The next morning, I made sure to get my crew up extra early to start preparations for following Miss Monpelie. By six a.m, everyone was up, dressed, and had finished listening to today's briefing. I stared down at Ty, Dari, Finn, and Jax, who were basked in the golden glow of the sun as they sat on a divan near the window.

"So you think that by following her, we'll be able to discover that she's the imposter?" Finn asked.

"Well, there's no way to be absolutely certain that she is the WAOIC agent as of right now," I corrected. "But I do think that we can discover her true identity. Her whereabouts may be very telling."

"Maybe she'll even lead us to WAOIC headquarters," Dari added.

"Exactly."

"It's worth a try," Finn said. "But what if she spots us?"

"First of all, only Ty and I would follow her. That way she doesn't get too suspicious with a band of people following her everywhere. Second of all, we're going to be in disguise."

Ty grinned. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this. What are going to be? Bakers? Aliens? Old grandma's?"

"Grandmas are already old," Dari stated.

"Whatever," Ty said.

"Nothing crazy, like aliens," I said. "We're just going to dress like regular belgian citizens. However, we're going to be needing new hair, new clothes, and new faces. Can you get that ready in the next few hours?"

"Righto. It'll be ready by seven-thirty a.m."

I quirked an eyebrow. "It's six right now."

"Hmm... you're right. Better make that seven," Ty said mischievously.

"Why are you always so cocky?" Dari asked.

"It's not cocky if I know I can do it. Which I do." Ty winked.

Dari rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

"Do you wanna bet? I'll bet you twenty dollars that I'll get everything together within an hour."

"You know what I'll bet? I'll bet you don't even have twenty dollars," Dari retorted.

"Enough," I said. "Ty, you'd better get going. And Jax, go with Ty and get an extra car for the car switch. Then, when Ty is done gathering his supplies, I need you to go and sit in the rental while we are getting ready. The moment we need to go, Dari will message you to bring the car to the front."

"Sure," he replied.

Sure enough, within an hour, Ty had everything ready. I don't know how he did it, but he drove all the way down to the IIA headquarters in Brussels, borrowed six outfits, made six false faces, and returned to the hotel exactly at seven a.m.

"Where's my twenty dollars?" Ty declared as he walked into our hotel room with the disguises in bags.

"I never agreed to the bet," Dari said.

"Yeah, you know why? Because you knew I'd win!"

Dari huffed and went into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. Ty plopped the bags onto the bed.

"Which one do you want to be, male or female?" Ty asked. "I'm fine with either."

"Um, female?" I said.

"Okay, that's fine for an amatuer."

"An amatuer what?" Dari snorted from the other room. "She's already the top spy."

"But she doesn't specialize in disguises," Ty countered.

"Besides, I'm not the top spy," I stated. The three snapped their heads to look at me.

I managed to say the words stoically, but after they were uttered, I felt like I had just been cut with a knife. It was true, I was no top spy. I was an amatuer, just like Ty had said. This was my first case. And no matter what I did, I felt like I was one step away from blowing it.

"Oh right," Dari said softly. "Sorry, X. It's just so easy to forget.

"It's fine," I said, forcing my voice to not shake. "I'm glad that I'm able to fill her shoes enough that you forget that it's really me."

Dari smiled at me encouragingly. "Yeah, don't worry X, you're doing a great job."

"You're almost better than the real Xara," Ty joked. "You're less...severe."

I laughed. "Sorry guys, but I just can't seem to force myself to have a heart of stone."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Finn chuckled from the other room.

"Yeah, well, it makes me less Xara-like," I countered.

"True," Finn agreed.

"Hey, you need to start getting ready," Ty said, suddenly serious.

"Since when did you decide to be all serious?" I said.

"Since now. I'm not sure how it's going to take to do your make-up, and we need to be ready for when Miss Monpelie leaves."

