by Doug Solter
Mrs. B cleared her throat. “I might add that pulling someone’s hair is useless against a Navy SEAL or a Russian paratrooper.”
“With respect.” Lioness paused. “When in a life-or-death struggle, one sometimes must improvise to survive. I think Black Opal responded well to the challenge.”
Emma straightened. Maybe she wasn’t in trouble after all.
“Very well.” Mrs. B sighed. “It’s a minor quibble and I will not languish in it. Black Opal, you’ve passed your self-defense test. We will continue your general training later. But for now, this will be adequate for the mission ahead of us.” Mrs. B reached inside her purse and brought out a small gift card envelope. “This is for you.” Mrs. B handed it to Emma. The word congratulations was written on the front.
Emma opened it. Sitting in the sleeve was a gift card for the San Francisco Centre Mall.
“Now be a good girl and take Ruby out to the mall. You two should get better acquainted.”
Chapter 8
Emma led Ruby up the metal ladder inside the gigantic empty wine barrel. Both girls passed through the winery’s gift shop and went outside to the parking lot. Emma unlocked the doors of her car and the two girls climbed inside it.
“Mercedes AMG,” Rudy said. “How fast does it go?”
Emma pushed the start button. “I don’t know. I just got it a few months ago.”
“No speed?”
“I don’t like to drive like that.”
Ruby nodded. “Safety conscious.”
Emma rolled out of the parking lot and took California Highway 29 south out of Napa Valley towards Vallejo. As the car settled on a speed, Emma flipped on the cruise control. She gripped the leather-stitched steering wheel and exchanged a few glances at Ruby, who grinned. Normally Emma welcomed uncomfortable quiet over uncomfortable conversation, but Mrs. B was quite insistent that Emma should get to know this girl, so…
“Can you tell me your real name?”
Ruby shook her head. “Top secret.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’m new to all this spy stuff, so—”
Ruby covered her mouth as she laughed. “Only kidding. Messing with you. My real name is Miyuki.”
“Miyuki?”
“Mi-yu-ki. Yes, it’s Japanese for awesome girl from Okinawa.” She laughed again. “What is your name, Black Opal?”
“Emma.”
“What does Emma mean in English?”
“I have no idea.” Emma thought about it. “It’s English for normal girl who loves books and puppies, I guess. I’m boring.”
“You forgot to add pulls hair like a mother-trucker.” Miyuki laughed again. Her laugh was so rich and genuine. Something a person could get addicted to.
Miyuki talked all the way from Vallejo, through Berkeley, and over the bridge to San Francisco. She told Emma about the Gems and how they moved here from London, where they were stationed previously. About how much she looked forward to seeing America. About how Emma’s habit of not looking before changing lanes was a tad dangerous.
“I know. I keep forgetting there might be a car over there.” Emma checked her side mirror as they reached the end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Miyuki’s eyes lit up like a little girl. “So beautiful. San Francisco is so beautiful.”
Emma focused on the traffic, which could get tricky heading into the city. Miyuki continued to point out every fascinating thing she saw out the window. There was no desperate need to be loved in Miyuki’s voice. No compromising herself in some attempt to get Emma to like her more. Miyuki said whatever she was thinking at the top of her head, and Emma found it refreshing.
Emma led Miyuki into the San Francisco Centre Mall and the girl’s eyes were dazzled by the five indoor floors of shopping.
Miyuki ran up to one of the spiral escalators and craned her neck up toward the domed skylight. “This place is gorgeous.” She took Emma’s hand. “Show me around. Which store is your favorite?”
“Favorite? I can’t pick just one.”
“Then show me all of them.”
Emma loved this girl. They started on the fifth floor and worked their way down. The girls hit Emma’s favorite stores, and Miyuki bought just as many clothes as Emma did. Dresses, skirts, blouses, T-shirts, pants, jeans…it was obscene. And so much fun.
Miyuki twisted her ankle and studied her footwear. “I need new shoes. Which is your favorite shoe store?”
