The Dead Drop by Jennifer Allison Read Free Book Online Page B

Matthew, Gilda decided to play along. “So what is this test about?”
    “Oh, just a few questions to find out whether new interns are paying attention.” He turned around in his chair to face Gilda.
    “I’ve been paying attention.”
    “Then you should be prepared.”
    “You’re awful, Matthew,” said Janet, clearly enjoying the exchange.
    “I just like to see what the new interns learn when they go through the museum for the first time. It helps me find out if we’re being effective in our educational outreach.”
    “So lay it on me,” said Gilda. “I’m ready.”
    “Okay—what’s the CIA?”
    “Don’t make me laugh. The Central Intelligence Agency, of course. Their job is to find out foreign secrets, and they have agents all over the world.”
    “And what about the FBI?”
    “The Federal Bureau of Investigation focuses on criminal activity inside the U.S. They also dabble in counterespionage.”
    “‘Counterespionage’ is a pretty big word.”
    “I’ve used bigger.”
    “What do you mean by it?”
    “Well, duh. Catching foreign spies inside U.S. borders and then trying to ‘flip’ them so they work for us and spy on their countries of origin instead.”
    “Nice work. I guess you were paying attention in the museum.”
    “I knew most of that stuff before I even got here.”
    Janet and Matt exchanged a brief glance and Gilda thought she saw Janet roll her eyes. They think I’m bragging, she thought.
    “Well if those are such easy questions,” said Matt, “what about the KGB?”
    “You mean the spy organization of the former Soviet Union? What about it?”
    “What does ‘KGB’ stand for?”
    Gilda wasn’t sure about this. “Kids Gone Bad?”
    Janet snorted. Matthew’s mouth twitched as if a small chuckle might be lurking somewhere, but he only fixed Gilda with an unblinking stare. “It stands for Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopas nosti, which is Russian for ‘Committee for State Security’.”
    “That was my next guess.”
    “Two out of three isn’t too bad,” said Janet.
    “She should do better. We don’t usually have interns listing ‘solving mysteries’ as one of their extracurricular activities.” He spoke with a wry grin.
    He thinks I made that up, Gilda thought, feeling disappointed. He doesn’t believe I could solve a real mystery.
    “Just let me know if you ever need my help with any of your work,” said Gilda, doing her best to control her impulse to tell Matthew what she thought of his impromptu “test for interns.”
    “I could use some fresh coffee over here for starters.”
    “You’re such a jerk sometimes, Matthew.” Janet’s harsh words were contradicted by the tidy smile on her face.
    “Isn’t getting coffee something our interns are supposed to do?”
    “It’s no problem.” Gilda jumped up and picked up a pink mug labeled SPY GIRL that sat on her desk. “I was just about to pour myself a cup, too.”
    “It’s weird how high school kids all drink coffee these days,” said Janet. “I never liked it back when I was a kid.”
    “I’ve been drinking coffee since I was in preschool,” Gilda fibbed.
    “Doesn’t that stunt your growth?”
    “It oils your brain.” Gilda bounced past Matt and whisked his coffee mug from his desk. In the break area, she poured two cups of coffee and added a generous portion of nondairy creamer to both. She noticed that some office employee had affixed a mailing label with the words Fake Lard to the coffee creamer.
    As she stirred the cloudy brown liquid with a plastic stick, Gilda wondered how she could make Matthew Morrow see that she was qualified to participate in more exciting activities than stirring coffee. Maybe I should just go ahead and ask him, she thought.
    Gilda marched back to Matthew’s desk with new determination. She found Matthew standing up and gathering his belongings.
    “Here’s your coffee.”
    “Oh—thanks.” He put it down without even tasting it. “I just remembered I’d better