Chapter Thriteen

After one final day in Qaqortoq, Grant and I got on a boat bound for Narsaq. To tell you the truth, I was kind of sad to be leaving. The whole reason we'd come was to check out talk of an orb Narsaq, but that meant I'd have to be alert and on guard. It was fun to just hang out with Grant for the past few days, and I wasn't looking forward to getting back to my job.

On the bright side, we were still supposed to be cheesy tourists, so hopefully we'd still get to have some fun as a part of our cover.

After disembarking the boat (and taking lots of embarrassing pictures) we strolled through town to our hotel, trying to take in everything around us.

As we walked, I realized the brilliance of our cover. As tourists, we were supposed to be taking in all the sights and sounds, which gave us perfect cover for canvassing the whole area. I had to hand it to Grant, sometimes he really knew what he was doing.

Finally, we arrived at our new hotel and checked in to our new room. Not surprisingly, it looked similar to the old one, still with only the one bed. I don't know what I expected.

"You notice anything on the way in?" asked Grant, sitting at the small kitchen counter. I thought back to our walk through town.

"The boat captain was chatting with some people on the dock, and we definitely came up. It sounded like he was describing who he'd brought, and he described us as our covers, a cutesy tourist couple.

"One we were in town we didn't get many looks, except from the people in the antique store. They all watched us walk past, but they were trying to hide their stares.

"Two men at a cafe just outside the hotel stopped their conversation when we got too close, and then one of the other guests in the hotel gave us a longer look then most."

I had closed my eyes to recount what I'd seen, and when I opened them I was happy to find Grant looking impressed.

"Not bad Slater," he said. It was a good compliment from him. "But, you were so focused on the captain at the docks, that you missed the other sailor who was keeping a close eye on us."

"Well, that's why we work in pairs, right?" I asked, "To look out for each other's blindspots?"

Ward rolled his eyes. "Most Specialists do not work in pairs."

"Well that's dumb." Grant looked incredulously at me, but I just stared right back. Eventually he just rolled his eyes again and moved into a different room.

"C'mon," he said, "We have to get ready for Kayla and Derek's first day in town. I want to check out that antique shop."

****************

"What a gorgeous little town," I gushed, hanging off Grant's arm as we strolled down the street. Obviously, I was in character.

"It was the perfect choice for our honeymoon," said Grant, giving me a dopey smile. Also obviously in character.

"Oh, stop blowing your own horn," I said, punching him playfully, "I already agreed that you picked a good spot."

"Alright, alright," he said, putting his hands up in mock surrender, "I'm just saying."

We strolled down the street a little further, smiling and hugging all the way.

"Ooh, honey, let's go in there!" I said excitedly, pointing out the antique shop, "Maybe we can find something cute to bring home to our new house!"

"Let's go," said Ward, smiling and throwing his arm around me as we wandered through the door.

When we walked in we saw two people having an intranet conversation at the register, but they weren't speaking English and they stopped talking almost immediately after we came in.

"Can I help you?" asked the woman behind the counter, giving us a smile that felt more like a grimace.

"No, no, we're just looking," said Grant quickly, before giving her a wide grin, "My new wife and I are on our honeymoon, and we're looking for a nice piece of art or furniture to bring home with us."

Ok, I have to be honest. I felt my heart jolt when I heard him call me his wife. But honestly, who wouldn't? It was weird to hear someone call you their wife, especially when you'd only been on friendly terms for literally one week. There is no evidence that it was caused by anything other than surprise.

"How lovely," said the woman, still looking a little apprehensive, "Well, feel free to look through anything in the shop."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, pulling Grant with me to look at an antique mirror to one side of the shop.

The woman behind the counter and the man she'd been talking to resumed their conversation. They spoke quietly, but I could still hear them. I guess they assumed we didn't speak their language. Fortunately, they didn't know Grant.

