Keeping Me (Spy Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “Did my dad force all these people to come?” I ask Jasmine, as we walk into a clothing store.

  She nods. “Your dad takes the word protective to a whole new level. Though, I can’t blame him. What Nolan did... none of us saw coming. Nolan is the absolute best. If I were your dad, I would be taking a lot of precautions. Though, maybe getting thirty people to guard you today was a bit overboard.”

  “Thirty!” I half-whisper, half-yell.

  She just grins and holds up a dress. “Try this on. I need to see what size you are.”

  I grab the hanger from her hand and head back to the dressing room. I don’t have to look behind me to see that she’s following.

  “All clear,” a guy tells me, opening a dressing room door for me.

  “You’re not coming in with me,” I say.

  He laughs. “Nope. I’m just here to make sure nobody else tries to.”

  As in Nolan.

  I let out a sigh and shut the door.

  Goodbye privacy, hello twenty-four hour surveillance. Still, I’ll take this over being starved and locked in a room, any day. At least I have somebody who cares.

  I slip the dress on and look at myself in the mirror.

  It fits.

  I’ve never worn clothes that fit before. And somehow, I look less like a twelve-year-old and more like a teenager. A too-skinny teenager. But still, a teenager. I seriously can’t wait to gain some weight.

  I walk out of the dressing room so Jasmine can look at it. I am not sure how this whole shopping thing works, but I pretty much need her opinion. She’s standing there, waiting for me, along with the other guy, whom I don’t know.

  “What do you think?” I ask her.

  “You’re really skinny,” she says, frowning.

  “Malnourished,” I say, using the word that my doctor used.

  “Yeah,” Jasmine says. “If I ever meet the woman who did this to you... well, she’d better hope I don’t meet her.”

  As sick as what she’s saying is, I smile. Jasmine cares about me, which makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I have so many people who care about me, and I like it.

  “This dress looks good on you,” she says.

  “Thanks.”

  “We will pick up a couple of dresses and some shirts, skirts and pajamas,” she says. “I don’t want to get you too much, because you’re going to gain weight soon. We will just have to come shopping again.”

  I smile at the idea of shopping again with Jasmine.

  I go and get changed back into my clothes and walk out with the dress in hand.

  “Please make sure that none of the guys take me shopping,” I say, as we continue looking through the racks. “I always want you to bring me.”

  “I don’t think your dad wants you spending any more time with those boys than absolutely necessary,” she says.

  Her comment makes me roll my eyes. “My dad thinks I’m going to run off and marry every guy that I meet, which is just ridiculous. I’ve never even had a boyfriend, and I don’t see any of the guys as more than a friend.”

  “Really?” she asks. “That surprises me. Pretty much all the girls have a crush on Sander.”

  I laugh. “Of course they do. Sander is very likable. He’s cute.”

  “But not to you?”

  “I like Sander as a best friend,” I answer.

  “What about Bass?”

  “He hates me,” I say, giving my automatic answer.

  “But he’s hot, right?” she asks. “All the girls like him too, but he’s never given anybody the time of day.”

  “He’s very... good-looking,” I say. “But, like I said, he hates me. So, there is no point in seeing him as anything more than a friend.”

  “I see,” she says, but she has a huge smile on her face.

  “What do you see?” I ask.

  “Nothing, nothing,” she says, and then holds up a skirt. “Try this on.”

  I grab the skirt from her and head back to the dressing room.

  I think I’m going to like having Jasmine as my babysitter.

  Friends.

  Dad actually hangs out with me later that night. He cooks me dinner, which is amazing. I didn’t think men were supposed to be good cooks. My stepdad and brother never did anything in the kitchen, except occasionally get a bowl of cereal. But my dad is a great cook, and I love eating his food.

  “Want to watch a movie or something?” I ask.

  I still don’t like movies that much, but I want to hang out with my dad some more.

  “I can’t. I have to work,” he says. “Sebastian is going to stay here with you.”

