Chapter 4: Intensive

Ian Rider was irritated.

He knew Alan Blunt knew full well that his nephew's term ended in a few days and he was getting called in for another mission.

While he could take Alex with him, it was dangerous, particularly since Alex's survival training was far from complete and because he had a talent for finding trouble.

He had started teaching him at a young age in case his enemies decided to put some effort into tracking him down, NOT because he wanted him anywhere near the intelligence world.

Seriously, he hated his boss sometimes.

He decided to hint at a break. He wanted to take Alex on a trip to work on his Spanish and maybe some mountain biking.

Boys like biking, right? Alex seemed to like the holidays well enough, despite the training.

Ian was torn between being pleased that his nephew was doing so well and a certain amount of self-loathing for training him in the first place.

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SOUTH AMERICA? Blunt wanted him to go on an investigation in SOUTH AMERICA while bringing his 10-year-old nephew?!

The criminal gangs practically rule the poorer parts of some of the countries. It would be a miracle if he didn't get shot or injured.

Plus, how was he supposed to explain to Alex if he got injured. There are only so many times you can "fall down the stairs" and stairs don't exactly shoot people.

Yes, he could see the conversation now. Yes, Alex, the stairs shot me as I fell down them. Just ignore the hand-shaped bruises and the blatant lie. Honestly, you would think the director of Special Ops for MI6 would come up with a better set of excuses.

Though, Ian privately suspected that his boss came up with deliberately flawed excuses as a test for people. If you asked too many questions, well...Blunt was always looking for people to recruit. Alex was also observant and curious - not a good combination for staying out of trouble during his investigation.

No way he was leaving Alex with a vacation alone with Ms. Starbright. He already did that enough as it was on his business trips.

Ian had already resolved to go with Alex, but he had a bad feeling about this entire trip.

Jack Starbright was concerned and angry. Alex seemed sadder than normal and she really couldn't blame him. Ian Rider was not the most attentive of guardians sometimes and she knew that Alex tried very hard to impress the man.

His grades were always exemplary and his joining the soccer team, for one. Not to mention the Karate lessons. She sometimes got angry with her employer because of the fact that he sometimes left Alex with only her for companionship and didn't so much as call on the phone for weeks on end.

Not to mention the birthdays he had missed and the school events and She also saw that the man supplement Alex's education with activities that seemed almost a little too intense for a child.

Honestly, mountain-climbing and white-water rafting and diving were all dangerous, even for adults.

She had no idea why Alex would need to know extreme sports or any other skills like it, but the man insisted. What was next? Cliff-diving?

She had begun to care for Alex like a sister and hated the loneliness he felt in Ian Rider's absence.