Disruption (13 page)

“Double agent?” I echoed. It took a couple seconds to make sense of what he’d said, but then it hit me. I’d seen enough movies to know that where there are spies, there are double agents. It seemed incredible that there might be spy camps for kids in other countries, but then no more incredible than that there was a spy camp for kids in my own country, and here I was. Of course another agency would want to know what was being taught to the next generation of the enemy.

The doctor led me to the door and nudged me out. “Keep it clean and dry. Come back if the stitches open; otherwise, we’ll see you next week to take them out. And remember what I told you.”

“Thank y—” The door closed before I could finish.

As we made our way back to the cabin, I told Juno what the doctor had said.

“Urban legend,” Juno said with a smirk. “Every camp I’ve ever been to has the same stories.” He cleared his throat. “In Dubai, it was the MSS. Everyone swore up and down they had agents in the desert just waiting for an unsuspecting camper to wander away so they could snag them and interrogate them. By the end of the camp, everyone was accusing everyone else of being a double agent. It got pretty dicey. I don’t plan on going back there anytime soon.”

“MSS?” I said under my breath.

“I know,” Juno added, “as if the Chinese are going to set up a snatch-and-grab
around a kids’ camp in Dubai.” He laughed again. “I think the Agency spreads those rumors just to keep the younger kids from wandering too far away from camp.”

I bit my lip as we climbed up the steps to the cabin. “Dr. Lester didn’t look like he was joking.”

Juno shrugged. “Maybe the reason Dr. Lester works at a camp for kids is because he’s not all there.” He tapped the side of his head. “Trust me. There’s no one in the woods waiting to whisk you off to be waterboarded. They’re not smart enough to see this camp for what it is.” He shoved open the door. Yaakov was on his bed, tapping away at his keyboard.

“What are you doing here?” Juno asked.

Yaakov didn’t look up. “They put me in Computer Basics
for the morning activity.” He shook his head. “Idiots.” He gave his keyboard a final tap and then looked up. “I hacked into the instructor’s console and destroyed the—” He pointed to me. “What the heck happened to you?”

I shook my head and was about to say “nothing” when Juno opened his mouth.

“His gun bit him,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know who taught you about guns, Matt, but they should’ve told you that the slide on a Glock sits lower than a lot of other guns.”

Yaakov grimaced. “Slide-bite? Ouch. That happened to a kid at my first camp. The slide cut his hand right to the bone.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I snapped. “I’m fine.” I held up my hand and wiggled my fingers. Pain bolted through my hand and up my arm.

“Yeah,” Yaakov said, “you look fine. Hopefully you have an easier activity for the afternoon.”

I walked over to my bed and looked at my clipboard. “Basic Self-Defense.” I’d actually been looking forward to this activity even before I realized the camp was part of the CIA. I blew out a breath.
The CIA
. It seemed so obvious now. I mean, every spy needs to know how to fight. Plus, girls love guys who know how to handle themselves. But there wasn’t a lot they’d be teaching me with a mangled hand.

“I guess we’re together all day,” Juno said. “That’s what I have this afternoon too.”

“
You?
” my voice squeaked. I remembered what Rylee had told me about Juno, and how he’d been training as a fighter since he could crawl. “You’re in
Basic
Self-Defense?”

Juno eyed me suspiciously. “Yeah. Why? Has someone been talking about me?”

“I just heard you were already a pretty good fighter.”

Juno jutted out his chin. “I do all right. Not that the camp would know anything about it. This is the first time I can fight without having to worry about repercussions.”

“Repercussions?”

Juno laughed. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Point is I’m actually looking forward to this activity.”

“I’m not,” Yaakov said. “I have Self-Defense tomorrow, and I’m going to get pummeled.” He waved his palms at me. “These hands were not meant for fighting.”

Juno turned and stared at Yaakov. “That’s true. They look like they were made for playing with a Barbie.”

I laughed, but Yaakov just smiled and then lowered his eyes back to his computer screen.

“Look, Yak,” Juno continued, “here’s a bit of advice. When you’re in a fight, at some point you’re going to be in very close contact. If you can, grab the guy’s finger and break it.”

