The Nameless Hero by Lee Bacon Read Free Book Online

somewhere between bronze and roasted chicken. Her brown, leathery lips turned into a smile.
    “Hiiiiiii!” she said, stretching out the word into at least three syllables. “How can I help you kids today?”
    I glanced over at Milton and Sophie. They were both staring back at the woman with their mouths open. Even the other girl—the one who seemed so sure about everything else—looked uncertain.
    “First time tanning?” The woman leaned forward on thecounter, her frosted blond hair falling across her orange shoulders like an avalanche. “I can always tell. So let me guess—now that summer’s here, you kids want to get your beach bodies looking good, am I right?”
    “Er, actually,” I stammered, “we were sort of—”
    “No need to be embarrassed,” she interrupted. “I’m not here to judge your pale, pathetic bodies. Believe me, I didn’t always have this perfect tan.” She indicated her orangey skin. “I had to
work
to look this good.”
    “We’re not here to get a tan!” I said insistently.
    This seemed to get the employee’s attention. She stared back at me. For a second or two, the only sound was the repeated
click-click
of her painted fingernail against the counter.
    “Well,” she said. “If you’re not interested in a tan, then why
are
you here?”
    Sophie stepped forward and placed the slip of paper onto the counter. “We’re here about this.” She slid the paper forward.
    The woman looked at the paper. The clicking of her fingernails stopped.
    “Where did you find this?” she asked.
    “It just sort of … appeared,” Sophie said.
    “And what about you three? Did you also receive these notes?”
    I nodded and pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket. The dark-haired girl did the same. Milton hesitated. Then he set his jaw and stepped forward to lay his invitation down.
    With the four slips in her hand, the woman glided out from behind the counter. A wave of perfume swept past as she crossed the room. When she reached the front door, she pressed a button on the wall. The steel grate began lowering again, blocking any view from outside.
    When she turned back around, I felt a jolt of shock run through me. All of a sudden, there was something very different about her.
    Her shoulder-length bleached hair had somehow shortened and become a deep auburn color. But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Her orange tan and chapped lips were gone, replaced by pale, freckled features and bright green eyes.
    She looked like a totally different person.
    “My name’s Brandy,” she said, and even her voice had changed. “Sorry to Shift so suddenly. We have to keep up appearances here. That’s how I ended up with the beef jerky complexion. Come along. Gavin’s waiting for you.”
    I was having trouble following everything. Did she really just transform into another person? And who was Gavin?
    Brandy led us across the salon until we were standing in front of the tanning bed. “This will transport you to headquarters.”
    “Hold on a second,” Milton said. “We’re supposed to go to headquarters in … a tanning bed?”
    “Of course,” Brandy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She lifted the top of the tanning bed. “Now … only one person can fit inside at a time. Who’s first?”

    With her ability to look like anyone she wants, Brandy is a master of disguise. But when she mysteriously goes missing, Joshua is left wondering whether she ever revealed her true self .
    “I’ll go,” Sophie said.
    As she stepped forward, I gave her a surprised look.
    “What?” She shrugged, smiling. “I’ve never taken a ride in a tanning bed before.”
    Sophie climbed inside and lay flat on her back. I caught one last glimpse of her face before Brandy lowered the top. Pressing a button on the side of the tanning bed caused a faint buzz to grow louder and louder until it filled the room.
    I flinched as a panel of the wall opened up, revealing a tunnel. All at