That was a first. But he was right, so I ducked into the bathroom with the first outfit to change. My jaw dropped as I pulled a velvet, maroon top and a flouncy, baby-pink skirt from the bag. I glared at the door. Ty was probably cackling in the other room.

It's only for an hour or so. You'll probably have to switch outfits anyways.

I put on the attire I had been given and stepped into the other room. All eyes fell on me.

"Ty!" Dari burst out laughing. "What the heck are you trying to do?"

"I always thought Agent X would look good in pink," Ty said, grinning like he had successfully pranked someone. I wanted to smack it off his face.

"Well, I suppose this is the only time for you to find out," Finn said. "The real one wouldn't be caught dead in pink."

"Yeah, she'd probably come back to life and annihilate the person who dressed her," Dari added.

I cleared my throat. "I am not amused."

"We are," Finn muttered. I balled my fists and started to come at him. Finn leaped over the bar. A smile etched onto his face. "For some reason, you're less menacing in those clothes."

I grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. He ducked, and the pillow flew right into the coffee pot on the counter behind him. Coffee spilled all over the counter.

"Enough goofing around," I declared. "We need to finish getting ready. Also, I'm not cleaning that up."

"Fine," Ty snickered. "Wait a minute and I'll change."

Ty donned a white top and black suspenders, topped off with a red painter's hat. He then set to work changing our appearances. He brushed a thick, sticky gel all over my skin, which made my pores feel even more suffocated than when I wore makeup. Then, he carefully smoothed a new face overtop. I couldn't help but feel nervous about the adhesive. It would not be fun taking that thing off.

I settled a chocolate-colored whig on my head while Ty applied his own face. It was another first for me—I had never had long hair before.

When I looked in the mirror, I could understand why Ty liked disguises. I was no longer the rough-and-tough Xara. I was a trendy college girl, with a full face of makeup and long curls. It was weird, don't get me wrong. And it was definitely not right if I was pretending to be Xara. But if I was pretending to be someone else, it didn't seem quite so bad.

I couldn't help but smile to myself. I was pretending to be Xara, who was pretending to be a random civilian. I was a double imposter.

Ty finished his look with colored contacts, turning his green eyes to brown. He turned to me to make sure that I was all set to go.

"Oh! You're missing the cherry on top!" Ty exclaimed.

This can't be good.

"The what?" I said through gritted teeth.

Ty handed me a silky, pink beret that matched my skirt, along with a pair of maroon, suede sandals.

"There! All done." He beamed at his handiwork. I'll give him credit, I hardly recognized myself. And as strange as it was, it was a good thing. I was sure that Madame Monpelie wouldn't recognize me either.

"Okay, here's the plan," Ty began.

"I thought I was supposed to come up with the plans," I interrupted.

"Not this time, sis. You're dealing with an expert disguisist. What we're going to do is leave the hotel in these outfits. Everytime we exit the car and follow Miss Monpelie into a place, we're going to put on a different face."

I groaned. All I could think about was how much pain I would probably be in from all of the face swaps. The thought of peeling an adhesive from my face made me shiver. Though I had to admit, it was quite brilliant.

"Dari, have you seen Miss Monpelie yet?" I asked Dari, who was sitting on her bed.

"Not yet, I'll let you know."

I flopped onto the divan in the room. Ty followed suit, stretching his legs so they rested on Dari's bed.

"Move your feet," Dari said, completely absorbed in her computer.

"They aren't anywhere near your bed," Ty said.

"Yes they are. Move them before I break them." The fact that she was completely monotone made it ten times funnier. Reluctantly, Ty moved his feet. Just like Dari refused to bet against Ty's collection of the disguises, he was unwilling to test her threat.

"Good," Dari stated. Her eyes hadn't deviated from her computer for a fraction of a second.

Ty turned to me and opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. He squinted at me for a moment.

"What?" I said.

"Yup, just as I thought. When we're done with this mission, I'm officially replacing all of the clothes in your wardrobe. Afterall, we only have enough room for one Xara at the agency."