  “Sebastian?” I ask, then groan. “Why him?”

  After spending the day with Jasmine, I’ve grown rather fond of her. I’ve never had a girl-friend before.

  “Should I be offended?” I hear Sebastian ask, as he walks up behind me.

  I hate when he does that whole sneaky thing. They’re way too good at it in this school.

  I ignore Sebastian. “Dad, come on. We never get to hang out.”

  “I know,” Dad says. “But this is important. You are my number one priority and right now you are not safe. Once I get everything back to somewhat normal, then I promise I will hang out with you more.”

  “And teach me how to drive?” I ask. Because I’m dying to know.

  “I’ll teach you,” Sebastian says.

  I look at him with my mouth open. “You really think I want a seventeen-year-old teaching me how to drive? You’ve probably just learned yourself.”

  “I’ve been driving since I was old enough to reach the pedals on a car,” he says.

  “Sebastian is probably a better driver than I am,” Dad says. “The kid has been training his whole life.”

  I look at Sebastian, then at my dad. I trust my dad’s judgment and he’s probably right about Sebastian. I don’t think there is anything that Bass is not good at. Except, maybe, making friends. “Okay.”

  I hear a loud sound that echoes outside. It sounds like a gun going off. It echoes through the woods surrounding the house.

  “What wa—”

  Before I can get the words out of my mouth, I hear another loud noise at the back door. I realize it’s somebody busting down the door. There are more gun shots.

  Dad grabs my hand and pulls me towards the staircase. We run up the stairs, and I look back to make sure Sebastian is still there. He is. We go into my dad’s office. He shuts and locks the door.

  “This won’t keep them out long,” Dad says, walking around his desk. He grabs a gun that he has strapped at his ankle and hands it to me.

  “Just pull this back and pull the trigger if you need it,” he tells me. “This gun doesn’t have a safety, so only cock it if you need it.”

  I nod, taking the weapon from him. I am not great with guns, but I have been taught how to handle them. It’s only been a couple of classes, but I think I can handle using it if I need to.

  “What are we going to do?” I ask.

  Dad looks at Sebastian. “You know what to do.”

  “I do,” Sebastian says.

  There is a loud crack at the door. A gun goes off and the door swings open. We all duck behind my dad’s desk.

  The sound of bullets wiz through the air, the room smells like gun powder and smoke. I see the fire from the guns, and I lean closer to my dad, hoping he can keep me safe. I’m not ready to die.

  “Sebastian, take my daughter!” my dad yells. “Now!

  “Sir, I can’t leave you here like this,” Sebastian says.

  “You have to. Protect her. Do whatever it takes,” Dad says.

  I look over at Sebastian. I see the struggle in his eyes. But I see the exact moment that he makes up his mind. Within an instant, I am on my feet and I am swung behind him. He’s shielding me with his own body. I can’t even process what is happening as Sebastian pulls me behind him. I don’t have time to even think about the fact that I’m leaving my father behind.

  I trembl
e as something explodes from behind me. Sebastian twists around, his eyes meeting mine.

  “Do you trust me?”

  I nod without hesitating. “I trust you with my life.”

  “Good,” he says. “We’re going to jump.” He takes his gun and busts out the window of the second story window. Before I can react, or tell him that he’s crazy, he grabs me and pulls me with him as he jumps out the window. I am falling for half a second before we hit the ground with a jolt, and I’m surprised that there is no pain. Sebastian has me on his back, and he pushes me off.

  I look at him, my mouth open wide.

  “You’re crazy,” I say.

  “Duck!” he yells.

  I listen, crouching to the ground.

  A gun shot goes off over my head, and I quickly cover my head with my arms.

  Sebastian stretches an arm down, pulling me up.

  “We’ve got to run. Now!”

  He grabs my hand and pulls me before I am even fully on my feet. He starts to run and I run, trying to keep up. He’s a lot faster than I am, but I give it everything I’ve got. It’s crazy how fast you can run when you’re scared for your life.

