Page 46 of Iris

“I have to admit, I thought it would be empty,” Jonas said. “Why go to all that trouble to drop it off, only to never have your contact pick it up?”

She stared at it. “I should have looked at it.”

“I would have totally looked at it,” Ned said.

“Let’s find something to eat and open it,” her dad said. “Preferably without causing an international incident.”

“Where’s the love? I wasright! Someone was following her!” Ned shook his head.

They found a booth at the McDonald’s, and while they waited for their order, Iris opened the envelope.

She half expected it to explode, or puff out purple powder or something, but the only things inside were two pieces of paper.

“No microfilm? I’m brutally disappointed,” Jonas said.

“What is wrong with you two? This isn’t agame!” Shae said. Their number came up on the screen, and she left to get it, along with Ned.

“Sorta feels like a game,” Jonas said.

Iris grinned at him. He met it.

Her father reached over them and picked up the papers. “This one is a list of places and dates.” He handed it over to them.

Just that. A piece of paper with places and dates. She turned it over, but no other identifying marks.

“And this is a blueprint for what looks like the Colosseum, sketched out by hand.”

He set that down too.

He was right. The drawing depicted a historical building of some kind, with turrets flanking a massive staircase leading up to a grand entrance.

“It looks like the old Wembley Stadium,” said her father. “Before it was demolished.”

“There’s a drawing on the other side too,” Jonas said.

She flipped the page over. “It looks like a horse track.”

“Or a soccer pitch, although it’s round instead of square.”

Shae and Ned returned with their food. “So?” Shae said as she set the trays on the table.

“So,” Iris said as she reached for a fry. “You guys are going home. Clearly, whatever this is has nothing to do with me. And I have a life to get back to.”

“Honey—”

“No, Dad. Listen, I promise to be careful. I’ll stay with my crew, I’ll put a hanger over my hotel room door, I won’t eat any smelly fish, and most of all…I’ll come home as soon as the season is over.”

Silence. Her father’s mouth tightened. “You’ll call us every single day?”

“I’ll call Mom every single day.”

Ned slid into the booth next to Shae. Opened his sandwich.

“I’m okay with that,” Jonas said.

“Shae and I are staying,” Ned said. He looked up at Iris. Smiled.

Perfect, just perfect.

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