Chapter 4

1 week later

I am huddled in some bushes by a cave. Through the past week, I've managed to talk to my roommates and boyfriend a couple of times. I haven't given them enough information to even guess where I am, only that I'm okay. I managed to tail a Circle member to this cave a couple of times, and last night I was lucky enough to glimpse Zach's mum with some other Circle members.

"Chameleon?" I hear Liz say into my comm's unit. "Chameleon, are you there?"

"I'm here, Bookworm," I reply. "Look, I've found where the Circle is hiding, and I'm going to go in and get some information."

"No!" I hear Bex yell. "Cam- Chameleon, I will kill you when you get back here for putting yourself in that much danger. If you get back at all!"

"Relax, Duchess, I'm a spy. More importantly, I'm a Gallagher Girl, and I'll be fine. I'm just going in, finding Zach's mum, getting some info and getting back out. Then I'll come back home, and everything will be fine again."

"Chameleon, don't you dare go in there!" Macey yells.

"Yeah, sure thing, Peacock," I whisper. Shadows are moving at the base of the cave.

"Are you even listening to me, Chameleon? Don't you dare go in there!"

"Okay guys, I'm going in now. Wish me luck!"

"Zach!" Liz complained. "She's going in!"

I hear a scuffle and a smash, and a faint "Oopsie daisy!" from Liz.

"Gallagher Girl, please don't go in there. You don't know what my mum will do to you if you go in there. Please, Gallagher Girl…"

"Goodbye, Zach," I say, a little coldly. I think he sensed it, because pretty soon he was complaining to Bex and Macey, who were trying their hardest to convince me to turn around and go home.

Soon I whisper, "guys, shut up! Do you want me to get caught?" They all stop talking. "Thank you. Now, if I get in trouble, I'll yell the code word."

"What's the code word?" Liz asks.

"I don't know. Bex, make one up."

After a couple of silent seconds, she says into the comm's unit, "lava lamp."

"Lava lamp?" I reply dubiously.

"Yes, lava lamp," Bex repeats.

"Okay then… here I go." I take a deep breath and crawl along the ground to the entrance of the cove. I'm wearing a different pair of skinny jeans, dark denim instead of the original black ones, but I'm still wearing my black top and jumper. The comm's unit is on my head and my black hair is pulled into a messy ponytail. To anyone else, I look like a goth school girl on a mufti day… without all the make-up, of course. I even painted my nails black a couple of days before I left the school. By now they have little chips in them. The only reason why they haven't been completely chipped off is because of Dr. Fibs and Liz Sutton's new nail polish for spies. I pick up some black dirt by my feet and rub it onto the back and palms of my hands, my neck and my face. Perfect.

I sneak into the cave. It keeps splitting off in two, and I always take the right entry way. That way I won't get lost. After a while I start to hear voices. The tunnels take me to a catwalk looking over what I would guess is the main HQ. There is a slightly lifted floor made out of steel, with four sets of stairs leading out from the four compass points. In the centre is a tall column lined with security cameras, and a desk angles out from underneath the bottom row, complete with study chairs. Pens, pencils, calculators, papers, blueprints and strange electronic equipment fall over the sides of the desk.

Standing on the steel platform is Zach's mom, along with two burly men in black jeans and tight fitting black shirts. "Chameleon?" asks Liz through my ear. "Do you copy me?"

"I copy you, Bookworm," I whisper. "I've entered the cave and taken the right tunnel for every fork I've found, which is 14. Now I'm on a catwalk overlooking the main HQ, which has Zach's mum and two security guard guys. There are heaps of TV's with security camera footage, and lots of papers and blueprints. They're all for some sort of bombs or planes."

"Great," Bex says. "Now you have what you want to know, can you please get out of there and come home?"

"In a minute," I whisper. "They're leaving… If I can just sneak down, I might be able to see what's on the documents and even take some photos of the blueprints."

"Cammie, no," Macey warns. "It's too dangerous." By now all three Circle members have left and I start to creep down the nearby staircase.

From behind me I can hear footsteps, and I turn around to see Security Guard 1 behind me, blocking the exit. From the other three exits step three more security guards. They're all wearing matching outfits, and they aren't even uniforms.

"Wow, that must be, like, really awkward for you guys," I say out loud.

"What?" ask Bex, Liz and Macey at the same time.

"Not you," I hiss. "The guys surrounding me."

"Cam, you need to get out of there now," Liz says quickly.

"Really?" I ask sarcastically. "I hadn't figured that part out yet."

"You know, wearing the same outfit and all… haha… yeah… so, if you don't mind, I might just take some of these." I walk over to the desks and grab a pile of documents at random. I stuff them into my backpack. "Now, I might just, you know… umm… leave?" I walk over to a guy, and he doesn't move. "Or, you know, I could stay for tea."

The security guards close in on me and I back into the centre of the room. Soon I'm surrounded, and I hear evil laughing (yes, actually evil-laughage) from the catwalk. I look up to see Zach's mum standing there, looking down, in black trousers, a white blouse and a black business jacket.

"Dear, sweet, naïve, Cammie," she says. "How kind of you to join us." Her voice turns hard again. "Bring her to the interrogation chamber." She leaves the room and all four security guards head toward me.

"Umm… guys?" I ask my roommates. "Is it just me being paranoid, or does 'interrogation chamber' sound slightly bad to you guys too?"

"Cammie," Bex moans. "How many of them are there?"

"Just four," I say. "I can take them, right?"

I complete a perfectly placed round-house kick at Security Guard 1, but he catches it millimeters away from the side of his head, not even blinking. He pushes me away, sending me staggering into Security Guard number 2, who catches me. I jerk away, dodging his blow. I elbow Security Guard 3 and kick Security Guard 4 in the shins. I turn back to Security Guard 2 and grab him around the neck, pulling his head down to meet my knee. He collapses onto the floor. I turn around, only to face Security Guard 1 and 4. As I'm busy defending myself, Security Guard 3 sneaks up behind and holds my wrists behind my back. I use him to push off the ground and kick Security Guard's 1 and 4 in the faces. They crumple to the ground, but Security Guard 3 definitely has me. I struggle, but his hold is firm.

He drags me away screaming. "Chameleon? Cammie!" my friends yell repeatedly into the comm's unit.

"Guys, they have me," I yell back. "I'll be fine. Don't panic! I'll get-" a buzzing sound fills my comm's unit. "-away." I finish.