"If you dare replace my clothes with a bunch of soft, girly—"

"Hey, you chose to have the girl disguise," Ty reminded me.

Finn snorted in the other room. "Oh gosh! Imagine Ty in a pink skirt," he called.

I covered my mouth to keep myself from bursting into laughter. I think I could have gone my whole life without that image.

"She's heading out now!" Dari exclaimed suddenly. "I see her making her way through the halls."

I jumped to my feet, my face growing somber. No more jokes. This was showtime.

"Thanks Dari. Message Jax and tell him we're coming."

"Already done," she said.

"Great," I said. "Let's go Ty."

"Copy that."

Ty grabbed a black briefcase, filled with our other disguises, and followed me out the door. We reached the front entrance of the hotel just in time to see Miss Monpelie's head duck into a taxi. There were no other passengers besides her; once again, she was alone.

I spotted our black rental car pulling up to the front entrance. I would have run over to it, but I was in heels, so I had to do a weird, quick, power walk. Ty almost cracked a joke when he saw how awkward it was, but refrained. Afterall, we were officially on a mission. Though he did salute Jax as he was getting out of the driver's seat. Jax tossed Ty the keys.

"Good luck," Jax said.

"Thanks, man," Ty replied.

I slipped into the passenger seat. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about Ty driving. I tried to recall one of Xara's memories in which Ty was driving safely. I couldn't find one. Most of the time, Xara had the role of driving when Finn wasn't available. I couldn't drive, though, since I didn't actually have a license. It was kind of crazy: I had spent years in solitude, with a seemingly infinite amount of time to spend, and yet I had never been taught to drive. I had gone through all of the written programs and manuals, I just had never practiced or been certified. I supposed that the IIA never wanted me to accidentally be spotted.

Ty started the engine and began checking his mirrors in order to pull out. I cleared my throat loudly.

"What?" he said, annoyed.

"Seatbelt on?" I asked.

Ty sighed and buckled himself up.

"Good. Now you can go."

Ty rolled his eyes and pulled out of the parking space.

It seemed like every citizen of Brussels had decided to travel today. Tons of cars and taxis flooded the roads. Horns blared and the cars sometimes moved at a crawl. I kept my eyes trained on the generic cab that Miss Monpelie had taken, refusing to allow my eyes to look away, even for a split second. The moment we lost sight of it was the moment that our tailing would end.

Finally, the density lifted as we moved from the streets to a highway. Ty always kept at least one car in between the taxi and us just to make sure that they didn't notice that we were following them. Ty wasn't as brave as Finn, though, who often kept a tail with three or four cars in between him and the suspect. After about ten minutes of driving, completely in silence, the taxi exited the highway and pulled into a shopping plaza.

The taxi pulled up to a small shop called "Cafe et Biscuit," and Miss Monpelie stepped out. She glanced around her before walking inside. Ty parked the car a few rows away from the cafe.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." I grabbed my purse, and we headed inside.

I quickly surveyed the area upon entering. On my left, Miss Monpelie was looking over the menu. On my right, there were only two tables occupied. One had a group of teenagers, approximately my age, laughing and chatting together. The other was occupied by a man engrossed in his laptop. I scrutinized each face out of the corner of my eye, looking for even a hint of familiarity. But I didn't recognize anyone as being a part of WAOIC—at least not yet.

We stood a healthy distance from Miss Monpelie as she ordered her drink, not too far, not to close, since either one could arouse her suspicion.

"Je voudrais un cafe noir glace. Non, ce sera tout. Merci." She paid the barista and sat down at one of the booths.

I stepped up the counter and prepared my most convincing french accent.

"Bonjour, Je voudrais un café au lait." All those years of practice had paid off. My accent deserved a chef's kiss.

"Et vous, Monsieur?" the belgian girl asked, turning to Ty.

"Je voudrais un café caramel et glace avec de la crème fouettée," Ty said.

