Unmasked Agent (Grunts of Vanguard #3)

Chapter 1

Secret Identities Incorporated had changed.

I sat at the end of the breakroom table, eagerly awaiting our morning huddle. The fluorescent lights overhead hummed louder than normal. I inhaled, savoring the rich scent of coffee brewing on the kitchenette counter.

Wyatt would arrive with a smile, giggling over the fact that he thought the fudgy bars in his desk were safe from Janet’s greedy fingers.

Orion would barge in, eyes wide as he tried to convince us aliens had infiltrated the government…

again. Last to walk in would be Arthur, our fearless leader.

Or at least, that was how it had been for the first six months.

I uncovered the plate of chocolate chip cookies and my grandmother’s famous double fudge brownies.

Each seat at the table got a small plate and a napkin.

Unfortunately, we still hadn’t gotten enough chairs for the support staff.

I added a few plates and napkins for the newest additions to the morning meeting and made a mental note to bring extra chairs in the future.

“Hehe.” Right on cue. Wyatt skipped into the break room.

The big lug was nothing if not joyous. He pulled out his chair, taking a seat at the table.

“Morning, friend Drew.” He added a slight wave in case I didn’t notice his three hundred and fifty pounds of muscle.

I’d dare to say our man from another planet was the most human amongst us.

“I brought your favorite.” He eyed the plate, waiting for permission. “One. You can have one before everybody gets here.” Super speed and poof, a double chocolate brownie vanished, and somehow he had it all over his face.

Next would be—

“Guys.” Orion, but of course, he’d start with a conspiracy.

“The weather balloons are spreading mind-control toxins.” When nobody responded, he plopped himself down in a chair.

“Suit yourself. But don’t ask me to save you this time.

” I wanted to ask about his latest theory, but we had learned not to encourage him.

He gets one conspiracy about a deadly artificial intelligence right, and suddenly, he wants us to chase every lead.

“Cookie?” He crossed his arms and pouted. He acted as if he didn’t like them. Leaning across the table, I grabbed the plate, sliding it in front of him. “I made them just for you.” I gave him a big smile. Orion wasn’t immune to guilt.

The bravado faded as he reached for a cookie. “Just one. I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” I waited as he took a bite. When his eyes rolled back, I knew I had fulfilled my goal for the morning.

They’re the oddest co-workers I could have asked for—an alien and a cynic.

Navigating them had been difficult at first. We had become workplace friends, and every once in a while we’d moonlight as a superhero team.

While we got along here, I always wondered if I bumped into them on the street, if we’d be friendly?

“Everybody! We need to—” Arthur froze at the door. “Oh. You’re all here.”

Our fearless leader. The head honcho. The boss. His tie hadn’t been tightened, and the buttons on his dress shirt didn’t line up. As usual, Arthur looked as frazzled as he acted. Despite the chaotic energy, he grounded the company and gave us a singular mission forward.

The HeroApp?.

He created, and we maintained, the most important piece of technology invented in the last century.

For a while, it appeared as if Vanguard would turn into another Sin City, overrun with bad guys doing whatever they wanted.

Supervillains, heck, even normal crooks had nearly consumed the city.

Arthur’s app had given the heroes a leg up, and now heroes stood a chance against the villain scourge.

“Tomorrow we land our most important sponsor yet.” I could almost feel his anxiety. He wiped his palms on his shirt, leaving wet spots. He turned his attention to me. “Are you ready?”

He asked the room, but all eyes turned to me. Wyatt handled the heroes’ education. Orion kept the software working. It was solely on my shoulders to land our sponsors, and after a month of negotiations, we were getting close to securing a company that could propel us into a household name.

“I’ve spoken with the liaison for the Centurions.

” I tried to keep the confidence in my voice.

This team did amazing work, and I wanted to pull my weight.

If I could do this, they’d see me as one of the team.

“I’ll be meeting with Carmen LaToya to go over the contract.

” Arthur continued to fidget, but his face lit up like when Wyatt spotted a lonely fudgy bar. “I think it’s good as done.”

Wyatt shot out of his chair and hugged me. I hissed as he wrapped his arms around my chest. Forgetting his super strength, he irritated an already bruised rib and the black-and-blue patches along my chest.

“Who needs personal space?” Janet stood in the doorway. “Let the touching begin!”

“Fuck personal space!” Connor added.

