Knight Moves Read online

  Knight Moves

  White Knights

  Book Two

  Julie Moffett

  Geek Girls Rule

  When U.S. intelligence agencies invite teen geek and ace hacker, Angel Sinclair, and her friends to try out for a highly competitive school for government operatives, will she wash out or step into a future she never expected?

  My name is Angel Sinclair and I’m the youngest senior at a high school for technologically-gifted students. School bored me until my friends and I were unexpectedly tapped to try out for a top-secret spy academy. I’m not sure I have what it takes to be an operative for the U.S. government, but my friends and I are going to give it our best shot.

  But first I have to go up against uber-skilled candidates who can do a thousand push-ups, kill a person with a fingernail file, and make handcuffs out of paper clips. My only defining skills are my mad hacking abilities and extreme awkwardness. I don’t know what kind of spy that would make me, but I’m not going down without a fight.

  With my loyal friends by my side, we’re in a race to finish at the top of the class. Together we have the smarts…but we’ll have to battle our insecurities and work together or miss out on an adventure of a lifetime.

  Praise for Julie Moffett’s

  White Knights

  (Book #1 in the White Knights Series)

  “This book is Hogwarts for geeks. It is the perfect blend of YA, computer geeks, and spies! ... I am so thrilled to be sharing this book with you...because I loved it! Like—stop a stranger on the street and don't stop talking about this book until they run away screaming, thinking you've escaped from the psych ward! Crazy good!” ~ Ginger Mom and the Kindle Quest Blog

  “Love this new YA spinoff series from the Lexi Carmichael series by Julie Moffett. Same great pace, excitement, mysteries to solve, hacks to make, character growth, and an ending that makes me excited for the next book! Geek girls rock!” ~ Amazon Reader

  “I loved the whole entire concept of the book… This book was completely intriguing and it was just so AHHHHH, it was amazing. The book I believe targets all people of all ages.” ~ The HufflepuffNerdette

  “Absolutely loved it—great first book in a new series. This Y. A. series has already made my keeper list. Can’t wait for the second book!” ~ Amazon Reader

  “As a child, I love mystery books; Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, the Five Find-Outers by Enid Blyton and etc. So now, even when I’ve grown up, mystery books has been a soft spot for me. YA + Spy mystery is my weakness...I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I am even looking forward to the next book. I think readers who love Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series would enjoy this book.” ~ Erucchii's Books and Recs

  Praise for Julie Moffett’s

  Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series

  “The Lexi Carmichael mystery series runs a riveting gamut from hilarious to deadly, and the perfectly paced action in between will have you hanging onto Lexi’s every word and breathless for her next geeked-out adventure.” ~ USA Today

  “I absolutely, positively loved this book…I found the humor terrific. I couldn’t find a single thing I didn’t like about this book except it ended.” ~ Night Owl Reviews

  “Wow, wow, and wow! I don't know how Julie Moffett does it but every book is better than the last and all of them are awesome. I may have 6 authors in my top five now!” ~ Goodreads Reader

  “Absolutely loved this book! I love the concept of a geek girl getting involved in all kinds of intrigue and, of course, all the men she gets to meet.” ~ Book Babe

  “This book can be described in one word. AMAZING! I was intrigued from the beginning to the end. There are so many twists and turns and unexpected agendas that you do not know who’s on the good side or who’s on the bad side.” ~ Once Upon a Twilight

  “Lexi Carmichael has to be the most lovable character I have come across. She is 100 percent geek and has zero street smarts, but she tries to think outside the box while putting herself in dangerous places without knowing how she got there. The author keeps you guessing who might be a double agent and who might want to harm Lexi.” ~ Goodreads Reader

  Books by Julie Moffett

  White Knights Mystery/Spy Series

  White Knights (Book 1)*

  Knight Moves (Book 2)*

  One-Knight Stand (coming Fall 2019)*

  The Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series

  No One Lives Twice (Book 1)*

  No One to Trust (Book 2)*

  No Money Down (Book 2.5-novella)

  No Place Like Rome (Book 3)

  No Biz Like Showbiz (Book 4)

  No Test for the Wicked (Book 5)*

  No Woman Left Behind (Book 6)*

  No Room for Error (Book 7)*

  No Strings Attached (Book 8)*

  No Living Soul (Book 9)*

  No Regrets (Book 10)*

  No Stone Unturned (Book 11)

  No Questions Asked (Book 12) January 2020

  *Print versions (available or coming soon)

  All Lexi Carmichael titles are available in audiobook, and several on CDs.

