The Spying

"You've got to be kidding me," Joanette muttered as she sat in the BMW SUV beside her father, Ken in the back seat and still typing on his phone. "This is the job I'm supposed to be doing?"

They were parked right outside the city hall, inches away from a red Tesla that a man had exited only a few seconds prior.

"Don't be daft Joanette, of course it's not. He's merely a pawn, your real prize is this." Alistair pulled a white envelope from the inside pockets of his suit and handed it to his daughter.

Joanette took the envelope and opened it to check the contents inside, resisting the urge to scoff when she saw candid photographs of a child. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" She asked with confusion, "this little girl can't be older than five."

"She's eight," Ken put in from the background, stunning Joanette into silence. "She just looks young."

"That little girl is your ticket to action," Alistair provided. "She's the daughter of Italian mafia king Marco DiBiancci and Spanish mob queen Katarina Montenegro." He adjusted his position in his seat and waited for his daughter to respond.

"Okay, and?"

"She's being targeted by an unknown underground movement for human traffickers. That little girl is worth twenty-eight billion dollars with nine billion dollars or more of that whole percentage taken up by the worth of her drug world inheritance." Ken input again.

"How is this any of my problem? Good for her, she's filthy rich. What does that have to do with me?"

"Recently her father requested a bodyguard for the girl, and you two are being sent in to protect her," Alistair simply informed the,. Joanette's expression was impassive, but her entire face turned red.

"I'm being pulled out of my fame to work as a <i>nanny</i>? Are you fucking kidding me, Alistair? Are you insane?"

Her father rolled his eyes and simply turned on the car to turn on the air conditioner. "I'm starting to think you like the paparazzi taking pictures of you everywhere."

"Of course she does, she was made for the spotlight." Ken had put away his phone now, and was simply reclined in the back seat, eyes trained on his partner. "All of your daughters are."

Joanette stuck up her finger at him and leaned her head back in her seat. "Why isn't Alyssa taking this case?"

"She's in rehab," her father responded dryly.

"Shit, what happened?" Joanette wasn't concerned, but for the sake of her father, she pretended to be. She knew her twin could take on just about anything with no issue.

"Landmine."

Except that.

Silence fell over the car and the three looked out the window until the man who was driving the Tesla exited city hall and got into his car again. Alistair handed his daughter a small black circle.

"Go plant this on his car."

Joanette took the small circle and grabbed her purse, making sure to put her phone to her ear as she stepped out of the vehicle. Acting like a typical busy spinster, she began walking beside the car when she tripped and effectively dropped everything she was holding including her cellphone.

"Damn!" She cried in despair and began to pick everything up. "Just my luck, I was doing so well too." she raised her head to the sky and sighed deeply, trying not to cry.

"Miss!" The man had stepped out of his vehicle and was now rushing to help her, granted he didn't have to go far since she was literally right beside his car. "Are you alright?"

Joanette looked at him, surprised. He was helping her pick her things up. "Oh! Oh my goodness, thank you," She smiled at him gratefully and resumed picking up her things. "I don't know how I tripped," she laughed nervously. "Oh god, I'm so clumsy."

"No! No! It's totally understandable. Today just seems like that kind of day." He smiled comfortingly, receiving a bright smile back. "Say... Aren't you Joanette Bordeaux? The supermodel?"

"That's me," she laughed nervously again. "Hollywood's newest sensation."

"I should think so, my kids are obsessed with you. My son is going to be so jealous when..."

Alistair sat quietly in his car as he watched his daughter chat enthusiastically with the man, luring him in deeper with every smile. He was smitten with her already, Alistair could see it.

"She's good," Ken commented from beside his head, eyes trained steadfastly on the woman. "She's very good."

"Yes," Alistair couldn't help but feel a sensation akin to pride when he watched his daughter work. There was no denying that she was nothing but sensational at her job, and he was proud to call himself her father even if it didn't seem that way. Even though he had been ignoring the strain on his relationship with the eldest of his twins, he knew that Joanette resented him for constantly pushing her into unwanted situations and leaving her to fend for herself. He often felt sorry for being so tough on her even as a child, but his pride wouldn't allow him to vocalise it.

