Read Online Live and Let Spy by Elizabeth Cage - Free Book Online

doorway. Not Anka, thank goodness. But who was it?
    The smell hit her nose. Intense BO.
    The maintenance man!
    Theresa immediately turned her head so that he would only be able to see her from behind. The tutu. The tight bun of hair.
    â€œProsím,” he mumbled—obviously in Czech.
    She said nothing and shooed him away with her hand, hoping he’d just exit without an argument.
    â€œProsím!” he repeated. Only this time he punctuated the foreign statement with “Anka.”
    He thought she was Anka!
    â€œGo away!” she ordered in her nastiest voice.
    Ding!
    Theresa jumped as the computer sounded. She could still feel the maintenance man hovering in the doorway. Tying not to shake, Theresa hit eject and slowly removed the drive.
    The maintenance man uttered something in an angry tone and slammed the door.
    â€œMan, do you stink  !” she declared. Relief flooded her as she snapped Anka’s laptop shut and placed it back precisely where she’d found it.
    Seconds later she stuck her head out the door, looked right then left, and dashed to the costume closet, changing into her clothes as rapidly as the models she’d seen backstage at her mother’s runway shows.
    She exited the closet, bun halfway undone and attire slightly disheveled.
    Someone clunked around the corner.
    â€œJulius!” she called, trying to sound nonchalant.
    â€œWhat were you doing in there?” he asked suspiciously.
    â€œUh, just looking for a safe place to stash my purse,” Theresa replied innocently. “I, uh, went to the bank over lunch.”
    â€œWell,” he snarled, “that room is off-limits.”
    Theresa triumphantly ran her fingers over the flash drive in her front pocket, giving Julius her most innocent “Who, me?” smile. “Sorry, Julius. It won’t happen again. I promise .”
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    â€œWhen Ottla told me the files were a wreck, she wasn’t kidding,” Caylin grumbled as she waded through a muddled sea of paperwork. Although she had gone through nearly every file in the office, Caylin hadn’t yet run across one on Anka Perdova. And since she’d located a file for every single other ballerina, the absence of Anka’s was a major red flag.
    When Ottla returned from lunch, Caylin approached her.
    â€œI’ve noticed some of these file folders are ragged and mismarked,” Caylin stated, “and I’d like to dice them and create new ones for the troupe. Is there any way I could get a list of the performers, just so I don’t leave anyone out?”
    Ottla blessed her with a smile of approval. “Aren’t we the industrious one?” She immediately sat down at her desk and printed out a list.
    â€œAnd you know,” Caylin continued innocently, “I can’t seem to find a folder for Anka Perdova at all.”
    Ottla shrugged. “It must have been misplaced, I guess.”
    Try stolen, Caylin thought with a frustrated frown.
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    â€œYou guys have been busy ,” Danielle said as she, Uncle Sam, and the Spy Girls shared a conference call on the aquarium phone later that evening.
    â€œNo kidding,” Theresa replied. “Three heart attacks in one day is enough for me, thank you very much.”
    â€œDid you find anything that looked suspicious on the hard drive, Theresa?” Uncle Sam inquired.
    â€œSure did,” Theresa said with a triumphant smile. “The only thing out of the ordinary was a piece of e-mail received yesterday morning. The subject was ‘Danny Thugs I.’ ”
    â€œWhat did it say?” Danielle asked, her image expanding as she moved closer to the video cam in anticipation.
    â€œIt said, ‘Once hit, lights out,’ ” Theresa recited, looking down at her crumpled piece of paper. “ ‘Escape route A. Subject in the dark. No