  Knight Moves is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual locales, organizations, events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Knight Moves

  Copyright © 2018 by Julie Moffett

  All rights reserved.

  Published by True Airspeed Press.

  No part of this book may be used, scanned, uploaded, stored in a retrieval system, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form whatsoever, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without written permission from the publisher. For information contact True Airspeed Press, LLC, at PO Box 411046, Melbourne, FL 32941.

  eISBN: 978-1-941787-27-4

  Cover art by Earthly Charms

  Formatting by Author E.M.S.

  Table of Contents

  KNIGHT MOVES

  Geek Girls Rule

  Praise for WHITE KNIGHTS

  Praise for the Lexi Carmichael Series

  Books by Julie Moffett

  Copyright

  Dedication and Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  More from Julie Moffett

  About the Author

  Dedication
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  To my youngest son, Lucas.

  Mommy lion will always have your back.

  Acknowledgments

  I am beyond grateful for the guidance of my brother, Brad, for his excellent brainstorming sessions and brilliant suggestions; my mother, Donna, and sister, Sandy, for all their continued support and editorial assistance; my dad for his unflagging enthusiasm and support for my geek girls; my niece, Katy, who totally rocked the ideas; my wonderful cover artist, Su at Earthly Charms; my excellent copy editor, Sara Brady; the fantastic formatter Amy Atwell; and last, but in no way least, my extraordinary editor Alissa Davis who challenges me to write a better book every time. I couldn’t have done it without any of you! Thank you so much! oxo

  Chapter One

  ANGEL SINCLAIR

  It’s not like I woke up on a Monday morning expecting to become a spy, but that’s exactly what happened.

  It’s not the kind of thing a normal, almost sixteen-year-old girl expects to happen on a regular school day in early October. I guess that’s the problem. I’m not exactly normal. My name is Angel Sinclair, and I’m a senior at the Excalibur Academy for Technologically Gifted and Talented in Washington, DC. I’m younger than most seniors because I skipped a grade. I stand five feet three, have red hair, freckles, and blue eyes, and I’m definitely not the kind of person who leaps to mind when you think of the charm of James Bond, the physical prowess of Jason Bourne, or the wit of Mata Hari. I’m just an ordinary geek girl, hacker, and outsider. To put it bluntly, I like people about as much as I like Microsoft patches, which isn’t much.

  However, my life as a loner drastically changed a few weeks ago when two of my friends—Frankie Chang and Wally Harris—helped me save our vice principal and bring down a hacker using technology and old-fashioned teamwork. I wasn’t sure what was more momentous—that I’d made friends or that I’d caught the eye of the NSA with my hacking prowess. I was still trying to decide if those were good things or bad things.

  Regardless, Wally, Frankie, and I decided we were going to be kind of like a Scooby gang, solving mysteries and calling ourselves the White Knights. Frankie even made us a cool logo with a white chess piece. Unfortunately, no other mysteries had yet presented themselves, but we were hopeful.

  After a week of random students stopping me in the hallway to ask me questions about how we’d saved the vice principal, things were slowly getting back to normal at Excalibur. Wally—one of the smartest guys I knew and an ace hacker—had basked in his fifteen minutes of fame at the school before most people went back to ignoring him. I returned to my usual invisible self almost immediately, which I should have expected, but it was depressing anyway. Frankie, on the other hand, continued to chat and make friends with everyone she met like they were her long-lost soul mates. I’ve never met anyone nicer, but sometimes her faith in people scares me.

  Today, as the bell rang on a gloriously sunny afternoon, I streamed out of the school with the other students. Students bumped into me as I was carried along by the crowd to the bus. I saw Ms. Swanson, the headmistress, standing next to a man wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and dark sunglasses. He leaned casually against the bus, his arms crossed against his chest. I knew immediately who he was.

  Slash.

  That’s not his real name, obviously. He works for the NSA and is probably a real spy, thus the code name. I was so surprised to see him, I stopped in midstep and nearly got trampled by the other students. The headmistress spotted me and motioned for me to come over, so I gulped and tried to act cool as I detached myself from the herd and turned their way.

