Perry

Emily woke up earlier than her alarm with a sense of excitement that reminded her of Christmas morning. It took her just a moment to remember why, but once she did, she grabbed her phone and checked for text messages … Read More

“Wait… you do?” Emily asked. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah, ‘Wizard’ is a code I learned from some kids’ secret code book when I was probably… 11?”

“No way!”

“Yeah, it’s super cool. My mom wasn’t sure about it because … Read More

Izzy called back almost an hour later. The noise level was significantly higher, and Emily realized her friend must have gone home after the class was over. She could hear Izzy’s little brothers in the background.

“Let me try to … Read More

Brent replied that his case didn’t have anything to do with Morse Code. “On the other hand…” he said, “what case?”

Emily rolled her eyes, forgetting he couldn’t see her over the phone. “Okay, Mr. Confirm-nor-Deny— does it have anything … Read More

… Read More

Emily kept the twins busy in the backyard, for as long as she could. They used the chalk to make hopscotch, toy car roads, and show her they could write numbers and letters. Eventually, they grew bored and warm and … Read More

At Brent’s suggestion, Emily called Kara Miles right after she finished reading her cover identity papers. The phone rang for a long time before the woman finally picked up.

“Hello?” she yelled over the background noise on her end.

Emily … Read More

It turned out that ICS had no problem with Emily babysitting for the neighbor woman, provided she waited to begin until her entire cover identity was in place and the mother’s and father’s background checks had come back.

Emily had … Read More

An unfamiliar sound pinged somewhere behind Emily, and she straightened, backing out of the pantry she’d been poking around in. She set down the notepad and pen on which she’d been writing an inventory of the safe house’s food stores … Read More