Spy Ski School Read Free Page B

angry, though. Which was unsettling. Erica rarely displayed much emotion at all. She was normally as calm and relaxed as a person at a day spa, even in the midst of a gunfight. But now she was so upset, it felt as though the room was heating up around her.
    â€œThis decision was not made to be an insult to you,” Cyrus informed her. “It was made because it is in the best interests of this country. If you can’t handle that, I’m sure we could find another student willing to be Ben’s handler.”
    Erica shifted her glare to her grandfather. “You know there’s no one here better than me.”
    â€œWelcome aboard, then,” Cyrus said. “Now, here’s the skinny: In a few weeks, the Shangs are actually leaving China for the first time in as long as we’ve been tracking them. Better yet, they’ll be coming to the United States. Jessica Shang wants to learn how to ski.”
    â€œThey can’t do that in China?” the principal asked. “They have snow there, don’t they?”
    â€œOf course they have snow,” Cyrus said curtly. “However, their resorts aren’t nearly as good as ours yet—so Jessica wants to go to Colorado. Vail, to be specific. They’ve already rented a hotel there and—”
    â€œA hotel room,” I corrected.
    â€œWhat?” Cyrus asked.
    â€œYou said they rented a hotel ,” I told him. “Instead of a hotel room.”
    â€œThat wasn’t a mistake,” Cyrus snapped. “They rented the entire hotel.”
    â€œFor one family?” I asked, stunned.
    â€œActually,” Alexander said, “Mrs. Shang isn’t coming. We’re not sure why, but we suspect that she’s even more secretive than her husband. Or maybe she just doesn’t like cold weather.”
    â€œSo they rented an entire hotel for only two people?” I asked, even more stunned.
    â€œPlus their security staff, which is quite large,” Alexander explained. “Leo Shang doesn’t like being around strangers. And like we said, he’s very rich.”
    â€œStill,” Erica said, “if he’s so cautious, why’s he coming to America at all? He must suspect the CIA is tracking him.”
    â€œWe’ve been wondering that ourselves,” Cyrus replied. “Our best guess is that the ski vacation is a cover for Operation Golden Fist.”
    â€œSo this doesn’t have anything to do with SPYDER?” I asked.
    â€œWhy should it?” Cyrus replied, in a way that suggested my question had been idiotic.
    â€œEr . . . ,” I stammered. “Well . . . SPYDER’s kind of our main enemy, isn’t it? I mean, every time I’ve confronted an evil organization, it’s been that one. . . .”
    â€œThe United States has lots of enemies,” Cyrus informed me. “Including hundreds you’ve never heard of. And we haven’t heard a peep out of SPYDER since their headquarters blew up. That was a huge setback for them—financially and organizationally. So perhaps there’s a chance they’re out of the game.”
    â€œI guess,” I said, though I didn’t believe it. SPYDER wasn’t the type of evil organization that quit being evil after a few setbacks. And we’d never captured most of thehigh-ranking members. Or even figured out the real identities of any of them.
    â€œNow, Leo Shang might be only one man,” Cyrus told me, “but he controls an empire that appears to be just as powerful and dangerous as SPYDER. Perhaps even more powerful and dangerous. If he is truly plotting something with a Level Eleven potential for danger and destruction, there are many possible targets in the Rocky Mountains. The U.S. government has dozens of extremely critical facilities there: the headquarters for North American Aerospace Defense, Strategic Missile Command, the Air Force