Chapter 6
Zach's pov.
I could remember the stone house, the place where my mother had kept Cammie and her father. The idea made me sick to the stomach. I could only sit there and hope and fear and wish and... There was almost nothing I could do. We'd fly in Macey's jet for hours, but to what extent? To Rome... To Ireland... I didn't know. It was hard as it was not to cry, not to scream and shout her name. Not to cry out for her before I went to bed, not to worry about our baby. Not to fear that my mother was alive... The woman who should have been dead.
"My mom has her in the stone house, I can feel it," I told them.
"Your Mom isn't alive, Zach. She couldn't have made it out of the explosion. It burnt the academy to the ground and Cammie and you were firsthand to witness it. You're just worried about her Zach and we don't blame you," Rachel told me. "But you have to understand... Someone else must have wanted Cammie. Ever since then people who were supposed to be locked up forever were found... It's... Impossible for her to be alive, but someone wants the circle up and running again, which will bring great danger to everyone..."
"You don't get it Rachel. My mother is clever. Of all the people I've ever known, her, Cammie, or Joe are the only people I can see ever escaping a fire that bad. She was a great operative, even circle agents are, they just chose the loosing side," I told her. "I'm telling you, she's alive."
"Zach..." Bex began.
But Macey didn't waste time trying to sugarcoat anything, she was a seasoned operative in the secret service, she didn't have time to sugar coat. "Look, Zach. You have to face the facts. There was a fire. A damned fire that brought maybe the strongest security held together building in the world down. As long as we know that, Catherine is as good as dead. You can't hope Zach. We're going on a wild goose chase right now," she turned to Liz. "What are the chances that Cammie is still alive?" Liz sat completely still and Jonas reached for her suddenly.
I realized that for the past three months I hadn't know how they were all doing and I knew that he wanted to comfort Liz. But I knew Liz had an answer. She always did.
"A number, Liz. Just give us the ratio," Macey snapped.
I shook my head, "Stop it..."
"16 in 395," Liz whispered. "You happy?"
"Of course I'm not happy. Don't you all notice the fact that all of us here are being here, comforted, while Cammie..." Her voice broke. "Who's comforting Cammie? Who's making sure that Cammie's okay? Who's holding Cammie's hand while she's scared, frightened, alone, maybe even..." Macey's voice broke again and I knew that she couldn't say the words, but just as well, I couldn't take them in.
Macey's pov.:
Cameron Morgan is missing...
When I'd been told that three months ago my world had felt like it was coming down.
I couldn't talk to Zach then, he had been in a hospital bed, Preston wanted to talk to me but I hadn't wanted to talk to him. I'd wanted my old friends back, the whole gang. The Gallagher Girls, my home, my sisters. My best friend is gone... That's all I could think for the past three months. Searching...
I'd gone to Budapest, Rome, Brazil, Austria, places and cities on the map that weren't on the grid. I'd nearly given up, but when Zach woke up... I'd gone to see him in the bed multiple times. Asking for him to wake up, tell me where my best friend had gone, but he couldn't. I'd cry in that miserable chair until Liz or Bex came telling me it was they're turn to sit and that I needed to go home and shower. But it hadn't just been me. Liz would sit on her porch for hours and Jonas couldn't always be there, e had to work you know, hold the house together. So I'd go to her house and find her sleeping in a sitting position or crying herself to sleep.
"Mace... You have to stop this," Preston had said before I left. "You're not sleeping, you're not eating. We'll find Cammmie," but then the phone rang and the only words I had ever needed to hear were, "Zach's awake."
I'd left that morning and now here I was: Arguing with my friends about Cammie.
"We'll find Cammie. She's a fighter, you all know that. Do you guys know how many times she has almost died and lived to tell the tale?" Zach snapped me back to reality.
"Zach's right. We're going to find her," Bex said. "Come on Mace. She's our best friend. She's known for doing the impossible: surviving."
I had to smile, "And we're known for following her there," I laughed, a small, desperate laugh. Desperate for joy, to find my friend. "Where do we start?"
Liz's Pov.:
I'm not known for spying or being the one who kicks ass and survives. I've never been the heroin of the story. I've been on the sidelines for most of it, following along sometimes and others just being there to cover, but this time I wasn't going to stand on the sidelines, this time, I fight back.
Rome...
I'd never come with for this mission, l I knew was that Cammie and her father had both come here for answers and now it was time that I came too. For more than just answers, but my friend too.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"You and I are going to go around with Macey, okay?" Jonas told me and I nodded.
"I suppose I'll manage with you there to make sure I'm good with the other boys," I stood on my tiptoes to give him a kiss, but he picked me up by my waist so that I didn't have to stand on my toes. Our lips touched, gentle at first then more becoming and hungry. We'd kissed a lot before. On the lips, our tongues and teeth clashing and I loved the way he held me close, putting his arms around my waist, seeing the way our bodies fit together perfectly. I pulled away.
"I am so offended that they actually stuck me with you two. Both of you are way to lovy dovy. You need to watch it, seriously. Keep your tongues in your own mouth," Macey made a face.
"If you can't handle it Macey, maybe you should consider never having sex, but you and Preston are married and probably already did it on your wedding night," I told her.
"Well look how that turned out for Cam, she got pregnant and kidnapped," Macey said maliciously.
"Now that's not fair," I snapped.
"Life isn't fair," she hissed. "Look at us for a moment will you? We've been through this before. Trying to find Cammie, but we didn't, Liz," her voice broke. "We looked and we didn't find her. We lost her and now we might be losing her for the last time. Cammie can't win every time," Macey looked straight at me. "Nobody wins every time. And Karma's a bitch."
"Macey, just stop it. Right now," My voice broke. "We're going to find her. She's a fighter. She'll get through this, how do we know that we have to go there to get to her? She could get to us all on her own..." But the conviction in my voice failed and it was soft and broken.
Then Macey look straight at me, "A dead drop."
"What?"
"She left a dead drop!" She shouted.