Ch 3

---

His heart pounded in perfect rhythm with his running feet. He had stayed up most of the night trying to figure out who was following him and why. Nothing had come to mind. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened since he left England, and he was out of practice.

Thinking that he shouldn't return to the motel empty handed, he crossed the street to a McDonald's to get some breakfast. After getting six meals he made his way back.

---

Alex sat with his best friends on the motel room floor, eating breakfast. Everyone, minus Alex and Sandra, were in their pyjamas, having woken up when Alex came in.

"What are we going to do today?" asked Kat, who was sitting in shorts and a tank top, her short hair sticking up in all directions.

"I thought we were going to the aquarium," Sami said in surprise.

They all nodded.

"We could go to that ship afterwards. I heard it's haunted," Diego pitched in.

Everyone laughed as Rick said, "Yeah, haunted by immature beings."

The guys laughed harder, not noticing the tension between Mike and Sandra. Neither had made a single attempt to talk to the other. Sandra was hurt with the way Mike had treated her, and Alex was avoiding her and her questions.

The gang continued to joke as they ate their breakfast, only to be interrupted by the loud vibrations of a phone.

Alex pulled his phone out and put it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Alex," said a familiar voice through the intercom.

Alex's eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry, I believe you have the wrong number."

"Who was that?" Sandra challenged. Alex was silent. "Don't say it was wrong number. We both know that's not true."

The whole group was staring at them, but before anyone could say anything, Alex's phone vibrated again, signalling that he had received a text message.

Against all his common sense he clicked to view the message:

Scorpia.

He stared at the word for a few seconds before getting up to head outside, already dialling the number he had been forced to memorize.

---

The group stared at one another.

"That didn't seem like a wrong number to me," Rick said as they all peered out the window.

They watched as Mike angrily walked stalked up and down, arguing with someone down the phone. Sandra felt their eyes on her, waiting for an explanation, but, as usual, she just shrugged and continued to watch the stranger that was her boyfriend.

---

"How do they know I'm alive? I thought YOU made it clear that I was dead."

"Alex I know it doesn't sound good," Tulip Jones tried to calm him, "But they don't know where you are, I was just calling to give you a... heads up, as you would say."

Alex rolled his eyes, "It's been three years since I've had anything to do with you people. You know Jack is a well accomplished lawyer now? How am I supposed to tell her that, once again, there's a terrorist organization out to get me?'

"Alex…"

"My name is Mike," he interrupted.

"Mike… just keep your eyes open and let us know if anything out of the ordinary happens."

Mike was about to hang up when he remembered the strange feeling he'd been having. "I think I'm being watched," he told Jones.

"Probably just your imagination," she said, blatant disbelief in her voice, "Either way, let us know if anything happens."

---

Tulip Jones called Blunt ignoring that the head of MI6 hated being disturbed at home.

"Alan, I talked to Alex, and before you say anything I was right to call him, he says he's being watch."

Blunt nodded before saying, "Call our friends at the CIA. Have them keep an eye out for trouble."

R&R