"Xara, he's here," Dari said.

I snapped my attention up from the files I had been reading on Mr. La Foie. Dari motioned for me to join her on the couch. Pushing the files aside, I hopped off my bed and peered over her shoulder. Mr. La Foie was walking up the stairs in the lobby. I glanced at my watch, noting that it was a quarter to six.

"Good," I said. "Things to be going right on schedule. It's time for phase one: approachment."

Dari nodded, switching to a view of the hotel halls. "Right, I'll let you know once he has reached his room."

"And I'll contact Ty." I whipped out my phone to text Ty. La Foie is heading to his room.

My buzzed a few seconds later with 'k.' I shook my head. You couldn't have at least capitalized the 'k?'

"He just went inside his room," Dari informed me.

I nodded and notified Ty. "And now we wait."

"I sure hope Ty doesn't mess things up," Dari muttered.

"When has he ever messed things up?"

Dari have me a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. I shrugged. He wasn't always the brightest crayon in the box, but he didn't make mistakes that often, contrary to what Dari liked to believe.

"He knows how to impersonate people," I said. "That's literally why he's here."

Dari rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, whatever. It's just that there is no room for error. If La Foie figures out what is going on, our whole plan is a flop."

"It's a tense situation, but I'm sure everything will work out in the end. Ty read all of the information there is to know about Franz Freiburg..."

Dari shook her head. "You actually think he read information?"

"Well, maybe," I said, trying to stay positive. "Besides, he's spent years as his body guard. I'm sure he knows Freiburg better than La Foie does."

"The accent was kind of shaky this afternoon," Dari said.

"He just needs to get warmed up. He'll be fine. Besides, I doubt La Foie is going to be paying much attention."

"You're right," Dari sighed. "Ty will probably do fine in the impersonation department. But what if Freiburg is eating dinner down there?"

"He's normally at meetings this time of day, but go ahead and check the dining room now."

Dari flipped to the security camera in the dining room. I sank into the couch cushions beside her. The room was empty except for a few guests I didn't know.

Dari exhaled. "Phew! I think we're good."

In the corner of the screen, the doors of the restaurant swung open. Mr. Freiburg and Mr. and Mrs. Bachaniello strode in and were seated immediately.

"Darn it," I said. "He can't be down there when Ty walks in dressed like him. It'll be a dead give away." I raced to the other side of the room.

"Where are you going?" Dari asked.

"I'm going down there to distract Mr. Freiburg and get him out of there."

"But you need to be here in case there's a confrontation with the WAOIC agent."

I thought for a moment. "Fine, I'll get Finn to distract him. Maybe he can take the whole group to dinner."

I dashed into the hallway before Dari could reply. The door of the guy's room opened, and Ty and Finn stepped out. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought that I was actually staring at Mr. Freiburg. Ty had managed to create a replicative face identical to Freiburg. A few touch ups to a brown whig, and he matched his hair. And his white, button down shirt worn, brown suit, and gold watch chain tucked in his pocket completed the look.

"We've got a major problem," I whispered. "Freiburg is eating dinner downstairs. Finn, you need to go and ask him and the Bachaniellos if they want to have dinner out at a restaurant."

"Uh, isn't it a bit awkward to burst in while they are about to—"

"It has to be done, Finn, no arguments."

"Okay fine. I'll run down there now. Ty, I'll let you know when we're out of the building."

"Sure thing," Ty said.

"You'd better stay hidden in the meantime," I said.

Ty nodded, and we both ducked back inside our rooms. I watched the surveillance camera as Finn approached Mr. Freiburg and the Bachaniellos. For a moment, they just sat there. It looked like they were arguing with Finn. I closed my eyes. Please let this work. Come on, Finn!

After a couple minutes, the group smiled and stood from their chairs. They thanked the wait staff before Finn rushed them from the room.

"Okay we're all set," I said. "I'm going to call Ty." I quickly dialed his phone number.

"Is everything clear?" Ty asked.

"Yes, all clear. When did you say that you would dine with Mr. La Foie?"

"At six. So it's basically that time now."

I checked my watch to see that it was 5:58. "You better go down there."

"Won't the wait staff be confused?" Ty asked.

I hadn't thought of that. Darn it.

"I'll run downstairs and clear things up. You focus on La Foie." I hung up the phone and raced for the door.

