“Yes,” says Belle, gingerly picking up the gun. “We should keep this in safe storage. And let me show you where the digital video is, in case something should happen to me.”

Gavin pulls her back and turns her around. “That’s not what I meant. You really like to play dumb, don’t you? Where did you learn to kick like that?”

“Self-defense class.”

“That move was too quick to have come from any old self-defense class. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d have said you were trained by a master, like Mystere.”

Belle just stares at him. Gavin gasps. “You…you’re an agent?!”

Belle shrugs. “Sort of. Only small jobs, when they need me.”

“How did you get involved in this?”

“It was quite by accident. The night I spent on the streets getting to know the homeless.”

“For Chri…For crying out loud, does your family know?”

“Most of them have some inkling,” says Belle. “I can’t trust all of them to keep their mouth shut.”

“Were you trained by Mystere?”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to answer that.”

“And what is your job now?”

“To expose a traitor, a double agent, someone who is out for his own gain.”

“And you suspected me,” says Gavin. “Any more surprises?”

“I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Don’t tell me they’re gone already,” says Ashley. “It’s only six o’clock.”

“No,” says David. “They’re all still in bed.”

“What? I got up for nothing?”

“Apparently.”

——————————————————————————————–

“What do you think Ashley and David are up to?” asks Chloe.

“I’ve given up trying to figure Ashley out ages ago,” says Paul. “But I’ll bet it has something to do with breaking up Michael and Amanda.”

“Why?”

“She and Michael have never seen eye to eye. Plus, she’s probably jealous of Amanda.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Did you get it?” asks Buster.

“They’re all here,” says Carl.

“What did you do with the girl?”

“She gave it to me without any problems. So I let her go.”

“What? She could spell trouble for us.”

“She didn’t know what was in the gem. All she wanted was for my daughters to shut down.”

“Any problems and I’ll hold you responsible. We’d better get back to New York.”

——————————————————————————————–

“I’m sorry the weekend turned out disastrous,” says Michael.

“Disastrous?” asks Amanda, cuddling up to him. “I wouldn’t have called it that.”

“Well, I’d better hurry up and get home then.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Do you think it’s going to be all right with her coming along?” asks Nicholas.

Gavin turns around to see Belle sleeping in the back seat.

“Yeah. She’s all right.”

“I meant, you don’t think she’ll be in the way?”

“She’s proved that she can take care of herself.”

“But if Carl sees her, it will spell ruin for us.”

“Let’s face that when we get there.”

Nicholas looks at him suspiciously. “That’s an about-face.”

“I know. She’s already made me eat crow.”

——————————————————————————————–