I, Spy? (Sophie Green Mysteries, No. 1) (Sophie Green Mystery)

be,” he said. “Okay. I need you to come into the office and sign a few things.”
    “I signed millions of things yesterday!”
    “Yes, but these are important things. Do you remember where you did your Ace training?”
    I was confused. My training was so long ago that it was a distant memory (and a laughable one—did I really think people would pay their excess baggage charges without a fight?), but I remembered where it was, because that was where a lot of the airlines had their back-up and support. Ace had an office in supersmart Enterprise House, by the car park, but they still had a few rooms they used for training round where the old terminal was.
    I pulled up outside the building. Luke was waiting, a look of disbelief on his face.
    “What?” I said, opening the door for him.
    “ This is your car?”
    “What are you implying?”
    “Why the hell are you driving a Land Rover Defender?”
    I made a face as he got in. “I like it. It’s reliable. Lara Croft has one.”
    Luke stared. I think I was doing okay until I mentioned Lara. “You know she’s fictional, right?”
    “I’m not stupid.” Probably this wouldn’t be the best time to tell him the car had a name. It was called Ted, after the character in The Fast Show … Okay, never mind.
    He shook his head. “Go up here and turn right.”
    I did as I was told. I’m not sure what I was expecting: a bunker, maybe, something highly secret. But he told me to stop outside a totally ordinary, rather shabby looking prefab hut. The peeling sign outside said it belonged to Flight Services Inc.
    “Has anyone ever come in asking about flight services?” I asked as I locked Ted up. He didn’t have central locking, and Luke shook his head in amazement when I asked him to lock his door, as if he was wondering why anyone would ever try to steal the car.
    I liked my car, all right? It was solid and dependable and a design classic, and the army had them. And if someone was parked in a stupid place then I could just trample all over them and not worry about the damage to my car. Ted looked happier with a dent or two in him.
    Luke, after a moment’s pause, glanced at the sign by the door and said no, no one had ever asked about flight services. Most airport people were very focused. It was sometimes hard to remember there was anything outside your own flight report.
    Christ, I was glad I was getting out of that.
    Inside was an ordinary, dated office where a pretty blonde woman sat behind a desk, glancing at something on a computer.
    She looked up and smiled. “You must be Sophie! Luke’s told me all about you.”
    I glanced at Luke. He flicked his eyebrows at me but said nothing, and wandered over to check a chart on the wall.
    “I’m Alexa.” The blonde offered her hand over the desk, and I took it. “Call me Lex. Everyone does.”
    Lex. As in Luthor?
    I gave her a smile. She seemed very normal. She wasn’t Moneypenny glamorous or GI Jane hard. She looked like a normal receptionist. She even had an aspidistra next to her desk.
    It was all sort of disappointing.
    “So—” she leaned over the desk earnestly, “—are you excited?”
    I shrugged nonchalantly. I was so nervous I could barely stand up. It had actually taken me most of the night to decide on what to wear. Now the sun was up and Alexa was smiling at me in her New Look shirt, I felt a bit stupid for having agonised about whether to wear a skirt or trousers (in the end having plumped for trousers and top with high Lycra contents, just in case they wanted me to start doing any training, and a smart leather jacket).
    Alexa turned to Luke. “I know we said you’d go straight in, but Maria just called. She’s bringing up her catch from London. Should be here any minute.”
    I glanced at Luke for an explanation, but he didn’t look at me.
    “Did she say anything about him? Or is it a her?”
    Alexa shrugged. “No idea. Just that she’s very pleased with herself.”
    “Christ.”
    It was warm in the little office, thanks to the noisy air heater by Alexa’s desk, and I took off my jacket.
    “God,” Alexa cried, “what happened to you?”
    She was staring at my arm. So there were a few scratches on it, and the bruises were just beginning to come up. I shrugged. “I had a run-in with a baggage belt.”
    “I didn’t know they fought back.”
    “Viciously,” I said, and we shared a smile.
    A car pulled up outside, and I glanced through the blinds to see a woman in a shiny PVC coat