“Oh, Bailey’s on the second floor. The best,” Emma said.
They took the spiral escalator down to floor number two. Bailey’s greeted the girls with two sparkling display fronts as they plunged inside the heart of the store, where shoes, shoes, and more shoes were on display. Miyuki shook with glee as she attacked one display, picking out boxes and sizes to try.
Miyuki wobbled on some six-inch heels. “What do you think?”
“Those look great. But can you walk on—?”
Miyuki caught her heel on the carpet and fell backwards on top of a display, which collapsed to the floor in a crash that turned the heads of everyone inside the store.
Emma rushed to her. “Oh my God. Are you okay?”
Miyuki covered her mouth and giggled. “These shoes make me walk like a drunk giraffe.” Miyuki slipped them off and apologized profusely to the Bailey’s sales staff as they repaired the display Miyuki broke. Then she bought all the shoes off the display because she felt obligated.
Emma led Miyuki out of Bailey’s with two large bags of shoes. “You do know some of those shoes won’t fit you.”
Miyuki shrugged. “I’ll find good homes for them. Some girl would be happy to have them.”
The girls took the bags down to the Mercedes and stuffed them in the trunk.
“Would you like to share tea with me?” Miyuki asked.
Next to the food court, Miyuki and Emma found a small coffee table inside the Kaffee Cadre. A handful of people worked on their laptops as a cappuccino machine gurgled as it steamed milk into a high froth. Miyuki enjoyed a cup of honeysuckle tea while Emma went for the espresso. After two straight lattes, the cappuccino machine fell silent.
“May we join you?” A girl with brown skin accented by cool, bronze undertones and an English accent approached their table. Behind the first girl trailed another. She wore a pink and green-flowered headscarf that covered her hair and neck. Her warm, orange-brown skin had a glow about it. She was beautiful. The girls didn’t wait for an answer as they sat with Miyuki and Emma.
“You wear a size seven, don’t you?” Miyuki asked the girl with the head scarf. “The leopard pumps, white sandals, and the red heels should fit you.”
“Thank you.” The girl with the head scarf spoke in a quiet and polite way. “Is the black dress for me too?”
“Isn’t it beautiful? Mrs. B will have a porpoise when she reads the credit card statement. But if it’s for our mission—”
The English girl interrupted. “She’ll have a cow…not a porpoise.”
Miyuki lightly clapped her hands together. “That’s right. Ha! I said porpoise.”
The English girl leaned forward, her curly ribbons of golden-brown hair were way out of control. “The name’s Olivia, love. Code name Emerald.”
The girl with the headscarf showed Emma a polite smile. “My name is Nadia. Code name Sapphire. Very pleased to meet you.”
“Mine is Emma. Oh, code name Black Opal. Do you know if there’s a way I can get my code name changed?”
Olivia ignored Emma’s question. “Did you notice we’ve been following you this entire time?”
“Emma would have noticed, but I distracted her.” Miyuki sipped her tea and grinned politely.
No, Emma hadn’t noticed the girls at all.
“We followed you the moment you entered the mall,” Olivia said. “Observed what shops you favor. What things you bought. Your mannerisms. The way you interacted with Miyuki.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just come up and say hi?” Emma asked.
“I like to obse
rve my targets. You learn quite a bit about a girl when you watch her. Especially when she doesn’t think she’s being watched.”
Emma didn’t like how Olivia said target.
“And what did you learn about me?” Emma asked.
A smirk appeared on Olivia’s face. She loved this. “Your family’s wealthy. Appallingly wealthy. Your clothes, that Mercedes you drive, and your shopping habits reflect that to obscene levels. You’re also a loner. More comfortable with yourself than around others.”
“How do you know that? You can’t know that by only watching me.”
“Inside California Limited Miyuki excused herself to find a ladies’ room. Once she was gone, your body language changed immediately. You were putting up a front. A public face for her. And judging by how relaxed you became, acting nice around people exhausts you. But you’re a good actress. Must give you points for that, love.”
