Heart of an Assassin (Circle of Spies) Read Online Free PDF Page A

trellis moved in the breeze.
    Nothing spectacular until a dark shadow flickered to the left of me. When I whipped my head around to get a better look, it was gone. I imagined the lean form of an intruder moving with stealth upon the unsuspecting house.
    My mission just made a one eighty turn.

 
     
     
Six
    “Hey!” I hissed. “Did you see that?”
    Adamos shook his head no and motioned to keep watching. I bit my lip and studied the dark places, the hidden spots. Anywhere intruders would most likely be. Seconds passed and I saw nothing. I sighed, about to accept that I’d imagined it, my desperation for excitement reaching new pathetic levels, when the figure approached a window and seconds later jimmied the lock and entered the house.
    I gasped and with a flailing of my arms tried to get Adamos’s attention, but he remained calm, sitting cross-legged with his hands folded under his chin in a very meditative position. Finally I was able to speak.
    “There!” I pointed. “Did you see that?”
    He pointed to my knapsack. “Observe and record but do not take action.”
    I was a spy. I could not sit on my lazy butt and twiddle my thumbs. I studied the house, the hard angles of the roof and the turret windows, and imagined the man sliding across floors, entering and unlocking safes. What if Constance owned valuable jewels? Or what if he stowed his entire life savings under his mattress and it was all he had to his name?
    This one robbery could put him out on the street and then Mom would ask why I hadn’t done something to stop it. She’d say it takes instinct to know when to break the rules and she’d shake her head and refuse to work with me. My instinct came in the form of a burning sensation in my heart and an itch in my feet, urging me to follow him.
    “We’ve got to go and see what he’s doing. Take pictures! Observe.” I added in some more enthusiastic arm gestures to convince him. “I promise I won’t do anything. I’ll watch and take pictures with my trusty phone, then I’ll report back here.”
    He narrowed his eyes.
    I pulled out the only ammo I had left. “Mom sent me here expecting absolutely nothing to happen. We’d sit here. I’d get bored and then stop bugging her. If she learns someone broke in and we did nothing? She’ll be furious.” I flashed him a sly smile. “But, if I chase away the intruder, I might earn her trust. Right?”
    He pursed his lips and gazed at the house. Finally he nodded. “Do what you must to get a closer look while staying hidden. Then return back here. I’ll be watching.”
    After almost knocking Adamos over with a giant hug, I sprinted through the gardens until I reached the house. I pressed my back to the outside wall to catch my breath. Then I heard the tinkling high pitch of my mom’s fake laughter probably at Constance cracking lame bird jokes. The front door opened and shut. They were inside. Mom’s arrival changed everything. I had no choice but to enter. I would approach with the expertise of a professional spy. Mom’s safety and the wellbeing of her companion were at stake. They’d need someone on the inside. They needed me.
    With my fingers under the top of window, I tugged to see if it was still unlocked. It lifted no problem and I was inside. My first official break-in in Greece, and it felt good. Okay, I won’t mention the long and painful scrape across my stomach when I gracefully wormed my way in, or the scratches on my leg when I used one of the perfectly pruned bushes as a footstool.
    The shadows became my friends and I snaked through hallways and up the stairs as if I were invisible. My feet were so light on the ground I was more like a butterfly. That could be my future code name: The Butterfly. Sounded rather intimidating in an ironic sort of way. My mom laughed a few rooms away so I crept in the opposite direction through a humongous room that must be for grand parties.
    The mutterings of a thief echoed from the upstairs, as he