"This is my daughter,Cameron."

"Of course she is! Shelooks just like you." Which just proved that whatever terrible noseincident he'd experienced had no doubt affected his eyes, too, because whileRachel Morgan has frequently been described as beautiful, I am usuallydescribed as nondescript. "Strap this on, young lady," the guardsaid, handing me the ID badge. "And don't lose it—it's loaded with a tracking chip and a half milligramof C-4. If you try to remove it or enter an unauthorized area, it'lldetonate." He stared at me. "And then you'll die."

I swallowed hard, thensuddenly understood why take-your-daughter-to-work day was never really anoption in the Morgan family.

"Okay," I muttered,taking the badge gingerly. Then the man slapped the counter, and—spy training or not—I jumped.

"Ha!" The guard letout a sharp laugh and leaned closer to my mother. "The Gallagher Academyis growing them more gullible than it did in my day, Rachel," he teased,then winked at me. "Spy humor."

Well, personally, I didn'tthink his "humor" was all that funny, but my mother smiled and tookmy arm again. "Come on, kiddo, you don't want to be late."

She led me down a sunnycorridor that made it almost impossible to believe we were underground. Bright,cool light splashed the gray walls and reminded me of Sublevel One at school…whichreminded me of my Covert Operations class…which reminded me of finals week…whichreminded me of …

Josh.

We passed the Office ofGuerrilla Warfare but didn't slow down. Two women waved to my mother outsidethe Department of Cover and Concealment, but we didn't stop to chat.

We walked faster, going deeperand deeper into the labyrinth of secrets, until the corridor branched and wecould either go left, toward the Department of Sabotage and SeeminglyAccidental Explosions, or right, to the Office of Operative Development andHuman Intelligence. And despite the FLAME-RESISTANT BODYSUITS MANDATORY BEYONDTHIS POINT sign marking the hallway to my left, I'd much rather have gone inthat direction. Or just back to the mall. Anywhere but where I knew I had togo.