Coffee with caramel, ice cream, and whipped cream. I allowed myself to smile at Ty's childish order. After all, I technically wasn't Xara at the moment.

"De plus?"

"No, merci."

Ty paid the bill and we sat at one of the tables in the center of the room. I took the seat that faced the french representative. I needed to have a clear view of everything she did. It was still unclear as to whether she stopped here in order to shake any tails or she was planning on meeting someone here. I assumed the former, but we needed to be prepared for the latter, too.

Ty and I made some small talk in french to avoid suspicion. While we waited, I texted Finn to see if he had brought the car from the IIA in order to perform the car switch. He had left the hotel a few minutes after us and followed our coordinates to the shopping plaza.

"Madame! Sont cafe!" Madame Monpelie retrieved her iced coffee from the counter. For a moment, she peered outside the coffeeshop, as if she was about to leave. I held my breath as I watched her in my peripheral. Please don't leave!

Much to my relief, she sat down at the table and sipped on her drink. I felt my lungs relax asI slowly exhaled. That was a close one.

"Madame, Monsieur! Sont café sont prépare!"

Ty strolled to the counter to get our drinks. My watch buzzed, and I saw that Finn had arrived. The moment Miss Monpelie left, we would head around the side of the building, get into the new car, and swap keys with Finn, that way she didn't see us following her.

As I glanced at Madame, I saw her bustling for her things, preparing to leave. Just like I had suspected, this was merely a detour to shake any tails. I flicked my head the slightest bit to the left. Ty slightly nodded in return. We stood in unison and walked out the door. The moment Miss Monpelie was leaving the shopping plaza, we needed to be ready to follow her.

We strode through the packed parking lot until we spotted Finn in the silver car from the IIA. He stepped out once we were right in front of it.

"Here are the keys," he said, pressing them into Ty's hand. "The bag's in the back." My brow furrowed.

"What bag?"

"I transferred Ty's suitcase full of disguises to this car," Finn explained, holding up the spare key to our rental.

I nodded, though I started to feel uneasy. I hoped that he didn't put anything too outlandish in the bag.

"Thanks," Ty said, patting Finn on the back.

"I'm going to run into the shopping plaza before Miss Monpelie sees me. Good luck!" Finn ran in the opposite direction before I could respond. I got in the car and looked out the windshield. Miss Monpelie had just exited the cafe and was on the phone, probably calling a cab.

Ty reached into the backseat to grab his briefcase. His fingers quickly imputed a complex combination into a lock on the side before lifting the lid.

"Here, put this on," he said. He tossed me a brown plastic bag. I was almost too afraid to see what he had in store for me. Nevertheless, I opened the plastic bag.

I deadpanned. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw inside. "You've got to be kidding me." And I thought the matching skirt and beret were bad enough.

"We're trying to make sure that Miss Monpelie doesn't recognize us," Ty said innocently, pulling a black suit jacket over his suspenders. "We need to look different than normal."

"Okay, fine. I get it. But don't you think a giant, pink-mink fur coat is going a little too far?" I held up the garment from the tips of my fingers.

Ty flashed his pearly white teeth. "I've always wanted to see Agent X in this, too. The real one wouldn't even be caught dead in something like this, but you'll wear it, right?"

I sighed. It wasn't my style. I liked darker, more intense colors that Xara wore. This certainly would not make me feel like a top agent.

But...was there another choice of a clothing swap? As of right now, the answer seemed to be no.

So, reluctantly, I slipped my arms through the sleeves of the furry jacket. My skin immediately started to sweat from the insulated fabric.

"This is too hot to be wearing in the summer," I complained under my breath.

"But you're always cold." He squeezed the tips of my fingers to make his point. "Your hands are frozen from the AC. You need to warm up."

"Yes, warm up, not die of heat stroke!"

