Nathan Unleashed: A Teen Spy Thriller (Unleashed Series Book 4)

Aleasha's brother is missing. She won't stop until she finds him.

Nathan and Aleasha both thought the other was dead. But with the truth revealed, they're determined to find each other and reunite as a family. Even if it means leaving the A.G.E.N.C.Y. behind to do it.

Someone is sending them all over the Pacific Northwest, using personal family memories as clues. Is it their father, who they also thought was dead? Or is it a trap? How can they decipher the truth when they're world is full of spies?

There's only one way to find out the truth, and that's to follow the clues and hope they find each other, and the truth before Simon catches up to them and puts them in an unmarked grave.

Nathan Unleashed is a page-turning action-adventure story filled with spies, lies, and unbreakable sibling ties. If you like Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider, Roland Smith’s I,Q series, or Jillian Dodd’s Spy Girl series, you’ll love Nathan Unleashed.

Life After Death

#Aleasha

I lie on my bed with the blinds drawn and the lights off, except for a single task light the nurses use to take my vitals. The television hangs on the wall, dead.

I ignore the bouquets of flowers and plants littered around my hospital room, interspersed with foil balloons, potted plants, and cards from concerned friends, teachers, and A.G.E.N.C.Y. members. Instead, I sit against the reclined mattress with a glass of ice water in my hand, staring at a chip in the stark white paint on the far corner of the room.

The phone rings for the twelfth time this morning, just like it has every morning for the past several days. I don’t answer it. I just let it ring… ring… ring.

A nurse pokes her head in. Betty. She’s my favorite. Her graying hair, Disney-themed scrubs, and perpetual smile make the hospital bearable. Barely.

“I’m here to take your numbers. You okay with that?” she asks. I nod.

She saunters in and removes the stethoscope from her neck and places it on my chest while examining the machine next to me. “You look and sound good. Everything seems back to normal. And look! You’re down to one IV.”

She walks to her computer and types in a few notes and waits for the blood pressure cuff to squeeze the blood out of my arm, then types some more. “I spoke to the doctor, and he said you can go home tomorrow.”

I say nothing. “Honey?” Still nothing.

Betty sits on the bed next to me and smooths a couple of wrinkles on my blanket. “I know it’s none of my business, but… are you gonna be okay when you leave here? If you aren’t, you can tell me. I’ll make sure you go someplace safe.”

My eyes dart to her warm brown eyes. Her face is scrunched with concern, and her weathered hands fidget with an invisible thread next to my leg, but I feel as if I’m detached—looking at her from the eyes of someone else.

When I don’t answer, she says, “Do you have someplace to go?” She casts her eyes around the room. “Surely with all these flowers, there’s someone who will take you in.”

For the first time since I returned to consciousness, my eyes focus on the flowers and a single tear trails down my cheek.

Betty reaches up and wipes it away. “Oh, honey. Don’t cry. Things will be better. I promise.”

I attempt a smile. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get my feet under me, that’s all,” I say, noting the soreness in my throat.

Her lips twitch into a smile. “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be here all night. Okay?”

“Thanks.”

She stands and turns to go, looking back at me one more time before exiting the room.

A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the door.

“Aleasha?” Drew takes a step inside and peers around the curtain. He looks like a bus has hit him. He has two black eyes, one of them still swollen, making it hard to see the green. He has stitches along his jaw, and it looks like his nose is broken.

Bandages peek out from underneath his button-up shirt, along his neck. Bruises cover his hands in places not covered by bandages. “Can I come in?” he asks.

“No. You cannot come in!” I yell, throwing the glass of water at him with precision, hitting the arm he brought up to protect his face. The glass bounces onto the ground with a splash. He doesn’t move, except to lower his arm, letting the rivulets of water drip down his face and soak his shirt and pants.

“I deserved that,” he murmurs, looking away.

“Yes. You did. Now get out!” If I hadn’t heard him confess that he’d not only kept the existence of my little brother from me but that he’d been with him the entire six months he’d been away, I’d be overjoyed to see him. I’m wearing his promise ring, for Pete’s sake.

But he lied to me. He deceived me. And he kept my only living relative from me. All to make the A.G.E.N.C.Y. happy.

Speaking of promise rings, I yank it off my hand and chuck it at Drew too. It hits him in the chest and hits the ground with a tinkle.

