Chapter 4: old version
Obviously I don't own Gallagher Girls.
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We walked out of the school, and boarded a bright red van with the Gallagher crest on the side. For a school for spies, their color choice was rather inappropriate. Either that or very smart. What better way to blend in than to stand out?
As we all loaded up into the van, Dr. Steve got into the driver's seat. And, thankfully, I didn't have to sit next to Grant. Because, frankly, I had ridden in far too many vehicles with him for my preference. I sat next to Solomon, with Grant on his other side.
"Mr. Solomon, you have done a great job with these young ladies. Just excellent." Dr. Steve rambled on. I wasn't completely sure if he was watching the road. "You ladies need to pay attention to this man. He's a living legend." He pulled onto the street.
"Emphasis on living." Joe interjected. "And today, ladies and gentlemen, we're working with the basics. I want to watch you work together. Pay attention to your surroundings, and remember your covers. This business means looking like you belong, and you need to look like you're all private school students enjoying a day out on the town."
I stayed silent, waiting for the girls to catch up. Bex caught the hint first. "What are we really?"
"Spies playing tag." Joe pulled out a quarter and tossed it to her. "Brush pass, define it, Ms. Baxter."
Immediately, she replied, "The act of covertly passing an object between two agents." Brush passes were extremely simple. They were a necessity. The basics.
Cammie was watching the scenery pass by. She glanced at me, then back out the window.
Joe continued, "The little things are everything."
"As I was telling Headmistress Morgan," Dr. Steve tried to enter our conversation, but was ignored. This wasn't his field. Traumatizing teenagers with endless lectures was.
"This may be low tech, but if you can't do this, might as well go sit at a desk." He pulled out a box from under the seat, and started passing out comms and cameras. "I'll be watching. Pay attention to your comms. I'll be asking questions and giving instructions." The van stopped. Roseville was really close to Gallagher, unlike Belmont to Blackthorne. That trip was a good hour and a half.
One of the girls, Kim, I think, was struggling with an American flag pin. Where there's a damsel in distress, there's Grant. He helped her, but ignored her batting eyelashes. Solomon pushed open the doors, and sunlight flooded in.
"Pair off." I saw Cammie reach for Bex, but Solomon stopped her. I got out of the van, and moved off the edge of the sidewalk.
"I believe you already have a partner, Ms. Morgan." She looked my way, and I couldn't read her expression. With girls, ignorance can be dangerous. But I had a pretty good feeling that she'd rather be with her best friend.
She took a silver cross from Solomon, and stepped out of the van, joining me on the grass.
"Come on, Gallagher Girl. This'll be fun." I started to walk to the center of town. There was absolutely no one. And we had to pass around quarters? No one to see us means no way to fail. What was the point of this exercise?
I kept walking until I saw a gazebo. I sat on the steps and stretched. Might as well relax. Cammie avoided my look and her eyes went blank.
"Come here often?" What's her problem? It's like she's in outer space.
She looked up, and finally registered my words. "I used to, but the CIA deputy director made me promise to stop." She added a smirk, just for emphasis. I laughed. She is rather funny when she tries.
"Ms. Walters, you're it." Tina walked on the other side of the square, and passed the coin to Eva.
"So where does the Blackthorne Institution call home"? Cammie joined me on the steps.
"Sorry. That's classified." But I was glad that she's curious about me. Unfortunately, I didn't even stop to think how she'd react to my brush-off of her question.
Cammie snapped. "So you're sleeping in my school and I can't even know where yours is?" Her attitude took a one-eighty. Laughing and joking to giving me a death glare.
"Trust me; you wouldn't want to sleep in my school." You'd have nightmares for months. I laughed again, hoping she wouldn't push it farther.
"Two men are playing chess in the southwest corner of the square. Ms. Baxter, how far is the man in the green cap from checkmate?" Solomon asked through the comms.
Her British accent replied, "Six."
"Why can't you tell me?" Damn, Cammie. Let it go.
"Trust me, Gallagher Girl. Can you trust me?" Please say yes. She glanced at the pharmacy. Cammie ignored my question. I could clearly see one girl drop the quarter in a bag. She was sloppy.
"ATMs equal cameras. Tighten it up, ladies." Solomon agreed with me.
"Solomon's good."
"Yeah. He is." She returned to wearing her blank look. It was better than her glaring at me.
"They say you're good too." She really is, better than the rest of the girls. My time within Gallagher has given me so much more insight. That, and Joe thinks she's got real potential. That's a legitimate compliment from an impartial man.
She froze. I had delivered her a major compliment, whether she understood the double meaning or just shrugged it off as me being creepy.
"Zach, without looking, how many windows overlook the west side of the square?" Joe asked, as if I wouldn't know that.
"Fourteen." Back to our conversation. They say you're a real pavement artist." Watching her walk the streets in DC, I could say that with real conviction. I leaned back on the steps, and kept talking. Cammie wouldn't hold up her end of the conversation. "It probably a good thing we tailed you in DC, because if you followed us, I wouldn't have seen you." Another compliment. She's lucky. Compliments from me are hard to come by.
