Chapter 41
Sunday morning, Greene household
T he next morning, Gabby awoke on her futon with sore ribs, a sore back, and the greatest feeling of contentment she’d ever known. Her children were not only safe but seemed almost happy. A hit man wasn’t parked outside her house. Not a single high-stakes, life-or-death mission was on the calendar. Except for a coffee might-or-might-not-be-a-date with Markus, she was done with the EOD forever.
With no need to hop out of bed, she breathed deeply and let her eyes drift shut again. The dappled light of morning played across the room, almost like she was in a country meadow. It was you-own-a-pony-and-have-enough-money-to-keep-it-on-your-own-property lighting. Today was heaven.
Her phone cut through the sleepy peace. She didn’t want to look. Hell, she wouldn’t look. Everyone she loved was tucked in safe and sound. Whoever was tainting her Sunday morning could leave a voicemail.
But who was she kidding? She wasn’t the kind of person who could not answer her phone. What if it was an emergency?
The name Valentina Monroe stared back at her.
Exactly who she didn’t want to see. She ran through a list of reasons for Valentina to call: 1) Smirnov out on bail and hot for revenge; 2) Sergei out on bail and hot for revenge; 3) Kramer out on bail and hot for revenge; and most believable, 4) Fran out on bail and hot for revenge, or 5) some sort of “keep your hands off my man” conversation. None of the options were good.
Fully awake, she sat up and braced herself. “Hello…”
“Wake up, Gabby,” Valentina said. “Debriefing at oh-nine-hundred.”
“Oh-nine-hundred?” She still hadn’t gotten used to military time.
“In an hour,” Valentina clarified in an exasperated tone. “Meet at the office.”
Just a debriefing, no imminent threat. The knot of dread in her stomach loosened. “Can this wait till Monday? It’s Sunday morning, and I’ve barely seen my kids this week.”
“It’ll be short.”
“Okay.” One more meeting and then she’d be free to relax.
Besides Bubbles, who padded over expectantly, no one else was up. Gabby filled his bowl with kibble and gingerly slipped into her favorite athleisure wear. While heading through the Starbucks drive-through and easing onto the freeway, she found that she wasn’t as annoyed as she thought she’d be. On the one hand, all she wanted was to be drinking her coffee in peace and quiet. On the other hand, she had the world to herself on a Sunday morning, and how cool was it that she was needed at an EOD meeting?
Gabby parked her soccer mom–mobile. Maybe she wasn’t a spy anymore, but it might be time to pass the minivan on. Granny could have this one, and she could get herself something sexier, basically any other car. Hell, she could get herself a midlife crisis–mobile like Sienna’s mom had done.
It was trippy walking into EOD headquarters for the last time. She’d said goodbye to this building once already. At the International Rug “Everything Must Go!” sale, she’d bought $200 in candles and throw pillows and a hammock she still hadn’t hung up. This was a different kind of goodbye, her last time going through a biometric screening and retinal scan, her last fingerprint entry. Who would have thought Gabby Greene, burner of meat loaf and all around half-assed housewife, would be a secret agent?
And who knew she would feel so uncertain and, to be honest, a little sad about giving it up. Her sadness had a weight to it. She walked a little slower than normal, delaying the end of her big adventure. Being an actual executive assistant would be a comedown after this.
Gabby found Valentina sitting in the ops room, alone with her laptop. Markus and Alice were nowhere to be found. There was almost no noise in the building, none of the usual boisterous chatter. Just one TV tuned to world news playing from down the hall.
“Am I the first one here?” Gabby looked around.
“No, I want to talk to you alone.”
Uh-oh. “Is this about Markus? We have a little date planned but it’s not serious. I mean, I just got divorced.”
Valentina looked bored with the Markus comments. “All I can say about that is good luck, girlfriend. However, what I’m about to say might affect your relationship.”
Gabby settled into a chair and took a nervous sip of latte. If it wasn’t about Markus, then what could it be? “What happened? Am I in trouble?” She had drugged and tied up three EOD agents yesterday. Everyone had seemed cool with it at the time…
“No.” Valentina didn’t elaborate. Instead she turned to her computer and finished sending an email. The woman could give a master class in compartmentalization.
If Gabby wasn’t in trouble, it was probably a standard outtake thing. They probably had to revoke her security clearance and threaten her with a trip to Guantánamo again. Or maybe it was a survey. Everywhere had HR.
To distract herself, she picked up her phone and started scrolling through all the notifications that she missed yesterday. The neighborhood LISTSERV had been popping.
9:00 am: “That guy is still parked outside the Greene house. Does anyone know who he is?”
Someone commented, “Gabby’s grandmother said he’s nice. Idk.”
Shelly responded. “Gabby can’t have her relatives parked on the street all day. Calling cops. Again.”
2:00 pm: “Does anyone have a favorite Korean takeout place?”
