Good evening! Here's chapter 4 for you. Another short one, sorry. :( But, we're getting a lot of the set up out of the way, so the plots can really start to unfold soon. Anyways, thanks everyone for reading! I appreciate it! And for your reading, here's a physics joke: Schrödinger gets pulled over by a cop one day, and the cop says, "Sir, did you know that there's a dead cat in the trunk?" and Schrödinger says, "Well, I do now!" Ha! Gets me every time! I'm currently listening to Tears for Fears while writing Chapter 5, so, yeah, enjoy... -Tickgrey

"It's time!" Bex called. Zach, Macey, and Bex were dressed and ready to go. They each had a backpack and a small duffle with supplies for their trip to Rome.

Macey turned to me, "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

I swung my feet back and forth as they dangled off the bed. I sighed, "Nope, my mom had a reason for telling me to stay like that. The note wasn't like her at all, so I think she really means it this time."

"We'll make contact when we arrive," Bex assured me. "And we'll keep you updated on our plans."

I nodded. "Take the passageway in the library down to ground level. They didn't seal it off since it doesn't lead directly outside, but it'll get you close enough. Plus, you're less likely to see Mr. Solomon."

They nodded and continued to finish their preparations. Zach took my hand and pulled me aside while Macy and Bex reviewed all the electronic equipment once more with Liz. His eyes looked sad when he said, "I wish you were coming."

"Me too," I admitted.

I thought he was going to say more, but instead he pulled me close and kissed me. For a whole minute. I wished we could have just stayed like that forever, but Bex interrupted us with, "We've really got to go now, Zach!"

He quickly said goodbye to me. Bex threw his gear over and the three of them were gone before I could change my mind. I suddenly knew what it felt like to be Liz who always waited back at school when we went off on missions and adventures. It was a weird feeling.

"Can I help you, Joe?" Madame Dabney asked in COW the next day. I turned to see Mr. Solomon standing in the doorway.

"I need Cameron Morgan for a little while," he said. I flinched knowing exactly why. I looked at Madame Dabney hoping she would say that learning the proper way to polish silver in Mali was more important than whatever Mr. Solomon had in mind, but she nodded, and I knew I was sunk.

I got up and followed him out. I was about to start apologizing when I realized we were headed towards Professor Buckingham's office. When we got there, I saw that Liz was already shaking in the corner. Professor Buckingham looked up and got cross almost immediately. "Ms. Morgan! Would you care to explain where Ms. Baxter, Ms. McHenry, and Mr. Goode are?"

"I thought you were supposed to be at Langley!" I stuttered. My spy skills seemed to have escaped me. I knew I'd be kicking myself later for saying that.

Professor Buckingham looked confused, but continued, "Where are they?"

"I, well, they're, I don't know?" Technically I didn't know where they were at that exact moment, so I let myself work off of that.

"You don't know," she restated calmly. I nodded as though my strategy was actually working even though I knew it totally wasn't.

Mr. Solomon was quick to jump on me, "Not where are they now. Where are they going?"

I stumbled for a few seconds but then came up with, "They're going to France."

I snuck a glance at Liz who looked even more terrified than before I told my half-truth. "What are they going to do there?" Mr. Solomon asked. He must have noticed the wheels turning in my head again because he added, "And please stop trying to avoid the truth."

"Alright, they're catching a train to Rome," I admitted. Liz breathed a sigh of relief; I guess the truth really did set her free.

"The embassy?" Professor Buckingham asked even though she already knew the answer. I nodded which also seemed unnecessary. She quickly turned to Mr. Solomon and said, "We'll have to contact some assets in the area."

He nodded and then turned to me. "Why aren't you with them?"

"The letter," I said assuredly. It was a stupid question; why else would I stay? Mr. Solomon looked confused and Professor Buckingham looked unsatisfied. They didn't know! "Wait, you guys didn't know what it said?"

Professor Bucking ham shook her head, "I was instructed not to read it."

Mr. Solomon still looked confused, so I assumed that he was never even told it existed. I explained, "My mother left a letter for me. It said I needed to stay at school no matter what. She didn't say why, but it seemed pretty important for her to leave a letter, so I decided to listen."

Professor Buckingham looked at Mr. Solomon who returned her confused look. I realized that neither of them knew why I had to stay at school either. I don't really know why, but suddenly I blurted, "Where's my mom?"

The bell for a class change rang out of nowhere, and Liz jumped up in the corner. Professor Buckingham turned back to us and instructed, "You girls should head to your next class."

She gave me a look as if to tell me that there was to be no arguing with her today. Liz and I said, "Yes ma'am," and headed off towards the labs.

"Cammie? Liz? Can you guys hear us?" I heard Bex's familiar voice say through the crackling.

Our connection was pretty awful on the cell phone that lay in front of us, but considering all the cell jammers and protective layers set up to render cell phones obsolete, the phone was an impressive creation by one Elizabeth Sutton. I replied, "Yep, but barely!"

"We've established a base site at the planned hotel in Rome," Macey began. "We began our reconnaissance already, and all signs are looking good. We should be good to go in a few days."

"You might not have that much time," I explained. Liz chimed in to explain the sheer terror that was our meeting with Buckingham and Solomon. I finished, "They're sending 'assets in the area' to either get you or watch you or something."

Zach said, "Looks like we need to step up the speed. Do you have any idea who's in the area?"

"Nope," I admitted. "But whoever it is, they've got to be close to us because not many people were looped in about the list."

"That makes sense," Macey said, "We'll do our best."

"Okay, stop talking to me then and get busy!" I joked. We said our goodbyes and hung up. Liz and I, though immersed in an unauthorized, complex overseas mission, still had piles of homework that were untouched, so we decided to hit the books.