But, did she say thank you? Did she reply? No. She walked off, down a side street, totally blowing me off. What the hell? I was being nice. Bex said that Cammie thought I was an ass, but when I say something polite, she leaves me. Girls. Seriously?
I groaned, and laid back on the floor of the gazebo. I sat up, ready to follow her around the corner. But a flash of red hair caught my eye. I decided to chase after the woman I needed to see, Cammie could wait. It's not like she'd get into any trouble. I needed help on my mission. The woman turned down a block, so I dashed in her direction.
She turned another corner, and then disappeared. I looked down the street. No sign of her. Only a note was left on the sidewalk.
Midnight.
My mother. Did Joe notice her? He should've. I'd tell him later, after the midnight rendezvous with my mother. The minute and a half I spent chasing her, I was supposed to be with Cammie. I hadn't been listening to the comms, either. Damn, distracted for a second. I realized that Cammie and I would have our turns soon. "Nice pass, Ms. Baxter." Yep, she had it. Time to meet up with her.
I sprinted around the corner, and down a couple blocks. Turning another corner then I spotted her.
She was in the middle of a sidewalk, talking to a blonde girl and a boy. She seemed flustered. "Ms. Morgan, time to see you hand off." I had to make an appearance.
I strolled over, eyeing the boy who was looking at his feet. This must be the ex-boyfriend. Idiot, letting her go. But, he did try to save her with a forklift. If he really knew her, he'd know that she didn't need a forklift for a rescue.
"Cammie, there you are." The guy finally looked up. "I was wondering where you went. I'm Zach," I said, turning to the blonde boy. I put out my hand, looking into his eyes, and smirked. You lost her, buddy. My turn. The unspoken message. He shook my hand, and then shoved his back in his pocket. His gaze returned to his feet.
"Zach," Cammie spoke up, at last. "This is DeeDee, and Josh." She added, like an afterthought. This was most definitely the ex.
"We're Cammie's friends." DeeDee said, smiling like the perfect girl-next-door.
"Zach and I…" Cammie tried to label our relationship. I couldn't even do that. A sideways glance at me, and I knew she was trying to come up with something convincing. I should try to save her from embarrassing herself.
"I go to school with Cammie." The look of confusion on the townies' faces was priceless.
"But I thought it was a girls' school?" The blonde couldn't piece together the fact that, yes, I am a boy. And yes, I am at Gallagher. Did I stutter, DeeDee? "My school's meshing with Gallagher for a semester." I put my hand in Cammie's, grabbing the quarter and feeling her skin instantly warm up. Aw, she's blushing. And, of course, the little blonde smiles like she's crazy. I really liked holding Cammie's hand, even though I just needed the quarter. Cammie was really nervous, seeing Jimmy and all. I gave her hand a squeeze. "Van's leaving in ten. Nice meeting you." I let go of her, and walked toward Joe's van. I was the last one with the coin.
Over the comms, I heard, "Bring Zach, too!" Wait- what? I wasn't listening to the rest of the conversation on my headset. DeeDee invited me somewhere. What? Cammie: decline, decline, decline! "It'd be at the barn down Jefferson Boulevard, like last year." Say no!
"Sounds like fun!" Damn, Gallagher Girl. What part of no is so confusing?
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I found her in a back hallway. I was wandering around, and so was she. She reached for the wall, hand extended. A new passageway? I didn't want her to disappear into the depths of the school, so I called out to her.
"So, what about it? Is it time I get the Cammie Morgan: no wall to high, no passageway too secret grand tour?" My most recent research also indicated that she is an avid explorer of the school.
Cammie swiveled around, her eyes wide. She must've been shocked, first that I was there, then that I knew of her little hobby. "How do you know about-"
"Spy." My only statement. Actually, Tina Walters told me.
I walked closer, not letting her vanish into the wall. I leaned against the cold stone, watching her try to decide if I was worth talking to. She looked around, realizing none of her sisters were with her, that she was alone. With me. "So that was Jimmy? He seems like a cutie." Deny it, say you're over him, something! Reassure me that I have a chance with you. Please!
"His name is Josh. And did you come here to make fun? Well, go ahead, mock away." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She didn't mention her relationship, but I know there was something between them at one point. Damn, no news is usually good news, unless a female is involved. Then no news means that the girl still has feelings for her ex-boyfriend. My theory.
"But you took all the fun out of it." I stepped closer, breathing in her flowery scent. She even made soap smell great. "Why'd you freeze out there?" I softly murmured, not appreciating my mushy-gushy-girly side making reappearance.
"I'm fine." Her sapphire eyes locked on mine, wordlessly telling me to back off. I wouldn't. I wanted to get past that 'annoying-boy-she's-forced-to-show-around' phase.
"No, you're not. But you will be." I promise, Gallagher Girl, I promise.
