Free Get Smart-ish by Gitty Daneshvari

“They’re nothing but a public nuisance!”
    â€œWhat about slow walkers? Unless they’re really old or injured, there’s no acceptable excuse,” Shelley said before turning her attention to something in the gorilla compound.
    â€œShells? What is it?” Jonathan asked.
    â€œI think this might be love at first sight.”
    â€œYou’re in love with a gorilla?”
    â€œNo! He’s in love with me! Look at the way he’s staring at me,” Shelley said, grinning from ear to ear.
    â€œIt must be rewarding to finally be noticed—even if it is by another species.”
    Shelley grabbed Jonathan’s arm. “We’ve got eyes on us, and I’m not talking about my new friend.”
    â€œA gorilla looks at you for a couple of seconds and suddenly he’s your friend?”
    â€œTo the left of the gate, there’s a woman in a khaki outfit,” Shelley whispered while pretending to read the sign posted in front of the gorillas’ cage.
    â€œThe woman is to the right of the gate, not the left,” Jonathan corrected Shelley.
    â€œWhat is this obsession with right and left? Is there really that big of a difference?”
    â€œActually, yes, there—”
    â€œShe’s signaling us!”
    â€œYou remember the signal?” Jonathan asked with genuine surprise.
    â€œNo, of course not,” Shelley replied impatiently. “But she’s waving us over, which is a universal signal for ‘Hey, I want to talk to you.’”
    Shelley waved good-bye to her new “friend,” prompting Jonathan to shake his head, before approaching the middle-aged woman with frizzy hair and brown, leathery skin.
    â€œYou guys are friends of one-eyed Randy?”
    Jonathan and Shelley nodded.
    â€œThen what’s the problem? I’ve been signaling you for almost four minutes now.”
    â€œMy friend here forgot the signal,” Shelley said, motioning to Jonathan.
    â€œWhat kind of operatives forget the signal? I’ve never heard of such a thing!” the woman barked at Jonathan and Shelley.
    â€œHe recently suffered a head injury that has impacted his short-term memory,” Shelley said, eyeing the woman closely. “Don’t feel guilty. How were you to know? Yes, you hurt his feelings, there might even be a few tears later—”
    â€œThere’s no crying in espionage!” Jonathan burst out before giving the woman a tell-us-what-you-got kind of look.
    â€œThere was a break-in, someone stole a tranquilizer gun, that’s it.”
    Â â€œGot it,” Shelley said to the woman. “You were caught committing a crime, weren’t you? That’s how you wound up as an informant, isn’t it?”
    â€œShells, I think someone’s following us. We need to move,” Jonathan said in a brusque manner as he pulled her away from the cage. “I’ve noticed an orange hat trailing behind us since we entered the zoo. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but we’ve moved around so much that it can’t be.”
    Walking at a brisk yet inconspicuous pace, Jonathan and Shelley started making their way through the throngs of people.
    â€œCasually glance behind us and tell me if you see someone with an orange baseball cap,” Jonathan instructed Shelley.
    â€œYou got it,” Shelley replied, then dropped to her knees. “My ankle, my ankle!”
    â€œThis is your idea of casual?” Jonathan grumbled.
    â€œThe orange cap is still on our tail,” Shelley said as Jonathan helped her back onto her feet. “Do you think it’s Nina?”
    â€œIt’s possible that she’s come to finish what she started yesterday.”
    â€œWhy would anyone want to kill us? We’re such good people,” Shelley whined.
    â€œBecause we’re trying to stop her and she believes what she’s doing is more important than a couple of nobodies’ lives,”