Free Into Focus (Focus Series Book 1) by Alex Bostwick Page A

“You might as well have
stuck it into a big burlap sack with a dollar sign on it.”
    “Is… is that a problem?”
    I shook my head. “I’ll see to it.” I reached
down and snagged the handle of the valise, then rose. “Go order
something. Sit here for a few minutes. Drink it slowly. Then pay
and leave.”
    He nodded his assent, swallowing loudly
again.
    “Relax, kid. You did fine. Next time don’t
pick something so conspicuous. And for God’s sake, don’t wear a
hood in the middle of July. Or in Miami. And you might want to
consider some kind of anxiety medication.”
    The kid laughed nervously. I stared at him
evenly for a few moments, then sniffed and turned away.
    I headed into the bathroom of the café, near
the back of the building. I went in, checked to make sure that it
was empty, then slid into one of the stalls, locking it behind me.
I opened the clasps on the valise, and peeked inside.
    Five stacks of hundred dollar bills lay at
the bottom. The case was absurdly large for its cargo. I had no
idea what the kid was thinking. Maybe he thought that fifty grand
would take up a lot more space than it did. Sighing at the
ignorance of youth, I took the money out, flipping through each
stack casually, making sure that nobody had slipped in a ten to try
and skim something off the top. Then I simply stuck the cash into
the pockets of my jeans. It was tight, but they fit without
anything sticking out.
    I left the valise on the toilet, unlocked the
stall, and moved over to the mirrors above the sink. I gazed at my
reflection, which actually told a lie that nobody would expect, and
concentrated. Ripples slowly began flowing over the surface of my
skin, undulating waves that were almost hypnotic. As I watched, my
face began to change.
    The eyes went first, shifting from a rather
striking blue to a dull, unremarkable brown. They drew slightly
closer together, and my brow sank by half an inch. My nose
narrowed, the bulge at the bridge shrinking noticeably. My hair
grew about three inches, shifting from a bright blonde to a dark
brown. My ears shrank, too, and slid up the sides of my skull a
bit. My chin, which I had kept strong and intimidating, narrowed,
weakening.
    The rest of my body followed suit, and in a
matter of seconds, I shrank five inches, my arms losing the tough,
corded muscle I had kept for the benefit of anyone looking. I kept
my feet the same size so I didn’t have to change shoes, though.
    If this seems weird, then it should. There
aren’t a whole lot of people like me. Skinchangers, people who can
change their bodies at will, who can become anyone or anything that
can be conceived, are few and far between. Aside from my family, I
knew a handful of others, people who were part of a small community
across the country. We aren’t really sure why we can do what we do,
though my parents always said it had to do with our Native American
heritage.
    Honestly, I don’t really care how it works or
why I can do it. All I know is what I can do with it. It made me
one of the most effective freelance espionage agents in the world.
With enough planning, I was able to simply walk into anywhere I
wanted to go, and if that didn’t work, I could sneak in and out
with nobody being the wiser.
    Now I had a new job to do. The client was
probably some kind of rival mercenary company to Blackstone if they
wanted a list of their customers and bidding information. The only
thing they could do with the data they wanted was undercut
Blackstone and steal their contracts. It was no skin off my nose,
so long as nobody got hurt.
    I bent down and rolled up the cuffs of my
jeans, which hung too low now that I had shrunk a few inches. I
unbuttoned my shirt and tossed it into the trash can, keeping only
a gray, unremarkable (and unlikely to be remembered) undershirt.
Then, money in my pocket, I left the bathroom and stepped into the
hot Miami sun.
     

Chapter One
     
    Espionage is easy. Don’t let the movies make
you think