Single Lady Spy 01 - The End of Me

challenged him with his stare, but Coop didn’t bite. Fitz finished cutting the fruit salad, “Anyway, how much do y’all know about the second world war?”
    I rolled my eyes, “Can you stop with that accent? It’s annoying.”
    He shook his head, “No. I choose my reality to be the gay version of Gone with the Wind.” His eyes lit up, “I have some of the dresses; wanna put some on for the rest of the story?”
    I giggled and shook my head. Jack swallowed nervously, Luce looked more scared than he was.
    I winked at Fitz, “They don’t get your sense of humor.””
    Coop spoke through his teeth, “Second world war?”
    Fitz pointed the knife at him, “Right. Anyway, did you all learn about how Hitler was taking the best of the best as far as scientists and intellects were concerned?”
    I nodded, “Yeah. We’ve all seen Indiana Jones.”
    He shook his head, “I swear to God in Heaven, nine minutes is all I need with Harrison Ford in that outfit, with that whip.” He fanned himself, “Whew!”
    The others laughed, getting used to the show. Fitz was crazy.
    He nattered as he peeled a massive watermelon and cut it into tiny pieces, behind the huge marble island in the kitchen. “Well, when the other countries, the Brits especially, found out Hitler was doing that, they went nuts. Thus formed the much more modern spy agencies we all work for. The scientists were lost as the war ended.” I noticed the subtlest grin crossing his lips.
    “What does this have to do with the Burrow?” Coop asked. I could tell he was beyond annoyed.
    Fitz froze. He looked up, “You said you knew nothing.”
    I shook my head, “We know James was looking for the Burrow. Him and a guy named Gustavo Servario. That’s it though. It feels like nothing.”
    Fitz looked at each of us, “You all are in over your heads.”
    My spine started to tingle; his Jersey accent was back.
    He placed the knife down, “Have you spoken the word Burrow to anyone beyond you?”
    I shook my head, “No, but we spoke about it at the bugged house. The government knows about the Burrow. They’re the ones trying to get it.” I was lost. I looked at Coop; he looked the way I did.
    He slammed a hand down on the hard counter, “Of course they know about it! They made the fucking thing! They hid them! They made a unanimous decision and saved the world from ending, at the hands of idiotic idealists.”
    I glanced at Jack, “Guess you were right.”
    He nodded, “Yay.”
    Fitz closed his eyes and pinched his brow with his juice-covered hand, “We need to run now. They know you’ll come here.”
    I frowned, “You’re dead.”
    He shook his head, “Not where the Burrow is concerned.”
    My guts started to burn, “You said you knew James was going to find something out or be onto something. What the hell did you think we were here for?”
    He shook his head, “I thought you found out about your mom.”
    “What?”
    He looked at me, “She’s one of us. Always has been. Close your damned mouths; you look like idiots. She was like the Mata Hari of our time. Magnificent spy.”
    I couldn’t feel my legs and arms, “I don’t understand.”
    He grinned, “She’s retired. She used to be one of the head spies for MI6.”
    Betrayal and sickness rolled around inside of me, “She’s English?”
    “German and English. Her mother—your grandmother, was born in a concentration camp. Your great-grandparents both died there and your great aunt fled to England with your grandmother. She met an Englishman and married him and gave birth to your mother. It was obvious early on, your mother was far more intelligent than the boys in school. MI6 hired her in the sixties at eighteen. She climbed ranks faster than the men. She was the first female to reach those sorts of ranks. Brilliant, bloody deadly too. She can kill with her pinky finger.” He spoke with such pride in his voice, but I nearly gagged.
    “She has my kids!” I blurted.
    He nodded, “Then they have never been safer.”
    I closed my eyes and tried to see it all. I shook my head, “None of it makes sense. She never left the house. She was always there. He was gone on mission, but she was there. She was baking and sewing and making ornaments. She let the lawyer into James’ office, she let me go to the hotels, and she let the bad men get to James and me. How had it all happened before her eyes? She would have known if she was a spy, even a shitty one, much less, a brilliant one.”
    He