A young spy and a young cop Chapter 3

Last paragraph of second chapter:

"So far, things were going really well. She entered the store and was surprised to see that it had very few people inside. All the better for her. The less time she spent among people, the better. She headed straight for the shirts and pants rack."

She'd found a pair of blue jeans with holes in the legs, a black tank top and a denim jacket. She bought a pair of sunglasses as well and exiting the thrift store, she walked across the street to a grocery store. She found a box of platinum blond hair dye and a pair of scissors. Perfect! At the checkout lane, Natalia remained patient with the cashier. He appeared to be about nineteen, and obviously smoked a little to much. 

"You're hair is quite pretty as is. Watcha dyin it for?" He asked conversationally. Natalia smiled sweetly. 

"Why, thank you. I've got a costume party coming up." She didn't elaborate. Too much information could be suspicious, though she was pretty sure if she told this guy he was going to be tortured by aliens tomorrow, he would believe her.

"Hope you have fun. Say, are you new around here? If you want to get to know the city, I could show you around sometime." He grinned at her. Natalia gritted her teeth, but kept her voice the same. 

"I'm sorry, but I'm just passing through. Have an nice day!" She grabbed her bag and left. 

"If that's how he picks up girls, he's going to be a sad little boy for a long time." She thought to herself. She adjusted her pistol that lay concealed beneath her shirt and went in search of a public restroom.

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While Natalia had been doing all of this, Lily was pacing up and down in front of her desk. Once Detective Prete came back with the information he had received, they looked her up. Detective Prete was sure she was hiding something, if not downright lying. They had entered “Lauren Shore” into the computer, and while that particular name had not come up, a Maria Shore had.

Turns out, Maria Shore was Natalia’s aunt, who had taken her in after her parents had died when she was ten years old. When Natalia was thirteen, they had moved from Russia to New Mexico. Two years later, Maria Shore died, and Natalia disappeared. There was a picture of Natalia from the age of thirteen, and though there was a lot of difference, it was still "Lauren."

Lily and the detective had then gotten together with the sketch artist and come up with a decent picture, which had then been handed out to all the precincts and were being passed out on the streets. 

"She's hiding something, that much is obvious." Lily said. "She's too good to be some random girl who wants to avoid the police. She's working for someone, and she's had training. She's gone underground now." She looked at Prete. "I want to get whatever files Russia and New Mexico have on her. Something is going on, and I'll be damned if I can't figure out what."