is a little too dark though. Where'd you get the supplies to make these? You were only gone forty-five minutes, give or take."

I sat down in one of the chairs across from them. "When I came here, I brought a travel ID maker. My friend made one as an extra-credit assignment in our second year and I thought it wasn't a bad idea to have one myself. You never know when life is going to throw shit your way. The picture I got by hacking into Wes's Instagram account. I darkened the hair colour in the photo because you," I rummaged through my bag and came up with a box which I slid across the table to him, "are going to dye your hair brown. Your face is all over the news. I'm taking as many precautions as I can so you don't get recognized. It didn't take long to throw all of this together. Oh, by the way, I changed your basic information, birthday, social security number, address, so make sure you memorize it all on your way to the border."