So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)(20)

Kira growled under her breath as Chloe elbowed past us into the handicapped stall and closed the door. Leona came to stand next to me, rubbing her shoulder. “Are you setting up the surveillance?” she whispered in my ear, nodding toward the closed metal door. “I just know it’s her. Bitch hit me with a door.”

“And my routines rock,” Kira hissed quietly, biting at her nail and sidling up next to me. “We just need more practice. God, I hate her. You should totally fight her again, Tess. Only this time, kick her ass.”

I darted a glance at her. I felt a hand on my shoulder as Izzie joined us. “I can’t believe she’s using the handicap stall,” she whispered. “That’s so tacky. She’s not even disabled.”

The toilet flushed with a loud whoosh, and we scattered to our respective sinks, as though we hadn’t been loitering.

“Ready for homecoming?” Chloe asked, stepping up behind Kira and me to run her hands under the water.

“I’m not a cheerleader, remember?” I answered, holding her stare.

She turned off the faucet before shaking out her hands into the sink. “That’s right.” She winked. “Forgot.”

She moved back, studying her reflection as she brushed her hands through her long blonde hair—the only evidence of the old Chloe, the schemer who’d tried to steal Aiden. She sighed. “Well, good luck with that,” she said, shooting a glance at Kira.

“Thanks, wench,” Kira returned, turning away from her.

I half expected Leona to trip Chloe as she walked out, but instead she held open the door for her. Once Chloe was gone, Leona pushed the door closed and turned back to us, her mouth hanging open.

“Did you see that?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Kira said, bending toward the mirror to reapply her lip gloss. “Black is so not her color.”

“Not that,” Leona said. “She didn’t even use soap to wash her hands! That’s completely unsanitary.”

“And totally nasty,” Izzie echoed.

Although I fully agreed that hygiene was important, we needed to focus. I’d been hoping that Robert had been mistaken about SOS breaking into someone’s house to wipe their computer files. I mean, SOS had hacked plenty of computers, but to clear the hard drive? That was harsh. Still it was obvious after the latest message—and now the news of the blog—that this faux Kitten meant business.

I rested my shaking hands on the cold porcelain of the sink. I’d never thought the copy-Kitten’s ruse would get this far. Saying you’re the Society of Smitten Kittens was one thing, but actually performing missions? That was appalling!

“I meant to tell you,” Izzie said, looking at me wide-eyed. “While Sam and I were arguing last night, my grandpa clicked in to tell me that someone had broken into his garage. He didn’t think anything was stolen, but my bet is that some of our equipment is gone.”

“Figured that,” Leona said. “I don’t blame them. I had an impressive spy gear collection.” She looked at Izzie. “And sorry about the arguing with Sam.”

Izzie waved it off with her hand. “It was nothing. No bigs.”

I wanted to crawl into a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. This copy-Kitten had rep-assassinated us and stolen our goods. Would the horror never end?

I let the voices of the squad fade to background noise for a minute as I concentrated hard. I rubbed my eyes and, when I finally opened them, I stared at my reflection. Blotchy. Scared.

“I have to go,” I said suddenly, spinning to face them. I had an assignment to complete.

“Now?” Leona asked. “You look like you’re going to puke, Tess. Maybe you should sit down.”

“Ew, on the toilet?” Kira asked, scrunching her nose in the direction of the stall.

“Maybe we can go to the mall?” Izzie interjected, obviously still itching to use her plastic.

Leona and Kira seemed to consider this, but I interrupted. “No,” I said. “You girls need to practice, get your cheers in order. I have other business to handle. Business involving a certain pouty blonde with an affection for the unholy.”

“Black is still not her color,” Kira added.

“Totally,” I agreed, keeping my voice authoritative. (It helped inspire confidence.) “Now, I’ll run my surveillance and call to set up a rendezvous point for later. Agreed?”

The Kittens stared back at me, looking a bit stunned.

“Whoa,” Leona said, a smile tugging at the corners of her dark lips. “You sounded like the old Tessa just now.”

“It was pretty cool.” Izzie giggled.

“Well…good.” I straightened my posture. The old Tessa would have totally kicked spying tush right about now.

The bell overhead rang and Kira groaned. “I’ve got to jet. Practice immediately after school,” she said, holding up her finger in warning to the girls. “Spread the word.”

“Yes, captain,” Leona said with an eye roll and a salute.

Kira glanced at me. “Good luck, Tess.” She smiled supportively and I nodded, watching as she left.

After Leona and Izzie followed her, I waited and turned to examine my reflection once again. Did I still know how to spy? Investigating someone like Chloe, someone I was clearly connected with, was a conflict of interest. Would I be able to objectively collect information?