Mrs. Undercover -

She was looking for him .

It was a truth universally acknowledged in the intelligence community that a stay-at-home mom in the suburbs was the perfect undercover operative. No one ever suspected the woman who packed juice boxes and folded tiny socks of being able to disable a bomb with a bobby pin.

Until the casserole arrived.

“I knew you’d come,” a voice slithered from the shadows. The Serpent stepped out. He was thin, elegant, wearing the uniform of a substitute teacher. “I never believed you were dead, Eleanor. Domestic bliss is a far more creative punishment.”

Ellie grabbed a butter knife, popped the lid off the dish, and stared at the tangled mess of wires inside. Red, blue, yellow. Standard. But the Serpent never did standard. She saw the trick—a secondary loop hidden under a blob of what looked like congealed cream of mushroom. Mrs. Undercover

It was 10:47 AM. The kids were at school. She was scrubbing a grape juice stain out of the rug when the doorbell rang. On the porch stood a woman in a floral dress, holding a covered dish.

Brenda met her in the parking lot. “Clean sweep. No civilian casualties.” She was looking for him

At exactly 3:00 PM, a dull thump echoed from the woods beyond the soccer field. The Serpent’s house disappeared in a cloud of smoke and righteous fire.

“Why me?” Ellie asked.

“Because you’re already here,” Brenda said. “And because your file says you’re the only operative to ever get inside his head.”