"What is it now?" Dari asked.

"The wait staff," I called. I disappeared from the room and ran all the way to the dining room. By now, I was used to running up and down the flights of steps. And all of the patrons at the hotel were used to me tearing through the halls.

I burst into the hotel dining room. The double doors swung wide, knocking against the wall. There was no time to worry about it. I headed straight for the restaurant host standing behind a computer beside the entrance.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Oh, well sort of," I said, lowering my voice. "You see, Franz Freiburg and I are doing a social experiment right now. It's for a study that we're going to report in the convention coming up, so the details are top secret. Anyways, he's going to come down here again, and we would appreciate it if you don't say anything about him dining with the Bachaniellos and Mr. Whincliff."

I was surprised by how smoothly the story rolled out, considering I had made it up on the spot.

"Of course, Mademoiselle," the host said. "But Mr. Freiburg didn't dine with Mr. Whincliff."

I furrowed my brow, glancing at my watch. "Ah, right! Mr. Whincliff comes after Mr. La Foie."

"Oh. So you're doing this experiment with a number of delegates at the convention?"

"Yes, it's been quite the project the last few days. Anyways, thank you for your help." I dashed from the room as Mr. La Foie and Ty were coming down the stairs. I darted to the side of the stairs, hoping Mr. La Foie didn't turn around and see me standing there.

I watched the two pass by. Ty's voice was spot on, both in accent and pitch. Mr. La Foie seemed completely at ease. Good. Our plan is working so far.

I decided it was better to stay downstairs and watch them opposed to going upstairs with Dari. That way Ty had a more immediate backup in case something went wrong. Jax was stationed on the second story, but I could slip into the restaurant and watch what happened in real time.

I slipped back inside the restaurant. The host entered the dining room from the outside gardens. His brow furrowed as his eyes rested on me.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I just realized that I'm famished. Would you mind it if I dined here right now?"

The host smiled. "Of course not. Is there any seat in particular that you would like?"

I glanced outside. Ty and La Foie sat just in eyeshot of the tables on the right side of the room.

"I'll take that table right there," I said. I pointed to the table in the furthest right corner of the room.

"Of course," the host said. "Right this way." He led me to the table and handed me a menu. "The waiter will be out momentarily."

"Thank you."

I held up my menu and pretended to look through it. But really, I looked outside the glass door straight in front of me. Both Ty and La Foie were in my line of vision. I'm lucky this spot wasn't taken.

A waitress appeared beside the table, notepad in hand. "Good afternoon. What may I get you to drink?"

"Water, please."

"Coming right up." She scribbled on her paper, then disappeared.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my transistor radio—a small, black disk. I pressed the 'on' button at the top, then fit it inside my ear. Ty's voice crackled in the speakers.

"I have always been partial to the Caribbean myself. It's the perfect vacation spot. When do you leave?"

"The tickets are scheduled for August, and the cruise will finish in early October," Mr. La Foie said.

"Ah, sounds excellent."

A waiter headed from the kitchen to the outdoor dining area, holding a tray of drinks.

"Here are your drinks, sirs," I heard the waiter say, though his voice was muffled. He collected their orders and left shortly after.

"Now, I did want to discuss a few things with you regarding the Von Stein plan," Ty began.

"The Von Stein plan?" La Foie said.

"Yes. You know, the top secret experimentation that our governments have been working on. Originally, we had decided that I would be the one to present our findings to the conference, but my country has decided to pivot in our plans."

Mr. La Foie was silent. I sat at the edge of my seat, my heart pounding in my chest. He doesn't know what we're talking about, probably because the plan doesn't exist. But if he were the real La Foie, wouldn't he deny that the project exists right off the bat?

"I'm sorry, Freiburg," Mr. La Foie said at last. "A lot has been going on, and I can't quite place what you're talking about."

"That's quite alright," Ty said. "These conferences are unbelievably stressful. It makes sense. Let me show you the files." Papers rustled on the other end of the mic. "Here it is. It's regarding the new, low-emissions fuel that we've been working on."

"Excuse me, Miss." I jumped in my seat. The waitress had returned and now smiled down at me.

"I'll take a house salad with grilled chicken, dressing on the side," I rattled off. I hadn't even gotten a chance to look at the menu yet.