"And now for our faces..." Ty continued, ignoring me. He pulled out a ziplock bag containing two faces. He expertly detached his current, fake face and replaced it with a new one. It was significantly tanner than the previous, thinner, and had a roman nose—reminiscent of Italian features. He had just finished applying the new face when a taxi pulled up at the entrance of the coffeeshop, and Madame Monpelie climbed inside. Ty and I fastened our seatbelts. Fortunately, I didn't have to remind him this time. Ty started the engine, and once again, we were following her.

"Your face is in the bag," he informed. "Go ahead and put it on in the car. Remember, try to smooth out as many wrinkles as possible."

"Okay." I cringed internally as I prepared myself for the worst. Anything that involved peeling sticky adhesives from skin was sure to hurt. "Should I try to do it quickly, like ripping off a bandaid?"

Ty burst out laughing. "I mean, sure, if you want it to inflict suffering on yourself." He continued to laugh, and my face started to heat up. At least Ty couldn't see since I was wearing the mask.

"Just wondering," I tried to say nonchalantly.

"Don't worry, it's not going to hurt," Ty said.

I still wasn't sure if I believed him. Perhaps he was just numb to the sensation after so many years of peeling faces off. But still, he was probably right about not ripping my face off. I opened the mirror in the front seat. My fingers felt around the perimeter of my face until I found a slightly loose edge at the crown of my head. I slipped my finger underneath the end and slowly began to pull my face off.

Much to my surprise, the gel released with ease. It was like peeling a screen protector from a phone. It didn't hurt at all—in fact, it kind of felt good, like I was getting a face massage. I exhaled when I had completely gotten it off.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Ty said.

"No, it wasn't," I agreed.

"And look! The mask got all of the dry skin off your face."

"Really?"

"Yeah, how else do you think I look so young."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at the mask. He was right, there was a bunch of dead skin attached to it. It was kind of gross, but as I felt my face, I realized it was silky smooth.

This is much more satisfying than a face mask. I understood why Ty liked being an impersonator—if for no other reason, he could get the satisfaction of peeling his skin off.

I reached into the bag and applied the adhesive gel to my face. It felt just as sticky and disgusting as before, but at least I now had peace of mind that it wasn't going to hurt when I removed it.

I pulled the new face out of the plastic bag and carefully pressed it down on my face, rubbing my fingers on the mask to iron out any wrinkles. I sat back to see what I looked like. I had gone from a College girl to a woman in her late forties, perhaps early fifties. The beginnings of wrinkles creased my forehead and cheeks. She wore pink eyeshadow that was a little too bright for a woman of her age. Her lips were smeared with too much deep, crimson lipstick. That, coupled with her fur coat, made me look like a reject movie star. I felt like an idiot.

"Is this all we have?" I wondered aloud.

"Yup," Ty said, a smile edging onto his lips. He didn't even have to look at me to know that I was unhappy with his choice of disguise.

"Did you make this?" I asked.

"Yup," he said again.

"Why would you do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?"

"It's as I said, Xara wouldn't have been—"

"How did you make this so quickly?" I interrupted.

"Oh," Ty said, straightening up. He hadn't expected me to ask that. But I was sick and tired of getting the same explanation from him. "The disguise department has premade templates. All I had to do was cut out the dimensions of your face and add some...defining details. You know, to make sure that no one recognizes the disguise if it has been used before. Defining details for women are easy. Usually a few splashes of makeup do the job nicely. Men are harder, but I already had faces for myself, so I didn't need to worry about that."

I nodded. "Interesting. I didn't get too many lessons on disguises."

Ty shook his head. "Such a shame, it's a dying art. Fewer and fewer spies are graduating with that speciality, opting for tech since it's 'more applicable to other career fields.' My job is one of the most vital ones to the security of the world. Honestly, I should be getting paid double the amount I'm getting right now. I'm invaluable."

Though I knew he was exaggerating, there was some truth to what he was saying. It actually is one of the most important parts of espionage. Spies have to be able to disguise themselves.