By 8:00 p.m., it was a flurry of comments. There were photos of the entire altercation, including Shelly in handcuffs and all of the neighbors in their yards watching.
“Congratulations again,” Valentina interrupted.
Gabby looked up to find Valentina staring at her and ready to talk. She smiled hesitantly. “Um, thanks. How did everything go last night?”
“Our agents took everyone to interrogation after their arrest. Kramer cracked almost immediately, implicating Sergei Orlov and killing anyone’s chance of pleading out with a lesser charge. They will all be going away for some time, thanks to you.”
“What about Fran and Smirnov?” Those were the two who actually scared her.
“Between Fran’s confession in front of three agents and a mountain of evidence in Smirnov’s office, they’re done.”
Gabby relaxed into her chair. If she wasn’t in trouble and the bad guys were locked up, why was she here?
“Thank you again.” Valentina paused and swept her hair up in a ponytail. “You did far more than we asked or expected of you.” Valentina made uncomfortably direct eye contact. “I know I’ve given you a hard time. It really did take me a minute to warm up, but you’re top-tier agent material, Greene.”
She heard Valentina say the words, but she didn’t process them. It was like she was watching a movie of her life. This couldn’t be happening. Just two weeks ago, Valentina had been sitting at her kitchen table in front of a plate of leftover pancakes and a pile of homework, looking highly suspicious of Gabby.
Today, Gabby was at EOD headquarters in a sleek op center being treated not only like she belonged but as if she were “top tier.” This must be what an LSD trip felt like.
“You need more training, of course, but the raw talent you displayed on this mission shows that you will make a damn fine agent. That spy decoder pen was just—” Valentina paused to laugh. “That was the chef’s kiss on this operation.”
Raw talent? Gabby blinked. The pen was in her pocket because she’d confiscated it from Lucas. Nothing she did was planned, ever. She was muddling through a sea of people who needed things from her all the time—if anything happened, it was a product of circumstance. Didn’t Valentina see she was a walking comedy of errors?
“Val, I’m really not good at this. A few things just happened to go my way.”
“No, it’s talent. Accept the compliment, Gabby. You earned it.”
The weight of sadness she’d felt on the way into the building faded. In its place was something new. Instead of feeling weighed down, Valentina was lifting her up.
All Gabby had wanted an hour ago was to enjoy her morning coffee in peace and quiet and to recover from the last two weeks of insanity. The EOD was all wrong for her for the same reasons as when Valentina and Alice had first approached her: 1) she hated danger, and 2) she was a mom.
Although if she hadn’t been kidnapped on Monday and tied up in her kitchen on Wednesday, the work-life balance would have been better. Double agenting was a lot more than single agenting, especially when you didn’t sign up for it.
“I’d like to offer you a permanent position with the EOD,” Valentina said with an assuredness Gabby could barely comprehend.
Even though she’d felt Valentina working up to this, the offer hit her like an unexpected Oscar win. It was preposterous. A secret agent for real? Not just a fill-in because she happened to look like someone.
“What about Alice? Is she on board?”
“Yes, but this is my decision. I’m in charge of field operations. She’s been promoted.”
The idea of getting back to normal, coming back to an empty house after the kids went to school and a day of housework and chores and chauffeuring kids from one thing to the next, that had been fine for a while, but she hated laundry.
“Would I still be filling in for Darcy Dagger?” she asked.
Valentina shook her head no. “You completed that assignment. From here on out, you would be yourself, Agent Gabby Greene.”
There was a nice ring to that. A swell of pride surged through her chest, hitting her harder than the caffeine. Pride—that was the rush she’d been seeking, the one that had always evaded her. No cup of coffee, no tub of Ben & Jerry’s, no random purchase from TikTok could give her the feeling surging through her body right now. This was the person she wanted to be for Kyle and Lucas, a woman with purpose, direction, and pride.
When she thought of Kyle’s decision to dye her hair mostly red, she knew—secret agenting was the right move. Either that or Kyle was seeking her approval because she wasn’t getting enough attention. They’d figure that out, though.
“Your second assignment should be easy for you.”
“Really?” What assignment could possibly be easy? Also, she’d heard that one before. All you need to do is make coffee and smile. Ha!
“You will need to go undercover as a housewife.”
Gabby guffawed. “Really?” Couldn’t she be a vineyard owner or an art collector?
Valentina said, “What, do you think I should have Markus do that one?”
She wanted to say, “Why not?” but she kept it to herself. “I guess I can do laundry, if it’s for national security purposes.” That would be a hell of a lot more satisfying than scrubbing ketchup stains out of Phil’s work shirts.
“So are you in?” Alice asked.
“I am,” Gabby said. “I accept the position.”
Valentina almost smiled and slid a badge across the desk. “Welcome to the Elite Operatives Department, Agent Greene.”