The two men watched intently as Joanette used her surroundings as a distraction, taking the opportunity when the man looked away to seem off balanced and fall against his car, effectively planting the tracker to the bottom of it. The man looked at her and frantically helped her stand, handing her the rest of her items once she was stood securely. The two looked down into her hands as she held the cellphone she had dropped, now cracked and broken.

Nothing was said as the man made a comment with a concerned look, and Joanette responded with something undoubtedly witty, considering the smile that took over his face. The two exchanged some more words and the man excused himself, getting into his car and driving away. Alistair simply hummed in approval when his daughter looked down at the dummy phone in her hands and smirked.

—

Joanette entered her father's car again and settled in. "Why did I plant a tracker on that mans car?"

"You didn't have to, I just made you do it for fun."

"I hate you, Alistair. Take me back home."

"Right. I want you in the office early tomorrow morning." Alistair pulled smoothly into traffic and began the route to his daughter's penthouse. "For now, get in the zone. Meditate, do whatever you need to."

"I'm being sent to protect a child, how hard could it be?" Joanette crossed her arms and looked out her window.

"We're not just sending you in to protect the child, we need you to attain intel as well," Alistair glanced back in the mirror at Ken, who was already not paying attention to a word they were saying.

"For what?"

Alistair sighed, heavily considering leaving his daughter in the dark. One look at Joanette let him know that not telling her would be a bad idea. Should she be thrown into a mission as dangerous as this one purely blind, she'd either end up dead, or leave the agency for sure.

"I'll fax you the documents."

—

Joanette stepped off the elevator and tapped her keycard on the reader beside the door to her apartment. She was happy to be home, especially after the day she'd had traipsing around in Louis Vuittons, planting trackers on cars and learning things she didn't want to know. Just thinking about the mission made her head hurt. She couldn't get her facts straight no matter how much she went over them.

Before she'd left her fathers car earlier, he'd handed her an envelope with the word classified stamped across the front of it. She threw the envelope on her kitchen counter as she made her way to the bathroom. She was sure that she'd find some more information she didn't care for, pertaining the background of her new clients in that envelope, but first, she wanted a long shower.

A cold shower usually served to relax her, but now, all it did was wake her up. Sighing, she stood under the direct jet of cold water on her face. She really should've thought twice before deciding to hide herself in plain sight by accepting placement in the modelling industry. Joanette had no idea how she found the time to be famous, and complete secret missions at the same time, especially since her sister stopped covering for her when she was busy.

She could feel herself start to burn out, but she knew she had to push on. She might not like what she was doing, and she might hate her father for setting her up as always, but she knew that this was for the greater good, even though she didn't really know what greater good could come from infiltrating the Italian-Spanish Mafia with this new child she was supposed to protect.

Yes, her agency's methods were more often than not unorthodox, so she couldn't really wonder too much because this sort of bizarre plan wasn't new, but she was still curious.

Stepping out of the shower, Joanette wrapped a towel around herself and her hair, then proceeded to complete her skincare routine. She heard her printing machine go off in her office, and she sighed once more in order to mentally prepare herself for what she would officially be throwing herself into.

Tomorrow before going into the agency HQ, she would have to call her modelling agent and tell her she was taking time off yet again. That was a call she would not be looking forward to. Her agent had a tendency to freak out whenever Joanette paused her career last minute for no reason.

The printing machine beeped yet again, and she finally left the bathroom to see what had arrived. There were a dozen sheets of paper, and as she scanned through each one, more and more criminal activity came to light that she was not aware of, and frankly wished she hadn't known of in the first place. Putting down the papers with a feeling of impending doom, Joanette left her office and began to turn off the lights in her apartment. She might have to face what she needed to do tomorrow, but for tonight she was set on sleeping without a care in the world.