I picked up and turned over small objects, putting them in front of Grant to give him cover while he listened. We slowly made our way around the shop, Grant following my lead so he could focus on listening. I made sure to stay in earshot of the two.

After a while, the guy shot us a dark look and then left. Ward and I browsed a while longer so that we wouldn't look suspicious, eventually picking out a small, ornate box and going up to the counter.

"Finally decided have you?" asked the woman.

"Yup," I said brightly, giving her what I hoped was a winning smile.

She took the box in her hands and began wrapping it for us.

"An excellent choice," she said, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Nope, that'll be it," replied Grant, giving her a dopey grin. He paid and we strolled out of the store, arm and arm again.

I wanted to ask him what the lady and the other guy had said so bad, but we were still out in the open, meaning we were still Kayla and Derek. And Derek didn't eavesdrop or speak anything but English.

"Sweetheart?" asked Ward, "What do you say we end the day with something to eat?"

"Sounds perfect," I said, smiling brightly. I'd been doing a lot of that lately.

We walked a little ways down the street to a cute little cafe. It wasn't very busy, so we went straight to the counter to order.

"Hello! What can I get for you today?" asked the girl on duty.

Grant gestured for me to order first.

"Can I get a hot chocolate please?" I asked.

"Sure thing! Do you want any marshmallows or whipped cream?"

"Both please!"

"Sounds good! And for you?" she asked, turning to Grant.

"Black coffee please."

"Alright, I'll bring that over to you in a minute."

Grant and I moved to sit at an elevated table by a window, and at the same time, we said:

"Hot chocolate, really?"

"Black coffee, really?"

"What?" I asked, responding to the drink challenge first, "Hot chocolate is amazing!"

"Yeah, if you're twelve."

"There is no age limit on the kind of drinks you like! You don't see me throwing you under the bus for using the flying technique the academy teaches to new recruits."

"Hey! That flying technique works much better than the stupidly overly complicated one they teach later!"

"That's my point! Hot chocolate is underrated, but awesome. I just don't understand how you can drink such bitter coffee."

He rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to wake me up, and it does. Besides, I hate all that sugary caramel-y crap that most people put in their drinks. It's just gross."

I stared at him, then decided it wasn't worth the argument. I just shook my head and went back to looking out the window. Grant was so funny sometimes. I mean, this stoic super-spy was suddenly passionate when I brought up sweetened coffee drinks. Seriously!

After a few more minutes, the waitress brought our drinks. I made sure to look Ward dead in the eye as I took a sip, but he didn't react.

"Can I get you anything else before I go?" asked the girl.

"Actually, yes," said Grant, leaning towards her and giving her an absolutely dazzling smile, "We're not very familiar with the area, so maybe you could give us some inside tips? Anything that's cool or worth checking out that tourists might not normally catch?"

"Oh... well, I don't really know..." she said hesitantly.

"Come on...," said Grant, leaning closer, "You work in a nice cafe in the middle of town! I'm sure you hear all kinds of things no one else does. The local gossip, the daily conversations, the best and most amazing places to go in town. I'ms sure you know it all. So please, please, will you help me out?"

Damn he was good. I watched he girl absolutely melt under his gaze, ready to help Grant in whatever way she could. I'd have to remember to punch him in the arm when we got back to the hotel to make sure nothing got to his head.

"Well," said the girl, glancing around to make sure the cafe was still empty, "There's been some talk of a strange glow coming out of a cave a little ways back in the hills. People are saying it's a gorgeous glowing blue, like nothing they've ever seen. It's a nice hike out, not too hard to access, but if you want to see the lights you'll have to camp. It only shows up at night, but from what I've heard, it's worth it."

I glanced at Grant, but he didn't take his eyes off the girl.

"Thank you," he said, sitting up straight again.

"No problem!" she said, looking extremely flustered as she scurried back behind the counter. Once she was out of earshot, Ward turned back to me.

"I know what we're doing tomorrow," he said.