"Sure thing." She walked back into the kitchen. I focused back on the conversation going on outside.

"What do you mean you can't remember the project?" Ty asked. "We've been working on this for months!"

Silence on the other line. I stared right outside. La Foie was flipping through a file on the table.

"I must have been focusing on something else while the project was going on," Mr. La Foie said at least.

"Working on something else? Ha! You were the head of the project!" Ty leaned in, his brow wrinkled. "My friend, I'm concerned that you can't remember this. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, of course, I've never felt better."

Ty tsked. "You don't look so good. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Now please excuse me." Mr. La Foie stood from his seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to. I'm sure you're perfectly healthy. I was just stunned because we worked on this project together for so long. My government was hoping we could present our findings together in order to show equal representation of our efforts."

Slowly, Mr. La Foie sank down into his seat. He took another look at the paper. I held my breath, anticipating what he would say next.

"Ah," Mr. La Foie began at last. "It's all coming back to me. This project, it's been a while since I've thought about it. But yes, I distinctly remember working on it."

That was it. The imposter took the bait. There was no "Von Stein" project. The fact that he "distinctly remembered" working on the project proved that he was not the real Mr. La Foie.

I pulled out my phone and texted Jax to come. We needed to unmask this WAOIC agent asap.

Ty grinned. "I had a feeling you would."

Mr. La Foie cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Oh no. Ty wasn't supposed to tell him our plan yet.

"Mr. La Foie, there was no Von Stein project."

Silence on the other end. I leaned forward in my chair. I was facing La Foie's back, so I couldn't see his expression. But I could see Ty's, and he wore a triumphant smirk. No! Ty, this is not the time to get cocky!

"Well no wonder I didn't recognize it," La Foie said.

"But you said that you distinctly remembered it."

"I only said that so that you would stop pestering me."

"Really? Or were you unsure as to whether the project existed in the first place since you aren't the real La Foie?"

La Foie leapt from his seat. "Don't move."

That's not good. I bolted across the restaurant. I grasped my gun and burst onto the patio.

"Freeze!" I commanded.

La Foie went rigid. I stepped closer, my gun pointed at his head. Ty grabbed a gun from La Foie. Jax ran in through the garden entrance and aimed his gun at La Foie, too.

"You're with WAOIC, aren't you?" I said.

La Foie pursed his lips.

"And you're a female agent, too," I continued.

La Foie's eyes widened, but still refused to speak.

"I think we need an unmasking," I said. "Ty, will you do the honors?"

"Wait," the agent said. The agent's voice was high-pitched, a stark contrast to La Foie. "I'll take it off myself."

The agent reached around the edges of her face. She pulled off the mask to reveal porcelain skin, rosy cheeks, and two, icy-blue eyes. She pulled her wig off next, revealing shiny, blonde hair tied in a bun. Her blue eyes pooled with rage. I recognized her immediately as Agent Ice. Jax clamped handcuffs around her wrists.

"How?" Agent Ice demanded.

"It was when you were giving directions," I started to explain. "You said—"

"I'm not talking about that," she said. "I want to know how you are Agent X."

"You have to answer our questions first," I countered. "Why were you chosen to impersonate La Foie?"

She straightened up. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Then neither do we," I said. "We'll find out anyways."

Agent Ice gazed at the ground, biting her lip.

"I used to be his secretary," she sighed. "I worked for him all the way up until his kidnapping."

"And so you knew him better than anyone else," I said. "Where is La Foie being held?"

"I don't have to tell you, it's your turn to talk."

"You're not in a position to make demands. But if you answer all our questions properly, we might consider it."

Ice shook her head. "Not talking."

"We'll see about that. Jax and Ty, get her down to IIA headquarters."

"Sure thing." Jax placed his gun in his coat pocket and aimed it at Agent Ice's back. "Let's go."

I started to follow them out, but Ty stopped me.

"You weren't seriously going to tell her, were you?" he whispered.

"Of course not," I snapped. "I was just going to say that I was dressed up to look like Agent X."

"Ooh, good."

"You thought I would give my secret away?"

Ty shrugged. "You never know." He hurried from the patio.

I exhaled. I could hardly believe that the mission was complete. We spotted the imposter, even without the real Agent X.

I spotted the imposter, even though I wasn't the real Agent X.