I winced.

“The biggest guy you’ll fight will have a pinky that a ten-year-old could snap. Just don’t hesitate.” Juno grabbed his own finger and pretended to snap it. “Works every time.”

“Great advice,” Yaakov said. “Except that once I break a guy’s finger, he’ll still be able to use his other hand to break my face.”

Juno shrugged. “That’s true. In that case, do your best to disable his strong hand.”

Yaakov groaned.

“Why don’t you just hack the system and get yourself out of Self-Defense?” I asked.

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” Yaakov said. “I’ve done that in pretty much every other camp. But I can’t do it here, because everyone on a Delta team takes Self-Defense. Everyone. They’ll notice if I haven’t done it. Then they’ll look into why and see that my name is off the roster. Then they’ll know I hacked their systems, and I’ll be kicked out of the program.”

Juno nodded. “That leaves only one option.”

Yaakov nearly came out of his seat. “What’s that?”

Juno took a step closer to the stick-thin nerd. “Learn how to fight.”

“Sure,” Yaakov said, “I’ll get right on it.”

Chapter 20

After lunch, Juno and I headed for the self-defense building. At least two dozen campers were already in the room taking instruction from a large bald man with tattoos on his forearms. Most of the kids looked smaller than me, so I was grateful for that. Plus, Chase wasn’t among them, so I didn’t have to worry about dealing with him. I took another look and realized that none of the other Deltas or their teammates were there.

That was weird.

I was about to ask Juno about it when he nudged me toward a door on the adjacent wall. He opened it and shoved me back outside and into the woods behind the building. I stumbled and nearly tripped over a root.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Juno cocked an eyebrow. “I was going to ask you the same thing. You know we’re supposed to move quickly when we’re going to auxiliary locations. You were just standing there waiting for an invitation to step through the door.”

I wondered if an auxiliary location was like the underground shooting range. I straightened and dusted myself off. Juno passed me and started walking down a path that became narrower and narrower until it was so narrow it looked like it might have been created by rabbits.

The path twisted to the left, to the right, and then, all at once, we stepped through a wall of foliage and found ourselves in a section of the forest that had been cleared. The canopy blocked out the sky. The clearing was large and circular, about three times the size of my bedroom back home. It was the perfect spot for a picnic.

At least two dozen other campers were already there, including, to my supreme disappointment, Chase. The only good thing was he sported a black eye. I smiled, knowing someone had gotten a good shot the previous night. I wished it had been me.

“Dibs fighting the Grizzly,” Chase said with a snicker. “We have some unfinished business that needs sorting.”

Other campers laughed, but only those wearing squirrels on their chests. The rest remained mostly silent and stern-faced. I glanced up at Juno. His grin couldn’t have been wider.

“Who? Me?” Juno asked, looking almost hopeful. “I would be very happy to oblige, Chase. You know what? It’s a date. I can’t wait.”

Chase’s smile evaporated. He took a step closer to Juno, poked him in the chest, and opened his mouth to say something.

“Sit down and shut up.” The female voice came from over my shoulder and cut Chase short before he could say anything to Juno.

I spun around. The woman stood with her fists on her hips. Her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she wore a dark tracksuit, the jacket of which was open to reveal a tight tank top. She was probably in her mid-thirties, but wasn’t much taller than me.

Juno sighed dreamily beside me and whispered, “Beautiful.”

“Form a circle,” the woman continued, “and sit down.”

We spread out enough that the circle was nearly as large as the clearing.

“My name is Lyra Davis. Since we’re such a friendly little family here at Camp Friendship, just call me Lyra.”

She sneered, and I got the distinct impression that being on a first-name basis with any of the campers was not something she was comfortable with.

“You.” She snapped her hand out at a beefy kid with a shaved head and an octopus graphic on his shirt. “And . . .” She turned slowly, her finger gliding around the circle. She stopped at me and gave me a stare that felt like a snowball to the side of my head. Then she swung her hand back and stopped abruptly. “You.”

The girl she pointed at wore a Team Hyena T-shirt. She jumped to her feet and jogged into the middle of the clearing.

