Spy in the Alley Read Online Free

father is so nice, Roderick,” Mother interrupted. She gave him a faintly puzzled look, as if she couldn’t quite get the genetic connection.
    Roderick gave a smug little smile. “Oh, Dad’s nice , all right,” he agreed, in a rather patronizing way. “ Nice doesn’t succeed big time, though. Aggressive does. I’m trying to bring some aggressiveness to Wellman Talent that it lacked under Dad. I’m looking to sign contracts with big, international companies, like Bonna Terra and Fields Tobacco.
    â€œIf,” he continued, ignoring Jack’s sudden grimace, “I can get those two to sign a long-term contract, we’ll break into the big time. Wellman Talent will be on the map, and I will have put us there.”
    Then Roderick shook his head sadly. “Poor Dad,” he sighed. “He always set his ambitions so low. He worked so hard, long hours at the office and all that. But he never looked beyond Vancouver for clients.” Roderick waved a dismissive hand at the vista of mountains and oceans outside the window, as if our city were a minor speck on the map he was so anxious to conquer.
    Mother moved aside a vase of flowers that Roderick’s hand was in danger of smacking into. “But Rod, you’re talking about your dear father in the past tense,” she noted worriedly. “He’s not — not — ”
    â€œDad is alive and well,” Roderick snapped, an annoyed flush filling his face and even the balding parts of his head visible under his thinning hair. He disliked being interrupted, especially when he was boasting. “The last time Dad phoned, he and Mom were peering into the Grand Canyon.” Roderick shrugged, implying such an activity to be an absurd waste of time.
    Then, realizing he’d been a bit testy with Mother, he grinned apologetically. “Sorry, Mrs. G. Making a success of Wellman Talent is my chance to prove myself to Dad. Heck, if I can work with Dad from now on, I’ll actually see him!” He laughed — but he was the only one. It was really a sad kind of joke, if you thought about it.
    On the other hand, he was a dweeb, and therefore should be insulted at every possible opportunity. I added a few radish slices from the salad to the top of my squash-plus-beans, and said, “Roderick has been working so hard for his dad that he had to do most of his grade twelve credits over again. Now that’s commitment to the company,” I finished, straight-faced and wide-eyed.
    Oblivious to scowls by Madge and Roderick, Mother told Jack, “The nice thing is that Madge got to attend two proms. Roderick took her to the prom this past June at his school, a lovely private school perched on the cliffs of Point Grey — oh, I do hope it doesn’t tumble into the ocean, Roddy. Have they done an earthquake-preparedness check? And, of course, to the prom the previous June, with the young people from the class that Roderick, um, that he — ”
    â€œFailed,” I supplied helpfully. I poured ketchup over my squash-plus-beans-plus-radishes. “I bet you did well in school,” I said to Jack.
    He shrugged and looked embarrassed. In other words, he had done well. “I might start a couple of university courses this fall,” he said. “I’d like to be a teacher eventually. I had one or two teachers who made all the difference to me after my mom died, and I was in an emotional slump.
    â€œNot that I have a monopoly on bad things happening,” Jack amended, with an apologetic look at Mother. “I’m sure your family went through a rough time, too.”
    Madge answered for Mom. “I guess you could say it was our family priest who got us through Dad’s death. Unlike you, though, I can’t go into the same profession as the person who helped us.”
    Everybody laughed, though Roderick only managed a grimace. He wasn’t used to having a conversation switch away