“Hey, are you Richard?” I breathed, glancing over my shoulder.

“That’s me. You must be Rachel?” he replied, his voice low, eyes darting around.

“Yes, but we don’t have time for introductions. They’re almost here!” I said, feeling my hands tremble from the biting cold.

“Right. The Mafia is closing in fast. They’ll find me if they think I still have—” He revealed a shimmering gold watch, its light dancing in the dim glow of the lamp. “I need to disappear. You… you need to blend in!”

Without a second thought, I broke into a run, my hair whipping through the frigid air, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. I had to escape.But suddenly as I ran the truth hit me like a freight train: it wasn’t the watch they wanted. It was me.

They weren’t after the watch at all—that much I should have realized sooner. Their attempt to break in held a deeper motive, one that had been hiding in plain sight all along. Why did they even need me? I’m just a spy, nothing more—a pawn in their game, without any real significance. I always thought they were after Dad's watch, the one that unlocks the door to the company. So what could they possibly want from me?

If you’re feeling a bit lost right now, let me fill you in. I’m Rachel, a 15-year-old spy—and yes, I know that sounds crazy for my age, but when your dad runs a crime network, learning self-defense is just part of the package. So here’s the deal: the mafia has their sights set on me. Just yesterday, they broke into my house! At first, I thought they were after my dad’s watch, which he accidentally left behind during his last visit. But things are definitely more complicated than that…