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I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep that night. I laid on my bed, just waiting for Grant and Jonas's snores to fill the room. After a few minutes, they were out.
I got up, and slipped on a shirt and shoes. I had to be fast this time, to avoid another encounter with Mr. Smith in a nightgown. I'd rather not repeat that. Those are memories I will never get to abolish.
I quietly stepped through the foyer, and around to the back of the stairs. There was a tapestry, and in my training: tapestry equals secret passageway. I pushed it aside, and I turned a stone that jutted out from a wall. It opened smoothly.
There wasn't much dust, and it looked like it was used recently. Cammie's passageway, probably. It was rather clean. I bet it was a favorite route of hers.
I kept walking, and only noticed a few hallways branching off. It was a central passageway, most likely leading to all sorts of places within Gallagher. I could use this way again.
Eventually, I came to the end, and it led right out of the school. Wow. And there was no security to be seen. Seriously? 'Top notch security?' Nope. Not even close. I scaled the wall, being careful so my sneakers wouldn't leave skid marks. I had been foolish enough in the two days I've been here, I didn't want to screw it up even more.
Then it was time to start the two mile jog. It wouldn't be a problem. I had been living at a detention facility the last few years, so that was nothing. Half of the trip was going through the forest surrounding the school, and the rest was following Highway 10 to the little town of Roseville.
And by little, I mean little. Not as small as Belmont, but it was minuscule. Walking along the cracked sidewalk, I came to the corner of 4th and Main Street. That was where I saw my mother earlier.
No sign of her. I almost kept walking, but I saw a piece of Evapopaper stuck to the window. Well, Mother, how inconspicuous. I ripped it off.
The barn.
That all it said. The barn? Wait! The blonde town girl said something about a barn. Where'd she say it was?
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After running along a bumpy, dusty, rural road, I saw a field. Part of the grass was flattened, some was mowed. There was a wide path that led to the small barn in the distance. Walking through the itchy grass, I hoped I wasn't late. My mother wouldn't wait forever. I had already wasted about twenty minutes, running around, trying to get there.
The moon lit the small building as I pushed open the large doors. It was so dark; I could barely see three feet in front of me. I walked to the middle of a barn until a flashlight shone directly in my eyes.
"Took you long enough."
"Damn, put that thing down!" I shielded my eyes.
"I did not raise my son to have a filthy mouth." My mother lowered the light. "Here, take this. Follow me." She handed me a light of my own.
I grabbed the light, and cautiously followed her up a ladder and into a loft. She was looking around for something. "Where's the lantern?" I instantly got worried. My mother has always been a firebug.
"Don't worry. It's electric. And why are you being so quiet?" Because I'm currently with a woman who's mentally unstable and trained to kill.
"Long jog." She flicked a switch on the portable light and we could see more than just a beam of light cutting through the black. The yellow glow allowed us to see the stacks of hay that surrounded us.
"Could've hopped a ride." Yeah, at midnight, in the little town of Roseville, someone would give a teenage boy a ride to the middle of nowhere. I would've liked to see how that turned out. "Don't they have cars at Gallagher? They did when I was a girl." Oh. She wanted me to steal one.
"What brings you to the quaint town of Roseville? Surely not just to visit your favorite son?" I sat on a bale of hay, glad to rest. Spy or not, I liked to sit.
"I'm sorry, but no. It's just on my way to Miami. Someone there talked. I wanted to see if you got anything new. What has Cameron told you?" So, she was on her way to get rid of someone who didn't have the sense to keep their mouth shut.
"Absolutely nothing. She doesn't trust me."
"So? Make her trust you. Easy as that." I looked in her eyes. What was she planning?
"How would I do that?" Whatever she told me, I knew it would be something that would end badly.
"Romance. Girls always fall for that stuff. Make her fall in love. Capture her heart, learn her secrets, and when you do, you can get rid of her. Then you can break her heart."
Well, I was already working on the first part. But breaking her heart wasn't on my agenda.
"Will do." I stood up, ready to leave. I hadn't slept well since Blackthorne. I really should try to, and sitting in a barn at one in the morning was not going to help that.
"Oh," she started. I turned to face her. What else could she say to me? "Need a hint? Ask about her dad. That's our most recent lead. Apparently, that's why I had to dispose of Matthew Morgan all those years ago. But, sadly, she learned the names before he disappeared. I just hope we won't need to kill her, too." I continued down the ladder. Hopefully, I wouldn't see her for a while. It'd make my life a whole lot easier.
On my way back to the school, I thought about what she said. Break her heart. Her dad. The names? What names? Damn, Solomon's definitely going to hear from me. And 'kill her' rang through my thoughts. Cammie wanted nothing to do with me, but, as sure as hell, my mother wouldn't touch her. I'd make sure of it.
I remembered something: earlier today, Solomon mentioned Cammie's dad. He was Matthew's best friend. Maybe he knew about 'the names'. Because I had no clue.
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