Be careful.
The shoreline of Marseille was beautiful, I had to give it that much. I stood on the deck of the tiny boat that Macey had hired to take us across the Mediterranean, watching the lights disappear in the distance. Ocean spray slapped me in the face, and I had to keep hold of the railing to stay on my feet. Big swells rocked against the hull. A storm was moving in. That’s when I felt the dark figure that came to stand beside me.
“Have you talked to Preston?” I asked Macey.
“Before we left for break your mother absolutely forbade me to speak to him. Remember?” she asked me.
“I do remember. So”—I looked at her from the corner of my eye—“what did he say?”
Another big wave crashed against the boat. Liz was down below, curled up in a little ball, eating green apples and every kind of anti-nausea medication we were able to smuggle out of the school’s medical wing. Bex wasn’t going to leave her, so that meant Macey and I were alone.
“He doesn’t have a clue, Cam.” She leaned her arms against the rail and stared out at the water, which was as blue as her eyes. “I called him on New Year’s Eve. He was going to a party. He was…fine. That same day, Zach’s mom was murdering a man and blowing up Cambridge, and Preston was talking about spring break. He asked me to come visit.” Macey looked down at the water. “I think he really likes me.”
“Of course he likes you.”
“No.” Macey shook her head. “I mean…he doesn’t like this.” Macey gestured down at her long legs and designer boots. The tight jeans and cashmere sweater. Even on a rickety boat in the middle of nowhere, she looked like she was at a photo shoot, but that didn’t matter to Macey. Turns out, I guess, it didn’t matter to Preston either.
“He likes me.”
Maybe it’s a spy thing, or maybe it’s a girl thing—but when you spend your whole life trying out a series of aliases, it is a great comfort to find someone who knows and likes the person behind the cover.
“You know his schedule?” I asked.
“Some of it,” Macey said.
“Good. When we get in there tomorrow…we’re going to have to be careful.”
“I know.”
“We can’t just walk up and grab him. His dad has to know what is going on—what Zach’s mom is up to. He has to know he’s a target. Which means Preston is going to have guards. And those guards are going to do everything they can to keep him away from the likes of us.”
“I know.” I could hear the annoyance in Macey’s voice, but those things had to be said, and so I took it upon myself to say them.
“It’s not going to be like it was last fall is what I’m saying. We can’t knock on the embassy door and ask if Preston can come out and play. Well…we can if we want his dad to try to kill me again.”
“I get it, okay?” Macey wasn’t snapping, but she was frayed. I could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes.
“I know you get it. It’s just that this is serious, Macey. We might make things worse. In our business, there’s always the chance that you are just going to make things worse. If we go in there without knowing exactly what we’re doing, then people could get hurt. People could die. Are you willing to take that risk?”
“I know there are risks, Cammie. Okay? I know what’s happening to him and around him…what the situation is and…” She trailed off. For a moment I thought she wouldn’t even finish, but the she turned her gaze out to the water. “That’s why I wish this boat would go faster.”
Chapter Eight
The street outside the ambassador’s residence was quiet. Out front, marines stood guard by the gates. The lines of tourists and people needing visas stretched from the front doors and around the corner, waiting for the offices to officially open, but the four of us had just arrived at our post. It was easy to agree there was no use in trying to sleep.
“What do you think?” Bex asked me.
“It looks the same,” I said from my place by the window. A steaming cup of hot cappuccino was in my hands, but I didn’t sip. It was enough just to feel the warmth.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Liz asked. “I mean, maybe it won’t be so hard.”
Macey cut her eyes at her. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Covert Operations Report
The Operatives took up a position in a safe flat (i.e., hotel room) overlooking the United States Embassy in Rome. They began taking shifts, keeping watch.
Over the course of eight hours the Operatives noticed five guard changes and the entrance of two motorcades. They also consumed a total of twelve cups of gelato.