Jimmy hurried to the door of the girl's room, trying to find an explanation, not to panic, but it was hard. Hellish. Impossible. He reached it and banged his fist against it.

"Jessie? Kay?"

No answer. He'd tried calling their room. Then Jessie's cell. There was no answer. It had started as a curtsey call to ask if they wanted to go to the library or needed more rest. Now it was a matter of checking if they were still alive.

Don't be an idiot. What could've happened? He didn't know and didn't even want to think about it. He was breaking the freaking door down. But his continued banging had no effect whatsoever and it was loud enough to wake the dead. They were surely not sleeping.

Breaking the door down might be frowned upon, so he had a better idea. He ran back to his room and started searching his rucksack. He finally found the high power magnet, turned it all the way up in intensity, and started pulling the steel wire out of it. His heart pounded too hard for it to be healthy. He felt like he'd OD-ed on coffee again.

Finally satisfied, he opened the window and climbed on the sill. Their rooms were on the sixth floor and the busy street bustled underneath, filling the humid air with the smell of fried meat. Jimmy's stomach squirmed, but it was from the nerves. The girl's room was two windows to the right.

He pressed the on button and threw the magnet. It flew through the air for a few seconds before getting attracted to the iron filling inside the walls, right next to their window. Jimmy attached the hook to his t-shirt, rolled the wire around his hands, then jumped. Before the wire could stretch out, he pressed the button on the hook and the  line started rolling back inside the magnet, bringing him right outside their window.

He scrambled on the small ledge and tried to look inside. It was difficult through the curtain, but the place still seemed empty. He knocked on the window.

"Jessie? Kay?"

No answer. He pulled it open and it fortunately gave in without him having to break any glass. He hopped inside the room and pulled the magnet back. As expected, there was no one there. The rucksacks next to the door proved he had the right room.

Jimmy strode to the bathroom and knocked. When he got no answer, he pushed the door open. Empty. He hurried back inside the room and towards the exit when something caught his eye. There was a folder on the bed with a note on it.

Frowning, he picked it up. The note was in Jessie's handwriting.

To Jimmy:

I know you, hotstuff. You'll surely find a way to get in here. Well, we're doing this. Read it carefully, but don't come after us. We've got this. Just letting you know in case something does happen.

Luv ya, hothead.

Jimmy stared like an idiot. Then he sat on the bed and opened the folder. With a frown, he quickly scanned the contents, his gut twisting tighter with every word until he wasn't sure if he could ever eat again. It was bad. Very bad.

A knock on the door startled him and he dropped the papers.

"Kay?"

Kyle's voice. Thank God. Jimmy rushed to open it just to meet a squinting Kyle on the other side.

"Dude, why are you in their room?"

Jimmy shoved the folder at him. "Not the issue."

Kyle took it, but didn't even look at it. "Yes, it's an issue. Can't you respect their privacy?"

"They're not even here. They're—"

"I know where they are."

Jimmy froze and narrowed his eyes. "How do you know where they are?" And why wasn't he panicking as he should?

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Kay receives a mysterious envelope from Christine. Of course I looked inside it on the plane while she was sleeping."

It was hysterical and tragic at the same time. "So why didn't you stop them?"

"Why would I stop them? It's their mission. I trust them fully. I actually wanted to see if they were back."

Jimmy had no idea if Kyle was making fun of him or not. "They're going to break into Snitch Gravel's base to steal his research. Remember what happened the last time we broke into Snitch Gravel's base?"

"It's not a well-guarded stronghold in the middle of the desert this time. He has an office in a public building. But since you're so worried and they're not back, we can go pick them up."

Jimmy nodded, deciding to screw analyzing Kyle's temporary lack of judgment because it was a waste of time. So he followed him out of the room, into the lobby, out on the street where they hailed a cab.

"Are you really not worried?" he asked as they got in the car.

"I'm going out of my mind," Kyle answered, calmly. "But I'm trying my best not to be an unreasonable buttmunch."

"A what now?"

"Ask Jessie, because I still have no idea what she meant."

⭐⭐⭐

Kay frowned as she surveyed the building. This seemed too easy. Sure, there were guards, but two of them in front of a side entrance so far. Jessie climbed down from the tree behind her, hiding a pair of binoculars inside her blue sari.

"Found the office," she said. "It's on the first floor. The bad news is Snitch Gravel is actually inside it."

Kay nodded, but couldn't help the shudder running through her body. The last time she saw Snitch Gravel, he'd just ordered Kyle killed. The memory still made her want to dissolve into tears because it had been her fault, for being naïve and stupid. Her hands balled into fists. She was done being stupid.

"Is he alone?"

Jessie threw her a sideways glance. "Yeah. But I highly doubt he won't recognize us, even with our brilliant disguises."

