"You're not wearing that, are you?" Barb asked after Meg parked the car and began making preparations to walk the rest of the way to their destination.

Meg looked down at herself. The black leggings, fitted tee shirt, loose scarf and slip-on athletic shoes were not only super comfortable for the long flight here, but also ideal to stealthily slip into and explore a medieval orthodox monastery for signs of a kidnapped heiress. Yes, she was absolutely planning on wearing it.

"Why?" she asked in return. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

Her mother shrugged. "Nothing, really. And I'll certainly leave the decision up to you," she said in a way that made it clear that she meant the opposite. "But you are a young, ambitious woman working for a powerful government official so I would have expected you to dress a little more appropriately when acting in a business capacity."

Meg huffed. She should have just figured out a way to keep her mother safe without bringing her along, preferably all the way back in DC. But it was too late for that now.

"This is hardly an opportunity for showing off, Mom. I'm just part of the advance team—actually I'm THE advance team—here to scout the place out," she said one hundred percent truthfully. Sometimes describing her work for CANDY in a way that sounded almost mundane was surprisingly easy. But because Barb was still looking at her, she felt compelled to continue. "You know, to figure out where the stage should go and stuff like that in preparation for the Congressman's speech tomorrow."

"Well, that still sounds pretty important to me, but you know best," Barb said with forced resignation as she turned away.

Meg sighed. "Fine. But how am I supposed to change clothes on the side of the road?"

Barb opened the passenger and back doors. "Stand between here, and I'll keep a look out."

After taking off the messenger bag she'd already thrown over her head, Meg grabbed a few things from her carry-on. With her mother standing guard over her modesty, she switched out the tee for a loose jersey dress and her kicks for platform boots. Finishing off the look with a nearly invisible earpiece and a chunky bracelet—both for communicating with Agent Finn—she stepped away from the car and spread her arms.

"Better?" she asked, twirling around.

Barb nodded with a smile. "Much. Now, does this monastery have a buffet? Because I am parched."

Maybe you should have stayed in the hotel then, Meg thought the response she was too polite to say out loud. Instead, she secured her bag again, locked up the car and began walking.

The thousand-year-old monastery stood on top of a hill at the end of a dirt road surrounded by miles of nothing but wheat and sunflower fields.

"So I'm reading that most of the original structure was destroyed over the centuries, most recently in a fire in 2009," Barb said from behind. When Meg glanced back, she saw that her mother had her nose buried in her cell phone.

"Can you turn that off, please?" she asked, thinking of all the ways the device could be pinged by anyone with a kernel of tech knowledge. The last thing she needed was for her position to be given away to potential bad guys.

But Barb scoffed. "Absolutely not! You do remember that I'm an art historian, Megara. And from my quick research, I see that while much of the structure is reproductions, there are quite a few priceless relics, icons, and other local treasures that I definitely need to see."

Meg rolled her eyes. At this rate, she'd need surgery to keep them from perpetually being in a rolling state. "Right," she said. "Can you at least turn it to silent mode? Respect for the monks and all."

While Barb didn't dispute this, it didn't take her long to find something she did.

"The entry gate is this way, honey. Why are you going off that way?" she asked after Meg left the worn path and trudged into the wheat field.

Because saying that she didn't want anyone to know of their arrival wasn't an option, Meg had to come up with a believable alternative. Again.

"Uhm, one of the things I have to check for the Congressman is how good the security is in the compound so I thought we'd start with that," she said.

"By scaling the walls?" Barb deadpanned.

"No," Meg replied, eyeing the stone façade as it ran past the fields and turned into the side of the mountain. There had to be a hidden side entrance somewhere. "By finding vulnerabilities."

No matter how right she thought she was, Meg needed help. But she couldn't get it with her mother being on her heels.

"Mom, stand over here," she said, waiving Barb over to the wall. "Stay in the shade for a minute and don't move. I'll be right back."

Not waiting for an answer—which would have likely been an argument, anyway—Meg rounded the corner. When she was out of earshot, she activated the tech in her bracelet, bringing up a digital map. At the same time, the device in her ear also pinged to life.

"Good afternoon, Agent Capulet," Finn said cheerily from the other end. "How can I help you today?"

"Give me a way into this place, Finn," Meg said as she continued to search for a door.

"Copy that. Did Barb settle in okay at the InterCon?" he asked as his fingers clicked on a keyboard.

Meg looked up at the sky as though she was inspecting something. In reality, she was trying to hide her embarrassment from the upcoming answer. "Uhm, about that. Well . . . she's kind of actually here?"

The typing sound on the other end of the connection abruptly stopped. "She's what?"

Meg didn't respond.

"Agent Capulet, are you there?" Finn asked with rising agitation. "I need you to repeat what you just said, over."

"My mother is on the mission with me, all right?!" Meg blurted out in frustration louder than she'd meant to. Looking around to make sure she hadn't been heard, she lowered her voice again. "Which is why I need to get inside as inconspicuously as possible, so can you do that for me, Finn?"

"Copy that," he replied in his usual monotone as the keyboard sounds resumed. After a few seconds, a surprised gasp rang through the connection. "I may have found something."

With her attention back on the mission's objective again, Meg put her hand to her earpiece. Not that it did anything. "Oh, yeah? Tell me."

"The north wall looks like it runs straight into the mountain face, correct?" Finn asked.

Meg nodded as her gaze followed the structure in front of her. "Affirmative."

"Good. Now look more carefully," Finn instructed, the bubbling excitement in his voice unmistakable. "About ten feet from the corner on the side of the rock my telemetry is showing a change in density on the vertical surface that's just about the size of a standard door. See anything that could be hiding a concealed entrance anywhere?"

Stepping closer to the area in question, Meg had no trouble finding the possible spot for a secret door. Out of the entire vicinity, only one patch of the rock face was covered with a swatch of dense ivy.

"Bingo—"

"Is everything all right over here?" Barb interrupted just as Meg declared victory.

She spun around, feeling as though she'd been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. "Mom? I thought I told you to stay put."

"Well, you were taking so long and—"

Having no time to argue and even less of a willingness to do so, Meg gave in. "Never mind. No worries. And look," she pointed to the mass of climbing vines. "I found what I was looking for."

As her mother mumbled something about it looking like it was more trouble than it was worth, Meg reached into her bag and pulled out a switchblade. The sharp weapon cut through the ivy with ease, quickly revealing an ancient door hidden for who knows how long. Wedging the blade between the jamb and the lock, Meg popped open the door in one swift motion.

A waft of cool, musty air hit her face, but the darkness and quiet emanating from the hallway indicated that it was—at least for now—deserted. Exchanging the knife for a flashlight, Meg waved to her mother as she stepped inside. "Follow me."

Too bad she didn't see the body lying in her path.