  I hear a gunshot kind of close, so I duck my head down as we run on instinct. Sebastian stops running and pulls me against a large tree. He puts a hand over my mouth so I know not to talk.

  “You can’t hide from me,” I hear a familiar voice say.

  Nolan.

  I swear my heart stops beating for a few seconds.

  “Come on, Serenity. You know me,” he says. “I won’t hurt you.”

  If it weren’t for Sebastian’s hand over my mouth, I might have yelled out, “Like you didn’t hurt Gage.” I’d lost every ounce of trust I had for him when he shot Gage. How could he do that to us?

  There is another noise, and I hear footsteps running in the opposite direction.

  Sebastian physically relaxes, moving his hand away from my mouth.

  “He’s gone,” Sebastian whispers.

  I let out a sigh of relief, but my chest still hurts. Nolan was my friend and his betrayal still hurts.

  “Are you okay?” he asks.

  I nod my head once. But I’m not okay. How could I be? But, we don’t have time for me to have a mental breakdown right now. Not when we are still running for our lives.

  “Okay,” he says. “We’ve got to keep moving. We’ve got another mile to the clearing. A helicopter is waiting for us. It’s going to fly us to an airport in another town.”

  “Airport?” I ask. “Where are we going?”

  “Home,” he answers.

  “Home?”

  “The United States,” he clarifies.

  We’re going to America.

  It’s weird for him to call it home.

  We take off again, this time at a slower pace. I’m a little worried that Nolan will find us, but Sebastian doesn’t seem at all worried. I trust Sebastian to take care of me. I know he will protect me at all costs. He proved that by standing in front of me as bullets whizzed by.

  “Can I trust you now? Since you saved my life twice,” I ask. “And since you basically made me jump from a two story window...”

  “I think I’ve proven that you can trust me,” Sebastian answers.

  “What about you?” I ask. “Do you trust me?”

  The leaves crunch under my feet as we walk through the woods. Sebastian doesn’t answer for so long that I’m certain he’s not going to. It’s probably an awkward question anyway.

  “I’m working on it,” he finally answers. “I think that if I could trust anybody, besides myself, it would be you, Serenity. Karlie. Whatever name you want to go by.”

  I grin. “You didn’t call me princess.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” he says.

  “I think I prefer Serenity,” I say.

  “I think I’ll stick to princess,” he says.

  I roll my eyes, but smile. He can’t see me since it’s so dark, but he probably knows, anyway. I’m so easy to read.

  Somehow, the nickname that Sebastian originally meant as an insult has grown on me. I like it. And I just don’t think he means it as an insult anymore, even though he would never admit it to me. I think he likes me. Maybe, just maybe, Sebastian and I are friends.

  A few minutes later, I follow Sebastian into a clearing where a helicopter is waiting for us. We get in as the pilot starts it. Sebastian buckles me and then buckles himself. He barely gets it done when the helicopter is lifted from the ground. He grabs a helmet and hands it to me. I put it on as he puts one on himself.

  “How did we take off so fast?” I ask him, but he can’t hear me over the sound of the helicopter.

  He pushes a button on the side of my helmet.

  “Now you can talk,” he says, his voice coming through my helmet.

  “Oh, my gosh! This is so cool,” I say.

  He laughs.

  “How did we take off so fast?” I ask. “I thought the engine had to warm up or something.”

  “It was preset for a rapid start,” Sebastian explains.

  “Okay,” I say, not at all understanding what he’s saying. I know nothing about helicopters. In fact, this is my first time on one. I look down from the window as we fly, seeing the school, the walled city, and all the trees. It’s beautiful, and I’m sad to be leaving my home behind.

  Sebastian doesn’t say anything else to me, and I don’t say anything to him. If I tried, I would probably cry. Leaving my dad behind, hearing Nolan’s voice... it’s all too much. I just hope that my dad fixes everything so I can have a new normal. I’m tired of running away.

