Iopen the fridge and see some chicken salad sandwiches on some nice big, flaky croissants and my stomach starts growling.AndIhad breakfast!Jacemust be starving.There’sa cut-up melon, too, so it was stocked recently.
IaskTreytonandVinceif they are hungry, but they say they aren’t.Theyalso say that they’re going to give us space but to not worry because they’ll be standing guard.SoIthank them and put my armful of food on the coffee table in the living room.ThenIpoint at the couch and say toJace, “Sit.”
Hedoes, andIsit right next to him.Thenhe says, “Charlie,I’mgoing to turn off my earpiece.Whenyou have any updates, either text or call my secure line.”Thenhe taps his ear and removes an earpiece thatIhadn’t even noticed was there.
Hesits it on the coffee table andIjust stare at the tiny little thing. “Huh.”Howmany other times has that been in his ear andIhaven’t noticed?
Iglance atJace, and he looks so tired that he’s just staring at the food, not touching it. “Jace, when was the last time you slept?”
Thisquestion seems even harder for him to answer than the food one. “Um…Idon’t know.Onthe plane?”
“Youmean the helicopter?Jace, you didn’t sleep on the helicopter.”
“No.Onthe plane home fromCuba.”
“Whendid you go toCuba?”
“Thursday.”
Thatdoesn’t make sense. “Aweek agoThursday?Becausethis pastThursdaywas whenIcame to your office to see you.Youwere about to go to a meeting,”Iremind him, in case he’s getting his days mixed up.WheneverIwork a lot of hours, my days always blend together.Jokingly,Iadd, “Wasthe meeting inCuba?”
Hegives a tired chuckle. “No.Themeeting was an op here that got us the info that led us toCuba.”Mymind is in the process of being blown that during a—Ido the math in my head— twenty-six-hour stretch of time (whereIslept for seven and a half hours)—Jacehad a mission and then another missionin a different countryand flew back home, when he adds, “Fastjet.Gotwhat we needed quickly.Madeit back in time to helicopter into the library for your event.”
Myeyebrows shoot up. “Thehelicopter was you?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.Wouldn’thave made it in time otherwise.Anyway,IknowIfell asleep on that flight because we were in the middle of a video mission debrief, andIwoke up with a piece of notepaper stuck to my face.”
“Soyou’ve gotten almost no sleep in days.Okay, we’ve got to get food into you, and then you need to sleep.”
Hedutifully picks up the sandwich and takes a bite.Andthen another.Withevery bite he takes, he seems to return to life a bit more.Andthen, asIam swallowing another bite of my sandwich (which is really quite good— my compliments to whoever’s job it is at theCSAto stock the safe house), two and two finally click together in my head to make four andIblurt out, “Yourentire family is spies!”
Jaceflinches, andIdon’t know if it’s because of my volume or thatIknow something that is obviously supposed to be a secret.ButIcan’t help it— the realization ishuge.Imet his sister, his brother, and his mom at his work.Andanother brother at the gala.
Maddeninglycalm,Jacesays, “Blakeisn’t.”Andthen he pops a piece of honeydew into his mouth.
“ThebuildingIwent to whenIvisited your work isn’t your family’s business— it’s the agency.Which,Iguess in your case,isthe family business.”IfLancasterBusinessSolutionsis a cover, then none of them work there.Theyall work at theCSA.Iwas right— they are all spies.
“Thatis top-secret information, andI’dappreciate it if you kept it that way.”Hisgaze is on me and it’s piercing.Ican tell how important this is to him.Boththe agency’s secrecy and the fact that he is part of a family of spies. (ExceptforBlake, apparently.)
“Youhave my word.”AndIknow that no matter how badlyIwant to talk toMaggieorLivi,Iwill never tell another living soul withoutJace’spermission.
Istab a melon with my fork and turn it around likeI’mstudying it. “Sowhat does theCSAdo?”
Jacelooks up at the ceiling like he’s trying to figure out how to explain. “Okay, so you know how theCIAoperates on foreign soil and deals with threats to theU.S. from forces outside theU.S.?”
Inod.I’vewatched enough spy movies to know this.Infact,I’veseen enough spy movies to know what theCIA’scounterpart is in several other countries, too.
“AndtheFBIworks onU.S. soil withU.S. citizens?”
Inod again.
“Weare kind of the in-between of those two.Wecan operate onU.S. soil, dealing with foreign threats, and we can operate on foreign soil.Ina few ways, we are similar to theCIA, but we are a much smaller agency, so we can often respond more quickly and with more agility, and with a lot less bureaucracy.Someops require that.Sometimesthere is overlap and we work closely with theFBIor theCIA.”
Ikeep nodding becauseIthinkI’mgetting it.Butat the same time, everythingIknow and thoughtIknew is trying to scoot aside to make room for this new information.
“Weare also kind of a buffer between theFBIandCIA.Theystill clash often, but before us, they clashed a lot more.”
“Sohow did you start working there?Howdid almost your whole entire family start working there?Ifit’s a secret agency, how do people know to apply?”