Betty sticks her head into the room. “Is everything Okay?” She looks at Drew, then to the water and cup on the floor, then to me. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Drew’s eyes jerk up. “But…”

“No buts. We cannot agitate Aleasha like this, and we have other patients on this floor. You’re going to have to leave.”

Drew nods to Betty and wipes the water from his face. He picks up the promise ring and says to Betty, “Sorry about the mess.” He pauses and turns back to me. “I’m sorry Aleasha.”

“Get out!” I bellow, wiping tears from my face and turning away from him.

“This way, sir.” Betty grabs his elbow, then the door closes with a click.

Betty returns with a mop and wipes up the water. As she’s cleaning, she says, “I told him not to come back, and that he was not welcome here.”

“Thank you.” The tension in my muscles melts away, and so does my resolve. Tears flow down my cheeks, forming a miniature creek of salty water. My head pounds to the beat of my sobs. How had I been so wrong about Drew?

Betty leaves again without another word. A few minutes later, there’s another knock. I wipe my cheeks and flop onto my back, cursing the IV line I’m tangled in.

“Hello?” a deep voice says, followed by a head poking around the curtain. It’s his eyes that grab me. Eyes seem to be the first thing I notice. And this guy’s are as green as the tropical oceans I’ve seen online.

I pull my blanket up a little higher, painfully aware of my hospital gown and my tear-stained face that’s probably splotchy and puffy. Using my hand without an IV, I smooth down my hair. How long has it been since I’ve brushed my hair? “Um, hello,” I say.

The guy steps around the curtain and shoves a teddy bear at me. “I got you this. I wasn’t sure what to get. They’d said you already had plenty of flowers, so this was the only other option in the gift shop. Hope you don’t mind.”

He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, so I take the bear from him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He runs a hand through his straight blond hair. “The name’s Ben. I was one of the paramedics who worked on you.”

My eyebrows shoot up and my mouth forms an O. “Ben. Um, yeah. It’s… it’s very nice to meet you. Please, have a seat.” I motion to the blue recliner next to my bed. “Thank you for what you did. They say I wasn’t an easy patient to work on.”

He smiles, flashing a dimple on his left cheek. “You gave us a couple of scares, actually. I had to zap your heart a couple of times, but I’m stubborn. I wouldn’t give up on you.”

My heart warms a couple of degrees, and I smile for the first time since I’ve regained consciousness. “I’m glad you were there.”

“My pleasure.”

He stares at me for a few moments, letting the silence hang between us. I fidget with my blanket, painfully aware that I can’t remember the last time I’ve showered, and that I don’t have a bra on.

Now that I think about it, he probably had more than an eye full of me at the barn. The heat starts at my cheeks and burns a trail down to my toes. He’s seen me naked from the waist up. Talk about mortifying.

“So.” He clears his throat and glances around the room again. “It looks like you’ve got lots of friends. I’ve never seen a room this full of flowers before.”

I take in the bright hues and notice the scent of lilies and roses for the first time. Nearly every flat surface is covered, and balloons fill the corners of the ceiling.

“Crazy, huh?” I say. “I guess if you get your name in the paper, everyone sends you something.”

“You’d better be careful, though,” Ben says, a glint in his eye. “Strange men might show up unexpectedly.”

My mouth pops open for a second, then realization dawns that he’s joking about himself. Somehow, I laugh. A little too loud, and a little too long, but boy, does it feel good.

A grin gradually washes over his face. “I’m not your average everyday weirdo, though. You have a life debt to me.”

“A what?”

“Life debt. You know… I save your life, you are indebted to me until you die or save my life too. Everyone knows that.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, now you know.” He leans back into the chair, crossing his long legs out in front of him at the ankle.

“And what exactly is my job description now that I’m indebted to you?” I say, cocking an eyebrow.

He rubs his chin as if lost in thought. “Hmm. In Shrek, Puss became his sidekick. And they say that’s how Chewbacca became Hans Solo’s partner too.”

I cock my head and narrow my eyes. “Are you asking me to be your sidekick?” Or is he flirting with me?

“No, no, no. That would be weird,” he says. “Besides, I don’t think they’ll let you ride in the ambulance with me.” He shrugs as if he’s apologizing. “How about you let me come visit you again?”


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