Kay was afraid of that, too. The difference between Snitch Gravel and his men was that he was actually dangerous beyond bumbling punches and poor attempts at shooting. And Kyle had mentioned that he had an elite guard which was not full of idiots.

"We could plant weak explosives in a closet or something to draw him out," Jessie said. "The plans show there's one at the end of the hall, two doors down from the office."

Kay nodded. "Let's get to it then."

The first part of their plan was to flirt with the guards at the entrance and offer them some spiked tea. It worked like a charm, and after hiding them in the nearest bushes, they finally entered the building. The place crawled with people and vendors, being a sort of expositions hall for traditional food and handcrafts.

Their eyes sharp for more henchmen, the girls made their way through the crowd, clutching their guns under their saris. They hoped it wouldn't come to shooting, but they had to be ready for the worst. They found more guards on the first floor, but they were busy flirting with a pair of flower girls, so they were ignored. The hallway was blissfully filled with stands selling shawls, saris and traditional jewelry.

The moment the door to the office came into view, it opened. Kay and Jessie froze and ducked behind the nearest shawl-selling stall. Snitch Gravel himself came out, dressed as usual in his impeccable black suit, crimson shirt and tie, and shiny shoes. He was missing the silk top hat so his black hair fell over his forehead with messy grace. He carried an empty plastic bottle of water he kept twisting in his hand, and headed for the stairs.

When he passed by their stand, Kay had to fight the sudden urge to hiss at him. The man gave her the creeps, especially when he did normal stuff and didn't look like a murderous crime lord.

"Don't you just wish he was bald?" Jessie mumbled.

"Huh?" Kay turned to her, surprised.

"He has the same haircut our boys have and the same hair color and it bugs the hell out of me," Jessie mumbled. "Makes him look too familiar." She sprinted away towards the door.

Kay followed, twisting Jessie's words inside her head. It was true, Snitch Gravel's appearance was a big reason she felt incredibly uncomfortable around him, because he didn't look like what he was: vile, cruel, evil. With his smirk and his sarcasm, he reminded her too much of normal, likable people.

They reached the office door and sneaked inside, closing the door behind them as quickly as possible. The room was large and spacious with a big window behind the desk. It was pretty empty in terms of furniture: the desk, two chairs and a few filing cabinets.

Kay darted for the desk while Jessie took out locksmith instruments to lock the door, and stayed next to it to keep a look out.

"We have maybe a few minutes," Jessie pointed out.

"We can get out through the window," Kay mumbled, browsing the documents in the drawers. Bills, contracts, plans she didn't have time to check out. And finally, a transparent document holder came into view. She pulled it out and browsed through it – it was filled with sketches and handwritten notes. This had to be it.

"Shit, he's coming," Jessie said, stepping away from the door. "We have to go."

Kay could hear the footsteps too and hurried to close the drawer and secure the documents. They hadn't taken their magnets out. They didn't have time.

A crash from outside made them freeze. Snitch Gravel's footsteps also stopped. They could hear new, running ones together with more commotion coming from outside the window.

"Boss," said a muffled words. "The brats are here!"

"Seriously?" Snitch Gravel asked. His footsteps moved away.

Kay spared a second to let out a breath of relief then hurried to the window to see what was going on. She'd barely made it there when Jimmy came running and screeched to a halt right under them. He turned towards his pursuer and made a come-hither motion.

The henchman obliged. Jimmy dropped to his back, intercepted the incoming man with his feet and threw him over his head. He barely managed to jump to his feet when two more men hurtled around the corner. Before they could reach him, Kyle dropped out of a nearby tree right on top of them and knocked them both out.

"Nice!" Jimmy extended his hand and they high-fived.

Kay couldn't stop staring. What the hell were they doing? With grins still on their faces, they started running again, around the corner and out of sight. A whole bunch of goons hurried off after them.

"I think they might be giving us the time to escape," Jessie said.

Kay jumped since she hadn't heard her coming next to her. "How would they even know we're here?"

"I kinda left Jimmy a clue," Jessie said, her cheeks turning red. "You know, in case of emergency."

"You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"Hey, we were about to get caught. They distracted Snitch Gravel."

"What if they get hurt?"

Jessie huffed. "Give them some credit. Did you see them out there? They're having fun. They know the men won't shoot in a crowd this big unless they really have to." She took out her magnet and secured it to her belt. "Let's get out of here."

Kay followed Jessie's example and the two checked the coast was clear before lowering themselves to the grass under the window. They hurried to the nearest bushes, under a tree with lavish foliage and waited. It took Kyle and Jimmy a few minutes to appear around the corner again, broad smiles still on their faces.