  Not weird at all.

  Sebastian shakes my shoulder, waking me up.

  “We’re almost there,” he says.

  I stretch, looking out the window of the plane. “Where is there?”

  He never told me. He just said we were going to the United States.

  “We are landing in Los Angeles,” he answers. “Then we are going on a road trip.”

  Los Angeles? Why did we fly to the other side of the country? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just land on the East Coast?

  Wait... road trip?

  “Road trip?” I ask, sitting up straighter. “I’ve never been to California before. Or anywhere besides Florida and Switzerland.”

  “Well, you’re about to see a lot more of our home country,” he says.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “You’ll just have to wait and see,” he says.

  I look out the tiny airplane window as we make our descent into Los Angeles International Airport. It’s dark outside, but everything is lit up brightly. I’ve seen this view in movies, but in person it’s so much bigger.

  “Whoa,” I say, putting my face against the glass so I can see better.

  I hear Sebastian laugh behind me, but I don’t care. This view... it makes me feel alive. Like I really can survive this mess and take over the world. I mean, my dad has taken over the world. Why can’t I, as well?

  “Trust me, LA isn’t so beautiful up close,” he says.

  “I bet there are parts that are beautiful,” I say. “Maybe you’ve just only been to the bad ones.”

  “Are you always so optimistic?”

  “Are you always so pessimistic?”

  “Well, we were just shot at,” Sebastian says. “We fled the country with nothing, and now are hiding in the one place that I’m sure Nolan is already looking. Excuse me for being a little bit pessimistic.”

  “He’s looking in LA?” I ask.

  “No,” he answers. “I don’t think he’s looking in LA specifically. I mean America.”

  “Well, good for us, America is big. So, he has a lot of places to search,” I say. “What exactly is the plan here?”

  “Well, first we are going to get out of California,” Sebastian answers. “There are way too many cameras for my comfort level. And then we will be going somewhere low key. But until we are safely away from the city...” he pulls someth
ing out of his bag and puts it on my head, “You’re Sarah.”

  “Sarah?” I ask. “Isn’t being Karlie and Serenity enough? Now I’m Sarah, too?”

  I pull the hat off my head and look at it. It’s a pink and white hat with a Superman logo on it. Like this is going to help hide me at all.

  He pulls something else out of the bag and holds it up. It’s a passport with my picture on it. It has an address for somewhere in Oklahoma, and a fake name. Sarah Cunningham. And apparently, I am her.

  “We’ve got to be careful. Nolan was trained at the same school as I was; that means he’s dangerous. He knows all the tricks, and if you were here with anybody besides me, you would be easy to find,” Sebastian says. “Luckily for you, my background goes back a little farther than Spy School. You and I are about to fall off the grid, and we won’t be found again until I want us to be.”

  “You’re kind of scary awesome,” I say.

  He grins. “That might be the best compliment you’ve ever given me.”

  “Don’t get used to it.”

  I stick my tongue out at him and he hits the front of my hat, pulling it down over my eyes.

  “Hey!” I say, putting the hat back in place. “I can’t believe I’m about to be back in America. It’s so weird.”

  “Tell me about it,” Sebastian says. “I haven’t been here since I was thirteen.”

  “Why so long?” I ask.

  He shrugs.

  “What is the name on your passport?”

  “Sebastian,” he answers.

  “Why do you get to use your real name?”

  “I’m special like that,” he says. “Once we get out of LA and on the road, you can be whoever you want to be.”

  “Serenity,” I answer. “I want to be called Serenity.”

  “I still think I’ll stick to princess.” Sebastian says.

  “I thought we were over that whole horrible nickname,” I say. “We were making such great progress. I sort of thought we were becoming friends.”

  Bass turns to look at me, his eyes narrowed. “No offense, Princess, but you and I are never going to be friends. You’re just my job, that’s it.”