We followed the taxi off the highway and onto twisting backroads. The scenery around us shifted from towering buildings and shopping plazas to rolling hills and farmland. Ty tried to keep at least one car in between us and Miss Monpelie, but sometimes, when it was just us on the road, Ty hung back extra far. Eventually, the cab turned down a dirt road and pulled up to the front of a small tavern. We followed suit, leaving only a few spaces of distance between our car and the taxi. It was less suspicious than parking on the other side of the lot.

"Where are we?" Ty asked.

I pulled out my phone and briefly checked my GPS. "About sixty kilometers outside of Brussels."

"Dang. What's she doing all the way out here at a shady tavern?"

"We're about to find out."

I stepped from the car and scanned the area. The facade was made of wood that was rough and pointy, waiting to give someone a splinter. It needed a nice coating of paint to hide the raw lumber used to construct it. I could even see some mold growing on the banister as I walked up the stairs to the porch of the tavern. Overhead, an awning was held up with wooden posts that looked like they would break at any moment, squashing Ty and me under rusted metal.

Why the refined Miss Monpelie, a delegate in the World Leader's Convention, would come to a place like this was beyond my comprehension.

Ty opened the door, which had been detached from the two bottom hinges and looked like it would fall off completely at any moment.

"After you," Ty said in a deep voice. I almost frowned, but caught myself.

"Thank you," I replied in a french accent.

The tavern smelled of too much alcohol, vomit, and mildew. My false face truly saved the day: it helped to filter the nasty scents that plagued the air. We quickly sat at a table right by the entrance of the tavern, slipping into the shadows. I pulled out a fashion magazine from the oversized, cheetah-print, checkered, and chevron-striped bag that came with my ridiculous outfit and pretended to look through it. Ty pulled his hat over his eyes, like he was snoozing.

I craned my neck to see Miss Monpelie speaking with the bartender. In the dim light, I made out the shape of a closed, velvet box on the bar counter. I longed to hear what they were saying so I could memorize it, but the two spoke in hushed voices that were inaudible. Monpelie motioned to the box and the bartender opened it. Red glinted, and the man's eyes widened.

It was Madame Monpelie's famous ruby earrings. The bartender practically snatched the jewels from the counter and plunked a wad of cash in its place.

"Done," he declared.

"Thank you very much." Miss Monpelie stashed the cash in her clutch before exiting the tavern. I kept my eyes on my magazine until I heard the door click shut. Ty pulled his hat up slightly, then completely took it when he saw that Miss Monpelie had gone. I nodded to him, and we stood to leave.

"Hey!" the bartender yelled after us. "Aren't ya gonna buy somethin'?'"

"Naw, maybe next time," Ty quickly replied. "Ciao."

We bolted just in time to see the taxi disappearing down the road. We got straight into our silver car and back on the road.

"What happened?" Ty asked. I suddenly realized that he hadn't been able to see anything due to his hat.

"Miss Monpelie sold her ruby earrings," I said.

"Like the ruby earrings, or a random pair?"

"I mean the ruby earrings, the ones she has been wearing for at least a decade."

"What? But she loves them so much! Why would she do that?" Ty's driving seemed to speed up.

"And why would she sell them to such a shady buyer?" I added.

Ty shook his head. "I'm beginning to question if this even relates to WAOIC. Maybe we can get some answers at the next place she goes to."

"Another outfit switch?" I asked.

"Yes." Ty handed me a new plastic bag. "You can just take the coat off and throw on this blazer." Ty reached into the backseat, keeping the wheel steady with his left hand, and gave me a black blazer. "It's kind of long, so it will mostly cover the skirt. Put on a pair of knee high socks with these black flats. She won't be able to recognize us."

I reached into the bag for my next persona. This face wasn't as bad as the previous. It only had a light-pink eyeshadow, a touch of blush, and thin eyelashes. I peeled off my previous face and applied the new one. The routine was getting easier. This whole tailing thing was kind of like a game, and it was my job to win at all costs.