Jessie rose from the bushes and waved them over. For a second, they seemed confused, but took the hint and joined them in their hiding place. Snitch Gravel's men stopped as they reached the corner and looked around confused. There were five of them, but none seemed to want to step forward.

"Do you think they're in the tree?" one of them asked.

"I dunno. Don't wanna be jumped on."

"Maybe they already raced around the corner. Those brats run fast."

A few moments of silence. Kay clenched her fists, getting ready for a potential fistfight. The odds weren't in the men's favor. They might have slightly outnumbered them, but they had Kyle. The men hesitated for another few seconds then hurried around the corner.

"Let's go," Jessie whispered, leading the way around the tree and towards the stone fence surrounding the property.

They quickly scaled it and lost themselves on the busy streets. Kay kept looking back as she did, feeling this couldn't be over, that it was too easy. They couldn't have escaped just like that, not with Snitch Gravel himself there.

"Well, you're one hot Indian chick," Jimmy said, pinching Jessie's cheek. "Thanks for the clues."

"Thanks for not freaking out over it," Jessie replied.

"I did freak out, but Kyle has a point. I should trust you girls more. My Neanderthal nature needs to go away."

They both started laughing and Kay could finally relax, too, and pay attention to the conversation properly. She turned to Kyle, expecting to see an amused expression on his face. The chillness in his gaze froze her.

"What's up?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're mad at me for doing this without you."

"Oh, he's not," Jimmy said. "He knew all along and still let you girls go."

Kyle's expression didn't soften or change in any way. He wasn't exactly glaring at her, but it made her squirm either way,

"You have to trust me," she mumbled.

"Oh, I do trust you," he finally said, but his tone was harsh. "And this..." He indicated towards her disguise. "It's very good and could probably fool anyone except us. Since you two came to our rescue I also think your mission was successful."

Kay nodded warily. What he said was all fine and dandy, but she expected a mega but to come and ruin everything.

"What I don't appreciate is you lying to me."

And there it was. Her face caught fire and she looked away.

"Honestly, Kay, I thought we were above that."

Jessie and Jimmy picked up the pace to give them some privacy. Kyle and Kay both stopped and pulled next to a nearby diner. The file in Kay's arms suddenly felt like a burden.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would insist you do it," she mumbled. "This was my mission—"

"You knew, huh?"

Kay jumped. She hadn't seen him so pissed in long time. "Yes. Face it Kyle, you're overprotective."

"Really now? For your information, I knew about the mission. I checked the folder while you were sleeping. I know, shitty thing to do, but I know the agency are assholes and I wanted to make you sure the orders were okay. Did I like what I found? No. Did I stop you? No again. Why? Because I trust you."

Kay actually slouched under the weight of his words. He was right, he was totally and completely right. She was the one who kept underestimating him, who never gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"I have nothing against you going off on missions, Kay, but hiding things from me? Lying to me? No."

She bit her lip. Why did she keep screwing up? And saying sorry sounded so pathetic right now. "Okay," she said instead. "You proved me wrong. You're right, I can definitely trust you and tell you this stuff." She raised her eyes.

Kyle looked a little surprised by her take on the problem, and she was glad she hadn't apologized instead of telling him that she'd learned the lesson.

"I am sorry for underestimating you. And for forgetting that we're a team."

He smiled weakly. "You were always a fast learner." He paused for a few seconds, scanning the crowd. "And you are one hot Indian girl."

Kay laughed and cuddled into his arms. "What were you and Jimmy doing anyway?"

"Distracting them. Basically let them chase us around the building, acting like we wanted to get inside. Apparently behaving like brats had them so confused that they decided it wasn't worth shooting us."

"Well, it worked." Kay was glad when they started walking again and he kept his arm around her waist. "Sometimes doing obvious stuff is more stealthy than sneaking around."

"Totally agree. But just so you know, I can tell when you're pretending to be tired. Note for later."

She prodded his ribs. "What do you mean note for later?"

"In case you ever try to pull the 'Oh, Kyle, I'm too tired, can we do it tomorrow' card."

She prodded him harder. "Hey, you're the one who stopped. I'm never too tired."

He kissed her hair and quickened their pace. "And I love you even more for it."

Kay smiled to herself, glad that at least this mission was over and that she really did have the most awesome boyfriend in the world. But hey, she'd known that for a very long time. And she wasn't about to forget it again.

🌟🌟🌟

This was a fun little detour. But I think things are going a bit too well. Time to screw that up.

Was it really that easy? Was not overthinking the plan enough to confuse Snitch Gravel? Or does he know and actually let them.

I had fun writing out this part. Time to get people in trouble again.

I know I've been updating fast. I'm sure my pace will falter, but it depends on how fast I finish the book. Not long to go now.

Thanks for reading and vote comment share chicken