Agent Reptilian: Exploiting Gold|editing

Chapter two: "Whenever you're ready, Alaska"

"Checkmate." Nix called as her queen killed my king. I sent a glare her way.

"You've got to be kidding me." I rolled my eyes and started to place my pieces back in order on the chess board. How does she manage to beat me every single time?

She snickered, "Well someone's turning red." I lifted a lock of my hair and saw that it was turning a deep shade of red. I sighed and got up, walking towards the desk where all our papers were lying.

The school semester had started and we weren't back. Many of our peers were questioning where Nix and I were. They were informed that we were suffering from 'severe injuries' that the both of us sustained during one of our assignments.

That was a lie.

For the past four months we had been kept in the basement of Secretum Academy, which apparently existed, and the doctors were running all types of tests/experiments on both of us.

"You need to control your emotions Alaska. If you don't, they aren't going to release you. I know you hate this. Believe me, I hated every second of those tests but think of the freedom we'll both have together once you're done." She lectured me. I ignored her and took a seat on the plastic chair, opening up the new envelope that Austin had sent us. It was a hefty one this time. I dumped all the contents out onto the desk and picked up the handwritten note in navy blue marker.

Hey Al, still miss you and Nix. I got your note from last week and have been trying to gather all the data I could on the murdered scientists on the plane. It's been tough since this case is pretty much what anyone here is talking about, even after four months have gone by. Still no answers. The investigators are receiving new information everyday but most of it seems useless to them. Anyways, when Mr Hues finally had left me alone for like 2 minutes, I logged into the database where they had all the information centralized for the case and got you what you needed. Well, hopefully what you needed. I have to go now but I'll send this envelope to you as soon as I can.

Best, Austin.

I gently placed the note on the corner of the table and picked up the files of each of the victims. The first one was a woman named Jean O'Donelly. I moved my eyes to the cut out of her that had been paper clipped to the rest of the sheets of information. She had a heartful smile plastered on her face. Her bright copper hair sat on her head in a pixie cut, her skin was pale and peppered with freckles and she wore a white lab coat. She had a little inscription on her white coat reading, "Zoologist."

I skimmed through some of the other information about her. She was married, had 3 children, lived in Brooklyn her whole life. Austin really had created a whole wikipedia page for this lady. I would have to properly sit down and read this thoroughly later. I closed the file, setting it aside and picked another one up.

Miles McConaughey. Bald, thick black mustache, blue eyes, light brown skin. I looked on the inscription on his lab coat, "geologist." What could a geologist and zoologist have in common? There were other scientists going to the science convention as well, not just these five. I wondered if they had been arbitrarily picked or there was some connection between them, but it had to be a very specific connection.

"Find anything interesting?" Nix asked. I shook my head. "Not yet. Will probably have to read these a couple of times. Here." I tossed  O'Donelly's file to her along with a pad of stickies and a pen. "Make notes."

"Huh, she graduated from NYU. Some of her colleagues must go there. After we're discharged we could visit it. We're supposed to be going there for the college tour anyways." I gave her a thumbs up.