Lyra raised her voice again. “I need to see what I’m working with here.” She paused a beat to give the two campers a once-over and then said, “Fight.”

I nearly laughed. The girl looked like she might be able to fit in the pocket of the guy. There was no way this Lyra woman was serious about having them fight. That would be—

Before I could finish my thought, the girl lunged out and kicked her opponent in the leg. The blow dropped him to one knee. She spun like a tornado toward him and smashed her elbow against the side of his face. A burst of scarlet shot from his mouth, and he dropped face down into the dirt. The girl tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed, as if the whole thing had been a minor inconvenience.

“I’m in love,” Juno whispered to me.

I like a good fight as much as the next guy, and sure, it was cool to see a girl take down a guy four times her size, but the way she did it left me entirely unsettled. I mean, he could have a broken jaw from that hit he took from her elbow.

The instructor pointed at two other students with octopuses on their shirts. “Take your teammate to the first-aid station.” She pointed at the ground a few feet away. “I think that’s his tooth. Take it with you.”

One of the campers pulled their teammate to his unsteady feet, while the other snatched up the tooth and put it in his pocket before grabbing the other side of his comrade and heading out of the clearing.

“Who’s next?” the instructor muttered to herself.

I tried to make myself invisible while the other campers straightened and seemed eager with anticipation. Two by two, they were called up to the middle to fight. And they did. I felt like I was watching an underground cage brawl.

“You there.” Lyra jabbed her finger at Juno. “Is something funny?”

I glanced at him just in time to see his smirk fall off his face.

“No, ma’am,” Juno said.

She snapped her finger and pointed to the center of the circle. Juno’s grin flashed again when he pushed himself to his feet, and she noticed. “Overconfidence is dangerous,” she said. “There’s always someone better.”

“Not here there’s not,” Juno whispered.

She pointed at two other campers—older boys with at least six inches on Juno and probably thirty pounds between them. They jumped to their feet and positioned themselves opposite Juno.

“And if they’re not better, they’re bigger,” Lyra added, “or maybe there’s just more of them.” A smile flicked at the corner of her mouth. “This will help you learn your limitations.”

“I appreciate the lesson, ma’am,” Juno said.

Lyra raised her hand and then brought it down in a quick swipe. “Fight.”

I am not entirely sure what happened after that. One second the two older boys were charging Juno, and the next they were on their backs, moaning and cursing.

Lyra didn’t seem upset. She made a notation on a clipboard that I hadn’t noticed until that moment and then ordered a couple other campers to pull the injured out of the circle.

“Well, that was interesting,” I whispered when Juno sat down beside me. “Aren’t you ninja types supposed to be less cocky? In the movies, you’re all reserved and opposed to violence.”

He snorted. “My family wouldn’t have sent me here if they were opposed to violence.”

“I wish I could say the same,” I said. “I think my dad expected this place to make me a more upstanding citizen.”

“That’s unlikely,” Juno whispered back.

“Deltas,” Lyra called out.

The instructor’s words only half registered, and it wasn’t until Juno nudged me that I realized Chase was already in the center of the circle, and that he and Lyra were waiting on me. Chase rubbed his hands together and looked like he might start salivating at any second.

I cleared my throat. “Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Davis.” I held up my bandaged hand. “I had an accident in the shooting range and—”

“Archery,” she snapped, glancing over her shoulder into the woods.

“Er, right,” I said. “Sorry. Anyway, what I meant was, I had an accident in
archery,
and the doctor said to keep my hand injury-free for the next few days.”

She tilted her head at me and narrowed her eyes. “Then I suggest you not injure your hand or allow it to be injured.” She pointed at the ground beside her. “Get up here, Delta. I won’t ask you again.”

Juno nudged me and I reluctantly stepped into the circle.

“Let’s see how our two Deltas fare, shall we?”

“But, ma’am . . .” I held up my hand again.

She stepped toward me until her face was only a few inches from mine. “Do you think you won’t be out in the field one day, hurt, and need to protect yourself?” She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, and when she spoke next, it was as if she were talking to a baby. “Do you really think a widdle owie on your hand is going to stop someone from trying to get you?” She shook her head in apparent disgust at me.