Spy School Revolution

Intel

Observation Deck

Washington Monument

Washington, DC

0300 Hours

I still couldn't quite believe I had actually found Erica. So many things had happened in the short time it had been since I'd seen her. 

"Who are those people?" I point out the window, indicating the man I ran into. 

I didn't tell Erica what happened, but she seemed to understand. "Enemy agents," she replied.

I gave her a look. "And who exactly is the enemy here?" It wasn't unusual for Erica to act vague, but she was withholding some pretty crucial information.

She sighed. "I don't know much. They call themselves the CROATAN."

"CROATAN," I repeated. It sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure why.

"Some of them are holed up in that warehouse you guys staked out, as far as I'm aware," she continued.

I blinked. "Wait, how did you know we investigated the warehouse?"

Erica gave me a disappointed look. "Because I led you guys there, obviously."

I sat up. "You mean to tell me you orchestrated the entirety of our hunt for you?"

"You mean to tell me you didn't figure that out already?"

I ignored the jibe, although I was a little irritated. I wasn't even sure why. "Okay, great. Keep going."

She studied me for the briefest moment, then said "The warehouse is mostly full of boxes of explosives and weaponry. It's where they told me to go to get the bomb."

I pushed my hair out of my face. There had been a question gnawing at me for days now. "Why did they even choose to bomb the school? They could've stayed hidden. None of us knew about them before this."

She bit her lip. "My directions were to bomb that specific conference room." As if anticipating my next question, she said "There wasn't anything special in there. No top secret documents, just a table and chairs."

"They must be sending a message or something."

"Right, but that doesn't help us out with finding out what they're doing with the other explosives in the warehouse."

"Yeah, they did mention a 'plan' when we were eavesdropping on them. I'm guessing it involves more bombs?"

Erica shook her head, frustrated. "I couldn't find anything out, but they've definitely got some sort of scheme going."

I rubbed my uninjured eye. "So that's all we have, then."

Erica turned to look at the view again. I watched the city lights glittering in her eyes, yellow on ice blue. Then something occurred to me. "What did they use to blackmail you?"

She went completely still for a moment. "It doesn't matter."

"It might." I said "It could help us figure out how they know so much about us but we know nothing about them." And I'm curious myself.

I didn't say that, but her eyes narrowed like she knew. "Ben," she said. "It won't help us."

"Why can't you tell me?" I asked, feeling the same twinge of annoyance from before. "I know plenty things about you already."

She shifted the full force of her gaze to me, her eyes light and dangerous. "It doesn't matter," she repeated.

I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want to back down. Maybe I was still thinking about the phone call, I don't know. I straightened my back and returned her glare, our faces inches apart.

Then I thought about the more pressing matters at hand. "Fine," I said angrily, turning away. "We should go check on the others."

Erica stood up. "Where are they?" she asked suddenly.

"They went to infiltrate the warehouse," I replied. Then, seeing the look on her face, I said "Why? Are they in danger?"

She looked a bit worried, which was cause for me to become extremely worried. "We need to go, now." Erica offered me a hand up. 

I hesitated, then took it.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! Today's chapter is unusually brief because I'm a bit short on writing time. Also, this was just a natural place to end the scene anyway. Hope you guys understand! We'll resume full length chapters tomorrow. 😅

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