Disruption (35 page)

Dalson checked his watch. “Good luck, Matt. I’ll be curious to see how you do with real challenges.”

As he headed back up to the path, I muttered, “Yeah, me too.”

Chapter 53

Buses left the camp first thing in the morning, and we arrived at the Sledge Industries parking lot a couple hours later. There were cars waiting for my team.

“Thanks for the most interesting camp yet, Matt,” Juno said. He held up his phone, which looked identical to mine. “I can’t wait until our first mission. It’s going to be great.”

“Yeah,” Yaakov said, “who’d have thought I’d win the Delta challenge the first time I was ever picked. My parents aren’t going to believe me.”

Angie nudged Rylee. “I guess we all owe you a thank-you, as well. You put the team together.”

Rylee tilted her head. “But Matt agreed, clearly.” She turned to me. “Thanks, Matt. I don’t think I could have handled going to another one of those camps.”

“You and me both,” I said.

“It was nice to be trusted,” Amara said. “You’re not like other Deltas, Matt. I’m looking forward to working with you again. And I don’t like working with
any
one.”

Juno took a step back and gasped dramatically. “No! But you’re such a people person, Amara.”

The others laughed, and even Amara smiled.

It had only been a few weeks since my dad had dropped me off, but it felt like months. I guessed that was why my discomfort with my team felt so, well, comfortable, even though they were all a bunch of criminals, or at least criminals in training. My dad hadn’t intended me to be sent to a camp for criminals; there was just no way. I knew that as well as I knew anything. But his goal—to make me less of a troublemaker—had worked.

I was different. The camp had changed me, and not into a criminal. I wasn’t interested in pulling pranks anymore. It seemed so childish compared to what I’d just been through. I wanted to work for the CIA. I wanted to stop people like Chase.

“See ya when I see ya,” Juno said as he strolled to his car.

The others said their good-byes and then walked off to their rides too. I wondered how much farther all of them had to go. I knew Juno was headed back to Japan, and Amara to Africa, but I wondered about the rest of them. They could be headed anywhere.

I heaved my bag onto my shoulder and glanced toward the alley where my dad had dropped me off. The lights to his Honda blinked and I made my way over. I threw my bag into the back seat and slid into the front for the drive home.

Dad grabbed my chin and turned my face to his. “What happened to your face?”

I shook my head. “I slipped down a ravine during one of our hikes. It looks a lot worse than it is.”

He nodded and then looked at me for an uncomfortable minute. “I know it’s only been a few weeks, but you look different. And not just because of all the scratches and bruises.”

I shrugged. I felt different too. But I wasn’t really sure what I should, or
could,
tell him. He started the car and pulled onto the street.

“How was it?” he asked finally.

I shrugged again. “Better and worse than I expected it to be.”

He nodded as if that made perfect sense. “Did you have time to think about what you did at the assembly?”

I stopped myself from snickering. The assembly seemed like a million years ago, and honestly I hadn’t given it much thought at all. But what I’d done
was
stupid. It was thoughtless and juvenile. It seemed like something Chase would do, only he’d use poisonous gas. I wasn’t proud of it anymore, that’s for sure. I was embarrassed about it.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” I said finally. “All I can do is promise it won’t happen again.”

My dad pulled up to a stop sign and glanced at me. “You know, you look like you actually mean that.”

“Yeah, well,” I began, “let’s just say it’s not something I’m proud of anymore.”

We didn’t speak for another couple blocks, and then he put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’m proud of you, son.”

We turned onto our street, and I spotted Jason leaning against the basketball pole in my driveway.

“Your mom’s waiting to see you,” my dad said. He nodded at Jason through the windshield. “Don’t be long.”

It was only a bit after eight in the morning, and I’d never known Jason to get up before noon on summer vacation. I gave him a nod when I got out of the car and gestured to the street. He walked his bike beside me without saying a word until we were nearly a block away from my house.

“What I tell you,” I said, “needs to stay just between us. Okay?”

He nodded.

“I’m serious, Jason. This is literally my life we’re talking about. You can’t tell anyone. Not a single person.”

He held up his hand. “I promise, dude. You know I don’t blab about important stuff. Do I need to remind you of all the secrets I already know about you? Or all the secrets you know about me that you could tell if I ever broke my word?”

I shook my head. “I know. I just want you to really understand, that’s all.”

“I get it.”

Once I started talking, everything just sort of fell out of me. I’d wanted to tell someone for so long that it was just such a relief to have Jason to talk to. I told him everything. I even told him about every time I’d gotten beat up and about crying when I was strapped to the chair getting interrogated by Butler. He didn’t laugh even once, and when I was done, he just rubbed the back of his neck and kept muttering the word
unbelievable
over and over.

I let out a long sigh and felt about a million times better.

“This is crazy, Matt,” Jason said after a couple minutes. “Just crazy. I mean, when I saw the news about the station and how someone had blown the place up, I didn’t know what to think. I thought maybe Kalvin gave you the wrong stuff or something. It looked like a war zone out there.”

“I know,” I said. “I was there.”

He nodded. “But you’re a hero, Matt. You saved people. You saved a
lot
of people. And now you’re a CIA agent. You’re like double-oh-seven. Only cooler because you’re a kid. If you help shut these criminals down, you’ll be, like, a full-fledged spy.” He shook his head at me. “What are you going to tell your parents?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Absolutely nothing. I’ll let Dad think he sent me to a strict camp, and that I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll keep out of trouble.” I lifted my shoulders and shrugged. “Our pranks just don’t seem that important anymore.”

“I know what you mean,” Jason said. “After seeing what went down at the station, I’m not really interested in doing that kind of stuff anymore.”

That surprised me. Jason lived for pranks. I actually thought he’d love the fact that he’d been questioned by FBI and CIA. But the way he was acting, I believed that his pranking days were over.

Jason drew in a deep breath and stood tall. “I’ll help you. Whatever you need. Maybe you could even ask them if I could be your partner.”

“You’re my best friend, Jay,” I said. “I’ll ask them, and if they say no, I’ll still want your help.”

He held out his fist, and I bumped it with mine.

“So when do you think these criminals are going to contact you to give you your first mission?”

I shrugged. “I dunno. A week? A month maybe?”

The phone in my pocket vibrated, and I pulled it out. The screen was lit up with the name
Alpha
written
across the display.

I blinked. “Or right now.”

-END-

About the Author

Steven Whibley has lived in British Columbia, Alberta, and Japan; volunteered in Thailand, Myanmar, and Columbia; explored the ruins of Tikal, Angkor Wat, and Cappadocia; and swum with sharks in Belize. The only thing he loves more than traveling the globe and exploring new cultures is writing books (and spending time with his wife and two year old son, Isaiah, of course). Whibley is the seventh of nine children, and uncle to 30 nieces and nephews (and counting).

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