Her heart thundering in her chest, her mind racing, Sam bolted to the room next door, where she shook Slick’s shoulder. She whispered in her ear before she backed out of the room. The pumpkin man backed up and headed down the steps, Sam right behind him. Outside, the golden retriever was howling.

In the cozy kitchen, Poke motioned for Sam to sit, then did the same thing when Slick walked in, her hair standing on end. She was dressed in a knee-length sleep shirt that said SWEET DREAMS on the front.

Poke poured coffee. The women eyed him warily, their hands cupped around their respective mugs.

“Believe it or not, ladies, I’m here to make your day!”

Chapter Two

Poke drained the coffee in his cup before he spoke to his wary audience. “I’m Poke Donovan and I’m here to make you both an offer of employment with a very select organization. You were both chosen because you washed out of the FBI Academy. We monitored you for the entire sixteen weeks you were at the Academy. We feel you were shortchanged, hence the offer. Should you wish to join us, you will sign a contract for four years. The first year will consist of training where you will unlearn everything you think you learned at the Academy. You will be trained by professionals, professionals unlike the instructors at the Academy. After your year of training, you will, as a team, conduct missions. Should you wash out, you will return to this life with a sizable bonus for your time. The salary for your training year is fifty-five thousand. You will earn every penny of it.”

“What’s the name of the organization you represent?” Sam asked carefully.

“All in good time. This is not a good time.” Poke opened his backpack and withdrew two folders. He handed one to Slick and one to Sam. He watched their outraged expressions as they flipped through the pages.

“How…how did you…get our records from the FBI?” Slick demanded as she slammed the folder shut.

Instead of answering her, Poke reached into his backpack again and pulled out the photographs he’d taken yesterday. Both women gasped. It was Sam who said, “How did you get onto the Marine base to take these shots?”

Poke shrugged.

“Let me see that badge you showed me upstairs,” Sam said defiantly.

“All in good time. I need your answer now. I’m prepared to give you ten days to wind up your affairs, at which point you will be taken to your new place of employment.”

“This is way too vague for me,” Slick said. “I need more details. What exactly will we be doing? What kind of training are you talking about? Are we going to be agents of the government? Why do we have to unlearn what we were taught at the Academy?”