The Agency: Murder in Macedon
In this third installment in the series, The Agency, Cassidy and Jay travel back in time to save Alexander the Great on the eve of his father’s assassination. Along the way the are forced to confront just how far they are willing to go to succeed in their missions.
Chapter One
Hot Town, Summer In The City
“Jordan let go of the ball!” Cassidy shouted at the kid.
He was only seven but could be so infuriating when he would not cooperate. It was mid-July and Cassidy was halfway through her summer job helping to run a day camp for young children in the city whose parents had to work. It wasn’t a bad job. Most days Cassidy actually had fun going to work. But, not all days. Such, Cassidy figured, is the nature of working with kids.
The boy released the ball which then flew up in the air as Cassidy wrenched it back over her own head. She watched as it soared across the playground and nearly struck another day camp counselor in the head. The counselor turned around abruptly, his hand flying to the back of his head where the ball had nearly hit him, looking to see where the errant object had come from.
“Sorry Shawn!” Cassidy called. “That was me. Had a little issue over here.”
The young man smiled and waved back to show he understood. “No worries!”
Cassidy let out a deep sigh. She looked down at her watch, it was only ten in the morning. She still had hours to go. This, she thought, was going to be one of those long days.
On days like these Cassidy found it impossible not to let her mind wander - especially to memories of her two missions with the Agency. The Agency was a secret society of time travelers that Cassidy and her best friend Jay joined earlier that year.
Since then, Cassidy and Jay had participated in two missions. The first was to ancient Egypt where Cassidy had uncovered a conspiracy to keep Pharaoh Ramesses II (otherwise known to history as Ramesses the Great) from participating at the Battle of Kadesh. Cassidy had discovered that one of the pharaoh’s closest generals was actually conspiring to prevent Ramesses from leading his own troops, which would have led to a disastrous Egyptian defeat. Instead, thanks to her, Ramesses led the Egyptian forces, as he was supposed to, and history was saved.
Their second mission had been, well, different. Rather than a mystery, their second mission was more of a test of will and endurance. This time, Cassidy and Jay were sent back to ancient Greece to ensure the Spartan army did not fight at the Battle of Marathon against the Persians. In the alternate version of history they had seen, the Spartans fought at the battle, only to change sides and betray the Athenians, leading to a Persian victory.
That mission, however, did not get off on the right foot. For reasons no one, not even Reginald Sung or the Director - Cassidy and Jay’s two main contacts at the Agency - understood, the two of them had been separated. Jay showed up in Athens while Cassidy ended up in Sparta. The entire mission turned into a struggle in which the two of them had to find each other once more. It turned out, in doing so, they also successfully completed their mission. Not without some struggle, Cassidy remembered, gingerly touching her hair. Cassidy’s side of the mission had turned into a no holds bar professional wrestling match with a future Spartan queen. It had not been fun.
On days like these Cassidy could not help but think about when their next mission would be. Or even, where they might be headed. After their first mission, Cassidy discovered her father, who previously she had believed to be dead, was also an agent and was lost somewhere in medieval Florence - or so that was everyone’s best guess at least. Medieval Florence was the last place that her father’s partner and their main contact at the Agency, Reginald Sung, saw him. Every single day Cassidy wondered if they might get a mission to medieval Europe so that she might have a chance to find her father.
Though, to be fair, right now Cassidy would rather be anywhere but here. Again, she did not mind the camp and realized her job was important. It was just time travel was a lot more exciting than chasing elementary school kids around a playground all day long.
She supposed she should not take it for granted though. Looking up at the morning sky, it looked like it was going to be another beautiful summer day in New York City. Soon it would be September and Cassidy would be back at school. Thanks to her association with the Agency, she had been accepted to a prestigious magnet school. But, her best friend Jay was going to a different school. For the first time in their scholastic lives, they would not be together and that made Cassidy sad.
“Hey Cass,” another counselor called from a few feet away, snapping Cassidy back to reality.
She turned to see who was speaking. “Oh, hey Danny. What’s up?”
“I forgot the popsicles back at the building. Would you mind running back and grabbing them?”
“No problem,” said Cassidy. Then with a smile, “Or, should I just tell the kids you forgot them and watch them tear you into pieces?”
“Very funny,” Danny said. “Though you are right, that is exactly what would happen.”
“No worries,” Cassidy said. “I’ll run and grab them right now.” She turned to go.
“Thanks,” he called after her, “you’re a lifesaver. Literally!”
