"They have been warned." I hissed into the receiver. "They have been warmed that I am here."
"Well, darling, then you will have to be even more careful." Mrs. Goode hissed. "Or you could back out…" she suggested, but I knew that backing out equaled death.
"No, I can do it, but you should know that the subject has yet to suspect any of us. D and I have been ever so careful." I smiled triumphantly.
"Girl, bragging brings another demotion." Mrs. Goode was happy again. Then I heard her bark orders at whoever was with her to leave. "Well, it would for anyone else, but not you. You are too smart to be put back to a Hatchling. You can actually have a promotion from Chick to Fledgling, but no more until you get the suspect to me."
I grinned, "I knew you wouldn't demote me. Even so," I immediately sobered up. "I apologize for my impudence."
"There's my girl. Now I need you to give me the reports."
"Well, Zachary is never more than a hundred yards away from her, Peacock seems to almost suspect us, but she hasn't been trained enough to know that instinct is something that you should follow immediately. Wait, give me a moment." I stopped sensing the presence of another outside the door to the room. I hide the receiver on my necklace, since it looks like a charm.
The door burst open, and in runs Zach. "Have you seen Cammie?" he asked, raving.
"No, of course not, why do you want to know?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.
"She's missing." he croaked.
No.
She can't be missing; she's my ticket to becoming a full-fledged Circle member, with the tattoo and everything.
"Zach! Zach!" Macey burst into the room and yelled, "We found her journal! You gave her the idea to run away?" She slapped him across the face.
"Well, I was going to go with her! I didn't think she was insane enough to go alone!" His hands were running through his black hair rapidly. I grasped the charm, having it so Mrs. Goode could hear everything.
"But, but she wouldn't leave us! We are here for her protection!" I yelled, and together the three of us started down the hallway towards Headmistress Morgan's office.
"And we're her friends." Macey coaxed.
Sitting in Mrs. Morgan's office, with her head in her hands, was my partner, who was still a hatchling in the Cavan society.
"How could this have happened?" Mrs. Morgan was at a loss. "Why would she want to leave?"
"Rachel," Solomon was sitting in her desk chair while she paced. "You read the note with me; you know that she just couldn't stand putting us in danger."
"But you sit back while the Circle could have her in one of their prisons, or she could even be dead!" Mrs. Morgan stopped and ran her hands though her already messed up hair.
"Yes," Solomon stood up and grabbed Mrs. Morgan's wrists. "Yes, I am sitting back, but only until you are calm. We have already sent up the signal to all of the people we trust that she is gone. And your daughter is tough. You might not have noticed, but she is the toughest girl I have seen in my life. And I know that she won't go down without a fight.
"Look at me, Rach. Do I look like I'm happy to give in and let them take Cammie? Well I am absolutely not. I swore to Matthew to protect his family, especially his daughter. And I don't know why he didn't say: Especially Rachel, my wife. But he didn't, which makes me think that the only person alive on this earth that knows why they are coming for is Cammie, and she can't access the memories."
Oh, Solomon, if only you knew how right you are. We just want one of the Chameleon's memories, which one I do not know, but it is only necessary. My earpiece buzzed: "You are about to come out, B, darling. You are about to reveal yourself as a double-agent."
Mrs. Morgan had a sleek Mac laptop on her desk and it suddenly burst into life. On the screen was a picture of Mrs. Goode standing in front of a map of the world with a bunch of yellow, green, and red pins all over it.
"Good morning, Gallagher Academy. Don't try tracing this; I am not where this server is. So I come to you with a preposition." Her voice was light and airy. Her face was covered with a smirk so much like Zachary's, but at the same time it was so different, colder almost.
"What do you want Alexandra?" Mr. Solomon immediately took a protective stance, even though the boss was just an image.
"Well, I just came to send a message:
"Your god-daughter is mine. I will catch her, but you need not to worry, I won't kill her… immediately." she cackled. "Now, on another note, I have been notified that you know that my spies are in the school. They are actually in your midst as we speak. Come on out, darlings."
My partner and I stepped forward to stand next to the computer. My fingers itched to stroke the keys, but I knew that they would then find my new fingerprints.
And I am not that sloppy.
So I just stood there and looked at them all, none of whom could believe that I was a Circle member.
"Honey?" Mrs. Morgan was the most shocked. "Wh-why would you do this to us?" she whispered.
"Oh, I just want to because the Circle has always been more powerful than this little excuse for a school. I mean, look at the seventh graders. One of them has Down syndrome. (No offense, peeps, this is just a story.) How is she supposed to spy?"
"The entire reason why we have this school for girls is because girls are commonly dismissed as unable to spy. She is here because she is amazing at computers. She is almost better than you were when you were that-" Mrs. Morgan was not allowed to finish her sentence.
"Yeah, sure. She isn't a member of Mensa, is she?" I asked, stepping into her face. "No, she's not Rachel. You are just getting desperate to find girls. So Elizabeth Sutton and Rebecca Baxter are out." My partner and I stepped toward the French window.
And then we simply stepped out the window, because I do not leave without making an impression on people.
Because that's how Liz Sutton rolls.