IletZoeget completely out of view of theemployees at the check-in desk beforeIleave my sunglasses shopping to join up with her.Assoon asIdo, she says, “Gotit.Fifthfloor.”
BeforeIeven get a chance to respond,Damjancomes through our earpieces, saying, “Eliza’slunch date never showed, so she left and hopped into anUber.Iam following her.Ithought she was heading back to the mansion, but it looks like she’s not— she’s heading to her hotel.You’vegot maybe two or three minutes to get in and get out.”
Iturn my mic back on and say, “Copy.”Myeyes meetZoe’s.It’sgoing to be tight to get up to the fifth floor, get to her room, go through her things, find a complete outfit thatElizawon’t miss, do a quick search for anything else we might need, and get back out.Wepick up the pace as we head toward the elevators.
“That’snot enough time,”Zoesays. “Wecould probably get toEliza’sroom and find what we need, but chances are too great that we’d cross paths with her after while carrying an armful of her clothes.Unlessyou stay down here and distract her long enough for me to get clear.”
“Agreed,”Isay, and stop walking.Gettingcaught byElizais a much worse outcome than not getting what we need from her room.
JustbeforeZoereaches the elevators, though, there’s a little girl.She’smaybe five years old, hiding behind a potted fern, and she looks scared.Zoeimmediately hesitates.Thenshe looks back at me, her eyes pleading for understanding.
Thenshe turns all of her focus to the little girl.Iwalk closer, needing to hear whatZoesays to her.
WhenIwas eight years old, my siblings andIwere hooked on a realityTVshow about becoming a superhero, where the aspiring superheroes had to go through a bunch of challenges to show how worthy they were of the title.Achallenge in a public area outdoors in the very first episode stood out to me more than all the others.Oneat a time, when summoned, each contestant had to find somewhere inconspicuous to change into their superhero costume.Thenthey had to run as fast as they could to get from there to the finish line.Whoeverfinished the challenge in true superhero fashion with the fastest time won.
Whatthe contestants didn’t know was that there was a little girl placed near the finish line who was crying, saying she was lost, asking for help in finding her mom.Whetheror not the would-be heroes stopped to help the little girl, thereby risking their fast finishing time, was the actual point of the challenge.
Maybemy siblings andIloved the show so much because we all wanted to be superheroes ourselves.Ormaybe it was because we knew that our parents had both been intelligence operatives.Ididn’t know at the time just how elite of operatives they had been, butIdid know that my dad’s job title wasDirectorof theClandestineServicesAgencyand that my mom’s wasHeadofCounterintelligenceat theCSA, so we grew up knowing there were real superheroes in the world.
Butmaybe it was because, at the time, it had only been three years since my little sister had beenkidnapped.Andso whenIsaw that little girl crying for her mom,IsawCharlie.Maybewe all sawCharlie.MaybeCharlieeven saw herself there.
Regardlessof what reason made us love the show, we were all obsessed.So, of course, we rooted for every superhero who stopped to help the little girl and compromised their ability to finish as quickly (risking elimination from the competition) by doing so.
Andjust like eight-year-old me rooted for those superheroes,I’mrooting forZoeas she goes up to the little girl and crouches down to her height.
Zoeasks her what is wrong, and thankfully, the little girl speaksEnglish.Shesays she lost her mom.SoZoeasks her what she and her mom were doing the last time she saw her before she realized she’d lost her.Thelittle girl says that her mom was shopping for some earrings but that she stopped following her mom so she could look at some stuffed monkeys.
“I’llhelp you find her,”Zoesays. “Doyou want me to hold your hand, or carry you, or do you want to just walk beside me?”
Ilove thatZoegives her a choice instead of choosing for her.Thelittle girl thinks for a moment, and then says, “Holdyour hand.”Zoetakes the girl’s hand, and the two of them head off toward the shop most likely to have both earrings and stuffed animals.
This.Thisis whyI’mfalling forZoeall over again.MaybeInever stopped falling for her.Shemay intimidate, track, engage, and neutralize bad guys, navigate danger zones fearlessly, and break into high-security installationswith the best of them.Shemight also be difficult to trust and always thinks her way is best.Butwe’ve crossed paths a lot— enough for me to know that she will always look out for the underdog, the vulnerable, the forgotten, the overlooked.
Irealize thatIwas wrong.Zoeisn’t willing to sacrifice anything for a mission.Wemay work for different agencies and we may compete in the field, but she has dedicated her life to the same thingI’vededicated mine to.
AsIwatchZoewalk away with the little girl,Irealize thatI’mseeingZoedifferently thanIused to.AndmaybeI’veslowly been seeing her differently the whole time we’ve been on this mission.
Inmy earpiece,Damjansays, “MonaLizais heading into the hotel lobby right now.Areyou guys out?Ifnot, get out now.”
Isuck in a breath.Thislobby is huge, but that means she’s behind me.Isuddenly remember thatI’mstill wearing my handlebar mustache.Withoutthe crazy outfit, the hat, and the sunglasses, it’ll be an easy guess for her to figure out it was “Tobias” at that flower shop.EspeciallysinceI’mstill wearing the t-shirt with the computer chip design and the dark gray pants.
Ihurry to pull the mustache off, and asI’mshoving it into my pocket,Zoecomes walking out of the shop she’d taken the little girl into with a huge grin on her face.Ofcourse, she’s still wearing the black wig.Igive her a discrete head shake and she immediately pivots and heads back into the shop.
Iturn to look at yet another carousel ofsunglasses in front of a different shop— apparently, lots of people either forget or lose their sunglasses— and try to re-summon the accent, cadence, and inflections ofTobias’svoice.
Aboutfive seconds later,IhearMonaLizasay, “Tobias!”Iturn, surprise on my face, as she asks, “Areyou staying in this hotel, too?”
“Eliza,”Isay asItake her hands in mine, just likeTobiasRennertwould. “Sogood to see you again!No, actually,I’mstaying across the street, butIlost my sunglasses and heard there are some here, soI’mchecking out the place.”I’mnot wearing the blazer anymore— an outfit staple forTobiasin every video— but apparentlyElizadoesn’t find that odd.
“Oh,”Elizasays, reaching a hand halfway up to my face before halting. “You’vegot a bit of redness around your mouth.Isthat an allergic reaction?”
Myeyes close for a second asIrealize it’s from pulling my mustache off so quickly. “Idon’t know if it was an allergic reaction or something else,”Ilean in and cup a hand at the side of my mouth, whispering conspiratorially, “butIwould maybe stay away from the grill here.Andnot just because of this.Theyalso overcook their meat because they’re too busy bickering over who chooses the best music.”Ifeel bad throwing the grill under the bus since it was the manager at my hotel’s experience, not my own, butIdo need to maintain my cover.
“I’llbear that in mind,”MonaLizasays. “Ido wishIcould stay and chat, butI’vegot to dash up to my room to do some paperwork before heading back toSavovic’s.”Shegives me a look like she doesn’t really want to leave. “Seeyou at the auction?”
“Ofcourse,”Isay, and she waves goodbye before hurrying toward the elevators.Assoon as the elevator doors close,Ilet out a breath of relief, then head into the shop to findZoe.
CHAPTER 19