It was about a fifteen-minute walk back to their main building and Cassidy welcomed the break. It gave her a chance to think and clear her head a bit. In the last few weeks Cassidy had read everything she could get her hands on about medieval Europe and especially Florence. She wanted to be completely prepared if and when their next mission took them anywhere near her father in time. She read about the Black Death, the Medici family, and the monk turned reformer: Savonarola. Medieval Florence, it seemed, did not lack for interesting characters. Honestly, part of her wanted to go to just meet some of these people.
Cassidy rounded the corner to the street that housed their building. It was not a large building and was owned by the church next door. Mostly, it was just a place to store things and for some parents to pick up their kids at the end of the day.
It was a small, brick-faced building crowded into a street of much larger buildings. Its size disparity actually made it look like kind of an afterthought, as though someone forgot to put a building there, realized at the last minute, and just used whatever leftover materials were on hand to quickly construct something. Cassidy was sure it would be torn down at some point in the next several years.
She bounded up the five stone stairs and into the building. Cassidy waved at the lone secretary and walked down the hallway to the fridge where the popsicles would be. The fridge itself was ancient, probably from the late eighties. It had a bulky metal handle and Cassidy was certain it was not up to modern safety standards, but it still worked so they kept it. Inside were the popsicles, exactly where Danny had put them this morning, and then had forgotten to take them back out.
Cassidy leaned in to take them when a voice from behind jolted her and she nearly struck her head on the fridge’s top-shelf.
“Cass?” asked the secretary behind her.
“Yeah?” said Cassidy, getting her bearings. “Sorry, you startled me. What’s up?”
“Oh sorry,” she said, “it’s just that there is a man here who says he has a question about the program.”
“A question about the summer program?” asked Cassidy.
That’s odd, she thought, the program was nearly halfway over. It was peculiar that someone would be asking about it now.
“Yes,” continued the secretary, “and he asked to speak to one of the counselors.”
“Oh,” Cassidy stuttered out a response still a bit confused though as to why someone would be here now to ask a question, “sure, that’s fine. I can help him, I guess.” Cassidy walked out of the small room, past the secretary and into the hallway. She walked back down the hallway towards the front of the building.
There, waiting for her at the counter, was Reginald Sung.
Twenty minutes later Cassidy and Sung were getting off the train near the public pool where Jay was lifeguarding that summer. Cassidy, with Sung in tow, quickly delivered the popsicles and then told Danny that Sung had brought news that her mother needed her home for a family emergency. Danny did not ask any questions and told Cassidy he and the other counselors could easily handle the rest of the day without her.
Sung was dressed in his usual black suit, crisp white shirt and narrow black tie. It was the same outfit Cassidy saw him wear the first time he came to their school.
They did not speak much on the trip over. Sung merely told her there was a mission and that they needed to get Jay and head to the Agency as fast as possible. Luckily, Jay was working only a few stops over on the subway so the trip had not taken long.
Cassidy and Sung made their way up to the concrete entrance of the pool but did not have to go inside. Fortunately for them, Jay was sitting on a bench outside the pool, dressed in red swim trunks, flip flops, and a white T-shirt, eating a sandwich. He stopped chewing abruptly when he saw them and stood.
“Cass,” Jay said, coming forward to meet them, “Sung, what’s up? Is there another mission?”
“Well,” said Sung, “I am not here for a social call young man. Nor,” he gestured to his suit, “am I dressed appropriately for a swim. So I suppose a mission is the only other logical conclusion.”
“Thanks,” said Jay, grabbing his backpack, “I appreciate the seven layers of sarcasm on that one, but next time you could just say yes and we could move on with our lives.”
“I could,” said Sung with a smile, “but what would be the fun in that.”
Cassidy grabbed Sung by the arm. “So, is the mission to medieval Florence? Is there a chance we could rescue my dad?”
Sung shook his head. “I am afraid not. Unless he has traveled very far in time indeed.”
“So,” said Jay, “where are we going? What’s the mission?”
“I would prefer,” said Sung slowly and deliberately, “that we discuss those details back at the Agency.”
He opened his suit coat to reveal a small hand mirror in his breast pocket. It appeared to be the same mirror that they had used to go to the Agency from their middle school a month or so earlier. Agents could use mirrors made with sand from the mystical passage pool to travel back to the Agency.
Sung nodded towards a small alley nearby. “Shall we?”
The Agency: Murder in Macedon is available on Amazon in both Kindle and print formats.