Emma’s defenses went up. What was with this girl? How dare she call her out in front of Miyuki like that. Emma actually liked the girl. She wasn’t being fake to her like Olivia implied. It wasn’t a total act, but sometimes Emma couldn’t help herself. It was a habit she’d developed in junior high to protect herself.
Miyuki squirmed in her seat. “Would you girls like some tea?”
“No one cares for you at school either,” Olivia continued. “It’s unnerving the way the girls fire eye-daggers in the hallways at you. Yet all the boys still drool when you pass by, for obvious reasons. It’s a shame none of them are brave enough to pick through the layers of ice around you.”
Olivia threw it all out on the table like it was no big deal. Peeling Emma back like an onion. Exposing every flaw. Every blemish. And Olivia had the added nerve to recite it all back like a stupid book report. Like she was trying to help Emma correct these “flaws.”
Emma then realized something. “You spied on me at school?”
“When Mrs. B first thought about approaching you, I suggested we do a bit of reconnaissance first. Gather some intelligence. See what kind of girl we were dealing with.”
“Right now you’re dealing with a furious girl who doesn’t like being treated like something’s wrong with her.”
Miyuki shifted in her chair. “Would you girls like to share a cookie with me?”
“I wasn’t casting judgments on you. Merely stating my observations,” Olivia said. “What’s with that 2.5 grade point average anyway? Had a 4.0 in New York, didn’t you? How does a girl get into a good medical school with a 2.5 grade point average? You still want to become a doctor, right?”
Emma wanted to throw her coffee in Olivia’s face and burn off that smug little grin of hers. But Emma did something worse. She opened her mouth.
“You’re a rude bitch.”
“Ouch. We’re not acting now, are we?” Olivia asked. “This is the real kitten coming out with her claws, isn’t it, love?”
Emma ran out of the coffee place and out into the mall as shoppers looked on with mild interest. The tears came on and Emma tried to fight them back. But they trickled down her cheeks anyway. Emma knew all her weaknesses. All her failures. Of course she pretended to be happy and pleasant to be around. She didn’t want everyone in California to hate her.
Emma reached the indoor parking lot and found her car. She pushed the start button and the engine rumbled. Emma backed out of the parking space, automatically engaging the car’s backup camera. Clearing the space, she touched her brakes and was about to shift the car into drive when she noted something on the backup camera screen. It was Miyuki running up to her car, with paper napkins in hand.
Emma hesitated.
Miyuki slowed behind the car, seeing the backup lights still shining.
Emma put the car into park.
Miyuki tried the passenger door, but it was locked. She flashed a warm smile through the glass.
Emma flipped the unlock switch. Miyuki eased into the passenger seat. She offered Emma one of her paper napkins with the Kaffee Cadre logo on them.
Emma took one and blew her nose.
“What Olivia did…” Miyuki sighed. “Mrs. B wanted her to observe. Not collect a psychiatric evaluation of you.”
“I thought we’re supposed to work together as a team?” Emma asked. “How can I trust someone who tears me down like that?”
“Olivia is paranoid about many things. She wants to take the mystery out of everything and everyone. And when she does, Olivia tends to focus on the negatives instead of the positives. Believe me, though, she’ll risk her life to protect yours. The same as I or Nadia will. Nothing is more important than the team.” Miyuki’s face softened. Her beautiful green eyes released this genuine vibe that melted away Emma’s hesitations. She didn’t know if she fully trusted Olivia, but Miyuki had won her over. “Olivia just received a text from Mrs. B. She wants us back at headquarters. If you don’t mind driving.”
An hour and a half later, Mrs. B led the four girls through the glass-walled risk-assessment area and into the fake jungle. The woman gestured towards one of the green pods. Once the girls were inside, the pod made a sucking noise as it sealed itself from the outside. Mrs. B selected the cone of silence mode from the pad and a different hum radiated around the enclosure. The four girls watched as Mrs. B pointed her cane towards a 3-D picture of AirTech headquarters in San Jose.
