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

the office in an hour and a half, but if I was clever…
    I crept out of bed and got dressed quickly, slipped out of the house and into Ted. I’d like to have sidled quietly out of the drive, but there’s a reason no one chooses a diesel as a getaway car. I could see my dad peering out of the living room window at me as I rumbled away.
    Luke’s house was closer than mine and the roofer’s yard was empty as I parked on the road outside. Like I said, noisy car. I crept up to the front door, heart beating fast, and quickly keyed in the code on the keypad.
    A long second while the machine thought about it, then a green light flashed and I turned the handle.
    Nothing. Oh yeah, the key!
    Once inside I knew I had twenty seconds to disable the alarm, but I also knew the code for that, and I did it without a sound. I disabled two alarms and broke into the most highly secure residence since Posh’n’Becks set up home, and there was no one here to see me .
    Dammit.
    I retrieved the right key and crept over to the hidden gun cabinet, not sure why I was being so quiet but also not willing to make any noise. Twenty seconds and the revolver would be hidden again and Luke would never have known I’d taken it.
    Well, he’d never have known if I hadn’t somehow set off an alarm when I opened the cupboard. Suddenly there was a cold metal gun pressed against the back of my head and Luke’s voice was saying, “Stand up. Slowly.”
    I dropped the revolver and did as I was told, holding my hands in the air. Why the hell was he here?
    “Now turn around. Keep your hands where I can see them.”
    I did and looked up guiltily at him. Luke stared back in shock.
    “Sophie?”
    “Um. Yeah.”
    “What the hell are you doing here?”
    “I could ask you the same question. Will you put that bloody gun away?”
    “Not until you tell me what you’re doing breaking into my apartment.”
    “Aren’t you supposed to be in my apartment?”
    He raised his hands, and I relaxed as the gun swung away. “I came back to pick some stuff up. Jesus, Sophie, I thought someone had broken in.”
    “Well,” I said, a little smugly, “they had. Me.”
    “How?”
    “Magic.”
    “ How ?”
    The gun was back. I made a face. “I disabled the locks.”
    He narrowed his eyes and I sighed. “Macbeth,” I said. “How do you think I got out of here yesterday?” I pushed the gun away and stepped past him.
    “Macbeth is here too?”
    “No. He showed me how to do it. I learnt your codes, Luke,” I said, going into the kitchen and switching on the kettle. I needed coffee to calm me down.
    “Jesus Christ,” he said, flicking a safety catch on the gun and tucking it under his belt. “You are a bloody menace.”
    I gave him a smile. “I’m using my initiative. You’re supposed to be impressed.”
    “What were you doing breaking into my gun cabinet?”
    “I was curious. Didn’t know you had guns in there.” Thank God he hadn’t realised I’d nicked one. Shouldn’t he have been more vigilant? Why hadn’t he set the alarm when I was locked in?
    “So what if I’d done that when I was locked in here?” I asked, searching for a teaspoon. “Would I have had to live with the alarm all day? I’d have gone mad.”
    “You already are,” Luke muttered. “I switched off all the alarms when you were here. I knew you’d try and make a break for it. Didn’t want to have the alarm wailing all day long. The guys downstairs complain about it.”
    “Nice to know you considered my hearing.”
    He glared at me. “Did I say you were welcome to coffee?”
    “Yes.” I paused. “Maybe not today. Anyway, you’re always taking stuff from my place.”
    “I’m allowed.”
    “Yeah, and why’s that?” I started looking for food and located some digestive biscuits in the shiny chrome bread bin.
    “I just am.” He looked irritable. “Look, today we have to go and think of something to do with Sven.”
    “Shouldn’t we hand him over to the police?”
    Luke rolled his eyes and sighed. “Sophie, what are we?”
    I tried to swallow the biscuit but didn’t manage. “Special agents,” I said through a mouthful of crumbly digestive.
    “Better than police.”
    “You mean we’re above the law?”
    “No, just above the police. They help us. We don’t answer to them.”
    Cool.
    “So can we do what we want to Sven?”
    Luke cracked a smile and leaned back against the kitchen unit, his arms folded. “What did you want to do to him?”
    I thought of