  “There you are, Angel,” the headmistress greeted me. “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

  Slash’s mouth curved into a smile. “Hello, Angel.”

  Slash was the most talented hacker I’d ever met, outside of my mentor and idol, Lexi Carmichael, a female tech head who was shattering ceilings left and right. She also happened to be Slash’s significant other.

  “Hey, Slash,” I said. “What brings you to high school on a Monday afternoon? Is everything okay with Lexi?”

  “Lexi’s fine. I’m here to speak with you.” He pushed off the bus. His eyes remained hidden behind the sunglasses, so I couldn’t gauge how serious, or not, this visit was supposed to be. “The headmistress cleared this, if you’re up to it. It’s official government business.”

  “Oh.” I looked between Ms. Swanson and Slash, my breath hitching in my throat. “Sure, I’m fine with it, of course.”

  Still, my heart beat a little faster. For a moment, I wondered if he had news about my father, who’d vanished when I was eighteen months old. I’d recently discovered Dad might have been a spy. Not at the CIA—where most spies are born—but at the NSA. I don’t know for certain if my father was a secret agent or not, but I’d recently confirmed there was a good chance he was still alive and somehow connected to the NSA. Since Slash worked at the NSA, he might know or, at the very least, could find out. But I’d learned the world of espionage was devious and dangerous while trying to find out what had happened to my father. I wasn’t ready to trust anyone, even Slash, until I had more information.

  “So, what’s up?” I’d been going for a nonchalant tone, but my voice sounded apprehensive instead.

  Slash slipped off his sunglasses and hooked them onto the front of his shirt. His eyes were serious. “You got a few minutes to chat privately?”

  Chapter Two

  ANGEL SINCLAIR

  I did, but my anxiety skyrocketed. I had no idea what the US government could possibly want with me, unless it involved my past hacking. I swallowed my nervousness and looked around the busy parking lot. “You want to talk about it here?”

  “How about the park?” Slash dipped his dark head to the right. “It’s quieter and just a short walk from here.”

  I nodded, so we parted ways with the headmistress. As we began to walk, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. The air was cool but not cold, and the sun warmed my head and shoulders. Thankfully, my backpack was light, with just math and physics books.

  As we cleared the parking lot, I noticed a brown sedan moving slowly down the street. There was something familiar about the car, although oddly, the driver didn’t appear to have his eyes on the road, but on us. Why would he be watching us?

  Now I remembered where I’d seen the car before. Right on my street at home when I was walking the dog. I’m sure it was the same car, because I’m naturally observant and it had been driving slowly past me. Now the same car just appeared at my school out of the blue? What were the odds of that?

  Before I could mention it to Slash, the car sped off. For now, I held my tongue and focused on what he had come to talk to me about.

  After we made it to the sidewalk, Slash spoke again. “Angel, I’m here to personally invite you to enroll in a specialized institution, a school, sponsored by the US government. Its existence is classified, so before I go any further, I must have your assurance that you will not provide details of this conversation to anyone unless cleared specifically by me.”

  I stopped in my tracks, confused. “A specialized school? What does that mean?”

  He put a light hand under my elbow, moving me along the sidewalk again. “I’m about to tell you, if I have your assurance that this conversation will remain confidential.”

  I didn’t have to ask him how he would hold me to my assurance. He was the NSA, after all. A part of me felt a tiny flicker of concern, but curiosity and interest roared to life in my brain.

  “Of course, I give you my assurance.” My voice held a little catch of excitement. “Tell me more.”

  We stopped under a large oak that cast long shadows. Slash stood in the shade watching the street while I faced him, staying in the sun and enjoying the warmth.

  “The school is called the Underage Training Operative Program, or UTOP,” he said. “It’s a joint program funded by the CIA, NSA, and DIA.”

  “What’s the DIA?” I asked.

/>   “The Defense Intelligence Agency.”

  “Oh. What kind of school is sponsored by three government intelligence agencies?”

  “A very sensitive one. It’s a normal school in many ways. Students are required to take regular coursework in math, science, English, history, and foreign languages. It does, however, have an additional, and significant, curriculum that won’t be discussed at this point.”