“The operation will be a fact-finding mission,” Mrs. B began. “First, you will investigate a company called AirTech and collect any information related to Ken Rothchild’s business trip to France in August of this year. We are especially interested in any AirTech dealings with a company called AgEurope in France. They’re a recent customer.”
“Black Opal’s father owned AirTech, yes?” Miyuki asked.
“It’s a subsidiary company of Rothchild Industries,” Emma said. “I actually know Ben. He’s one of my dad’s best friends.”
“Who’s Ben?” Olivia asked.
“Oh…he’s the president of AirTech. When his family lived in New York, I used to babysit his kids.”
“Good, then you shouldn’t have any problems getting his cooperation,” Mrs. B said. “That leads me to your covers. Black Opal will play herself. However, we need an excuse for you three girls to be with her also,” Mrs. B touched her pad, sending the information to the girls’ phones which all beeped.
Olivia made a face. “Her personal assistant?”
“More to the point…you’ll be a corporate liaison from Rothchild Industries. Your job is to supply information and support Black Opal on her trip to tour her father’s holdings in Europe, which is logical since Black Opal will be inheriting her father’s corporation when she turns eighteen.”
Nadia raised her hand. “I don’t understand. It says here Ruby and I will be Black Opal’s entourage? What exactly is an entourage?”
“We’ll be her besties!” Miyuki said with too much enthusiasm. “We follow Black Opal everywhere and give her advice. Emotional support. And party with her every night. We’ll be inseparable.”
“Exactly,” Mrs. B said. “I want you and Sapphire to stick close to Black Opal. If she stirs up trouble, I want you there to protect her. Be vigilant, yet act as if you’re the most irresponsible girls on the planet.”
Nadia touched her headscarf. “Party girls?”
“It’ll be fun,” Miyuki said. “I bought us different outfits for every night we go out to clubs. It’ll be epic.”
“Remember, this is a cover,” Mrs. B said. “Only act irresponsible. Don’t forget to protect Black Opal.”
Olivia crossed her arms. “So they go out dancing every night while I have to be at a real job. That’s not fair.”
“Nothing is ever fair, Emerald. But we all still must carry on.” Mrs. B put the pad on her lap. “Any questions?”
“What should I be doing?” Emma asked.
“I want you to go around and demand answers. I’m giving you permission to ask the questions about your father’s death that you’ve been wanting to ask for months now. Be
aggressive. Stir up the pot and let’s see if we can flush out some answers.”
Chapter 9
The spacious reception area inside AirTech company headquarters had the normal things. Pictures of happy employees on the wall, chairs with company reading material scattered around the tables like a doctor’s office, and the commanding reception desk observing it all. But what made this reception area unique was the large display model of an ultramodern office building at its center. The model had clear, see-through walls exposing a complex but regimented system of air handlers, water pipes, and ducts running under the floors and over the model ceilings. The building’s roof was molded with large sheets of thin solar panels. Digital displays explained the various features of the high-tech design.
Emma didn’t have a clue about advanced climate control management systems. But she was proud that one of her family’s companies made something so important to people who worked in such buildings. She checked in at the reception desk.
“I’ll tell Mr. Gooden you’re here.” The receptionist picked up a phone.
Ten minutes later, a tall black man in his late thirties buttoned his blazer as he came down the wide central staircase behind reception. Ben Gooden’s arms opened as he headed straight to Emma, who accepted the man’s hug.
“Great to see you, young lady. How are you and your grandmother doing? You holding up okay?” the man asked.
“We’re fine I guess. Still seems like it happened yesterday.”
Ben’s face softened as he touched Emma’s arm. “Rosa and I would love to have you guys over for dinner. The kids would love to see you too.”
“Right. Kids don’t love their babysitters.”
“Mine do. We haven’t found a good replacement since you moved to California. They miss your magic tricks.” Ben noticed Nadia examining the building model with great interest. “Isn’t that a beautiful piece of engineering?”