Janet shook her head and patted him on the shoulder. “Too much.”

“Boo personal space,” Connor corrected.

Arthur’s sister had been here since the start.

Unlike her brother, she didn’t have a filter and spoke her mind.

Literally. Every thought. There it was. Rarely was it appropriate in the workplace.

Connor was our newest addition. At one point, he had been Orion’s childhood A.I.

A freak cloning accident had given him a body.

Nothing out of the ordinary in Vanguard.

It meant that the dynamic had shifted. I tried being friendly with him, but I couldn’t bribe him with food, and platitudes went unnoticed. Dammit, I’d win him.

“We have an emergency.” Ricardo? He wasn’t supposed to be here.

The burly man pushed his way between Janet and Connor. Arthur’s boyfriend owned the building and ran Synergy, a technology business dedicated to exploring superpowered beings. Ironically, he himself had a secret identity. Neither of them belonged in our break room.

“I thought you said no boyfriends,” Wyatt said. “Dustin would love—”

“No boyfriends,” Orion confirmed. Arthur usually preferred to meet his boyfriend in the building’s cleaning closet and get dirty. “Did an alien take over your company this time?” He rested a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “No offense.”

Wyatt shrugged. “It happens.”

I had spent almost a year getting to know my co-workers, and just when I thought I had figured them out, the world changed.

Everybody thought being a superhero was all glitz and glam.

In truth, it was hard to maintain friendships when you only knew the person they chose to show.

I was the perfect case. Happy-go-lucky Drew.

They saw me as the boring super with the subpar ability to change an object’s color.

They didn’t know the real me. I kept that part locked away.

Ricardo shook his head. “No aliens. Not this time. After the minor hiccup with Connor’s boyfriend nearly turning the city into zombies…

” Statements like this should have been alarming.

Connor fell in love with an AI, and it used him to control humanity.

We called that Tuesday. “The government is sending an investigator to see if I have other bad hires.”

“Why?” Arthur asked.

Orion chuckled. “Synergy has hundreds of contracts, but its biggest is with the government. They’re especially interested in research giving regular humans abilities. No more falling into toxic waste or being bitten by radioactive spiders.”

Ricardo’s eyes narrowed. “What have I said about breaking into my company?”

“Don’t get caught?” Orion didn’t like authority.

It had been fine when it was just the four of us and Janet occasionally crashing the party.

Now, we had Connor, not to mention Arthur, Wyatt, and even Orion, who had boyfriends that made guest appearances.

I missed being the scrappy startup that pulled all-nighters with the guys.

It hadn’t changed for the worse, but it had changed.

In all the shifting, I wasn’t sure where I belonged. When in doubt, focus on work.

“I need your help.”

“I’ll do it,” I blurted out. Volunteering might not have been the best idea when I had a big meeting on my calendar. If I could help Ricardo, that’d look good to Arthur. I’d deal with the ramifications later. “What do you need?”

“I need somebody to keep an eye on this investigator. If there is a problem, I’d like to fix it before the government finds out.” Ricardo scanned the room, quickly skipping Janet and Connor. He eyed Wyatt before shaking his head. Then onto Orion. “No.” He didn’t linger as his eyes passed over me.

I raised my hand. He judged his options. I raised my hand higher, determined to be chosen.

He conceded, rubbing his chin. “You’d fly under the radar.” That was a nice way of saying I didn’t stand out in a crowd. I tried not to let the words sting.

Arthur shook his head. “Drew has a big deal on the table.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry, boss.” He hated the term, but we used it at every opportunity. “I can do both… boss.”

Ricardo nodded. “They’re coming tomorrow morning. Meet me in my office?”

“I’ll bring snickerdoodles.” With one baked good at a time, I’d win them all over.

“If there’s not going to be inappropriate touching, I’m out of here.” Janet grabbed Connor’s hand, and they vanished down the hallway. “Call me if you get naked,” she shouted. Her lewd comments were the most normal part of our meeting.

“I’m going to fire her,” Arthur grumbled. “I guess that’s the meeting for today.” He slid his hand across the table, covering mine. “Let me know if you need help.”

That was sweet of him. I watched as Wyatt snatched the plate of brownies and tried to sneak away. Orion followed, grumbling that the meeting could have been an email. I shot Arthur a smile and did the same for Ricardo.

“You both can count on me. I won’t let you down.”