Read Online Hot & Cold by Susannah McFarlane - Free Book Online Page B

A1.
    â€˜Let’s just say she’s pretty chilled,’ said EJ, smiling to herself. ‘And she won’t be going anywhere in a hurry.’
    â€˜Our clean-up team will take care of her and therest of her factory,’ said A1. ‘Soon no one will ever know that she—or you—were there. Good job, EJ. That was a tough mission but you did it, just as we knew you would. And it wouldn’t be an EJ12 mission without a few extra passengers to pick up, I hear. We can take the older dogs—we have a training camp in the mountains that they will love. But the puppy will need a home immediately. Do you think you could look after it, at least for a while until she is ready to start training?’
    â€˜You bet!’ yelled EJ12, completely overlooking the small fact that she hadn’t asked her mum if she could have a dog yet.
    â€˜I think we will call you Pip,’ she said as she scratched behind the little pup’s ears. ‘P-I-P, just like the whistle sound that brought you to me. What do you think, Pip?’ EJ took the sloppy lick on her face as a yes.
    â€˜Okay then,’ said A1, laughing. ‘That’s sorted. And I hope you had everything you needed for your mission.’
    â€˜Absolutely A1, although I think there was one charm I didn’t use.’ EJ shook her bracelet and reached for the little silver heart charm. She twisted it and an inscription appeared: ‘Brave voices melt cold deeds.’ Perhaps she had used it after all.



When Emma woke up the next morning she was still feeling a little sleepy. It was another school morning, but at least this one started with a very cute and fluffy puppy licking her face.
    There were two good things about the puppy. The first thing was obvious—Emma finally had one, and Pip was the cutest puppy she could have dreamed of. The second thing was her mum. Emma remembered the discussion the night before when she returned home.
    â€˜What’s that under your arm, Em?’
    â€˜Um, a puppy.’
    â€˜A real puppy? A hair-shedding puppy? A weeing-on-the-floor puppy? A puppy we haven’t talked about getting?’ asked Mum sternly.
    â€˜Um yes, all of those things.’
    â€˜Well I’m sorry Em, but it will just have to go back where it came from.’
    â€˜Er ... I really don’t think it can,’ Emma started nervously.
    â€˜Can you please give me one good reason why not?’
    Emma couldn’t. She wasn’t allowed to reveal that she was a SHINE agent, not even to her mum. And seeing as she couldn’t even convince her mum she was sick yesterday, how was she going to explain this one?
    And then suddenly Mum smiled, looked around as if to check that no one else was listening and whispered, ‘I think I understand, Em. Come with me for a minute.’
    Not another talk! Emma groaned, and then wondered why they were opening Mum’s wardrobe.
    â€˜Emma, I’m going to show you something.’ Mum pressed a button inside the wardrobe door and a panel at the back slid aside to reveal a small room—a small secret room with a laptop and photos on the wall. There were photos of Mum up trees, on mountains, underwater and with baby animals—lion cubs, tiny snakes, koalas and more. And there were certificates, lots of certificates, all of them with a small familiar logo in the corner—the SHINE logo.
    â€˜You’re part of SHINE too,’ Emma gasped.
    â€˜Well I used to be. Agent SJ retired some time ago.’ Mum winked. ‘So I know about the baby animal thing and I think I understand what might have happened. But Emma, this is our secret. A1 gave me clearance to tell you because she thought I might be useful for your BEST network. No one else must ever know, not even the boys.’
    â€˜Mum, that’s so cool,’ said Emma, giving her mum a hug. A secret between the girls of the family!
    â€˜But Em,’ said Mum seriously, ‘no more